IDWTBTHQ Chapter 106 - Windtalker

The sun was setting on the southern regions of the duchy of Grimdale, turning everything red with its dying light while the sky grew dark. The blue and the red moons were nowhere to be seen for now, but the green one shone its ghoulish light on the horizon, barely hidden by a mass of clouds. This was the time when everyone would be tired out from a long day of work and wished for nothing more than going home to have dinner and some well deserved rest, leaving all worries for the next day.

Such was the case even today, but sadly no one could go home right now. Because of the threat of the orc army, all villages had been evacuated and their inhabitants were currently fleeing to the north, forming a long column of people and animals that filled the main road for kilometers.

Yasen Harp, sitting on his horse up on an earth mound, was keeping watch on the marching civilians with tired eyes . It had taken all day to get those people moving and it had been nothing short of a small miracle that they had managed to evacuate so many villages on such a short notice, but that still wasn't enough. They weren't out of danger yet and at the pace they were moving the orcs would have no trouble catching up with them —though that couldn't be helped since there were children and elders among them who just couldn't go any faster. So the only thing the captain could do to ensure them a tiny bit of safety was to have the entirety of his Royal Knights escort them in their march north.

The problem with this course of action was that this way the knights were too busy protecting the refugees to do anything else, like, for example, mounting an offensive against the orcs while they were still busy crossing the mountains. That would have been perfectly feasible, as Yasen had personally flown over the entrance to the mines and had seen the sorry state of the orc camp. Not only were there only a few thousand troops there, but they lacked any sort of organization or defense, to the point that a simple surprise attack right now would probably throw them into disarray for a week.

Sadly, that wasn't an option, as there were far too many orc raiders roaming the countryside to leave the civilians unprotected. Yasen didn't want to think about what would happen if the monsters somehow managed to reach the fleeing people when the Royal Knights weren't around. He had seen a few farms and isolated settlements that had been raided before they could be evacuated and looked like chicken coops that a bunch of foxes had gone through.

Once again, he silently cursed against Lord Grimdale. If that idiot had listened to him and sent his soldiers south as soon as he was asked to, things would have been different and more civilians would have been saved. But it was too late to do anything about that, and right now Yasen didn't have the time or energy to spare for swearing against that idiot nobleman. He had to focus all of his efforts in getting the civilians to safety.

He raised his head, trying to read the information that the evening breeze carried from the north west. He could smell heavy rain coming from maybe five hours away, but the stench of the orcs was completely absent, which probably meant that the road to Treval was free. So he turned to his lieutenant and said:

“We're going northwest. Inform the men that a storm is coming in a few hours, but that we're not going to stop. We're going to march in the rain.”

“That is going to be hard for the civilians” The soldier commented. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait out the storm?”

“No.” The captain shook his head. “We've got to put some distance between us and those damned orcs, and this storm may be a godsent in disguise. The main orc army will be even more hampered by it than we are, so it’s unlikely they’ll move while it lasts. So we’ve got to make use of it. Now go! We’ve got no time to lose!”

“Aye, sir!” The soldier saluted, and rode away to pass those orders to the rest of the Royal Knights who were riding alongside the column of civilians.

Yasen remained alone on the mound, and he took advantage of that moment of solitude to relax his shoulders a bit and hunch on his saddle while letting out a tired sigh. He felt completely exhausted after a long day of riding and flying from village to village, but he couldn't show it in front of his men. As their captain, he had the responsibility to always look his best in front of the soldiers to inspire them to push themselves harder, but the reality was that even he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a whole week. That wasn't an option though, so he had to endure for a few more days and hope that no accidents would happen along the way.

Sadly, his hopes were about to be dashed.

As he was staring at the horizon, trying to mentally calculate how long it would take to get to the comfort of the city of Treval, a movement to the south caught his attention. Looking in that direction he saw one of his knights, whom he had sent to scout the territory behind them, riding at full speed towards him. Yasen didn't know what news the man was bringing but he would bet on it not being anything good.

He would have won that bet.

“Captain Yasen!” The rider shouted as soon as he got closer. “We have a problem! There are orcs coming from the south!”

The captain cursed silently against his luck.

“How many?” He asked. “And how far are they from us?”

“About five hundred.” The scout replied. “And a few kilometers down the road to the south. At the pace they're advancing, they should catch up with us within one hour at most.”

Yasen relaxed a little bit, since five hundred orcs weren't a real threat to his knights, but after a moment he told himself to not get too overconfident. After all, if the Oni or a great number of ogres were accompanying the orcs, they could still be a substantial problem.

“Did you spot any ogre or the oni among them?” He asked for confirmation.

“I can't be sure.” The man replied. “I was too far to sense their auras. I did spot about twenty humanoids that were bigger than the others though. They also looked rather weird.”

“How so?”

“They had a rather... feminine appearance from what I could see.” The knight explained. “Huge breasts, wide hips and some even had long hair.” He shuddered. “That only made them more grotesque, though.”

“That's certainly peculiar.” Yasen commented, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement. He knew that ogres could alter their appearance at will, but he couldn't tell why they would choose to look feminine of all things. But that wasn't important right now. No matter how they looked, ogres would still be dangerous opponents, but only twenty of them weren’t enough to worry him. “Anyway... no trace of the Oni? I don’t know what it’s supposed to look like, but from what we know, it should have a blue skin.”

