Private Tales Hunters Hunting a Hunted Hunter.

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The action was too sudden. He had saved the Nordenfiir… But Rebecca had said farewell...
The girl was distraught, trying desperately to dig into the sand...

Kalia stood slowly. He was shaken to his core. It didn't have to be this way... She didn't have to sacrifice herself, not for him, not for this girl...
He stepped into the sand.
As an undead he should feel nothing, as a skeleton his body doesn't have a chemical reaction that brings about emotion.

But his fists shook as he clenched them, his chest felt tight, his teeth ground together. A dark aura began radiating from his body, like a black mist gathering around him as he stood in the sand where his servant and comrade disappeared.
The four orcs that were now his followers stood at the edge of the pit now, they looked at the remains of their camp in dismay, but they also looked to their new leader with concern.

"Rebecca... I... Didn't... Give... You... Permission... To... Leave..."
His voice was a whisper, if he had capacity for tears he would have shed them now, but as it was the force that allowed him to see in his undead form burned in his skull, red globes appeared in his empty sockets, hidden behind his mask.
"You... Aren't... Free... From... My... Service... Yet..."
The bones in his fingers fractured as he clenched them even harder. The black aura was now flowing from him like many tiny waterfalls as it coalesced in a thick cloud around his feet.
He threw his head back and shouted, his jaws opening wide, tearing the wrappings that covered his face, hidden by the mask.
"YOU... CAN'T... LEAVE!!!"
With that he drew back a fist and punched it deep into the sand. The darkness exploded outwards in all directions with tremendous force, knocking the orcs off their feet and reaching the far ends of the pit.
After that strike he let out a primal scream and delivered another punch into the sand, sending another blast of darkness.

And he kept punching, again, and again, and again, each time screaming in primal rage, and each time letting grief take hold deeper and deeper.
With each forceful strike more darkness radiated from his body, either streaming or flickering around him like flames.
The force of his strikes dislodged pieces of his armor one by one, the straps unable to handle the impact. First his breastplate fell, then his shoulder armor, his bracers, his leg armor, and finally his mask.

When he was done he stood, a mass of wrappings hung from his face where his now clenched jaw had torn free, the robes and scarves he wore now blown away to reveal his tightly mummified body. The wrappings around his huge skeletal hands burned away.
But still the dark aura did not dissipate.
He turned his still covered eyes to look at the Nordenfiir girl. His half revealed face grinning at her, but from his voice and actions, he was anything but happy.

"Little one. Can you remember any details about this trap? anything about when it happened, how it was sprung? any sounds or sensations of magic? machinery?"
His voice seemed somewhat calm up to this point, but he was enraged and VERY low on patience, the forcefully shouted words, "SPEAK!!!" came out before he could stop them.

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

Blown away by the powerful wind and waves of sand she brushed herself off, bewildered. She was back on the patch of grass, next to some of her belongings and some.. some … some of Rebecca’s. Because it was the latter who took a piece of their victory as well before..

Mika bared her teeth.

“Shut up!” the scream was out before she could help it and the words left her breathless. Well, what actually had her panting was her effort from before, but she only noticed it now. Just like the strange, enormous creature standing in front of her. The man, or what remained of him, was probably as large as the Nordenfiir when in their Svalen form. Never before had she seen anything like it.

The only living creature she could compare him with was .. Rebecca.

“If I had noticed it we wouldn’t have been in this situation! She.. she suddenly knew and just grabbed me.. Saved me.” Grabbing her forehead with her left hand she tried to press as hard as she could against it. Her fingers might leave bruises on her forehead but she couldn’t help but to hurt herself while trying to think about what she had missed. What had activated the trap? Was it a trap or simply bad luck? Did the Orcs not know where they had set up their camp? And what about the cage in the cave?

“I don’t understand..” she muttered to herself before her eyes caught a sight of more Orcs. Immediately her hand went to one of her daggers. She let the satchels on the ground be, eyes narrowing. “We seem to have company.” The ‘man’ however, didn’t appear bothered by their presence, which sort of confused the young Nordenfiir.

“Or are they accompanying you?”

If so, then why didn’t he ask them about the ways Orcs set up their traps?

* * *​

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Her screamed "Shut up!" seemed to bring some sense back into his skull and the aura almost immediately dropped as he stood in shock for a moment.
He had never exploded like that before, or displayed such raw emotion ever since he awoke as an undead. The young girl didn't deserve to feel the brunt of his rage.
He placed a skeletal hand to his wrapped forehead and shook his head as if to clear it, his voice more gentle now, "I apologize... I shouldn't have yelled at you... Please forgive me and my outburst."
He bent down and retrieved his mask from the sand, re-securing it to his face to hide his mummified and skeletal features from the girl.

He turned his attention back to his orcs as the Nordenfiir noticed them and took a hostile stance, but as he looked at them he had the same thoughts she did. He nodded to her question, "Yes, they are mine now... They have sworn themselves to me on this day."
He approached them and lifted one up into the air by the strap of his battle harness.
"Tell me, who set this trap, what is its nature, how is it triggered?"
His voice wasn't angry now, but it was so inhumanly calm to the point that it bespoke terrifying wrath held in check.

