Mythica, book 1, Chapter 38+40.

Chapter 39.

“Orren, what’s your family like?” Sabine asked as they walked. Several days had passed since they left her sister’s village, and they were making good progress.

“Demanding. As soon as we are old enough, everyone is expected to train intensely to prepare for our future career. There are relatives all over the world documenting various things and bringing that knowledge back home. While I do enjoy my work, and the chance to explore, I sometimes feel that I’m just a cog in the wheel of the family business,” Orren said.

“That doesn’t sound like a very loving childhood,”

“My parents were distant and uninvolved, but it wasn’t the worst childhood. We had lots of cousins and other relatives around while growing up. In the sparse free time that we had, there was always someone to play with,” Orren added.

“Skrix not know family. Grow up in creche. Not enough food, have to kill-eat siblings to survive,” Skrix said without emotion. His strange upbringing didn’t seem to bother the verminkin one bit.

“I take back anything negative I said about my family. I’ll take distant and uninvolved over having to eat my siblings to survive,” Orren said, looking a bit horrified at Skrix’s revelation about his childhood.

“Agreed,” added Sabine.

The terrain was starting to change as they crossed the eastern border of Deira and hit the wild lands outside of the control of any nation. Instead of fields and forests, the ground became barren and rocky. It was a rather desolate place, but they had more than enough supplies stored inside Sabine’s pouch, and it was rare that they spotted any other travelers.

According to Orren, caravans did travel this route occasionally, bringing goods from Deira to the port of Shamrahar or Brevertine Harbor further to the south. Shamrahar, being an independent city, allowed just about any sort of vice or cargo inside. It was a smuggler’s paradise, and the governments of Deira and Golgotia left them to their own devices.

Neither nation wanted to lay claim to the place, as both benefited from it by using it as a starting point for agents sneaking into the other country. A tense peace existed between the Vitalion Empire that controlled Deira, and Golgotia. Neither liked the other, but neither was willing to be the one to start the war everyone knew was coming. Sabine hoped that this type of port town would make finding a ship into Golgotia an easy enough process.

The people in Shamrahar were likely used to seeing strange things, so Skrix shouldn’t stand out that much, as long as he didn’t cause any trouble. Now that she was closer to her goal of reaching Golgotia, Sabine began to think about what she was going to do once she got there. It wasn’t like she could just ask “Who knows the location where the siphoning of the death gods’ power is going on?” About all she could do was trust that Gnessos would give her some guidance once she arrived.

At one point, their trail became familiar to Sabine. It was part of the route she had followed right before her death. That caravan had been headed toward Brevertine Harbor to the south, but the trail to both cities didn’t split off until several miles further. Nobody had been here recently, and there was no sign of anyone on their back trail, so things should be safe enough for now.

There wasn’t much in the way of landmarks out here, but as they crossed a small rise, she could picture exactly where the caravan had been on the night she had been killed. The temple was close, but first, she wanted to visit the site of her last moments of life. Sabien figured that there was time to take a few moments for herself before the god of the amulet got angry with her. Pressure had been building the closer she had gotten to the temple, but her golden mana still kept any harmful effects at bay.

“Take a break and get a bite to eat. I’m going to check on something,” Sabine told the group.

“What’s going on?” Orren asked. Skrix didn’t care, he was too busy digging into his pack for some strips of dried meat.

“I think this is the place where I died. Somewhere over there,” Sabine said, pointing toward a space just off the trail.

“Okay, do you want any company?” Orren asked.

“No, thank you, I’d like to do this alone.”

She walked off the trail and looked around. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the caravan had stopped. Twenty years had wiped away any signs of their passing. The only thing she could spot was a slight depression in the ground where the latrine trench might have been located.

Sabine expected to feel something significant, some connection to this place. It wasn’t there, this was just a barren spot of ground. There was no great wisdom to unlock while pondering the location of her death, no closure to be found. A life had ended that day, twenty years ago, and a new one had started. Sabine would try to honor her prior life by doing what she felt was right in this one.

