El-Vador's Travels (39 page)

He
came closer now, tantalisingly close to striking distance of
El-Vador's drawn blade. The Elf knew that to do so would be futile
though, and that a guard Captain would be alert to such a trick.

'It
is the Orcish people themselves that you choose to strike against.
You wish to avenge yourself against every Orc that ever lived.' His
face grew hard as he said these words. 'I know how that feels, to be
surrounded by the very people that wrought death and destruction upon
yours and to be powerless to stop them.'

A
pause then, undoubtedly due to him reliving some terrible memory. 'I
offer you an opportunity to strike out against our oppressors, under
one condition.'

El-Vador
stared back at him grimly, trying to mask his surprise. He sensed no
deception in Salvarius' words, this offer seemed genuine.

'Name
your condition.' he finally stated.

'That
you will only hear word of my plan after I convince Harg to flee this
burrow.'

The
Elf made to object but Salvarius cut him off with a raised hand. 'I
know that you cannot trust me and fully expect me to betray you, but
ultimately as I have said already I could simply bring your head to
Harg myself. What was left of it that is.'

He
hefted his mace, enough to tellingly emphasise his point but not
enough to be mistaken as an attempt to attack. El-Vador suspected
that he'd know exactly when this man was ready to strike at him.

The
man made a compelling argument, that he had no clear devotion toward
any of the Orcs other than Harg was reflected in his nonchalance at
the death of the guards under his command. Could one man's devotion
and life debt really force him to live with creatures he hated for so
long?

El-Vador
did not know much of human nature or spirit, but he understood the
reality of owing a debt and he also knew about extreme measures. This
was no Orc stood before him, it was entirely possible that the man
was simply seeing out a debt.

'If
you can convince the Orc that fleeing is in his best interest then I
will agree to your terms and let him part in peace.'

Salvarius
watched him for a moment before slowly nodding back in assent. 'Enjoy
your new position as guard of the pit, my men need not know that the
beast has been slain.'

With that, the heavily armoured man clanked off down the corridor and
out of sight.

'Enter.' the familiar voice intoned, barely noticing Salvarius as he
trooped in.

The lighting in the General's quarters was dim, a single guttering
flame showed the remnants of some crushed powder upon his desk
wrapped in a strange leaf. Beside it was an empty phial and the
slumped figure of Harg.

'The alchemists claim that this powder will ward away ill dreams, so
far I have yet to see any effect. I feel that these are not simply
farcical visions that I am swimming through in the darker nights.' A
bitter chuckle came from the General then, he reached out with a
large fist and crushed the leaf. 'It still plagues my dreams,
Salvarius. More often than not these days and with increasing
alacrity, almost as if it were taunting my attempts at secession.'

Salvarius wisely said nothing, knowing that his General wasn't
finished talking yet.

'It is a strange thing, that of all the memories of slaughter and
blood in my service to the army, this one is the only remaining
thought that troubles my sleep. Do you ever dream of the night I
saved you, old friend?'

'On occasion sir, though these are infrequent at best.' he replied,
feeling uncomfortable at where this was going.

'Do not 'sir' me here.' Harg snapped, before continuing in a more
measured tone, 'this is no place for rank, I wanted your opinion not
your obedience. In the last year I have been transformed from a
soldier into a bureaucrat, and ever since these dreams of my former
life have done nothing but increase.'

Salvarius watched as the Orc picked up the phial and downed the
remnants hissing at the bottom with a sour grimace.

'It's always the same one these days.' Harg continued, 'and the worst
part of it is I have no memory of it happening. I see through their
eyes, Salvarius. I watch them as they're torn apart by forces unknown
and on every death is etched the same face. That same mask of horror
and that same youthful face of the boy from the first village we
took. Instead of defiance there is rage, instead of youth there is a
certainty of purpose and a darkness that makes me recoil.'

The General subsided into silence, whether it was because he had said
too much or couldn't continue, Salvarius could not discern. All he
knew was that he had to speak now.

'The reason I came to you at this late hour sir is because I believe
I have captured the intruder responsible for waylaying our supply
wagons.'

Harg visibly perked up at this, it had been the right thing to say to
coax him out his misery. 'Have you sent him to the pit? Or did you
clap him in irons before arriving to me?'

Salvarius shook his head, knowing that his General wouldn't like
this. 'Sir, he claims to have bested the creature in the pit, and
killed the guards before I came across him.'

A silence settled upon the room once more as Harg drank this
information in and then affixed his subordinate with a piercing eye.
'Captain, no Orc could best that creature in the pit. What is it that
you're refusing to tell me?'

He knew it was a bad sign when the General referred to him by rank
rather than name, he only hoped that the Orc's reaction would be
considered when he told him the stark truth.

'I lied to you sir, when I spoke of not being able to determine the
creature that attacked us. The thing must have tracked me back to the
burrow and then killed the monster from the pit before climbing up to
the grate.'

Harg's eyes widened in anger. 'You still haven't told me everything,
Captain. Explain yourself immediately or I shall have you executed.'

Salvarius swallowed involuntarily and ploughed on. 'The creature in
question is an Elf, sir. He claims to be from the north and is bent
on destruction of every Orc.'

He watched his commander pale visibly at the implication. 'My
dream...' he heard the man say quietly into the silence before
resuming a tone of authority. 'Where is this Elf now? Why have you
not imprisoned him?'

'He is in the dungeons above the pit. I offered him a position of
employment in exchange for his life. I have also sent guards to man
all potential areas of escape, I wanted you to know of this before I
executed him.'

Harg shook his head. 'He kills our men and you offer him the
position? Why would you so such a thing with so dangerous a foe?'

