M.D.Syl
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Chapter 127 colorless
🕑 Added 2023-12-25 15:12:00 +0000 UTCChapter 127 Battle to the Death. Kreka’ak no Kolh’ak.
The world does not care for happiness, only strength.
But a strength without happiness is meaningless.
Tonisha, Lady of Ventures.
“Damnation!”
I gasp when Kolag pulls out his claymore from my flesh, blood gushes out in volumes. He lifts my upper body with a hand under my back, and I drink the potion eagerly when he presses the metallic bottle against my lips. I let out a relieved sigh when I feel the wound in my abdomen closing. I am freezing, probably due to the loss of blood, but I’ll most likely live. “Thank you, I love you…” I whisper.
“Noxi really hates this…” The glow coming out of Kolag’s armor is gone in an instant. The shiny white holy armor he wears turns into the battered shimmering black metallic skin he always had. “He left…” there is clear pain in his voice. “I can’t hear him anymore.”
I hold onto his next and whisper in his helmeted ear. “Your god is a hypocrite. I really don’t care what Noxi hates. I love you, and I care what you like. The only reason I accepted Noxi was you, but I still don’t want to die for that choice. Thank you Kolag… Thank you for choosing me over him…”
He grunts, but hugs me tightly. “Please don’t let the savages enslave all of these people… never mind my god, I can’t live with myself knowing the woman I love is going to enslave hundreds of people… You said I won't be able to sleep at night knowing I killed you, and you're right, but I also won't be able to sleep at night knowing you enslaved all these people...”
I sigh, and slowly get up to my feet with his help. “What do you want me to do? You heard Jerro.”
He supports my body with a hand around my back. “I did. A compromise of some sort?”
I break the hug and stand on my own, despite the dizziness. “Giving us two thirds of the people is already a compromise. The orcs... They respect strength, not compromises… how did they even take you as a prisoner?”
“Gorlor threatened to kill an innocent woman if I don’t surrender…”
“I see… I have an idea." I blink, trying to chase away my dizziness and not shudder from the cold. My heart pounds in my chest as I struggle to breathe. A lump in my throat blocks part of my airways, I touch my throat and realize that the parasite Jolla removed is back in my throat, and when it builds up enough blood particles, my cough will be a death sentence. The healing potion did more than just save my life, just like Jolla warned. This is a problem for later, I have to deal with this crisis now! “Gorlor!” I call out.
The elder orc lifts his chin.
“Are orcs honorable?”
“Of course!” He replies as a matter of fact.
“You don’t have any right to any of this sheep. You haven’t beaten Kolag, you used dishonorable tricks to bind him. You’ll release the sheep you haven't earned!”
“He surrendered,” Gorlor exclaims.
“Not by choice. You forced his hand with a dishonorable trick.” I see the orcs shifting uncomfortably at my words. “Fight him! All of you wolves! Fight him if you dare. Come at him together and fight him! If you win, you can keep your snaking sheep… but if you lose, all of your sheep will become his!”
The orcs exchange looks, a wave of growls erupts. I know they can’t turn down such a challenge.
“Inara… Noxi isn’t with me anymore… I don’t have my powers… I can’t…”
“You can. Take off your helmet if you have to. Kill them until they stop coming. You made this rotting mess, you're the one who demanding their release, you clean it up! Go!”
“Don’t!” Jerro rushes from his place behind Balgrum’s seat, raising both of his hands in alarm. “Inara don’t. This is worse than before. Please!”
“Our laws forbid mass of bloodshed for the sake of sheep.” Balgrum stands up. “Al nh’ gah’ kra’lat! Ga’akash ti-yoma’ari, ala grusha’ashesh, ti-araj gah’ krek!” <I will not ___! ___ our sheep, I did _____, dogs no fight!>
I step forward toward the dying flames in the middle of the camp, dragging Kolag behind me. I raise his hand high. "Then don't come all at once. Choose a champion to fight him, fair and square. As many champions as you want. You did not beat him, and by your own laws you don't have a right to these sheep. Gorlor you are a dishonorable snake! Fight him for the sheep you haven't earned if you dare! Or are you all just cowards?!"
