IDWTBTHQ Chapter 100 - Pins and Needles

Ever since news of the arrival of the orcs had spread, the villages at the border with the Caligare Forest had been evacuated, with their inhabitants seeking refuge in the city of Brettholz or even further up north. Despite this the village of Oakfell was bustling with activity even more than usual, with many people crowding its streets and alleys and smoke rising from all chimneys. However, the ones currently residing in the village weren’t the usual inhabitants, but rather members of the Brettholz defense force, both humans and goblins, who had made Oakfell their current headquarters.

And quite naturally the commanders of the defense forces —the marquis, Marcus and the goblin general— and their retinue were residing in the most comfortable building available, in this case meant Klara’s house, and the girl had initially been happy to host them.

However, by now she was starting to regret that choice, as the feeling of being out of place in her own home made her terribly uncomfortable.

The main problem was that she was cut from all the activity going on in the headquarters. She lacked the means to help Marcus and the others directly in their war efforts, and this time she couldn’t even do housework, since the marquis’s servants basically took care of everything much better than she could.  And with nothing to keep her mind occupied, she constantly worried about Felix.

Right now she was sitting on a stool in the corner of her dining room, which had been repurposed as a command center for the Brettholz forces. Marcus was sitting on an old armchair at the center of the room, with her legs crossed in a meditation-like position —something which apparently helped her focus. She kept her eyes closed, and spoke only to report the latest events that happened on the field in a rather flat and emotionless voice. At her right Eisen and Trakk were busy studying a huge map of the province opened on the dinner table, monitoring the movements of the troops using blue and red pins, while Hoggs was also sitting nearby, with eleven twinstones lined up on a coffee table in front of him.

Not counting the guards and the servants who were silently standing at the corners of the room in case they were needed —a definition which could easily include Klara— these four were the ones currently commanding the entirety of the counter-raiding operation. Only four people, which seemed an awfully insufficient number, and yet it seemed as if they were more than enough. Hoggs wasn’t really a surprise, since Klara knew that he was a stellar telemancer, but it was still impressive to witness him at work, as basically did the work of an entire telemancy team by himself, communicating with all of the other telemancers on the field with ease. Trakk and Eisen worked together, using the goblin’s tactical skills and the marquis’s knowledge of the territory to predict the movements of the enemy troops and organize the deployment of their own defense team to ambush the enemy.

However, none of them was as impressive as Marcus.

The Vex Queen acted as a surveillance network, guide and tactical advisor on a regional scale, and she did it in real time and with casual ease, watching basically over all of the southern border of the province and guiding the teams using her flying drones, while simultaneously relaying all pertinent information to Trakk and Eisen. The level of concentration that the Vex Queen was displaying was utterly inhuman, and even after three hours she showed no sign of fatigue. Thanks to her contribution the Brettholz forces moved with uncanny flawlessness, ambushing the orcs at perfect time and place, and as a result there had yet to be a single casualty among the defenders, while many orc warbands had already been destroyed.

Despite this, Klara couldn’t help but feel anxious for Felix, and she eagerly awaited news about him. Half an hour before, the Vex Queen had said that team four —the team the young man was part of— was moving to a farm to ambush and incoming group of orcs, but after that she hadn’t added anything about it, and Klara was starting to feel really on edge.

“Team three have eliminated their target with no casualties.” Marcus suddenly announced, making Klara flinch in surprise. “There is an orc group approaching them from south-west, following a small brook. Tell them to follow my Flier drone, it'll guide them to a small gorge where they can take the orcs by surprise.”

After she had finished speaking, Hoggs immediately took out a twinstone and started calling his colleague on the third team while Trakk and Eisen removed a red pin from the map and moved a blue pin to another position. Meanwhile, Klara took a deep breath, as her adrenaline levels refused to go down. She really wished that Marcus would say something about team four already, if anything to free her from this horrible sense of anticipation.

Then, not even a minute later, the girl’s wish was granted.

The Vex Queen  shook her head and opened her eyes, seemingly exiting from her trance-like state, and a smile appeared on her face as she turned to Klara.

“Good news, Klara!” She said, in a cheerful tone which contrasted with her previous emotionless one. “Team four had eliminated their target with no casualties!”

Klara immediately got up from her stool, relief and worry going to her head like a heatwave.

“Is Felix alright?” She asked.

“He's fine.” The Vex Queen confirmed. “He's the one who took down the most orcs. All of them but one, to be exact.”

“Ah.” Klara said, feeling surprised, and then she grimaced a little as she added: “I see. That's good for him, I guess.”

“You don't feel happy about it.” The Vex Queen said, raising an eyebrow.

“No, of course I’m happy.” The girl replied. “But… well, I’m just a tad worried that this success may go to Felix’s head and make him act recklessly.”

“Don't worry, I’ll be sure to keep his ego in check.” Marcus said with a smile. “This is why I sent my copy-drone with him, after all. So that I could keep an eye on him.”

“Thanks Marcus.” Klara said, feeling a little better.

