DORULL SAGA - SWAMP OF DEATH
----------------------------------------------------
Bagtur spent the entire night in
front of the room where Thorin was resting. Captain Lutir’s injury turned out
to be much more dangerous than anyone assumed or expected to be. Half-orc took
on the news quite badly, to the point they had to throw him out for everyone’s
sake. But soon, he understood, Yelamir needed peace and quiet to meditate, if he was to help his father.
Magical healing required a perfect concentration. Even the smallest of disturbances
could cause a damaging mistake, with a potentially fatal outcome.
It was early in the morning, when
paladin came out from the room. His pale, sweat-dripping face, clearly spoke of
the exhaustion. Yelamir spend the last of his energy, he was accumulating
throughout the night. Tired and weak, he barely stood on his feet. Palgrin run
up to him, gently grabbing paladin underneath his arms, before he fell onto the
ground.
“It all went well.” the paladin
smiled, “Thorin should wake up any second now.”
“Run to the main kitchen boy, our
patient will be quite hungry.” the sorcerer waved Bagtur to go.
“He’s not the only one.” Yelamir
grinned broadly.
“Breakfast for everyone, then?”
Bagtur opened the door, almost running into the councilor Falkner, who was about
to knock on the door.
Awkward moment would’ve lasted the
entire day, if it weren’t for the old sorcerer, who pushed the half-orc out.
“Tell them to make a lot of tea.”
Palgrin said smiling “Welcome milady, would you wish something from the
kitchen?”
Eilonna shook her head, hastily
rushing inside the house. Bagtur wasn’t waiting for any more instructions, as
he headed straight towards the kitchen, across the main yard. Half-orc only
hoped the councilor wouldn’t be there, when he returned back. He could not
stand her presence. Eilonna wasn’t like any other women, human or orc alike.
For some reason, that bothered him very much.
Kitchen was open for merely a
couple of minutes, but it already saw the first portions of food leaving for
the barracks. Cooks needed to start this early, if they were to serve every
soldier. And by the time they finished serving breakfast, cooks had to begin
preparations for lunch. Making three meals a day for several thousand soldiers
was everything but easy. But cooks seemed fine with it, quite cheerful despite
being this early in the morning. Loud singing could be heard from the kitchen,
Bagtur knew the reason for it, before he even went inside. They were all drunk.
Arrival of a large, frightening
looking half-orc, didn’t hinder them even for a second. They were too focused
on their jobs. Some of it might have been because of the mead. But without it,
they could hardly manage to withstand the strains of their hard work. Everyday
toasts became a ritual to them. But also a way of coping with the overload of
their jobs.
“How can I help you laddie?”
cheerfully yelled chubby, red-faced cook.
“I need several breakfast servings
and a lot of hot tea for infirmary, and fast.” Bagtur said.
“We just put the new batch of bread
in the oven.” another one retorted “If you don’t have anything better to do,
pull up the chair and grab a mug.”
Half-orc was fast to accept the
invitation. He would stay just enough for the councilor to leave. And a couple
of drinks on top of it, sounded like a fine proposition, despite being a bit
early for a drink. Bagtur could handle his share of alcohol, but these cooks
were something different. He became well aware of that, after just a few fast
toasts. In a space of a bit over ten minutes, half-orc was quite drunk, and had
no intentions to stop anytime soon. Enthralled with the bright surroundings and
the atmosphere, he too joined in with cooks’ singing. And in half an hour, that
took them to prepare the breakfast, it became obvious they went a bit too far.
Loud noise drew several soldiers, coming from, or to their guarding duties.
“Fun and games, as usual.“ one of
the soldiers said.
“Come in, join us. There’s plenty
to share.” a fat cook lifted up a recently opened jug of mead.
“I am not sharing a drink with that
halfbreed.” a deep voice came from the outside of the kitchen.
Bagtur almost jumped hearing that.
His eyes narrowed, as he focused at a doorway. Quite large, strong looking man
walked inside, pushing soldiers to make his way.
“Go away orc, you are not welcome here.”
he said.
“What is the meaning of this,
Breatis?” the cook asked quietly, taking a couple of steps backwards.
“He insulted and disgraced
councilor Falkner.” he said “And you give him drinks?”
“She did it to herself.” Bagtur
retorted in between two sips “And so are you.”
“Did this halfbreed said something?”
Breatis turned towards one of the soldiers “I couldn’t understand it.”
He knew the ways to anger half-orc.
He was instructed well. Eilonna asked for an incident, and Breatis couldn't
have wished for a better chance, seeing Bagtur drunk.
“Are you alone, or did the
councilor send for more?” half-orc said.
“Time to teach you some respect!”
Breatis snapped angrily.
Bagtur laughed loudly, looking him
straight in the eyes. He did not understand why everyone was afraid of this
man. Yes, he was a bit bigger, had more muscles, but with that gentle, somewhat
pretty face, he would never succeed in intimidating half-orc. Or any other
soldier from Thirel post, for that matter. Breatis spat at Bagtur’s feet,
waving him to approach. Moment of silence was disrupted with the hasty
footsteps of both cooks and soldiers, trying to move away as far as possible.