The only thing she would find here was a fresh resolve to not lose herself to her undead instincts. She would remain Sabine Giroux, and not some puppet or plaything for the gods. Sabine had given her word and would fulfill her obligation to Gnessos. Once that was done, she would claim her freedom and crush anyone who tried to stop her.

Something was off, Sabine could sense life in the distance, life that wasn’t Orren and Skrix. Two bodies were closing in on her, crawling low and using the rocks scattered around the area for cover. It wouldn’t help them. Nothing physical could block her Eyes of Undeath and she readied her weapons as they closed in.

The pair were bulkier than humans, and when one lifted his head to look, Sabine could see they were orcs. Could they be the same tribe that had killed her twenty years ago? It was unlikely, but orcs were known to be rather territorial. If no one ever cleaned out the tribe, they very well could still be operating in the area.

“No point in hiding, I know you’re there. I’ll give you one chance to leave, or I’ll kill you both,” Sabine growled readying her weapons. The buckler was starting to look a little worse for wear. Its edge had been kept sharpened by Sabine but it had numerous nicks and dents. It wouldn’t be long before she had to replace it and she wanted to kick herself for not buying a backup in town before they had left Hammerhead’s place.

The buckler still readily accepted her mana, and a dark glow appeared around the small shield. Sabine then pushed mana into Reckoning and was prepared as she could be when the two orcs roared and charged. One held a spear like he knew how to use it and the other had a rusty sword that he had carved notches into like he was trying to make it into a saw blade.

While notches in a sword or dagger could be used by a skilled swordsman to catch an opponent’s blade, Sabine was pretty sure these were merely for aesthetic reasons. The one with the sword pulled ahead of his comrade who approached a bit more cautiously. She easily dodged the first clumsy strike of the sword and returned the blow with a mana-infused hit from Reckoning right in his face. The orc’s head caved in as the mana released, ending one of the two threats facing her.

The orc with the spear tried to use the weapon’s reach to his advantage and jabbed at Sabine to keep her back. Using mana to increase Reckoning’s range, Sabine waited for an opening. She swung the flail and the orc grinned as he stabbed at Sabine in response. The orc was likely thinking that she was crazy for attacking with a strike that had no chance of reaching him. The orc’s smug look turned to one of pain as the chain on Sabine’s flail lengthened and the head slammed into the orc’s shoulder.

Trying to conserve mana in case there were more attackers out there, Sabine had just increased Reckoning’s range, and not increased its damage. Even without mana enhancing the strike, the weapon did horrible things to the orc’s shoulder. A spike on the flail’s head lodged itself into the orc’s shoulder, crushing the joint, and leaving him with only one working arm to hold his spear.

The orc was strong, but he was in too much pain to resist Sabine pulling him closer by yanking on Reckoning’s handle. A clumsy, one-armed stab was deflected by Sabine’s buckler, as she pulled him into a mana-infused knee. Her knee hit the orc in the gut, causing him to double over. Sabine slammed down with her buckler, the edge doing its work.

The orc wasn’t giving up easily and dropped his spear as he drew a large dagger from a sheath at his waist. Sabine felt the blow impale her foot, causing her to stumble as the weapon pinned her foot to the ground. Mana was already healing the wound, but the orc’s injuries were slowing him down.

Sabine dropped the handle of Reckoning; the head of the weapon was still lodged in the orc’s shoulder, and she didn’t have time to play tug of war with it. Instead, she drew the dagger from her boot and hammered it into the orc’s neck, severing the spine and killing him instantly. She reached down to pluck the orc’s blade from her foot, feeling a tinge of pain as mana went to work on the injured appendage.

Checking quickly, Sabine couldn’t see Orren and Skrix. Nothing was in the range of her Eyes of Undeath either. Giving the dead orcs a quick check for valuables, she dropped the spear and another pair of daggers into storage. One orc had a purse with a few coppers in it, but that was it. Cresting the rise where she had left Orren and Skrix, Sabine could see a half dozen orcs running into the distance. The limp forms of Orren and Skrix were thrown over the shoulders of two of the orcs.

