De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 5

Ash watched as the Old Bear swung the massive sword the orc party leader had been carrying. The weapon easily cut through the saplings that were its targets, which was not surprising since Ash figured it was over twenty pounds. His arms ached just imagining swinging the massive blade a few times.

“It’s a lot heavier than your spear,” he stated.

The Old Bear nodded.

“Also, a lot sturdier. I doubt even your magic blade could cut through it,” he said before resting the weapon on his shoulder. “Thank you for it.”

Ash nodded.

“It would be pretty shitty of me to recruit your help and then expect you to fight unarmed.”

The Old Bear smiled at that.

“My name is Blake,” the Old Bear said, slapping his fist to his chest in the salute Ash had seen other paranormals do in De’Vas.

“I’m Ash, and that’s Eva,” he said, gesturing to the orc woman. Eva had started standing a lot closer to him since Blake’s bindings were removed. Not that he could blame her, since the bearkin just sneered in her direction when introduced.

“Ash...” Blake started to say, only to pause and contemplate his words. “I’m not sure how to ask this, so forgive me if it’s blunt, but which of the elven races do you hail from? I… I must confess I’ve never met an elf with round ears.”

“I’m not an elf,” Ash answered. “I’m human.”

Blake made a strange face, while a squeak escaped Eva. Ash raised an eyebrow at the orc, who was now looking embarrassed and avoiding his eyes.

“I’ve never heard of your people before, but that would make sense if Queen Blackthorn left for new lands. I wish she had placed a regent for her Queendom before she had. Most see her as a bloodthirsty conqueror, but her decree against slavery saved many from a life in chains. If you’re against the slavers, then you have my aid, my lord.”

Ash started to open his mouth to tell both Eva and Blake to stop calling him ‘My Lord’, but stopped. Optics. He might not like the title, but it did give him a sense of authority and weight to his words. The orcs had become more cooperative once they started calling him that. So he shifted topics, planning to address the title once the girls were safe.

“We’d better get moving. I’m sure Ken is on his way to warn this Warchief,” Ash said instead.

“No, he’s not,” Eva replied, drawing both Ash and Blake’s attention. “He’ll flee the forest.”

Blake nodded in understanding after a moment.

“Ah, so he was a lower caste.”

Ash looked at Blake.

“Lower caste?” he asked.

Blake and Eva look at him oddly, as if he should already know the answer. He just looked between them with a blank expression, waiting for one of them to fill him in. After a long, awkward moment, Eva did.

“Lower caste are those whose family didn’t support the current Warchief in a challenge. They usually hold lesser positions in the clan and are considered…expendable,” Eva explained. “If Ken were to return to Warchief Mullin and tell him you killed our party leader, he would most likely kill Ken for either failing to protect his party leader or cowardice.”

Ash frowned. Bo and Mander had told him a little about orc society, but never this. Was it limited to just this clan, or was this something from their culture that the orcs of District 114 cast aside when they arrived on Earth?

“Are you lower caste as well?” he asked her.

Eva’s lips thinned, and she nodded her head.

“So if you returned to Warchief Mullin, he would kill you?”

Again, Eva nodded, though this time with some reluctance. “Most likely, or throw me into a slave pen to be sold.”

Blake huffed.

“Then it sounds like you only have one choice, orc,” Blake said, pointing to the knife on Eva’s belt.

Ash and Blake followed Eva as she led them toward the castle. The orc woman was deep in thought, and her hand kept touching the handle of her knife. They walked this way in silence for over an hour before Blake spoke to him.

“She’s contemplating whether to stab us in the back, run, or fight beside us,” the bearkin whispered.

Ash had figured the same. Eva was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Fight for the Warchief that would likely kill her after, or fight for the two strangers she just met, who hated slavers. He wasn’t sure which she would pick.

“So, how did you spot me?” Blake asked, no longer whispering.

He just smiled at the bearkin.

“I have my tricks, but they wouldn’t be much of a trick if I told people about them.”

Behind the smile, though, he was wondering how Sparky did it. Did the lightning elemental have a way to see around him? Did Sparky see what he saw?

STATIC. FIELD. SEE.

He frowned at Sparky’s words in his mind and contemplated what the elemental was trying to tell him. He guessed his thoughts were wrong when Sparky gave him more hints.

BUBBLE. PUSH. SEE. FEEL.

