The Bone Orcs by Jonathan Moeller

Author:Jonathan Moeller [Moeller, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy, Epic, Historical, One Hour (33-43 Pages), Literature & Fiction, Arthurian, frostborn, ridmark arban, calliande
Amazon: B01BB3X31M
Publisher: Azure Flame Media, LLC
Published: 2016-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

###

As the day vanished and slid into night, Ridmark and Peter worked.

At first Ridmark feared that the bone orcs would discover them, but that fear proved groundless. The orcs remained occupied with the preparations for Hhrolazur’s ritual, and while they had set their undead servants to guard them, the mindless things kept to a perimeter and did not venture within it. If Ridmark and Peter tried to escape, the undead would swarm them, but so long as they stayed near the barrow, the undead would leave them alone.

Ridmark alternated between helping Peter with the work and keeping an eye on the orcs. The bone orcs moved their prisoners away from the open entrance to the barrow to create a clear space. In that clear space Hhrolazur and some of the other bone orcs labored, casting spells. They had written a massive double circle of ghostly blue fire upon the ground, and the double circle intersected seven smaller circles around its circumference.

Ridmark suspected that the seven victims of the spell would stand within those circles.

The captives were restless, but the bone orcs kept watch over them. Twice some of the men tried to break free, and the Qazaluuskan orcs responded by killing them. After that, the captives remained quiescent, though their fear and tension was obvious.

Night fell, but Ridmark had no trouble seeing. Nine of the thirteen moons were out tonight, following the complex patterns of their risings and settings. Of the nine moons visible, Saginus and Shardus were the brightest. The Old One had indeed been right. Around midnight, Ridmark judged, the moons would reach their apex.

And then Hhrolazur would murder seven children.

Ridmark watched the orcs and the captives for a little while longer, and the circled back down the far slope of the hill. Peter waited there, an axe in his hand, his face hard and tense in the reddish light of the nine moons.

“What now?” said Peter.

“We’ll wait a little while longer,” said Ridmark.

Peter scowled. “We should act now.”

“They haven’t started the ceremony yet,” said Ridmark. “That’s when the interruption will work the best. If we act now, they’ll simply kill us, and carry on where they left off.”

Peter let out a long, ragged breath, his knuckles tight against the axe’s haft, but gave a nod at last.

“Fine,” he said. “Go and watch. But let me know the minute we need to act.”

“Be ready to conceal yourself,” said Ridmark.

Peter gave a sharp nod, and Ridmark crept back to the top of the hill to watch the preparations. Hhrolazur and some of the bone orcs continued working on the circle, casting spell after spell. Other orcs sprinkled dried blood onto the circle, while others recited chants to Qazalask as they gestured with old bones or mummified limbs, repeating their hymns to the Lord of Bones over and over again. None of the orcs kept watch on the surrounding countryside, and only a few of them guarded the prisoners. It would have been an ideal time to launch an attack, and even a few mounted knights would have been able to scatter the bone orcs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.