“Sorry to interrupt you.” Trakk chimed in. “But could I ask what team four is going to do now?”

“Sure.” Marcus said, closing her eyes once again. “I'm leading them south east, to ambush another group of orcs, the one headed for Woodcutter's Rest. I'll make them hide in a small wooded hill from which they can ambush them.”

“Excellent.” The goblin nodded, and removed a red pin from the map before moving a blue pin slightly to the south.

“Any sign of the orc army yet?” The marquis asked.

“Not yet.” Marcus replied, going back to the dispassionate tone she had used before.

“Weird.” The nobleman muttered, stroking his chin in a thoughtful manner. “I think that they should have made their appearance by now. What are they waiting for?”

“I'm not sure.” The goblin general said, narrowing his eyes while looking at the red pins on the map. “But I agree with you. If these raids were intended just for blinding us to the movements of their main army, as we had initially assumed, then they have been going for too long.”

“So do you think that these raids are not just intended to cover for their army?” Eisen asked.

“Maybe.” Trakk replied. “I still don't have enough information to really make a guess.” He pointed at the map. “Which is why I've been analyzing the movements of the orc raiders currently in the region. If I could find a pattern, I may be able to deduce what their objective is.” He paused for a moment. “However, so far the only pattern I was able to find is a complete lack of one.” He paused and added, in a thoughtful tone. “Though that does actually tell us something about the enemy's plans.”

“How so?” The marquis asked, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement.

“Because it means that what really matters for their plans is the raiders' presence in this region, regardless of what they will achieve. Which in turn means that they are not a cover, but rather a distraction.” The goblin said with a smirk. “Of course, that's assuming that there isn't a pattern so subtle that even I can't find it, but I think that's unlikely. Even if the enemy commanders were capable of devising such a maneuver, the orcs couldn't possibly be able to perform it.”

“A distraction you say?” The nobleman muttered, narrowing his eyes. “But what would they want to distract us from?”

“I don't know.” The goblin replied, grimacing a little. “And that is what I'm worried about.”

“Excuse me.” Marcus suddenly said, interrupting the conversation between the marquis and the general. “Does anyone know what a humanoid creature with dark skin and multiple limbs might be? Because there is one east of here and heading this way.”

Everyone immediately turned to the Vex Queen.

“I might think of a couple of creatures that might fit that description.” Klara said hesitantly. “Could you be a bit more specific?”

“Well, the way it looks kind of reminds me of a spider.” Marcus replied, and then frowned and added: “Also it's sneaky. Really sneaky.”

“How can you tell that it’s sneaky?” The girl asked.

“Because I lost sight of it even though I was following it with one of my Fliers.” The Vex Queen said, sounding both annoyed and impressed. “That thing just entered some bushes and disappeared. I don’t know how it did it, but I can’t find it anymore.” He paused for a second and then added: “I'm going to send other Fliers to search for it. Whatever that creature is, it's probably dangerous.”

“Oh, if he is who I think he is, then he's definitely dangerous.” Trakk said with a smirk. “But you shouldn’t worry about him.”

“Why not?”

“Because going by your description, he's probably Arag, one of my scouts.”

“That thing is a goblin?” The Vex Queen asked. “It looked nothing like you.”

“Arag belongs to a rare breed.” The Goblin General replied. “His specific evolution requires to survive an encounter with a Deathstalker, which necessarily limits the number of goblins which can undergo it.”

“Are you really sure that's one of your scouts though?” The marquis asked. “I mean, Marcus's description was rather vague, so it could be a random beast coming from the Caligare Forest.”

“If that was the case, he'd be coming from the south.” Trakk corrected him. “But he's coming from the east. Which probably means that he went to search for me in Goblinia, and it's now coming here after being told that I left for Oakfell.”

“That makes sense.” The nobleman nodded. “But why is he coming to search for you, if I may ask?”

“Probably because he has something really important to report.” The goblin general said. “Or at least I hope so, because otherwise I'd have to punish him harshly for insubordination. When I sent him away on his mission I specifically ordered him not to leave his post unless he had some really vital information to report.”

“And what was this mission you sent him on?” Eisen inquired.

“Why, to keep an eye on the Blue Terror's movements of course.” Trakk replied. “Which means that whatever news he's bringing it's probably going to shed some light upon the enemy’s plans.” He turned to Marcus. “How far from here was he when you last saw him?”

“About fifteen kilometers.” The Vex Queen replied.

“Then he should be here shortly.” The general nodded. “We'll hear his report as soon as he arrives, but until then we should keep doing our work.” He paused and asked: “Speaking of which, how are our teams on the field faring? Is there any news on that front?”

“Yes.” Marcus said. “Team eight has eliminated a group of orcs and is now moving north-west to intercept another. Team two has also moved south to strike another target.”

Trakk nodded and together with Eisen he resumed moving pins on the map. The room quickly went back to how it had been a minute before, with the difference that a sense of anticipation now lingered in the air, as everyone impatiently waited to hear what news the goblin scout was bringing.