Fortress Al-Mir

“Alright. Let’s go over this one more time,” Arkk said, looking around his meeting table.

Vezta stood a step behind and just to the side of him, looking calm and serene as usual. Khan was coiled up directly across from Arkk, hands gently resting on the table. Ilya, Zullie, Rekk’ar, and Olatt’an were split on either side, none paying too much attention to Arkk as they stared at the gorgon in their midst. For once, it seemed like Vezta wasn’t the strangest thing around. Or, more accurately, people had gotten used to her but were still highly wary of the gorgon.

“Tomorrow morning,” Arkk continued, trying to pretend like he had everyone’s attention, “the inquisitors will begin their search of the Cursed Forest accompanied by about forty volunteers, most of whom are just regular villagers looking to get a little extra coin in their pockets and not hardened mercenaries.

“It is a large swath of land to cover,” Arkk said. “Possible to traverse in under a day if you’re walking or running through it but these people will be searching. I don’t know how fast or how slow they’ll be moving. Vezta will be making use of our crystal balls to keep track of the inquisitors and both Fortress Al-Mir and the false fortress to the north.”

Vezta dipped her head in a slight bow, acknowledging her part in the plan.

“We don’t want to make it easy or obvious for them, so if they do pass right over the small clues we left pointing toward the false fortress, we’ll let them go by. I assume the inquisitors won’t give up so easily, they seem quite persistent, but if they give up temporarily, it buys us time to work out even better plans for the next time they stop by.

“If the search parties do stumble across the false fortress, we’ll make a show of fighting them off. Based on my own village’s temperament, regular villagers will stand and defend their town to the death as long as victory seems plausible. Out here? The mere presence of a small group of orcs will likely be enough to frighten away anything but overwhelming numbers. We’re not expecting that. The mercenaries might take a bit more of a beating but we should easily outnumber them even with that team of orcs still at the lost pyramid. Even still, I want everyone to be careful. Remember that I can transport all of you at will.”

Rekk’ar didn’t even glance over to Arkk, focused entirely on Khan. Thankfully, Olatt’an gave Arkk a firm nod of his head. “I will endeavor to remind the others that they can garner your attention should they become injured or otherwise find themselves in a precarious situation.”

“Good. If the inquisitors enter, I don’t want anyone fighting them. I don’t know exactly what their capabilities are, only that they destroyed the Darkwood fortress. Given the monsters around Darkwood, that makes them a whole lot more dangerous than anyone else. When they arrive, I’ll deal with them myself.”

“Big talk,” Rekk’ar said, voice low and gravely. He finally turned his head over to Arkk. With his lips curled into a frown, he crossed his arms. “Would you remind me who fell to a ghast just a few weeks ago? These inquisitors can apparently kill ghasts with little effort if the destruction of that other fortress is any indication.”

Arkk pressed his lips together, stiffening. “That was me saving one of your men from having his head torn off in exchange for what was obviously a far less grievous wound. Remind me of who made your former chieftain literally explode.”

Rekk’ar flashed his tusks for a brief moment. “You have warriors. Use them.” He slammed a fist on the table, glaring before speaking again. “If Vezz’ok or Orjja dies, who cares? But if you die, there goes our cushy lives here, our pay, and maybe even our own lives if those inquisitors really will tear through the place.”

“That…” Arkk glowered. He had a point. The thought of throwing orcs to their deaths, even if they had once been attackers of his village, just didn’t sit right with him. Maybe he would have agreed a few months ago. Not now that they had gotten to know each other, fought at Darkwood together, and generally just lived together for the last three months.

“Boys,” Ilya said, rubbing her forehead. She wore dark bags under her eyes. In fact, she had sported those dark bags ever since returning. Looking at how hard she had to try just to stay awake for this meeting, Arkk felt guilty about dragging her away from the two elf children. “Please. Arkk doesn’t even need to fight them since we want them to destroy the fake fortress. So it doesn’t even matter.”

Zullie adjusted her glasses with her middle finger. “If they find the real fortress, what then?”

“Then we fight for real,” Arkk said, turning his attention to Zullie. “I don’t see how they would, though. Since sealing the crevasses in the ceilings, the only physical access comes in the form of the tunnels to the villages. All three entrances are well outside the area we’re expecting the inquisitors to be searching. The tunnels themselves are filled with traps and are designed to be collapsible. The only connection from here to the false fortress is a tiny tunnel that even a rat would have a hard time squeaking through.”

Arkk looked around slowly, watching everyone’s faces. Rekk’ar had gone back to glaring at the gorgon—which really wasn’t a wise decision in Arkk’s humble opinion—while everyone else had simply fallen silent. They had a plan. Arkk thought it was a pretty good plan. Most of the rest of them had agreed at one point or another. This meeting served just one purpose. Making sure everyone was on the same page.