Agilla steps forward lifting her axe above her head, for a moment I think she's the one who's going to be the champion who challenges Kolag. “Balgrum yomla a’ari oko! Al, Agilla, nh’la oko! Ti kreka’ak no kolh’ak!” <Balgrum weak cowardly chief! I, Agilla, will be better chieftess! We fight to honorable death!>
This is the first sentence in orcish I fully understand, and I wish I hadn’t. The orcs who were obviously uncomfortable with my claims and Grolor's actions, now howl wildly, happy to shift this into a familiar simple situation. They raise their weapons up in the air, and slam their axes against their shield for a battering sound, cheering madly at the upcoming challenge and the promised duel.
“Please stop!” Jerro screams, he collapses near me holding his head in his hands. “All of you stop!” His voice turns weak. “Stop it stop it stop it, blood, death, everyone dies, everything dies, blood, darkness, void, blood, stop.”
Balgrum growls angrily and unsheathes his axe, turning to face Agilla. “Ria’arikal!” <Traitor!> he growls at her.
She laughs and bites the air in his direction. “A’ari” <Weak>
Attacking her after she wins the duel will turn the orcs against me, but what if I can attack her now… I put my hand in my pouch and pick a handful of rose petals. “Myrsha! Lu myrsha nik!” <Gravity! Don’t pull her!> I cast a swift ‘Alino’s Weightless Body’ on Agilla.
Silence falls on the crowd. They all watch wide eyed as the orc loses her balance and floats in the air, a speck of purple light circling her rapidly. She seems as if she’s deep under water, except her hair doesn’t float. She turns her head and screams at me. “Ik gah’ lat potasi! Gah’ h’ak! Kreka’ak no kolh’ak! Jash!” <You no ___ shaman! No honor! We battle to honorable death! ___!>
“You schemed to take control over this clan for a while Agilla, using honor for your own ambitions… I healed your blood curse just an hour ago, is this how you repay me? Do you take me for a fool? Do you take all of the wolves here for fools?” Whether this is true or not I have to make her seem like a dishonorable villain here. If I won’t, the orcs would turn against me. But I also have to stop this duel no matter what.
“Ria’arikal!” <Traitor!> Balgrum growls in agreement over the deathly silence.
“Kreka’ak no kolh’ak!” <We battle to honorable death!> Agilla screams.
Some of the orcs begin chanting. “Kreka’ak no kolh’ak, kreka’ak no kolh’ak kreka’ak no kolh’ak.” It isn’t looking good for us. If I kill her, Sharla and Jerro will die, and if I don’t, Balgrum will die… I have to think of something! Anything!
“Let her down Shaman, we fight to the death.” The calm words come from Balgrum.
“Let her down…” Jerro repeats with fatigue in his voice. He gets up to his feet and limp to standing behind me. “It’s much worse if you kill her…”
I sigh and cut the supply of mana to the spellweave. Agilla drops to the ground and snarls at Balgrum with a mad smile on her face. The two shed off their new Marili scale armor, staying in their loin clothes. They circle each other, axes raised, both of them expose their sharp teeth, growling.
Agilla makes the first move. She charges at Balgrum, feinting a swing from above, then strikes from the side instead. Balgrum takes a step back, avoiding the violent hack. Agilla keeps swinging and swinging as the larger orc take one step back after the other.
“She’s going to win,” Jerro murmurs. “She’ll kill him, she’ll be the new warlord… She’s forceful, she’ll want to conquer other cities and hunt insane monsters. She won’t stop until she dies, follow her, don’t scheme, don’t challenge her authority again. Be submissive to her… within two months she’ll die in one of her hunts… And you’ll be able to take control again…”
“What about the people the orcs have enslaved?” Kolag asks in a low muffled voice.
Jerro shakes his head. “Inara can negotiate the release of one third of them right now, and the release of all once the mad wolf dies… The alternative is killing that mad wolf right now… but that’ll result in my death, my soul mate’s death, and many other innocent lives…”
“I can probably assassinate her. Ryon spends too much time in her bed anyway, I’m sure he can kill her…” I whisper, hoping my voice won’t be overheard over the orc’s howls.
