Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 90 - Discovery

Valentine lay flat on a rock as he chewed on a stalk of foreign grass. The long blue stem waved lazily up and down as he moved his mouth. Tania watched her Chosen in fascination wondering if she should make a dash for the stalk as it bounced enticingly at her. The beautiful tawny wolf bunched her powerful muscles and was just about to pounce on the tempting reed when the Thief spat it out and sat up.

Awwww, Tania relaxed her hind legs sitting back down and licked her nose in disappointment.

"What is taking her so long?" Valentine asked aloud.

"Her nose isn't as good as mine," Tania replied bluntly.

Valentine smiled and reached out to pat his Familiar. "Of course not. Kasakh is an orc not an amazing wolf like you. She won't be able to sniff out stuff. Come, I'm tired of waiting. Let's go help her whether she wants us to or not."

"She will chase you out of her cave again."

The Gatekeeper snorted. "So what? I ..."

They were cut off by a sudden soulful wolf howl. The haunting cry pierced the silence and hung in the air.

"Anya!!" Valentine cried in fright as he ran anxiously over to the white wolf. She was howling mournfully at the edge of the clearing. "Anya, what is it? Is it Laz? Is he o'kay?!!"

Anya lowered her great furry head to sniff noses with Tania as she came bounding up.

"Sister! What is it? Your Chosen ...?"

"He is injured but alive." Anya heaved and hung her head. A moment later her ears perked up and she tilted her head to one side. "Oh! That is good. The fighting has ended. It was a close call. Xico helped."

"Xico?" Valentine asked as he listened to the three-way conversation in his head.

"Yes, the great Warlock could not tell the difference between my Chosen and the orc. He ..." she referred to her Chosen lovingly, "... told me and I told our winged brother and he told his Chosen. The Warlock killed the right one," she finished smugly.

"You are giving me a headache. How could Constantine not be able to distinguish between Laz and an orc? Seriously."

"My Chosen is o'kay now," Anya announced and stood up shaking herself vigorously. Then she looked hopefully at Valentine, "Eat?"

"Yesss! Eat!" Tania agreed heartily wagging her tail.

The handsome Thief laughed. He retrieved some juicy meat from his Inventory and tossed the Items to the Familiars. If Anya had regained her good spirits, Laz was definitely o'kay but the roundabout vague explanation left much to be desired. He would get details from his two friends after this session. Meanwhile he should be doing his part. He left the two eating wolves and headed for Kasakh's cave.

"Hey! I'm done waiting. Despite what you think of humans, I can actually help ..." Valentine stopped as he spied the young orc squatting in a corner, hunched over several pieces of parchment. Around her were rubble, she had smashed through something to get those, he guessed. The Banished One must have left somrthingfor his daughter in a place only she would know.

The gatekeeper went closer, was she crying? He gaped astounded at the unexpected sight. The loss of her father must have hit her hard now that she was back. His tone softened, "Hey ... Kasakh, you o'kay?"

Valentine jumped back agilely out of the way when she turned swiping one strong hand at him. "I hate him, I hate him, I HATE HIM!!"

"Ummmm, him not me right?" Poor guy whoever she was referring to, the Thief thought. He was a dead man. It was not a good thing to be hated by an angry orc.