Chapter 7:
Night Raid
THE BLACK DOG watched his men and their aquilups struggle to cross the precarious cliffs of Dragonbone Ridge. It would have been impossible on foot, but the aquilups were native to the mountains and could span the distance. Not completely unharmed, however, as the mountains were especially dangerous at night. Even as he looked on, one of the aquilups slipped, and down it plummeted with its rider still on its back. The Black Dog’s heart lurched. He knew the man’s name, knew everything about him, from his early life to his family structure. Had he died on the battlefield, the Black Dog could have accepted the loss, but it being an accidental death, on a mission where the Black Dog had dragged him along, it pierced him like a dagger.
The Black Dog withdrew a large blue gemstone and stared at it, rolling it around in his palm as he recalled the day of the festival.
That day, the Black Dog had been summoned to the margrave’s bedroom. The old orc lay on a large bed, surrounded by many statesmen, and he muttered in delirium.
“Daughter… My daughter…”
His eyes were all but lifeless. The rumors were true, then, that he was knocking on death’s door. One of his closest aides bent to whisper in his ear, informing him of the Black Dog’s arrival.
A touch of light returned to the margrave’s eyes. A tenacious light that defied the grasp of death, tinged with a kind of madness.
“O-oh…good… You’re here. Come closer.”
The statesmen cleared a path to the bed. Seeing the Black Dog standing there, the margrave spoke with feeble breath.
“I have…a request. My daughter… Reclaim my daughter.”
He really had lost his mind. His daughter, his second child, had been missing for three years now. This was the same daughter who had offered the Black Dog her hand in marriage. She was a lively woman who cared for her territory, and that had been her downfall. While surveying land near the human domain, she had encountered an off-season band of raiders and been taken captive. Not a single orc had ever returned from beyond the mountains. Rumors abounded as to what had happened to the kidnapped orcs, but there was no way to learn of their fates for sure. For all intents and purposes, his daughter was considered dead. The margrave had doted on his bright and cheerful girl, and therefore fell into a great despair, his health sharply declining ever since.
The Black Dog came closer, his snorts heavy and grim.
“Leave it to me. I will bring her back, no matter what.”
Hearing this, the margrave gave a satisfied smile and slowly closed his eyes. The statesmen stirred nervously, assuming the worst, but his steady breathing reassured them, and the doctor in attendance ushered them out of the room.
As he and the others were leaving, the Black Dog ran into the person he had least expected to see—the margrave’s failure of a son. The son, and a number of his followers, urged the Black Dog into the margrave’s study. After taking a seat at the margrave’s desk, the lazy son grinned at him repugnantly, his curling tusks gleaming.
“You made an oath in there. You swore to my dying father that you would reclaim my sister. You swore before everyone.”
His words received stern nods from his entourage. “We definitely heard the man make an oath.”
The Black Dog grimaced. What was he supposed to say?
“There’s nothing more serious than an oath made to a man on his deathbed. So, do you have a plan?”
Still the Black Dog did not speak.
The son sneered, and from a pocket he produced a round object. “I thought not. In that case, I have something for you. Take it.”
It was a blue gemstone, about the size of an orc fist.
“Our researchers found it in the ruins. Supposedly, it has the power to destroy that irksome wall.”
The Black Dog accepted the stone. He saw it had a uniform transparency, but complex and minute three-dimensional symbols were spread throughout its interior. It was beautiful, no doubt, but he found it hard to believe something like this could bring down the humans’ wall.
“I see you don’t believe me, but look at this.”
The son waved his hand to one of his cronies. The statesman produced a report and passed it to the Black Dog, who flipped it open. What he saw took him by surprise.
It was a rough blueprint of the fortress. At the very least, it matched what he had seen of the fortress from standing beneath it. Yet the diagrams didn’t end with its outer appearance. The report also covered its interior in great detail. The drawings were all too precise to only be an artist’s speculations.
The son looked pleased with the Black Dog’s astonishment.
“The researchers found these documents along with the stone. How about it, then? Does it look useful?”
While the Black Dog hated to admit it, the son was right. It did look useful, if it was accurate.
“And they found more than just blueprints. There’s a description in there of how to use the stone as well. You’ve seen magic for yourself, haven’t you?”
The orcs knew about the magic the humans used, but they’d never taken it too seriously. Mostly they saw it as folk incantations the savages used in the hope of protection from orc bullets. Until recently, when he’d witnessed it for himself, the Black Dog hadn’t believed in it much either.
“From what we understand, if the gemstone is applied to a certain critical point, it will counteract the human magic. Their spell will be broken, and the wall itself will crumble.”
He couldn’t write this off as only a tall tale. It was possible that whoever had built the fortress had prepared measures in case it ever fell into enemy hands. Word had it that what the orcs called the Ghost City had once been the capital of an ancient human civilization. Could the Black Dog really believe in the jewel’s authenticity?
“As the proxy margrave of the northern territory, I order you to lead your barbarians to the wall, and ascertain the truth of the matter.”
If the margrave himself had ordered him, perhaps the Black Dog would have seen it as a stirring adventure, but this untrustworthy son only stoked his resentment.
With a vulgar smile on his face, the lazy son snorted. “I don’t expect you to do it for free. If you manage to destroy the wall, it will become possible to invade the territory of the hairless apes, and then perhaps you really will be able to reclaim my sister. If you see this mission through, then regardless of whether the stone is effective, I will acknowledge that you fulfilled your oath and put in your best effort. Then you will be free. If the wall does collapse, I’ll even appoint you as the official commander of our expeditionary forces. Of course, if you dislike the idea of working under me, I’ll write you a favorable letter of recommendation to work elsewhere. You should be able to become guard captain of any city you choose. So what do you think? Not a bad deal, right?”
When the Black Dog did not answer, he pressed further.
“If you turn down this order and flee, I’ll put up wanted posters throughout the empire, saying you deserted before the enemy. Oh, you could air your grievances about that, but between a decree with the northern margrave’s seal and the arguments of a lowly mercenary barbarian, which side would people believe?”
What recourse did the Black Dog have?
“Remember, this is a top-secret mission. Don’t tell a soul. We can wait until your wounds have healed to put it in motion. Just do your best putting together a plan that doesn’t get you killed, okay?” His laughter filled the room.
Even while the Black Dog was lost in this memory, his aquilup partner, who had accompanied him for many long years, pressed on without missing a step. Meanwhile, a messenger came rushing toward him from the front of the expedition, bearing an important report from their scouts. Having heard the report, the Black Dog shook free of his bitter thoughts, focusing on the here and now. He raced his aquilup to rendezvous with the scouts.
The scouts looked down over the valley, having concealed themselves among the summit’s rocks. Upon noticing the Black Dog’s approach, one of them readied a space for him. The Black Dog edged into the gap, carefully taking a peek below at the great wall with a massive lake behind it. This was the first time he had seen the wall from this angle. In fact, this might have been the first time any orc had. He took out the documents the son had given him and compared them with his view. The layout matched to an uncanny degree.
It was as if this confirmed to him that the mission was not nonsense. The Black Dog felt a chill run down his spine, and he unconsciously rubbed his flank. The wound there had already healed, and he had ordered a new breastplate be made. The armorsmith had proudly told him, “I put a little something in there to protect you,” but he didn’t know if it would actually prove useful.
Calling a few veterans over, he quickly set to work laying out their next moves. Now all he could do was pray that the fortress continued to match the blueprints.