Sabine immediately gave chase, but the orcs were quick. Over time, Sabine would have run them down given that she never had to rest, but their current pace allowed the small party of orcs to gain ground on her. She didn’t even know if they realized they were being followed, and probably thought the pair they send to deal with her was more than enough for a small human woman.

They left an easy trail to follow, and Sabine would eventually catch them. If Orren and Skrix had been hurt, she would wipe their entire tribe off the face of the world. Reckoning would feed well this night. After only about twenty minutes of running, Sabine spotted two large fires in the distance. A collection of crude huts and tents circled the pair of bonfires, and the hulking figures of orcs moved about the camp.

Sabine tried to guess their number but lost count at around thirty orcs. There were likely more orcs inside the huts and tents or hidden from view. As she closed in, she spotted Orren and Skrix. Both her companions had been forced to their knees in front of the largest orc Sabine had ever seen. The orc kicked Skrix who fell back and didn’t move. Orren looked toward his verminkin companion, but the huge orc grabbed his face and yelled at the young man who was too terrified to reply.

She was good, but she didn’t know if she could deal with an entire camp of orcs on her own. The easiest thing to do would be to leave the pair to their fate and seek new companions in Golgotia. She fought against those thoughts, Sabine realizing that they came from her undead nature, not from herself.

Sabine would remain true to who she was, and Sabine was the same woman that had stood up to an orc tribe and ogre here twenty years ago. Then, she stood by her comrades, and to protect the caravan. Now, she would gladly face death again to save the only two people in this world whom she considered friends.

Her chest burned as the amulet made itself known once again. The temple was near, somewhere inside the orc encampment. She would free her friends and complete her obligation to the mysterious deity. With weapons in hand, Sabine stalked into the orc camp, ready to die if needed but if the orcs did bring her down, it would be over a pile of their own corpses.

Chapter 40.

There were a few orcs posted around the camp as sentries, but all of them seemed to be focused on the fun happening at the center of the camp. A single, unenhanced strike of Reckoning took care of the nearest sentry and Sabine stalked into the camp unopposed. Before she was spotted, Sabine dropped the human remains she carried in her coin pouch onto the ground.

“Hamish, I need your help,” she whispered. Thankfully, Hamish kept silent as he inhabited the remains. He could sense that there was trouble nearby and looked to Sabine for an explanation.

“What’s going on, why are we in the middle of an orcish camp?” Hamish whispered.

“Orren and Skrix are held captive, we need to free them,” Sabine said.

“No, we need to continue on our master’s quest,” Hamish demanded.

“We free Orren and Skrix, besides, I still have to return this amulet and guess where the temple is located?” Sabine asked.

“Oh, no, in the camp,” Hamish replied.

“Exactly. You can help me accomplish both tasks, or you can stand back and let me fail. Those are your two options, I’m not going to leave anyone behind, and I’m not going to incur a god’s wrath if I don’t need to. I’ve already got one stalking me, and I don’t want to add to that total any more than I need to,” Sabine explained. Hamish looked annoyed but began to summon undead minions without any additional verbal complaints.

She left a spear behind for Hamish to use. He was still pretty useless in a fight, but the spear had been the weapon that he had performed the best with during their training sessions. The pair of undead he was summoning wasn’t able to use weapons, but they could at least distract a few orcs and buy her some more time. With Hamish doing what he could, Sabine stepped into the camp.

She had almost reached the bonfire when the first orc noticed her. The orc shouted a warning and more of them moved to surround her. They were pretty worked up and looked to be itching for a fight.

“Those two are mine! Who dares to take them from me?” Sabine shouted, pushing mana into her weapons, powering up Reckoning with reach, damage, and Stagger. Her buckler glowed with energy as well, and Sabine had several daggers stashed on her body if she needed them. With her outburst, the orcs just stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as they watched the human stalk into their camp bold and unafraid.