“You can, but you’d lose both the orcs and their slaves… you can also groom another orc to challenge her to a duel, and you’d lose the orcs and the slaves… I’ve seen you doing both, and in both cases the orc elder blames you for ‘human schemes’…”
“What if we kill the elder first?” I ask.
“Inara…” Kolag’s echoing voice is tired. “Not everything can be solved by killing the people who stand in your way.”
“You should say that, after trying to kill me…” I reply sarcastically.
He pauses, I can tell my words hurt him. Good! “You’re right, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Don’t repeat my mistakes...”
He has a point… what am I going to do with this mess? I sigh and look at Balgrum’s axe missing Agilla’s neck by a hair’s breath. So close! The two combatants take a step back and circle each other again, biting the air in front of their opponent and faking a charge.
“If you kill the elder first, Agilla will use it to demand your death… you’ll have to fight the whole tribe,” Jerro replied.
“What if we kill them both at the same time?” I ask.
“Then the orcs might follow you… you don’t have a high chance of success… Let Agilla die in the hunt, listen to me for once!”
“And what if you’re wrong? I listened to you earlier, and you haven’t predicted Kolag’s attempt to kill me Jerro, why is that?”
“Kolag is… was, a favorite of another god. I already told you, I can’t predict the choices of another god’s chosen ones, not with accuracy.”
“I won’t threaten your life again, Inara, I swear it!” Kolag’s echoing voice is filled with guilt. “After this, I’ll tie myself in the dungeon, I’ll stay there until the day we leave this cursed island…”
Like hell you would! “No, you won’t! I’m going to need your help.”
“But I’ve challenged your authority, and I attempted to kill you. If I had chosen wrong earlier, you’d be dead! I can’t be trusted!”
Sure, he tried to kill me… but at the end he went against his god and chose not to… even if it meant losing his powers… just because he loves me… I really love him for this… Sure, I'm also mad at him for trying to kill me in the first place, but I don't him chained to a wall for this. I can't trust him anymore... No. He more than proved himself by betraying his god for me, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and pretend I trust him. “You also chose not to kill me, despite everything you had to lose. I’ll trust you to do the same in the future.”
“I…” He hesitates. “I’m not sure I’ve made the right choice, please don’t put me in this situation again, Inara…”
He doesn't trust himself, and that's a good sign that I can and should trust him again... I still can't... I'll need time... but he doesn't have to know that... “You’ve made the right choice, we have each other’s backs. If you see me making a mistake, talk to me, and not with your sword. If I ever put you in this situation again, I’ll trust you to make the exact same choice at the very end. Or better, not even attack me to begin with.”
“I don’t trust myself to make the same choice…”
“Then I’ll trust you for the both of us!” Stop doubting yourself you stupid bucket-head! You don’t have the heart to kill me! He almost did a couple of minutes ago… over some religious rot… But he didn’t! He turned on his god for me, I’ll turn on my paranoia for him…
Or maybe I’m just blinded by love… how am I different than Zoe? What if Kolag one day decides that letting me live is wrong? Maybe I should put him in the dungeon… No! I should trust him! I love him… and that blinds me… he's right...
He won’t kill me!
He almost did just now…
Agilla charges at Balgrum with a canine growl and chops off his hand. Balgrum backs off with a painful snarl, the axe and his torn palm fall off to the ground. Agilla swings her axe again, and Balgrum’s head fly off his shoulders, rolling down to the ground.
A magical red aura envelopes the orcish woman. Agilla raises her head and howls upward, just like she did after killing the blood fae.
I bite my lower lip as I watch the empty eyes in the bodiless head of a person I cared for, feeling broken inside. First Lezere, and now him, and over what? An ambitious bitch?! “Why didn’t you tell me not to heal Agilla earlier?” I ask Jerro hatefully.
“I didn’t see it back then… but this is worse than I thought… Agilla just became a chosen of Nuriss Goddess of War… I can no longer see her path.”
The orcish woman lifts Balgrum’s head, my friend’s head, by his hair. She raises the head high up and howls again. The orcs around begin chanting. “Oko! Oko! Oko! Oko!” <Chieftess! Chieftess! Chieftess! Chieftess!>
“So you’re no longer sure she’ll die on that hunt.”