“You requesst our pressence in thesse fightss?” the gorgon asked, hissing voice making everyone except Arkk and Vezta jump.

This meeting served two purposes. “When I initially made these plans, I didn’t know I would have gorgon joining us. You’re here because I wanted to keep you, and the rest of the gorgon by extension, informed of the goings on around Fortress Al-Mir. If you have input, I’ll happily accept it. However… your presence might be detrimental to what we hope to accomplish here. We want to lure them in and have them think they’ve won. If they see gorgon in the halls, they’ll likely run away and call down the Duke’s army on us.”

The gorgon nodded his head. “I undersstand.”

“That said… while I didn’t plan for your presence, gorgon standing at our backs would be a great boon if we do have to fight for real.”

Khan nodded, tongue darting out of his mouth before snapping back in.

“While you’re here, how are you and your people settling in? Is there anything you need?”

Khan closed his eyes, letting out a nasal hum. “Not at thiss moment. We are enjoying our new homess and belliess filled with real meat.”

“Good. Good. Keep me posted if that changes,” Arkk said. “And if your people are getting bored and want something to do, let me know what skills they have and I’ll see if I can’t get them doing something. Otherwise… continue enjoying yourselves?” Looking over the group once more, Arkk nodded. “If there are no other comments about the next few days,” he said, pausing a moment to see if anyone said anything. “Meeting over. Zullie, stay a moment.”

The witch, who had started to stand, stopped and dropped back into her chair. Vezta remained directly behind Arkk. Ilya didn’t move. Rekk’ar remained seated as well. Olatt’an stood and, with a gracious nod of his head, started toward the door, only to pause and let Khan exit first before following after. They turned in opposite directions just before the door swung shut behind them.

Arkk glanced around at the people who stayed behind. “I assume you all have something else to discuss?” he asked, already feeling like he knew what the topic was.

“Are you sure it is a good idea having the gorgon around, Arkk?” Ilya asked, first to speak. “John said one stopped by the other day and nearly frightened him to death.”

“Zharja. I’m pretty sure she got lost, though she wouldn’t admit it. Hale went on and on about how pretty her scales were. I didn’t think it was much of a problem.”

“Hale would—”

“One threatened my blacksmith,” Rekk’ar said, fist hitting the table.

Arkk sighed. After finding Zharja wandering around, he had run through a quick check to make sure nothing had happened. Given that Zharja hadn’t attacked him at the mine entrance, he doubted that she would have randomly attacked anyone. Someone getting scared and attacking first would have been a different story but no incident had occurred.

“I spoke with Perr’ok. He said she just asked a few questions. Even offered to make her armor—”

“As an appeasement,” Rekk’ar growled. “I said no gorgon and now you’re bringing them to meetings like this?”

“You said you didn’t want to fight gorgon. You aren’t. Khan is an employee, same as you. They stick to their section of the fortress for the most part. Even when they don’t, they aren’t attacking.” Arkk shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re so frightened of them. Everyone in this room is dangerous. I could fry you with two words. Vezta could tear apart everyone here at the same time. Zullie is a powerful spellcaster who knows more magic than I could even guess at. Ilya could put an arrow through your head from the next mountain over—”

“Please don’t bring me into this…”

“—and you hang around with a man called the Ripthroat on the regular. They can turn you to stone, so what? At least that is reversible.”

“They’re cold-blooded snakes. They don’t think like you or me.”

“They are intelligent, reasoning beings. That’s enough for me,” Arkk said with a shake of his head. “Frankly, I’m more concerned about our other… guest.” Turning his head toward Zullie, Arkk tried to force the subject onto what he actually wanted to ask. “How is Savren settling in?”

“Unhappily. Although not in chains, I think he feels like he is a prisoner here. He sticks around in his room most of the time, thankfully, but he stops by the library often enough that I have taken to facing the door at all times.”

“He hasn’t tried any magic on you?”

“Would I know if he had? A perplexing question. I’ve been setting up systems around my room, little reminders that, if I suddenly can’t remember, I’ll know he did something. And that is in addition to a few warning spells I’ve had active around me. That said, he might try something far more subtle that I won’t easily be able to detect.” Zullie shuddered to herself. “Are we sure we need him? Even aside from his concerning magical knowledge, the way he speaks is just… slimy.”

“You’re the one who said we aren’t going to easily be able to find people of your level for the ritual. I still have no idea where we are going to find another.” Arkk paused, then added, “You have checked Savren, right? He will work? Because if he doesn’t…”

“Unfortunately, he will suffice.”

“Then we deal with him for now. If he makes himself a problem, we get rid of him. I don’t suppose you checked the gorgon to see if any of them are magically capable?”

Zullie’s violet eyes flicked across the table. “Not to give into my associate’s paranoia—”

Rekk’ar snorted.

“—but I would rather not be alone with them either.”