“Everything here is mine, little human, including you,” the huge orc replied.

He stood in front of an ornate chair that had been placed near one of the bonfires. It had likely been pilfered from a passing caravan, and the huge orc used it as a throne as he governed over his tribe. Strength determined the leader of an orc tribe, and this guy was massive.

He was a head taller than any other orc in the camp and packed more muscle than any orc she had ever seen. The monster of an orc easily hefted the oversized, two-headed great axe that had been leaning against the throne, keeping it in a tight grip as he faced off against Sabine. There was no concern showing on his face as he observed the small human woman approaching him.

“So, are you the one that thinks he’s the strongest around here?” Sabine asked.

“Yes, little human, I am Gublak and I rule here. Drop your weapons and armor. If you have anything of value in that bag of yours, I might even let you live to serve as my personal slave,” Gublak replied, drool running down from the corner of his mouth.

“I have no intention of giving you anything, all I wanted to do was confirm which orc I had to kill first,” Sabine said.

Gublax broke out in laughter at her statement. “Ha, I like you human! You’re mad, but it’s nice to have someone not soil themselves in my presence.”

“Tell me, Gublax, are you willing to face me in combat one on one? If I win, you release those two back to me, and if you win, well, I suppose I’ll be dead so it won’t make any difference to me,” Sabine offered.

“I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Sure, I’ll face you in combat, little human,” Gublax said, stalking forward and waving the other orcs back. She could see that there were over thirty of them in the crowd, far more than Hamish and two summoned undead could deal with. She’d have to do something to even the odds.

“Do I have your word that the rest of your tribe won’t interfere in our fight?” Sabine asked.

“They won’t be needed, but if you want my word, sure. Nobody interferes in the fight, stay where you are and enjoy the show,” Gublax said. The orcs encircling them began to chuckle, it was a rather disturbing sound, something between a growl and a laugh.

“Thank you, Gublax. I’ll grant you the same courtesy. Hamish, keep the troops back, don’t interfere in the duel,” Sabine shouted.

“Who Hamish?” Gublax asked looking around. Several of the orcs turned to scan into the darkness, looking for other foes.

“Hamish is my minion, he leads some of my troops.”

“Nice try humie, you have no army, my scouts would have spotted them. We only spot you and these two,” Gublax said, gesturing with his axe toward the two captives.

“I don’t mean to insult you, but your scouts weren’t very good. The two that tried to capture me are dead, and I had to take out another on my way into the camp.” Sabine advised.

“Show me this Hamish and his army, if he exists, or we have no deal and I’ll just have my boys cut you down here for lying to me,” Gublax said. He wasn’t buying her story, but he did hold some doubt given his occasional glances around the camp.

Why don’t we do this, I’ll bring in Hamish and a couple of his troops as well as two troops from my second unit. They’d love to watch our fight, and that way, your warriors can have some company while they enjoy the show,” Sabine offered.

“Sure, bring them out, let’s see if you’re telling the truth or just trying to buy a few more minutes of life,” Gublax said.

“Hamish, bring two of your troops and enter the camp. Have the second unit deliver two of their beasts in here with me so that my new friend Gublax can see we’re telling the truth,” Sabine said. Hamish and two skeletons walked into the light of the bonfires, causing quite a stir among the assembled orcs. They had expected mercenaries, soldiers, or perhaps even town guards, but not undead.

“You some kind of necromancer?” Gublax asked, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“No, I’m something much more powerful than that. Hamish, hold position there. If any of the orcs cause trouble, send in the rest of the company,” Sabine lied. If only she had a full company of undead, it would make things much easier for her. She did have two other aces up her sleeve, though.

“I don’t know what god you are, but I’m here, right next to your temple, and I could really use your help to complete this quest. I’m pretty sure the orcs aren’t going to return your amulet, so I might be your only chance,” Sabine whispered to the unknown god as she activated both charges of the Amuilet of the Spirit beast, targeting the ground next to Orren and Skrix.