“Correct…”
“That’s just great. Jerro? Take Sharla, take all the palace's personal, anyone who’s still free in this city and is willing to leave. Take all the food from the storages, board the ships in the harbor, and sail to Apricot City down the river… You have until tomorrow…”
My prophet nods solemnly, takes Sharla’s hand, and leaves toward the city in the distance.
“What are you up to, Inara?” Kolag asks at my side.
“If push comes to shove, be ready to take your helmet off…” I murmur.
A pair of orcs lifts Balgrum’s headless corpse, they carry him respectfully to one of their leathery huts.
“I’m Chief! And I hafe goddess blessing, shaman agree?” Agilla approaches me, showing me Balgrum’s head.
“Can I disagree? Yes, you are chief. I’ll wait for the day another wolf removes your head in the same fashion…” You rotten jar, I'll make you suffer!
“When that happen, I will go to hall of bones. Until then, I’m Chief!” She exposes her sharp teeth in a bloodied smile.
“That you are,” I say dryly. Only takes one single cough to kill you, you snaking harpy!
“Summon a red spirit. Hafe it bless me!”
“Excuse me, what?”
She snarls. “Red spirit, Shaman. Now!”
She probably mean a life elemental? They’re red… fire elementals are also red… which one? Probably life, they always look bloody… “Cut your wrist, red spirits love blood,” I say dryly, recalling the elemental summoning manual. I can summon a life elemental, but I’m not going to use my blood for it… I’ve lost too much blood as it is…
Agilla grins wildly and makes a shallow cut on her wrist with the same axe she took Balgrum’s head with.
“Ton revatol.” <Life elemental.> I say the two words, hoping some elemental will think it’s enough or be tempted by Agilla's blood. My Reviss <Energy> language isn’t great, but the other option is Rod’e and that itchy lips language is much worse.
A puff of red smoke, and a tiny elemental shows up, he drinks some of Agilla’s blood and disappears in another puff of red smoke. Why would they refuse free offerings…
Agilla nods with satisfaction. “Now I’m chief!” She turns to face the crowd of cheering orcs and raises both her bloody axe and Balgrum’s head. “Ti-a’ark kra’a gushasha, ti-a’ark sluka’a graker! Ti-A’ark sra’apo ti-a’arj lor-ka’ak! Ti-a’ark brika’a gra krekolak no krek! Ti-a’ark kashla yoma’ari! Ti-a’ark kashla boa’ari! Potasi nh’ti sugata klatira’a sluka’a! no nh’i sakra’a la’aoko!”
<we wolves eat ___, we wolves march ___! We wolves burn dogs’ dens! We wolves ___ ___ prey to hunt! We wolves bind sheep! We wolves bind ___! Shaman tell us ___ march! To bone grandchieftess!>
The orcs’ cheers and howls can probably be heard from miles away. An hour later, they bring grilled meat and alcohol. They set their party with the human slaves attending to their every need.
Unlike the last party, I now see different things. A female orc giving a thorough beating to a little human boy, just because he doesn’t move out of her way fast enough. Another orc dragging a screaming human woman to his leathery hut, the noises from the inside makes it very clear what he’s doing to her.
Another small section of the ground near the bonfire is cleared from people. A group of old slaves spread sharp bones on the ground, and the new naked slaves are made to run on it. This time it's not even about breaking their will, it's entertainment, the orcs around cheers with bellowing laughter, some are even betting on the outcome of which slave will make it first to the finish line.
To the side a female orc whips an elderly man. I wince with every crack of that whip. That’s what I wanted to agree to! Snakes!
Maybe at last party Balgrum kept them in check, or maybe I just saw what I wanted to see. “That’s not how the wolves treated their sheep in the last party.” I say to Agilla who takes her new cheiftess seat near me.
“Many new sheep, they need to be tamed, wolfes tame them…”
Right, back then they only had tame slaves, they don’t abuse tame slaves, only the rebellious ones… “How are you going to feed them all? You took a couple of thousands people, that’s a lot of mouths to feed…”
“There’s food in city, shaman promised food to sheep in Aprigot City. We hunt. We raid Aprigot City. We take more sheep. We take more food,” she answers.
