The great smoking wreckage of smoldering fires and tumbled stones was all that was left. The city of Arme had stood on the ground that was now covered with rubble and obscured by smoke. The orcs had torn it all down.
Anna looked out across the ruined city searching for any buildings left even partway standing. There were none. The orcs had done a thorough job of destroying her home. Anything that had been left standing had been destroyed. Orc mages had sent fire and explosion into the city, blowing the castle into half-melted slag and rubble. Arme was no more.
She now knew that the orc attack had been provoked. A raid had been sent into the orc lands, and an almost defenseless village was destroyed. The orc that had attacked her in the barracks had lost his wife and children to that raid. A raid sent by her allies to draw the orcs to attack the city.
The food that she had seen the wizard Brend order poisoned had been taken and loaded onto wagons along with many other supplies that had been stockpiled for the siege. She had tried to warn them about the food, but one of the orcs that spoke a bit of the trade tongue had assured her it was not poisoned. The remaining wagons had been loaded with another sort of freight. They were loaded with women who the orcs had thought looked capable of being useful as 'wives' back in their home city. Women who were or would be enslaved by the orc magic. Women like Anna.
"Anna?" She heard Owa say. "Dog?" Pointing at the horse he had given her to ride.
"Horse" she corrected him. "And no I would rather walk for a bit."
He was actually picking up the elven tongue far faster than she had expected. In the two days they had been working at it Owa had learned quite a few words. His accent was horrible and many of the words he had learned were not something he would use with anyone else. At least if he values his life he damn well better not, she thought.
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And now she is mad at me again, Owa thought. I ask her if she wants to ride rather than walk and she glares at me. I will never understand women.
The old blue robed healer was another problem. He apparently didn't exist. When Owa had gone to ask Jerd, the head of the healer priests with the army, if the old orc could be left behind to accompany them he had said there was no such priest. After asking around, Owa discovered that no one else other than Anna had ever seen him. He also found out that there was no order of priests who wore blue robes. There hadn't been one for centuries. A young priest he had asked about it had warned him from further inquiry into a matter that was the business of the church.
Seeing him lost in thought Gren, Owa's second in command, walked up and clapped him on the shoulder. Gren with his short stature, broad shoulders, and brutish tusked face, was the classic nightmare orc that human mothers scared their children with in stories. He was also the best strategist Owa had ever met. Gren was not a leader, but the mind behind that ugly face was brilliant. He had organized the men into scouts and guards for the march home. There were no enemy forces left to worry about, but this area was still on the frontier. Dangerous creatures and wild magic abounded here. And this man is one of the most dangerous. Owa thought to himself.
"Gren", Owa acknowledged the greeting, and then asked, "Are we all set to begin the march home?"
"Yes sir we are ready." Gren responded. "The scouts are already out and the guards are assigned positions and responsibilities. Except those cream puffs you call a squad that is." He continued with a snort. "They say that if I assign them away from guarding your back you would just go racing off to get yourself killed. That's probably true, but I just think they want to watch that little elf woman in case she bites you again. Half your squad missed it." He continued with a chuckle. "I even heard Lark was seeing if one of the translators would ask her to do it again. Seems they have a bet about it."
"Can you blame a poor orc for trying to win a bit of coin?" Asked Lark from behind them. "But just imagine all the free drinks we can get for the story."
Laughing, the rest of the squad followed Lark up to surround Owa. They were officially his bodyguards, but given Owa's tendency to rush into battle when he saw an opening he could exploit, they were more accurately described as heavy assault infantry. Owa had a talent for seeing the exact time and spot that a little extra force could break an enemy. The problem was that he insisted on leading those charges himself. Orcs varied greatly in physical appearance and traits. His 'bodyguards' were the biggest, fastest, strongest, orcs he could find. They had to be just to keep up.
"Don't look now", chuckled Jorg. "But from her expression she is ready to taste a bit more of our beloved leader's blood."