The orc hung helplessly in the giant skeletons grip but he didn't struggle, his eyes were simply wide from fear of his new master that he had sworn his soul to.
"There was a strange Shaman that joined up with us last night. He said there were people hunting us and that he would set a trap for them, even gave us some tools to help capture them. No doubt he left with the leader and the rest of the loot during the battle with the troll. Don't know much details about the trap, except that we weren't to remove the marked treasure from the pedestal."

Kalia nodded and lowered him to his feet, "So this trap is magical? Do you know what it does to its victim?"
The orc shook his head, "No, my lord. That is only what I overheard, nothing more."
Kalia sighed and began collecting and reapplying his coverings and armor.
"If the trap is indeed magical, there is a chance I can remove the curse before it kills Rebecca for good. She's not easy to kill, even for magic such as this, but we are short on time."
He drew his bladed scepter and released the catch so it extended into a double bladed spear. He looked down at the Nordenfiir girl, "Young one... What is your name?"

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

Now that the reality was starting to slowly sink in she realized that this stranger his apologizing and her screaming back at him were quite surreal. He hid his lack of flesh while she stood mesmerized on the side and wondered how these Orcs were ‘his’. Why in the world would Orcs swear their lives to serve someone else unless that someone was more than extraordinary. By the looks of him, and his suffering as a response to Rebecca’s disappearance into the underworld, he was much more than a man.

Picking up her stuff, she dusted things off, taking her satchel and hanging it around her shoulder, while holding up Rebecca’s ‘share’ as an offering to him. Afterall, he had tried to save both of them and managed to save her life. He had to be Rebecca’s ally or friend. Her goods belonged to him now.

“My name is Mikaela Ryurik, and this is Rebecca’s, I think that it’s yours now.” Holding it up for him to take it or give it to one of his ‘servants’ she then asked the obvious. “What about you? What is your name?” but more importantly was. “How would you save her?”

A magical trap? Was that meant to be a sort of seal?

“We need to find the shaman.” Was her conclusion even if he didn’t agree. The problem was that with all the sand covering this place she would have a great difficulty finding his scent. According to the Orc he wasn’t one of them.. so .. she would have to scan the area, but they didn’t have much time.

There were too many Orcs around the area for her to follow that scent. If he was with the leader and whoever else had fled from the battle, well, it was still his scent she needed.

“Does one of you know where the group was supposed to go to or another place nearby to where the ones who’ve feld might have set up camp?” At least a direction would be helpful, so she wouldn’t need to sniff around the entire area and waste precious time which was crucial in the attempt to safe her friend.

Hopefully he didn’t mind her slightly bossing around his Orcs.

* * *​

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He nodded to her as he accepted the satchel in his skeletal hands, "Mikaela Ryurik. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. I am Kalia Oro Khastan, Rebecca's master and friend..."
He looked at the sand they stood on.
"This isn't an ordinary trap. For one thing, we're in the tundra, there wouldn't be any sand out here. This tells me that this trap must be magical. And the very fact that the trap involves sand makes me wonder if this shaman my servants speak of is a Kalitian sorcerer."

He let her ask the orcs her own questions. They looked at him at first but he nodded, permitting them to answer her.
"The shaman is like our lord said. A human with brown skin, from the desert. Which is strange that he would be here in the cold north. But he and our old boss probably fled to the East, the same direction we were traveling before we stopped to set up the ambush."

Kalia nodded. "We have three options it seems. I can try to remove the curse from here, but there is no guarantee that I can do it. Or, we can chase down the shaman and force him to do it, which may take more time than we have and she might be dead by the time we get back. Or we can do both. Perhaps I can somehow slow the process of the curse and maybe keep her alive if she's still down there, while you and my servants go and chase down the shaman."
He looked at Mikaela with the painted eyes of his mask, "Do you think you can do it, Miss Ryurik?"

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

Master?

How could one possibly be both a master and a friend?

Blinking in confusion she let that part slide for now. They had greater things to worry about than the relationship between Kalia and Rebecca or the way he described it to be. Perhaps, considering their looks, they were a species with a different understanding of what a ‘master’ was. Maybe a senior or a teacher could be called a master. Mika would hopefully have a chance to find more about that later on.

“Yes, I can track the shaman. If your servants take care of the Orcs, we might be able to capture the man and bring him back. I would rather not torture him to death for I am no specialist in magic and could misinterpreted his explanation.” Nodding, she was already packing away things as practical as was possible. If all of the Orcs would be dead, they might even bribe them with some of the gold. Afterall, should his treachery of sorts spread he would find it hard to be taken on by the Orcs once again. And for a dark skinned man, a shaman, to dwell the Blightlands, well, he was an extraordinary figure, easy to recognize. Should she lie to him about her return being a must unless he wanted to be tracked down till the edges of the world, well, there would be no way for him to know Kalia wouldn’t or didn’t have the means to.

“If I don’t return, avenge her.”

