He left to retrieve his horse. Lathaar wrapped his arms around her as she continued to cry.
I tortured him, he heard her say in his mind. Celestia help me, I tortured him, just like he…he…
“You’ll be okay,” he said.
I’ve never…I have all this power and I lost control…
“You’ve fought before. Killed before.”
But never this. Please forgive me, Michael. Never this.
Lathaar kissed her forehead and held her tight. She had called him by his original name before he had passed the Trials and become a paladin. It reminded him of just how young she still was, and how young she had been when he first met her, alone in a dark forest with only a demon to keep her company.
“I forgive you,” he said, pulling her back and taking her hand. “Now let’s get away from this place. Go back to my horse.”
She sniffed, smiled a little, and then did as she was told. Lathaar pushed the remaining three bodies into the river, feeling grim satisfaction with each one.
“Five less servants of Karak in this world,” he said. “Five less drops in a river.”
“But even rivers one day run dry,” Jerico said from atop his horse. He held Lathaar’s reigns in his right hand. Mira rode atop the horse.
“Amen,” Lathaar said, taking his seat on the saddle behind Mira.
9
E ntrances into the Vile Wedge were few. The Citadel had guarded the lower portions of the rivers when it had still stood, preventing the dangerous inhabitants within from crossing by boats. No bridges remained across the bone ditch, the orcs name for the great chasm lining the eastern side. Scouts for Mordan sailed down the Rigon river on the west, reporting to the wall of towers than stretched for miles and miles. But to one skilled with dark magic, even the challenge of the giant rivers proved surmountable.
“Have you even been inside the wedge?” Velixar asked as they stared at the slowly flowing river, whose surface reflected back the stars in a beautiful display. Qurrah and Tessanna both shook their heads as they stood beside him.
“Marvelous place,” the man in black said, smiling. “The orcs rule the majority, but it is a tenuous hold. Hyena-men, wolf-men, goblins, even the bird-men have their places, all castaways from the great war. They were made by the gods, then forgotten when their usefulness ended. But it is time to end their chaos.”
He turned to Tessanna. “My lady, would you be so kind as to grant us passage across?”
“But, I’m not…” She stared at the opposite shore over two hundred feet away. “I don’t know if I can.”
Qurrah felt a spike of jealousy as Velixar put a hand on her shoulder her and gently nudged her closer to the water.
“You are as powerful as you are beautiful,” he said. “And if you do not know if you can, then it is time you learned. You are the daughter of a goddess. Your limits are your own to discover…and then exceed.”
Tessanna looked back to Qurrah, who only nodded.
“Very well,” she said. “I could float us across, but you know that. This is a test. I don’t like tests.”
“My apologies, but I do,” Velixar said.
Tessanna laughed.
“Aren’t you so polite.” Wisps of white ether floated like smoke from her hands. Velixar stepped beside Qurrah and whispered to him as a sudden wind screamed in from the south.
“How much have you seen of her power?” he asked him.
“More than enough,” Qurrah replied.
“No,” Velixar said. “There is never enough. There is always more.”
Tessanna’s black hair danced in the wind. Her hands spread wide, the white mist growing thicker and swirling around her fingers. She let out a tiny moan as her body lifted a foot off the ground, and her head arched back as she let loose her power. With a savage cry, she slammed her hands together. A white beam sliced through the river, accompanied by a great roar of moving water. She spread her hands. The ground shook. The river growled and tossed. And then a pathway opened, dry and barren.
“She could do more,” Velixar whispered as both stood in awe. “And I will push her to it, whether she wants me to or not.”
The blocked river tried to overflow its banks, but Tessanna curled her fingers and enclosed it. A white wall blocked both sides, stretching to the sky. The magical dam captured the water and pressed it ever higher. Despite the enormous power of the river, the girl walked through the pathway she had made with little sign of exhaustion.
“Don’t hurt her,” Qurrah said before walking through. “Just don’t hurt her.”
“I promise.” Velixar pulled his hood low and followed. “And I keep my promises.”
When they reached the other side, Tessanna turned and smiled.
“Wave bye-bye to the river,” she said. Before either could react, she relaxed her body. The white wall vanished. The roar of the water was deafening as it collapsed downstream, overloading the banks and crushing trees that grew along its edge. The girl giggled at the destruction she caused.
“I may not like tests,” she said, “but that was fun.”
Velixar once again placed his hand on her shoulder and led her on. “Truly magnificent,” he said.
I t was Velixar’s decision that they travel by day. Secrecy was no longer necessary. For two days they followed the river north. At the start of the third day, Velixar revealed a portion of his plan.
“There are three main orc tribes,” he explained as they walked. “The Mug tribe is the biggest, followed by the Dun and the Glush tribes. A fourth tribe, however, has sworn off worshiping animals. Somehow they learned of their elven heritage and now worship Celestia, hoping the goddess will remove the curse that poisons their blood. They are a blasphemy against Karak and must be dealt with accordingly.”
They came upon a crude banner made of two sharpened sticks thrust together in the dirt. Draped over the front was what appeared to be the skin of a wolf.
“We’ve entered their territory,” Velixar said. “It won’t be long before we find one of their camps.”
“Why a wolf skin?” Qurrah asked as they passed by the banner.
“The wolf-men to the north often raid their homes for food. The orcs here use their skin to make their banners, blankets, and huts.”
Tessanna started laughing.
“Bad doggie,” she said as they passed by a similar banner. When both men gave her a funny look, she only laughed louder, the sound hollow among the quiet, dangerous land.
They traveled over the dry, yellow grass, until the encampment was within sight.
“There,” Velixar said, pointing. “Karak has whispered of them for many years, but at last I see them with my own eyes.”
Hundreds of tents covered the nearby hills. On each and every one was a triangle. Two lines stretched outward from the bottom. A tree, Qurrah realized. Drawn in the blood of animals was a tree, the old symbol the elves used for Celestia. For the first time Qurrah saw orc females, their sex no longer hidden behind heavy war armor. Their breasts were flat, and more muscle than milk. Children ran about, wrestling and playing games with rocks and toys carved from wood. In the center of the camp was a tent far larger than the others, with red trees on each side of the entryway.
“How have they not been conquered by the other tribes?” Qurrah asked.
“That is the mystery,” Velixar said. He licked his lips. “Somehow they have held off any and all attacks. The other tribes talk of how a goddess protects them. This sort of blasphemy is dangerous, my disciple. It changes the order of things and renders the land even more chaotic. Follow me. We will show them their place.”
Velixar walked down the hill, his arms held at his sides in an apparent gesture of peace. Guards lined the exterior of the camp, and when they spotted him they raised a ruckus in their native tongue. Orcs flocked together. Qurrah and Tessanna approached, hand in hand. The half-orc had never felt more conscious of his gray skin. He could feel his tainted blood coursing within him, and for the first time he saw their civilization.