"What?" Teased Gruntruk. "Ruin such fine beauty? That would be a real tragedy."
Gren fully bared his sharp up thrust tusks and yelled. "You lot should learn to respect your betters." And then with a grin, "Ladies never bite. But if someone would lend her a dagger . . . "
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Anna was confused. A truly hideous orc who had been talking to Owa had just walked over to her laughing. He now held out a sheathed dagger, gesturing for her to take it. The other orcs were all laughing now and pounding Owa on the back and shoulders. She reached out and took the offered dagger and the orcs all cheered. All but Owa, at least, who looked more than a bit put out with all the merriment that must be at his expense. Putting the dagger on her belt, she figured Owa had suffered enough. Gathering her courage, she began walking over to him with as slow and sexy a strut as she could manage. She swayed her way up in front of him, grabbed the front of his armor, and pulled him down so she could kiss him. It was a long, hot, hungry kiss. She could feel the eyes of the other orcs upon her as the kiss continued and she felt an unexpected sexy thrill at the feel, but decided that the show had gone on long enough. Ending the kiss she turned from her stunned lover and walked back over toward her horse.
She had made it about five steps in the stunned lust-filled silence when a cheer far louder than the one before came from the gathered soldiers. Turning she gave a playful wink and blew them a kiss. Owa was still bent over, staring at her, as she swung up into the saddle.
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With a shout and the groan of axles, the heavily loaded wagons and their escorts moved out. Owa walked to the front of the column, easily outpacing the carthorses, and took his spot in the lead. As his men came up around him, he noticed with pleasure that Anna had come alongside him and taken a place riding at his right. His men made a spot for her and her horse without a word.
Mounted, he noticed, she was at the perfect height to meet his eyes. He decided that he liked having her at head level, where he didn't have to look down to see her. Meeting his eyes, she gave him a smile and asked, "word?" Pointing to a wagon.
"Wagon" he said. Then he asked "word?" Struggling to make the elven word sound as musical as it was when she said it.
"Why do you bother with learning it that way?" Asked one of the mages riding nearby.
Mages were orcish magic users, never to be called 'wizards' as to orcs that was a foul word. Orcs, as a rule, had a strong aversion to magic in any form, but many were born with the gift to use it. The problem was that having strong talents and not knowing how to use them was a good way to end up dead. One of Garak's first and hardest fought innovations had been the founding of a school to teach them how to use it safely.
"What do you mean?" Owa replied. "Learning her language?"
"Since you are already magically linked, it would be easy for her to learn orcish in a few moments." The mage answered. "And you could just as easily learn her language."
Owa's ingrained distrust of magic warred with his desire to actually be able to talk to Anna. With some dread of what she would say when they could actually talk to each other, he asked the mage if it could be done when they stopped for the night.
The mage stared at him for a moment, then at Anna as she rode by his side. "It is done." He said.
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As the robed orc that had interrupted the conversation stared at her, Anna felt a strange surge of ideas and images cross her mind. It was like having someone speaking very fast in a foreign language inside her head. As this soundless babble grew in volume, she began understanding the words. They seemed disjointed and unconnected but she felt the meanings.
"It is done." Said the strange orc.
Owa turned and stared at her with a strange expression on his face "Hello" he said. "Do you understand me?"
She had never heard him speak elven so well. Then she heard what he had said again. "I understand orcish?" She gasped. "This wizard has used magic to teach me orcish? But I thought that was impossible."
"I am not a wizard." The young mage snapped back. "I am Barwen, a mage. Among our people calling someone a wizard is a grave insult. I suggest you unlearn that word quickly."
"But how was this done?" Anna asked. "The mightiest wizards in the five lands have said that such a thing can not be done."
"Maybe we know some things your wizards don't." Barlen said, and rode away looking offended.
His abrupt departure and his condescending manner infuriated Anna. She let loose with string of curses she hadn't known she knew.
"Um Anna?" Said Owa feeling ignored. "Are you not happy that you can speak my language now?"