“Well...” The scout seemed a bit hesitant. “Again, I can't be sure. Most of the orcs in that army had bluish skin.”

Yasen stared at the man and then cursed silently. If that was true then the oni could simply be disguised as one of his underlings! But then again, the oni would have a much stronger aura compared to a simple orc, so once they got closer he shouldn't have any problem identifying it.

And once he had singled it out, he could kill it.

He thought about it for a moment. Five hundred orcs led by twenty ogres wouldn't really be a problem for his knights, and the only threat was the potential presence of the oni. But if the Blue Terror really was there, then Yasen would have a chance to cut the metaphorical and literal head off the snake. Without their leader, the orcs would be easy picking for the Medelan army, and this invasion would basically end then and there.

The Captain of the Royal Knight smirked with confidence. If the Blue Terror had really been so foolish and overconfident to put himself in such a vulnerable position, he saw no reason not to take advantage of it and show that beast just why humans were at the top of the pecking order in this world.

“Come with me!” He said to the scout. “We're going to gather up the rest of the knights and attack the orcs!”

He left the mound, riding with the other knight to the column, and started calling his men.

“To me, Royal Knights!” He cried. “Get into battle formation! Now!”

The knights reacted immediately to this command, as was expected from well trained veterans, but the civilians started to panic visibly at these words. This could spell trouble if left alone, so Yasen spared a few moments to reassure those people.

“Don't worry, people of Medelan!” He said, in a loud and clear voice. “A small group of orcs has been sighted to the south, but we are going to take care of them right now! You shall continue your march north and we'll catch up with you as soon as we finish killing them!”

Luckily, the civilians actually calmed down after hearing those words. That wasn’t really a surprise though, since most of them were familiar with Yasen's reputation and they couldn't imagine him losing to a bunch of orcs. So they kept walking in good order, leaving the knights free to ride away to face the enemy.

The Royal Knights quickly got into formation and followed their commander's lead to the south. They rode at a brisk pace for about ten minutes before they came into sight of the orc army.

As the scout had said, there were about five hundred orcs, led by twenty massive figures that could only be ogres.  But these humanoids were somewhat different from the disorganized bands Yasen had met so far. Not only did they look different because of the bluish hue of their skins but they also seemed more disciplined, actually marching together in loose formations behind their ogre leaders. They were also rather well equipped, carrying metal weapons and protections.

“They must be an elite unit.” The Captain thought. “If that's so, then it's highly probable that the oni is personally leading them... but where could he be?”

He scanned the enemies with his eyes, in search of the so-called Blue Terror, but he couldn't find it. Even his aura senses, which were much keener compared to those of the average Aura User, couldn't pick up anything besides the aura coming off the twenty ogres, which was admittedly rather strong but not enough to really alarm him.

Then, just as he was about to order his men to charge, a sudden breeze caressed his face and he froze on his saddle. In that small gust of wind he could feel an unfathomable presence, coming not from the army in front of him, but rather from above. He immediately turned and saw a winged silhouette flying high in the sky to the north, right in front of the green moon. The distance was so great that it could have been easily mistaken for a bird or a bat, but as soon as he set his eyes on it Yasen had no doubt.

That had to be the oni. Nothing else would have a presence like that.

“The bastard must be waiting to ambush us while we're busy attacking his army.” Yasen thought. “Well, not on my watch!”

“Rosco!” He called for his lieutenant who was riding at his side.

“Yes sir?” The man asked.

“Take command of the knights and lead the charge against the orcs.” Yasen said, pointing with his glaive towards the figure in the sky. “I've got something to take care of.”

The lieutenant looked in the direction his captain was pointing at, and then turned back to his superior.

“Is that the oni?” He asked.

“Most likely.”

“Then is it wise for you to face it alone?” The man asked in a worried tone.

“Well, I've got no choice unless you or some other knights can fly alongside me.” Yasen replied with a smirk. “But it's going to be fine. That bastard up there may be strong, but I doubt he has ever faced a true Aura Master before!”

“I see.” Rosco nodded. “Then I wish you good luck, captain. And don't worry about us. By the time you’ll be back, we’ll have these orcs wiped out!”

“It’s a contest then!” Yasen smiled. “The one who finishes first has to pay the next time we go to drink together! What do you say?”

The lieutenant grinned.

“Ah… I’m sorry captain, but I’ve long since learned to never bet against you.”

“A pity.” Yasen shook his head in fake sadness. “I never find someone willing to take my bets!” He looked Rosco in the eyes and said: “Well, then to make up for it, make these beasts wish they never got out of their forest, while I do the same with their boss!”

“That I will do, sir!”

The Captain of the Royal Knights smiled at those words, and then he called for his powers leapt from his saddle. He rose for at least six metres, far higher than a normal jump could carry him, and instead of falling down he remained there, floating in the air while his cape started billowing wildly. He then turned towards the silhouette of the oni and with a grim expression on his face he started flying towards it, carried by a powerful gust of wind that made him faster than an arrow.