The Bloody Eye

14

Jozan hardly had time to step back out of the mud when he realized that the battle with the hydra had alerted not four or five orcs, but twice that many. The initial band was sloshing through the shallows of the swamp toward Alhandra. Another group of five was moving to flank the four heroes from the other side.

Jozan could immediately tell from the way Alhandra and Krusk were advancing that they only saw the first group, four warriors wearing masks made of bark and one with a mask adorned with bright plumage scavenged from birds that nested in the swamp. Jozan watched with some degree of envy as the paladin sidestepped to the left to give Krusk room to swing his mighty axe. Unlike Jozan, who had been somewhat unnerved by the battle with the hydra, Alhandra seemed to have gained confidence.

Jozan heard her cry out, "For valor and Heironeous!" and he prayed that her skill in fighting multiple enemies would prove ample in this battle, as well.

Of course, Jozan quickly realized that Alhandra's hurry to rush into melee wasn't the best opening gambit. He saw Krusk act on his combat experience and do what Alhandra should have done. Rather than waiting for the orcs to advance into melee range, the half-orc unleashed one of his arrows and watched the feathered shaft wing toward the closest orc warrior. The shaft flew true and punctured the orc's right eye, driving the warrior to his knees in agony.

Since orcs joining in a conspiracy on behalf of Gruumsh and the old religion usually sacrificed their left eyes as part of their devotion, it seemed reasonable to blind their good eyes and deal with them at a more leisurely pace. As the cleric watched the point orc frenetically trying to pull the arrow from his eye, he judged Krusk's tactical theory to be sound and decided to adopt it himself.

Jozan glanced briefly at the flanking group. They were still out of range, so he turned back to his friends just in time to see all of the remaining orcs, except for their leader, recklessly charging the paladin and half-orc. He saw Krusk drop his bow and grab his huge axe in one fluid motion. Alhandra deftly sliced her long sword between the first two orcs to reach her. The first blindingly fast slash crashed into her victim with so much speed that it appeared the paladin was using two swords instead of one.

Breathing easier as he saw his compatriots meeting the challenge, Jozan decided to invoke divine assistance before turning to face his own attackers. He lifted both hands toward the heavens and called for Pelor's blessing upon his companions. Immediately, sunlight seemed to penetrate the shadows of the swamp and outline the forms of his comrades. As the highlighted warriors hacked and hewed at the oncoming orcs, Jozan felt certain that his friends could hold off that threat. He turned again to the opposite flank.

Unfortunately for Jozan, the masked orcs who were running toward him mistook his clerical gesture as a symbol of helplessness and charged all the more confidently. Jozan had inten ded to invoke another spell before they reached him, but they were now so close he could do nothing but draw his mace. The first orc to reach him was fairly slavering with combat frenzy as Jozan smashed into its face hard enough for half the skull to collapse like brittle pottery. The orc tottered briefly before falling, just long enough to impede the next charging orc, causing it to stumble.

As a result, Jozan was able to step past the stumbling orc and bash his mace into the orc's chainmail with such force that some of the tiny, metal loops broke from the stress and began to tear the tunic below it. Quickly, Jozan twisted under the guard's retaliatory stroke and thrust upward so that the head of his mace broke the soldier's lower jaw. In reflex, the orc managed to hit Jozan with a half-swing, but Jozan twisted around once again and buried the blunt edge of the mace in the back of the orc's skull.

With each solid blow, Jozan's confidence soared. He swung his mace upward into one attacker's crotch, and he used a sidearm swing to power into another attacker's weapon arm. At one point, he sensed an orc attacking from behind and turned to bury the head of his weapon in the center of the orc's chest. At first, he thought his reflexes must have been lightning fast in order to get in the blow before his opponent could retaliate. Then, he realized that a pale, green light had struck the orc full in the face, just before the debilitating blow landed. He quickly looked back at Yddith, recognizing that she was the source of the flash, and nodded his thanks. Then he parried a blow from the next orc.

The cleric's peripheral vision confirmed that Alhandra, Krusk, and he were each faced with one remaining foe apiece. If he had not been locked in his own duel, Jozan would probably have noticed Alhandra's dented armor and limited agility. He might have sensed from her reduced movement that the bent armor formed a sharp edge inside that was already slicing through padding and skin seriously enough to cause her to wince with each movement.

