Larish 1
just a little somthing that's been cooking in the old back brain lately.
btw - copyright by me and all that stuff.
enjoy
Lerish grimaced. Why did it have to be an orc?
Everyone knew Darvish was an ass. Since the day he got back from the war he had been one of the worst people to walk the light of day.
So what if some raiders put some crap on his face that took his beard and made sure he'd never grow one again. They were dead now weren't they?
But no. He acted like the sun rising and the grass growing was a personal insult.
And now on top of everything else he was hiring orcs. What an ass.
Lerish looked out from his hiding place down the street from the warehouse.
Yup. That was an orc. Hopefully Creee wouldn't notice till the job was done. Killing the orc? Not much problem. Alerting the guard before they got away? That would be way too much of a problem.
Darvish now had three warehouses, most obtained in a suspicious manner. but in this one was something that rightly belonged to Larish and Creee. A small chest. And enough in saved wages to retire on. But Darvish was holding it "for safety sake" he had said "while you do something for me".
It had taken a week, and almost all the money they had left, to find out where the box was. Now if they could just get it they could get away from that crag sucking, motherless...
Lerish jerked back into the shadows.
"No! Not now!" he hissed to himself.
He slowly re-arranged himself and looked around the corner.
'Damnation of a school teacher' he thought to himself.
While he had been wool gathering like a schoolgirl he thought he had seen something. And there it was again. There was someone else watching the warehouse. Doing just what he was doing, playing watchman while his partner eased in.
Suddenly the other watcher saw him. And gave out a distinctive birdcall. Idiot. Only pigeons lived here.
The orc whirled and in a flash had thrown a spear at the location of the person making the birdcall. Of course he would. Only scouts in the eastern forest used that call. And the orcs in that area had learned to hunt the scouts who stuck to the same calls.
Without thinking about it Laresh was already on the move. As quickly and quietly as he could. He moved to get behind the orc.
An eastern orc. Here. Frack.
And if that orc saw him he was so much raw squab. Eastern orcs almost never cooked anything. Even each other.
As the orc grabbed another spear, throwing it in the same motion, Larish struck...
Damned orc had a head like stone. Larish's hand felt numb. He flinched as the orc spun around, his sword passing just over Larish's head. if he had been any taller than three feet the sword would have cut him in half.
"Tree scrapping, motherless..." Larish swore as he faced the orc. Hoping his hand would hold the sword. He wasn't sure if the foul odor in the air was from the local sewer or the orc.
Fighting his rising panic Larish thrust his sword towards the orcs groin.
Of course he missed. But the sword was now buried in the orcs leg.
Good, 'cause Larish's only thoughts now were to get away from this well trained, smelly, orc monstrosity.
With a whoosh of air Larish realized he had just hit the warehouse wall.
The orc kicked like a mule. Then it was saying something. Larish was just as glad he couldn't hear it.
As the orc leaned over him with a wicked looking blade in it's hand Larish mused that if he wasn't in shock he'd definitely be panicking right now.
Suddenly the orc sprouted three arrows from its back. With a noise Larish would imitate for the drunken amusement of inn-goers for seasons to come, the orc fell dead right at his feet.
Larish reached back and felt his head. Yes, there was a sizable knot. Good. That would explain monster orcs falling dead at his feet and elves jumping off of buildings.
Gathering his thoughts was like trying to see through a thick cotton blanket. In fact the only part of his head that didn't feel like it was made of thick cotton was his mouth. That tasted like copper.
And now the elf in question was looking at him strangely. Larish realized she had said something.
"What was that?"
"That was an orc" she said in a voice that sounded like music.
"Trees take it, I know that. An eastern orc. What was it you said?"
"Before or after the orc thing?" she asked in a too innocent voice. Larish suspected she was laughing at him.
"Would you like a hand up?" she asked, offering her hand.
As she helped him up Larish looked at his rescuer. Tall for an elf, bow and sword of good quality, and very female. He diverted his attention to the brooch she wore. It was of a mountain clan.
"You shouldn't wear such an identifying mark if you're doing this kind of work" he noted professionally.
"I wasn't planning on being seen" she said matter of factly.
Larish turned and did a tri-note whistle. The signal the local army used for "all scouts in". He needed Creee here. Now. And the guards would be coming to see what had happened. After they got enough of them together to feel safe. This part of town was not considered "safe".
"You get your arrows out of that," he said as he waved to the body "and I'll see if I can find the key."
"Why? It's just an orc," she asked
"The dukes men are kinda particular about these things" Larish answered as he started stripping pouches off the orc. He really didn't want to know what orcs kept in their pockets but he thought if he could get the door open this could all be over quickly.
as the elf dug her arrows out of the orc with a knife, Larish emptied out all the pouches, and everything else it had on it, into a pile.