Salvarius offered his commanding officer a confident smile in the
hopes that it would still his superior's paranoia. 'He believes that
I am aiding him in the destruction of the Orcs, that I will flee the
burrow with you after enabling him to bring about its destruction.'

The Orc looked at him for a time. 'And is that what you're planning
to do, Captain?'

It struck him like a blow and left him so aghast that he almost took
a step back in disbelief at what he was hearing. 'You really believe
that I would betray you so easily?'

Harg shrugged. 'I have seen the way you cling to your duty, how you
are distant from those around you even as you carouse with them. You
care not for any of my people save your obligation to me. Perhaps
this Elf has offered you a way out of that for all I know.'

'I would never betray you.' Salvarius replied instantly, at a loss
for anything else to say.

'I did not claim that it was me you would betray.' the Orc said,
waving his hand about in a punch drunk fashion. 'these people are my
people though, and if in your heart you desire to betray them and
sacrifice their lives to the Elf from my nightmares then you are in
turn betraying me.'

'I would never betray you.' he repeated, but his words were shrugged
off by Harg as he staggered toward his bed. 'Leave me. This
concoction has enforced a great weariness to steal over my senses,
there is little reason to talk at me when I'm unconscious. Make sure
that Elf is under constant guard, I shall deal with him in the
morning.'

Salvarius excused himself quickly, but there was no leaving behind
the conflict that raged on in his head.

He hadn't ever considered betraying his adopted people before. Their
ways may be uncouth and alien and rebuff his every effort to
integrate but they were still his people now. Why would he wish to
betray them?

The echo in his heart told him otherwise, he knew that he loathed the
Orcs and had grown to resent even the duty he had sworn to fulfil. It
had just taken this Elf and his treacherous words to cause the
feeling to blossom within him like the deceptive flower on some
tangled thorn.

What of the General's dreams? Was it mere coincidence that found a
deadly Elf bent on destroying all of the Orcs inside the very burrow
under Harg's control? Or was it possible that this figure had stepped
out of nightmare and into reality?

Surely one Elf could not defy an army, could he?

It was with an unnerving certainty that Salvarius realised he had a
decision to make.

I am not
a being given easily to trust. The only trust I can find is at the
heart of my own capabilities. Alliances are frail at best in their
tenuous nature and friend can turn to foe in the blink of an eye.
Salvarius was a different matter entirely, I have few words for one
such as he.

T
he strange white objects lay flat
upon the table, El-Vador had been staring at them for some time in
the dying light of the flickering lantern while waiting for
Salvarius' return. He knew he was being guarded, the shuffling of
booted feet was regimental in its lack of stealth, even if it wasn't
visible it served as a pointed reminder that he was deep in the heart
of Orcish territory. He also had no doubts that more guards would be
stationed in the cavern from whence he had crawled, as placid as
things seemed now he was under no illusions that he was trapped.

Unless the voice aided him in killing them all, that
was. From the complete silence had been treated to over the last
while he suspected that was not the case.

Salvarius returned long before the flame in the lantern
guttered out, this time he arrived in plain garb, divested of all his
armour and looking vulnerable without it.

The man had known that El-Vador still possessed his
weapons, had the guard Captain's shedding of his own defences been a
ploy to win over his trust?

'I could kill you right now.' El-Vador informed him
conversationally as he approached in plain sight.

The man nodded at him in acknowledgement of this simple
fact. 'You could, but it would be an entirely futile gesture and I
don't think you're the sort to take such action without thought.'

El-Vador inclined his head slightly and kicked out a
seat toward him, inviting him to parley with him once more.

'I have spoken to General Harg,' Salvarius began, 'he
knows that you are here but he has been led to believe that I have
imprisoned you.'

The Elf looked about him. 'I may as well be, you have me
fairly well guarded to the point of making escape most difficult.'

The guard Captain shrugged. 'A necessary precaution and
a largely perfunctory exercise, it doesn't change the reality of the
situation.'

El-Vador steepled his fingers and looked over the
tabletop at the man with mistrust. 'What would the reality of this
situation be?'

'That should the rest of the populace become aware that
an Elf resided amongst them they would descend upon you and tear you
to pieces.'

He smirked at the guard then. 'Such a noble species, the
Orcs.'

Salvarius ignored the jibe. 'I will return with bedding
and greet you in the morning, then I shall outline my plan to you
before finally convincing Harg to depart.'

'What if your beloved General decides that he doesn't
want to depart? What if he would rather see my skin nailed upon his
wall?'

'Then I shall release you, and you are free to go
elsewhere.'

This simple statement did not seem to remedy the Elf of
his concerns, instead he continued to stare at Salvarius with those
strange eyes of his, the angular features perched over the top of his
steepled hands. 'I am here for a reason, I shall not be leaving this
burrow until that reason is fulfilled.'

'Very well.' the man replied, not realising that
El-Vador himself did not know exactly what that reason was and
instead assuming it was to kill all the Orcs within.

They parted briefly on that, only for Salvarius to
return and silently lay out some bedding for him. El-Vador settled
cautiously into the luxurious comfort, he hadn't slept this well in
some time but the walls of the cavern kept reminding him just where
he was.

He only hoped that the voice would provide him with the
alacrity required to not perish.

Waking to the sound of booted feet, his eyes adjusted as
the room went from total darkness to complete illumination and a slow
deterioration of his previous sight gifted by the voice into the
flickering light of an incoming torch that made the shadows dance.

Rising quickly to his feet he drew his blade and readied
to strike, he need not have bothered as it was Salvarius who had
appeared, clad in his armour of before but lacking his customary
helm. There was a tiredness about the man's eyes that hadn't been
present the previous night, as if he hadn't slept. El-Vador gave the
observation no further thought, he had other more important things on
his mind at present than the well-being of a potential threat.