Golden light glowed in the area she had targeted and two shapes took form. It was a pair of bears, like before, but these were even larger than the ones she had summoned in the Darkrealm. Whatver god had given her the amulet was listeneing. Like before, the bears looked almost ethereal, but the way the ground shook when they took a step told Sabine there was substance to their ethereal forms.

“Don’t worry Gublax, these are just two of the warriors from my second company. I won’t strain your hospitality with any additional visitors. As long as our fight is an honest one, the rest of my army does not need to invade your camp,” Sabine said.

“Fine, ghost bears and some rotting dead are nothing to my warriors, just keep them away from my prisoners.”

He was trying to put on a brave face for his tribe, but Sabine could see the doubt and concern building in the huge orc leader. Sabine took one last look at her friends, noting that Skrix was sitting up again and had scooted next to Orren. She caught a gleam of steel in the firelight, as Skrix’s tail began to move behind Orren.

The sneaky little verminkin must have hidden or stolen a dagger. In the confusion of undead and giant spirit beasts appearing, Skrix was making his move. Whatever happened next, at least Skrix and Orren wouldn’t face it tied up on the ground.

“Are you ready, Gublax?” Sabine said, pushing mana into her armor. Normally she liked to save it for healing, but given the size of the axe that Gulbax wielded, and the obvious strength he possessed, Sabine felt it was better to be prepared.

“Enough talk, I’ts killing time!” Gublax roared as he charged toward Sabine.

He was faster than he looked, but she had no trouble predicting his path. Rolling to the side, she avoided Gublax’s charge, his axe whistling over her head. She could feel the power of the blow as it passed by. If that hit had landed, she doubted her armor, even with the mana enhancements would have stopped it.

Gublax ended up right where she wanted him, in front of a few of his orcs who reached out to help slow down their leader as his charge swept him into the ring of orcs surrounding the fight. Sabine stood and ran forward, swinging Reckoning once it was within range.

The chain on the flail lengthened to its full reach. Quick to react, Gublax got his axe blade in front of the flail head just in time. As the flail hit the axe blade, it released the mana stored inside. Crushing damage poured into the blow, shattering one of the axe blades. The shattered blade showered Gublax and the orcs behind him with shrapnel. That was bad enough, but Stagger hit them right after.

This was the first time Sabine had used Stagger in combat since its last upgrade, and she wasn’t disappointed. Several orc warriors were bowled over by the wave of force, and while they were all still alive, they looked like they had been worked over by a pugilist. Sabine pushed mana into Reckoning and followed up with another strike before Gublax could recover. There was no time for another blast from Stagger, and she could only push enough mana into the weapon to keep its reach at the maximum.

Gublax seemed barely affected by Stagger, recovering before she could land her second hit. Sabine had figured that her abilities weren’t always going to work exactly as described, and powerful opponents like Gublax might be more resistant to their effects. He dodged to the side, avoiding her strike. The weapon hit one of the stunned orcs in the face, the spike of the flail head digging into his skull, killing the target instantly.

Grabbing Reckoning’s chain, Gublax pulled. Sabine’s strength had been enhanced to the point that her body was much stronger than it had been before, but it was still the equivalent of a rather powerful human. Gublax was on a whole other level and easily pulled the weapon from her grasp.

The necrotic curse on Reckoning began to take effect immediately, and she could feel the rot begin to eat into Gublax’s hand. He quickly tossed the weapon behind him, and Sabine was pleased to see a couple of orcs fight over who would claim it. Gublax looked at the rotted flesh on the surface of his hand but shook off the effects and stalked toward his prey.

“Your toys and tricks won’t save you, little human. I’ll carve the head from your body and throw you into the cookpot tonight,” Gublax threatened. Sabine drew a dagger to replace Reckoning, but a dagger and a buckler seemed like a poor defense against the massive orc.