"I'm Larish," he said
"Treena" she replied "raid much?" she asked, looking pointedly at the pile of loot.
Larish blushed hotly. "Real bandits wait till a job is over. And these" he kicked the orc body "just take the whole thing". He spat to the side.
The jostling of the body revealed a necklace with a pendant and a key. Larish grabbed it and ran over to unlock the door. His head felt like it had been filled with lead.
Creee was just inside the door, about to kick it open from her side.
Larish smiled broadly at the box she had under her arm.
"Thank the sky above"
"And my consummate skills" Creee added with a smile.
"We got a problem. Another group and an eastern orc guard"
The blade was in her hand instantly.
"Where?" the look on her face made Creee appear totally feral. With her tan fur and cat eyes it made for a person you did not want to meet in a dark alley. Which technically was were they were.
"Dead" he waved his arm and stepped aside. "Creee this is Treena. She killed the thing"
Treena was wiping blood off of her knife. "Gods smile on you" she said to the cat-woman.
"Gods, Darvish is an ass" Creee replied after giving Treena a perfunctory nod. With that she went over to the orc and started stabbing and slashing fiercely.
"Cover" Larish said to Treena's horrified expression. "If it looks like a mugging then we don't have to worry about any embarrassing questions later".
"And I'm hoping this will cover my life-debt to you." he said matter of factly.
Treena's eyes widened "you do know the ways" she said "although most are usually not so blunt about such things"
Creee snorted "you should see him eat". "Take your half and let's go" she said as she put her sword back in its scabbard.
A dwarf and short human came out of the warehouse door. With a crash they dropped the box they were carrying and drew their weapons.
Larish barely noticed them. The box they had been carrying had cracked and gold was pouring out.
Treena stepped forward "don't worry, unexpected friends" she said to the two new arrivals. To Larish she said "our companies payment, I decided not to wait a few more moons while it was 'officially looked into'".
Creee patted her much smaller box "our retirement, withheld unlawfully." She paused "Lady Treena of the Storm Mountain clan."
"Your broach and the dwarf's breastplate" Creee said at Treena's look of astonishment. "Now gather what you can. We have less than a minute. And we don't want witnesses."
It took a minute and a half but soon they had aquired a small handcart and were making their way towards the southern quarter.
Within a week Larish and Creee were traveling northeast with the Storm Mountain Company.
But that is a story for another time.
btw - copyright by me and all that stuff.
enjoy
Lerish grimaced. Why did it have to be an orc?
Everyone knew Darvish was an ass. Since the day he got back from the war he had been one of the worst people to walk the light of day.
So what if some raiders put some crap on his face that took his beard and made sure he'd never grow one again. They were dead now weren't they?
But no. He acted like the sun rising and the grass growing was a personal insult.
And now on top of everything else he was hiring orcs. What an ass.
Lerish looked out from his hiding place down the street from the warehouse.
Yup. That was an orc. Hopefully Creee wouldn't notice till the job was done. Killing the orc? Not much problem. Alerting the guard before they got away? That would be way too much of a problem.
Darvish now had three warehouses, most obtained in a suspicious manner. but in this one was something that rightly belonged to Larish and Creee. A small chest. And enough in saved wages to retire on. But Darvish was holding it "for safety sake" he had said "while you do something for me".
It had taken a week, and almost all the money they had left, to find out where the box was. Now if they could just get it they could get away from that crag sucking, motherless...
Lerish jerked back into the shadows.
"No! Not now!" he hissed to himself.
He slowly re-arranged himself and looked around the corner.
'Damnation of a school teacher' he thought to himself.
While he had been wool gathering like a schoolgirl he thought he had seen something. And there it was again. There was someone else watching the warehouse. Doing just what he was doing, playing watchman while his partner eased in.
Suddenly the other watcher saw him. And gave out a distinctive birdcall. Idiot. Only pigeons lived here.
The orc whirled and in a flash had thrown a spear at the location of the person making the birdcall. Of course he would. Only scouts in the eastern forest used that call. And the orcs in that area had learned to hunt the scouts who stuck to the same calls.
Without thinking about it Laresh was already on the move. As quickly and quietly as he could. He moved to get behind the orc.
An eastern orc. Here. Frack.
And if that orc saw him he was so much raw squab. Eastern orcs almost never cooked anything. Even each other.
As the orc grabbed another spear, throwing it in the same motion, Larish struck...
Damned orc had a head like stone. Larish's hand felt numb. He flinched as the orc spun around, his sword passing just over Larish's head. if he had been any taller than three feet the sword would have cut him in half.
"Tree scrapping, motherless..." Larish swore as he faced the orc. Hoping his hand would hold the sword. He wasn't sure if the foul odor in the air was from the local sewer or the orc.