“Once I’m done with you, you’ll
crawl to the councilor and apologize.” Breatis said “And after that, who
knows, perhaps she’ll let you stay in the service. Or, you could join your
captain in early retirement.”
“You shouldn’t have said that.”
Bagtur barked.
He lunged at Breatis, flailing his
arms. Any other day half-orc would have hit him. But today, Bagtur was heavily
inebriated. He misjudged the space between them, failing to notice a small,
wooden bench. Half-orc lost his balance, tripping over it, stumbling head
first, straight for the Breatis’ knee. The contact was direct and hard. It
almost broke his nose. It sent him flailing backwards, onto his back. Thin
streams of blood appeared out of his nostrils and from the left corner of his
mouth. Breatis laughed wholeheartedly, taking a couple of steps forward.
And this provoked Bagtur even more,
and to the point where he began losing control. His boiling hot, orcish blood
took over any reasoning he had left, instantly filling him with rage. Barbaric
urges made him do only one thing. Destroy. Bagtur was fast on his feet,
charging at Breatis, who didn’t have time to do anything. Fists, heavy as stone
mallets, fell unto Eilonna’s bodyguard, in a barrage of violent strokes. Just a
couple of seconds later, his face was an unrecognizable mess of blood, flesh
and bones.
Bagtur had no intentions of
stopping himself, carrying on to beat Breatis’ long after he fell unconscious.
And once the half-orc noticed the man was not moving, he jumped, charging
towards the nearest soldier. But, to his disappointment no one would dare to
stay. Fleeing from his destructive path, soldiers run far away from the yard.
Seeing how fast he dealt with Breatis, who would have blamed them.
Suddenly, as if he remembered
something, Bagtur turned around, heading towards the infirmary. He almost split
the door in half, rushing inside the house. If half-orc was trying before, to
avoid councilor Falkner, now he wished she was still here. And he caught her by
surprise, standing beside the old sorcerer. They both turned to the loud,
crashing sound, wondering what possessed him to act in such a violent manner. His
demeanor was different, threatening.
“What is…the meaning of…this?”
Eilonna stuttered scared.
“This is warning and advice,
councilor.” Bagtur was breathing heavily, barely managing to control his rage.
“Next time you decide to send someone for me, make sure they are equal to
the task.”
“How dare you come in such an
awful, brute way?” Eilonna waved her hand “Talking to me disgustingly, as only
you could do.”
“And if it was only me, I wouldn’t
say a thing. But to threaten captain Lutir, was a costly mistake.”
“I assure you, I don’t know what
you are talking about.” Eilonna was adamant.
“Perhaps not now, but you will once
your guard wakes up.” half-orc growled “If he wakes up.”
“Breatis would never threaten
capt…” Eilonna suddenly went quiet, knowing she blurted the name of the
soldier.
She couldn’t keep denying it
anymore. She did send her guard, to provoke and challenge half-orc. To try and
teach him a lesson. To humiliate him. But yet again, he walked away. Eilonna
frowned even more, seeing a large grin on Bagtur’s face. Damn half-orc get one
over her once again. She blushed out of shame and anger. In the moment nothing
mattered, Eilonna lost herself. She could no longer bear Bagtur’s presence.
Loud shriek rumbled throughout the
infirmary, as councilor Falkner lunged towards half-orc. Sharp dagger suddenly
appeared in her hand. She was undoubtedly ready to use it. Eilonna was fast,
but Bagtur was ready. Lightning fast reaction saw him grabbing councilor’s
wrist, twisting her around, and deflecting away the weapon. One hard squeeze
was enough to disarm her, but Eilonna was still trying to free from the
embrace.
“Stand still.” Bagtur whispered
decisively, into her ear “I do not wish to hurt you.”
“Be gone you animal, just
disappear!” Eilonna hissed “Leave my fort!”
“With pleasure.” half-orc retorted
“As soon as the captain says he’s ready for it.”
Doors to a room suddenly slammed
open, making them all turn around. Behind a visibly weary paladin, stood
captain Lutir. He was holding onto Yelamir’s shoulder. With the dark grim on
his face, he took a step towards Bagtur.
“Calm yourself down boy, we are
leaving.”
Half-orc listened to Thorin
immediately. Seeing the captain back on his feet, softened Bagtur considerably.
Thought of returning home made this whole ordeal irrelevant. And the situation
didn’t need to complicate even more. There will be time to explain everything.
And hopefully put to rest. But, they all had to calm down, get sober even.
Despite no one saying a word, they were all thinking the same.
Just a couple of minutes later,
Thorin and Bagtur rode out of the Issurk fort. They were provided with two
strong horses that lost their masters in the battle against goblins. Hundreds
of soldiers gathered around, watching captain and half-orc leave, while few of
them carried Breatis inside the infirmary. Uncomfortable tension lingered in
the air, without anyone even knowing why. Something the paladin wanted to find
out, as soon as he was alone with Eilonna.
“What is the meaning of all this
nonsense?” Yelamir’s voice startled the councillor.
“Just a small matter of obedience
and respect.” Eilonna retorted “And that half-orc will learn it, no matter
what.”
“And this is the only way to…”
“Yes it is!” councilor rudely
interrupted Yelamir “Make sure Breatis stays alive, I have some things to do.”
“But I just…”
No comments:
Post a Comment