As he tripped his foe and brought the mace down in a fatal closing to this duel, Jozan couldn't see Yddith touching her emerald pseudo-eye and wearing a confused expression on her face, as though she herself was wondering how she projected that green flash of light. Neither could he have seen the large eagle glide overhead and circle lazily back toward the combat.

None of the heroes heard the eagle's gentle landing in the soft earth behind Yddith. No one saw the feathers recede and the crouched body transform into human form. Muscles enlarged, bones cracked, and skin stretched quickly and magically as Hassq appeared behind the unsuspecting young woman. His hand was over her mouth and a bone blade pointed at her throat before she even realized the danger. The druid dragged her silently away, even as the battle boiled over for the remaining trio.

Jozan stepped away from the orc he had just slain. He moved toward Krusk in time to see the orc thrust at Krusk's chest and Krusk answer with a woodsman's stroke that could have felled his foe like a small tree if not for the orc's chain shirt. Jozan ran past the orc as Krusk ripped his blade from the torn armor and immediately plunged it right back into the red wound. Krusk obviously didn't need the cleric's help.

Alhandra didn't appear to need his help, either. A wounded orc rested at her feet and, judging from the way it was bleeding, it wouldn't live long without Jozan's aid. The cleric knew that this sole survivor of the battle might be their best source of information about the strength and position of the enemy. So he knelt beside the wounded orc and used the basic training of his order to staunch the bleeding and apply ointments and binding. Then, realizing that it would take divine healing to stabilize the fallen orc, he prepared his healing supplication. Then he noticed Krusk coming toward them with murder in his eye.

The half-orc grabbed the invalid with one hand and looked into his eye. "Where girl?" growled the angry barbarian.

Jozan and Alhandra looked at each other, wondering what Krusk was talking about. As they glanced around the area, both realized that Yddith was missing and they understood why Krusk was so upset. Still, they begged Krusk not to kill the fallen soldier. All they received for their intercession was a warning snarl from the half-orc.

"Where girl?" repeated the barbarian, emphasizing his question by shaking the wounded orc's body so severely that Jozan imagined the bandages must all have torn away from the wound.

The half-orc gripped his captive around the neck and began crushing the orc's windpipe. Jozan and Alhandra quickly moved to pull the half-orc off his prey, but before they could grab him, the orc answered, spewing monosyllables and blood at his inquisitor

"Hassq has girl. Needs gem to get slaves!"

Krusk let the orc fall to the ground and motioned for Jozan to keep their captive alive while he paced around the clearing. After invoking Pelor's power to heal the captive, Jozan walked to Krusk, who was bent over and studying the ground where Yddith had stood. Krusk pointed out the marks of the eagle's claws and kept staring at the disturbed ground where the druid's transformation had occurred. Jozan watched him trail the heavy footprints of the druid into a copse of bushes and trees, then return after he lost the trail.

To Jozan's chagrin, Krusk immediately returned to the captive orc, grabbed him by the shoulders, and began interrogating him fiercely once more.

"Where Hassq?" he asked with an expression on his face that seemed tantamount to death itself. "Where Hassq?"

The captive looked to Jozan for assistance, but realized that there was little the cleric could do on his behalf, even if he were willing to intervene.

"Hassq take girl one eye!" the orc responded. Seeing that neither the half-orc nor the cleric quite understood, he continued, "Hassq take girl one eye! One-Eye need gem. Hassq get gold. Gold buy food for cold time."

"Where One-Eye?" asked Krusk, softening his demeanor slightly since the captive was answering his questions.

"One-Eye at mine," answered the captive, "gold mine."

Krusk laughed grotesquely. He released the orc and stepped away from the prisoner's prone body. He looked at Jozan as if to gauge the character of the priest of Pelor.

Satisfied, Krusk said, "That must be your answer. One-Eye is probably the priest you're seeking and the gold mine must be where he is. With Pelor's help, we should be able to foil the cleric's plan and rescue Yddith. Assuming, that is, we can get this pond scum to show us where the mine is."

Jozan was frozen in place. Alhandra only laughed.

"That has to be the most words I've ever heard you string together," said the priest.

"Look," replied the barbarian, "when you want these orcs to respond, you use their dialect. As they would say, 'Make fear! Good trick!'" he explained.

Alhandra giggled as she turned to Jozan and said, "I told you he would open up once he knew you. I'll wager he gets this orc to help us find both Hassq and Calmet before he's through."