Arkk glanced over his shoulder. “Vezta, can you assist Zullie?”

“I am beginning to feel stretched thin, Master.”

“I know. You have a lot on your plate, but—”

“I’ll do it,” Ilya said, sitting forward. “I can stick with Zullie when she needs someone else around.”

Zullie glanced over, flipping a lock of black hair over her head in the process. “You might be able to put an arrow through his head from a good distance but what good are you up close and personal with a gorgon?”

Ilya’s eyes flashed in irritation. “You want moral support or not?”

“They aren’t going to attack,” Arkk said. “Probably. The four older ones for sure. They…” He shared a look with Vezta. “They’re loyal with very little doubt. Half of the younger ones follow the elders. The other two… I’m keeping a close eye on them. They’ve hardly left their lairs, however, and then only to eat.”

Zullie drummed her fingers on the table. “Fine. On the condition that if even one of them is a capable spellcaster, we get rid of Savren.”

“But we need two—”

“Look, I signed up for magical research, not for dealing with monsters.” A strange look came over Zullie’s face as she glanced at Vezta. “No offense.”

“If one of them is capable, we can run the ritual immediately and get rid of Savren after. We’ll turn him over to a burg to deal with.”

“Might as well kill him yourself,” Rekk’ar grumbled. “Don’t like getting your hands dirty?”

Arkk drew in a breath, glaring down Rekk’ar. He was getting a bit irritated with the orc’s demeanor. Rekk’ar had a number of valid complaints, it was true, but he was so abrasive about it that Arkk couldn’t help but find it grating. “I’m perfectly willing to get my hands dirty when it benefits me. In this situation, turning the Hope Killer over to a burg, captured by Company Al-Mir, serves me to a far greater extent.”

Something about Arkk’s comment made Rekk’ar smile. Not the angry bearing of his tusks but a smile. A nasty, unpleasant smile. “Good,” the orc said, standing. “Keep the gorgon away from me.”

Without another word, Rekk’ar left the meeting room, leaving the door to shut behind him.

A long moment of silence followed before Zullie stood as well. “If we’re done, I suppose I best ready my materials for testing the gorgon. Would you kindly transport me to the library?”

With a nod of his head, Arkk made a vague and entirely unnecessary motion with his hand. Zullie vanished, leaving just him, Ilya, and Vezta. Arkk drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh.

“You alright?” Ilya asked softly.

“I’m fine. I saw this fracture coming when I decided to try to recruit the gorgon. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing but I couldn’t not do it. They have abilities that are just so… useful.”

“When did you start thinking like that?” Ilya asked. “Useful to keep the gorgon. Useful to send a man to his death—”

“First of all, that man is a remorseless murderer who tried to kill me the moment we met and might have ended up killing an entire village if his ritual circle went undisturbed for too long.”

“Still…”

Arkk just shook his head. He had goals. Rescuing Alya wasn’t going to be easy. Deposing the Duke? Even harder. He well knew that he would have to make some tough decisions at some point. Handing a murderer over for trial under the laws of the land was not one of them.

“What about you? Following Zullie around? What about the two elf kids?”

“John and Hale have been spending time with them. They’re… I don’t know what to do. They seem better with Hale especially. Something to distract me for a while sounds like a good thing, honestly. This isn’t something I’m looking forward to telling my mother about.”

“I could—”

“No. This is mine to deal with.” Ilya rested a hand on Arkk’s arm before letting her fingers fall away as she stood. “I’ll head out as well, I suppose. See when Zullie wants to test the gorgon.”

“Alright. But don’t push yourself too hard,” Arkk said. “Get some rest, especially before tomorrow.”

Ilya shot him a funny look. “Yeah,” was all she said before stepping out of the room.

Arkk leaned back in his chair, eyes drifting to the maze-like pattern on the ceiling. He traced a few long pathways, moving endlessly within those lines before his vision started to fuzz over from the repetitive patterns. Shaking his head, he turned. “Any thoughts?”

Vezta offered a slight bow. “I think you are operating optimally under the circumstances. I apologize for not being able to do more—”

“Your scrying is a valuable duty and I lean on you hard for help managing the servants, learning more about the fortress, teaching Zullie as much magic as you can, working with Zullie over the ritual, and your fighting skills and…”

“Still, it pains me to not be able to fulfill a task upon being asked.”

“Physically painful?”

Vezta stared a moment before laughing. A musical, uplifting laugh. Arkk wasn’t sure he had ever heard the servant laugh before.

“No,” Vezta said with a smile on her face.

The smile was a bit much. Although he could tell that her mannerisms were well-meant, it still was a smile too wide with a few too many teeth.

Shaking off the sudden reminder of her vastly inhuman nature, Arkk returned her smile. “Well, I hope I’m doing right by you.”

“Of course you are, Master.”