Hurry Jerro, take the food and get the snake out of here… Apricot City needs that food more than anything! “Very well, we’ll go tomorrow and take it before we march. But you have to promise me that all of your sheep get food!” Keep the dumb dog negotiating on the things she think I’ll value… let her think I have plans for the long run… she dies tonight… chosen of Nuriss or not…
“You hafe my word, Shaman, we don’t starvfe our sheep.”
“Good! That’s all I ask.”
She looks in my direction, but I ignore her stare and keep my eyes on the large bonfire in the middle of the camp. I clench my teeth, trying not to shudder in the cold, I’m freezing despite the heat from the fire in front of me. I swallow, trying to sooth the constant itch in my throat, the parasite that builds up blood particles. I'll kill Agilla with my breath.
“You don’t want me to be chief, why?” Agilla asks.
Do you even need to ask? “Balgrum was my friend, you killed him.”
“He was my friend too, but he was old. I gafe him honor death while he can still do battle, he died happy. Now I eat him and gain his power, he’ll be happy in hall of bones, happy to know that the power in his flesh won’t be gone.”
I give a disgusted glance to the piece of grilled meat in her hand. “Is that?”
“Balgrum, yes. You can’t have his meat, Shaman, it for me alone!”
You’re so dead, you bitch! I don’t care about differences in culture, I don’t care about anything… Luard killed Lezere, and I killed him for it… you killed Balgrum, and you’ll suffer the same fate! No one gets away with crossing me like this! No one gets away with killing the people I care about! No one! “I don’t want that…”
“You don’t want his power?” She seems surprised.
“He was my friend, I cherished his life… not his death.” But I'll cherish your death little dog...
“Humans are mad…” She keeps chewing on my friend’s corpse, and I keep imagining blood pouring out of her orifices over and over in my head.
Not now… not yet… I need Jerro to escape first… be out of reach in the river... only then I’ll strike!
They keep offering me food and alcohol and I keep declining. Kolag stands behind me like a silent metallic statue, and I stare into the large bonfire in the middle of the camp. I do my best to keep my eyes open, to fight my fatigue. Fortunately, my burning rage and hatred keeps me awake. I sit there, waiting for the mad orc party to die out.
*
{28} Brigit (August) the 10th
It’s deep into the night, most of the orcs are drunk and unconscious by now. The few that aren’t, retire to their huts with a partner or a slave. Their activity is loud enough to make me grimace.
Agilla burps. “That was fun party, come to my tent to sleep, Shaman?”
“No, thank you…”
“Come! I make you hafe fun!” She gropes her own exposed breast and lifts it toward me, the grin reaches her amber wolf eyes.
I can’t stand her face. I can’t stand the fact that she killed Balgrum, my friend, the only person I had left of Lezere. And she just ate him RigHt iN frOnt of mE. Now she invites me to her tent for sex too, like it’s a normal thing to do?!
Snake orcs and snake their snaking culture! I’ve had enough!!! Just die! Just disappear!
I. WANT. YOU. GONE!
My hatred and rage merges with my mana and condense around the parasite in my throat, but I don't need mana, I simply cough at her.
*THOOOOOOMP*
The expected cloud of dark particles doesn't show. Every source of light in the camp is gone in an instant and my vision goes dark.
*Blink*
I can see clearly again. A longdark rod is impaling Agilla's chest. No. It's not a rod, it's an odd snake that sucks the light out of the surroundings, as if the parasite in my throat turned into this. The snake wriggle in the orc's chest, and...
*Blink*
The world turns dark again.
*Blink*
Agilla's whole body explodes as if someone sets off a ‘Kinetic Burst’ inside her heart, showering me with gore, guts, and shards of bones.
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 85
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 21 neutral gems. Conversion ratio: elemental : neutral 6:1, neutral : elemental 1:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 30 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 15 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 22/23 gems
Water: Affinity 6: connected: 69 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 7 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 15 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 93/104 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burstm. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield IIa. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.
Focus capability: 19 patterns.
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
1 potions of Lesser Healing.
2 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
42g Rose petals.
20g Lavender petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.
Present Companions:
Kolag
Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 4/10
Injuries and scars: Blood loss.
Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related.
-
Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.
Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,138 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves. ???
Kingdom's army: 1,136 Orc Warriors.??? 40 foot man 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.
Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Old Gardner Tiom.