Was all she said to the tall man before taking his servants with her and follow the human scent to the corner of the forest. Surely he needed peace and quiet to work on his magic spell.

* * *
OOC: Kalia Oro Khastan you work on the spell, I'll bring back the shaman?
Or did you have something else in mind Rebecca Fourtuna​

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia nodded to her request. "Don't worry... I will."
The orcs picked up their weapons and followed the young Nordenfiir while Kalia turned his attention back to the sand.
He reached out with his senses trying to perceive what magic or curse was in place. When he reached out all he could sense was a tangled mass of magic, like a web. A curse, and a complex one at that. He had to find the epicenter of that infinite web and destroy it if he were to break this curse.

He thrust his spear deep into the sand and then knelt before it, using it as a focus for his power as he began meditating. He dove deep into the weave of the spell, following one path after another, if he made a mistake he could become trapped by the curse as well, he had to exercise utmost caution. That was the thing about curses, so easy to cast yet so hard to remove.

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​

These orcs that now followed the girl weren't as tribal as the ones they faced before. They wore fairly decent clothes with banded leather armor over the top and it looked like at least some thought was put into personal grooming. They carried three spears each and either a heavy sword or axe as a secondary weapon. They looked more like a band of mercenaries than savage orcs

They talked amongst themselves as they followed the Nordenfiir.
"I still find it difficult to believe that this child was able to wipe out an orc camp... She did have some help, but still, she had a hand in taking down a troll?"

"Well, our master is a cursed god. I wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point. When my Da was a child he said he killed a Dire bear with his bear hands. Utter bullshit, he was a weakling. But when you see things with your own eyes, what can you say?"

"But I've never seen a rage like that. I thought my grandmother had the wrath of the gods. But I swear right now that I almost shat myself when he let loose. I thought his power woulda killed us all."

The last one simply remained silent as they walked.

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

While she couldn’t say that she actually liked these Orcs more than the ones that had trapped her, and would have most likely killed if not enslaved her, she did prefer their company. Especially that of the silent one. As the others spoke among each others she let them, simply following the smell as they went, Mikaela still couldn’t quite figure out if they were really following that mummified tree of a man out of loyalty or a spell was playing its part in this parade. In the end, for her, it mattered not. They only needed to extract and bring back the shaman. Everyone else could and probably would be slaughtered.

They moved fast, she didn’t allow them to slow down. At some point it was obvious that she was becoming the leader and it’s when she motioned for the silent on to come walk beside her. Her eyes scanned the area. A reckless mess had been made as the party before them had moved through the bushes. Apparently they hadn’t been worried about being traced or tracked. Of course not, after a trap like that? Nobody would be worried, she figured, but remained on guard. Even if the Orcs weren’t the smartest, they did have a shaman who might or might not be of the paranoid type.

After quite some time the small group stumbled upon a small village. She stopped, making sure they kept quiet and focussed on the task at hand. The foreigner’s scent was strong here, even among the Orcs. He was the only one. Sweetness, dried spices, remnants of sand and an odor she was not familiar with at all; the smell lingered around the village.

A silence lingered too.

The lack of blood had her realizing that the place has been abandoned quite some time ago.

“You’ll go with me, we’re extracting the shaman, you, split up, make sure to take out the guards if there are any and get the attention of the others.” A faint scent of alcohol crossed her nostrils. “Get the ones drinking, too. Try to make it seem as a pillage.”

She hoped it would work. When the odds were potentially against you, one had to tread lightly. Pulling an arrow back, she moved close to the walls together with her partner. First one they would see would go down quickly. An arrow through his throat to make sure his vocal cords were gone and no noise aside from the dull sound of his body hitting the ground was made.

The scent grew stronger. Hopefully the other Orcs knew what they were doing.

* * *​

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The orcs listened as she gave them orders, it was a little strange for them but they went with it. They each nodded as they were given specific instructions and then broke off when everyone had a task.
The silent orc followed her, spear at the ready. He seemed a little older than the other three with some grey streaks in his tied back black hair, but he wasn't any less hardy or strong for his age.

As they stealthily moved through the abandoned village the orc watched her back as they silently followed her sense of smell that was evidently far more effective than that of the orcs own keen senses.
It wasn't long before they came across an orc that the child immediately shot, but after the enemy fell the old orc stepped past her around the corner and thrust his spear into the throat of another orc that had been standing nearby and watched its comrade go down.

In the distance they heard some shouting as the other orcs did their jobs, striking at various spots in the orc habitation of the village to create multiple points of confusion to get their attention.
The old orc nodded to her, indicating for her to continue leading the way.

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Delving deep into the web of the curse Kalia worked tirelessly, the deeper he got the thicker the web became, indicating he was going the right way at least. With each strand he dispelled it delayed the effects of the curse a little longer.

Eventually he located the center of the web, but he was far from removing all the strands. At the center he saw a light that he knew indicated the victim of the curse, but he was dismayed that more strands were being attached to it even while he worked. It would literally be all he could do to keep her at this stage and falling no further, but that was his job, and so he set himself to do just that for as long as he possibly can.