Ash stopped as his mind started to piece it together. He closed his eyes and pushed his magic out of his body as thin as possible, creating a bubble of static electricity and expanding it. The electrical field was weak, not even enough to create a static cling to someone’s hair or clothes, but it was enough for Ash to feel if his magic made contact with something.

He had already done something much more difficult with his Lightning Shield spell. It relied on him creating a static field to move the ball of Lightning Magic around to block attacks. This was just using the static field to see if something was there.

As the bubble of static expanded, Ash felt it press against Blake and Eva. He could feel where they were standing and when they moved their heads and hands inside the static bubble as they continued down the path. Then the bubble popped, and Ash opened his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked, looking back at him.

Ash smiled.

“Yeah, just collecting my thoughts,” he answered.

***

Eva had pulled them from the path and into the woods once Markal Castle came into view. She said it was to avoid patrols, and Ash didn’t get a decent view of the structure until they crept closer through the underbrush. He lay on his stomach under a cedar tree, looking at the black walls of the castle. Spiked wooden palisades were placed around the castle, sometimes in double rows in places where the castle wall had partly collapsed.

“The place looks fitting for a slaver with the black walls and palisades everywhere,” Ash whispered.

“Mullin torched the walls to clear away the overgrowth,” Eva said, not far from him under the cedar tree. “Also, what’s wrong with the palisades? I’ve never seen a castle without them.”

And I’ve never seen a castle…

Ash sighed.

“Sorry, just me talking out of my ass,” he said, but that only got him odd looks from both Eva and Blake.

“A lot of beastkin in there,” Blake growled. “I can smell them.”

Ash looked at him.

“Do you smell an otterkin, unicorn, or desert elf?” he asked, hopeful.

Blake shook his head.

“Too many smells to pick that out.”

Ash frowned and inched closer for a better view of the wall.

“I do smell a storm brewing in the east and heading this way,” Blake said, inching along beside Ash. “The rain will drive most of the orcs inside. We can use it as an opportunity to free their slaves, arm them, and try to over run the orcs with numbers. If we can get into the castle yard without alerting the sentries.”

Ash nodded in agreement at the plan. He could already see more than a dozen of the sentries on the castle walls, though they didn’t look very impressive.

Bo, Celeste, and Jek would never let the gangs be this disorganized.

The sentries were gathered around one tall orc, laughing and talking, but too far away for Ash to make out what they were saying. Then the tall orc lifted a bow, notched an arrow, and released. The arrow struck a target below the wall, and cheers rose from the orcs surrounding the tall one.

He heard Eva say something and Blake respond, but his mind didn’t process anything they had said. He caught a glimpse of the bow the tall orc had used. Even from this distance, he could recognize it.

It’s Haylee's bow!

Ash’s fingers dug into the ground as the blood drained from his face. That was Haylee’s bow, the one she had brought with her to District 1, the one that came with her to Vas. The image of Haylee in a cage flashed into his mind, her hazel eyes looking at him hopelessly. The same way Naomi’s eyes had looked at him when he first saw her in Sero’s house of horrors.

TOO WEAK.

Sparky warned him, but that didn’t matter. Haylee was in that castle, and Selena and Ella were probably there as well. He needed to get in there. He needed to make sure they were safe.

“We’re going,” he said to his elemental.

Again, he heard Blake and Eva say something, their voices harsh whispers, but he was focused on Sparky.

He felt the rush of magic coursing through his veins before Sparky spoke again. The unhealed, lightning-shaped burn marks covering his body took on a blue glow.

KILL. QUICK. THEN REST.

He heard a gasp escape Eva as he pushed himself out from under the cedar tree.

“Get back here you damn fool!” Blake growled.

Ash smirked at Blake’s words. He was already liking the old bearkin.

He took a dozen steps before one of the orcs noticed him and called out.

“Stop there!” the orc yelled, lifting a bow.

The tall orc gestured for the orc to lower the weapon. Then he said something to the group around him, and laughter echoed from the ramparts.

“Sparky, wings and claws would be nice,” Ash said softly.

The tall orc raised Haylee’s bow and pointed it at Ash, just as the wings and claws made of Lightning Magic took shape. He felt the wings flex and launch him toward the rampart with the orcs on it. Sparky was controlling them, just as he had in the fight with Victor, but Ash somehow knew what the elemental was going to do.

The tall orc’s eyes widened as did the others beside him. Ash just recalled what Sparky told him.

KILL. QUICK.