Fighting his rising panic Larish thrust his sword towards the orcs groin.
Of course he missed. But the sword was now buried in the orcs leg.
Good, 'cause Larish's only thoughts now were to get away from this well trained, smelly, orc monstrosity.
With a whoosh of air Larish realized he had just hit the warehouse wall.
The orc kicked like a mule. Then it was saying something. Larish was just as glad he couldn't hear it.
As the orc leaned over him with a wicked looking blade in it's hand Larish mused that if he wasn't in shock he'd definitely be panicking right now.
Suddenly the orc sprouted three arrows from its back. With a noise Larish would imitate for the drunken amusement of inn-goers for seasons to come, the orc fell dead right at his feet.
Larish reached back and felt his head. Yes, there was a sizable knot. Good. That would explain monster orcs falling dead at his feet and elves jumping off of buildings.
Gathering his thoughts was like trying to see through a thick cotton blanket. In fact the only part of his head that didn't feel like it was made of thick cotton was his mouth. That tasted like copper.
And now the elf in question was looking at him strangely. Larish realized she had said something.
"What was that?"
"That was an orc" she said in a voice that sounded like music.
"Trees take it, I know that. An eastern orc. What was it you said?"
"Before or after the orc thing?" she asked in a too innocent voice. Larish suspected she was laughing at him.
"Would you like a hand up?" she asked, offering her hand.
As she helped him up Larish looked at his rescuer. Tall for an elf, bow and sword of good quality, and very female. He diverted his attention to the brooch she wore. It was of a mountain clan.
"You shouldn't wear such an identifying mark if you're doing this kind of work" he noted professionally.
"I wasn't planning on being seen" she said matter of factly.
Larish turned and did a tri-note whistle. The signal the local army used for "all scouts in". He needed Creee here. Now. And the guards would be coming to see what had happened. After they got enough of them together to feel safe. This part of town was not considered "safe".
"You get your arrows out of that," he said as he waved to the body "and I'll see if I can find the key."
"Why? It's just an orc," she asked
"The dukes men are kinda particular about these things" Larish answered as he started stripping pouches off the orc. He really didn't want to know what orcs kept in their pockets but he thought if he could get the door open this could all be over quickly.
as the elf dug her arrows out of the orc with a knife, Larish emptied out all the pouches, and everything else it had on it, into a pile.
"I'm Larish," he said
"Treena" she replied "raid much?" she asked, looking pointedly at the pile of loot.
Larish blushed hotly. "Real bandits wait till a job is over. And these" he kicked the orc body "just take the whole thing". He spat to the side.
The jostling of the body revealed a necklace with a pendant and a key. Larish grabbed it and ran over to unlock the door. His head felt like it had been filled with lead.
Creee was just inside the door, about to kick it open from her side.
Larish smiled broadly at the box she had under her arm.
"Thank the sky above"
"And my consummate skills" Creee added with a smile.
"We got a problem. Another group and an eastern orc guard"
The blade was in her hand instantly.
"Where?" the look on her face made Creee appear totally feral. With her tan fur and cat eyes it made for a person you did not want to meet in a dark alley. Which technically was were they were.
"Dead" he waved his arm and stepped aside. "Creee this is Treena. She killed the thing"
Treena was wiping blood off of her knife. "Gods smile on you" she said to the cat-woman.
"Gods, Darvish is an ass" Creee replied after giving Treena a perfunctory nod. With that she went over to the orc and started stabbing and slashing fiercely.
"Cover" Larish said to Treena's horrified expression. "If it looks like a mugging then we don't have to worry about any embarrassing questions later".
"And I'm hoping this will cover my life-debt to you." he said matter of factly.
Treena's eyes widened "you do know the ways" she said "although most are usually not so blunt about such things"
Creee snorted "you should see him eat". "Take your half and let's go" she said as she put her sword back in its scabbard.
A dwarf and short human came out of the warehouse door. With a crash they dropped the box they were carrying and drew their weapons.
Larish barely noticed them. The box they had been carrying had cracked and gold was pouring out.
Treena stepped forward "don't worry, unexpected friends" she said to the two new arrivals. To Larish she said "our companies payment, I decided not to wait a few more moons while it was 'officially looked into'".
Creee patted her much smaller box "our retirement, withheld unlawfully." She paused "Lady Treena of the Storm Mountain clan."
"Your broach and the dwarf's breastplate" Creee said at Treena's look of astonishment. "Now gather what you can. We have less than a minute. And we don't want witnesses."
It took a minute and a half but soon they had aquired a small handcart and were making their way towards the southern quarter.
Within a week Larish and Creee were traveling northeast with the Storm Mountain Company.
But that is a story for another time.