Tria (DnD Story)
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Tria looked over the small cavern. it was dark and dank and smelled of sweat and dung. it wasnt so moist as most underground places she had been in which could be because it was in a large hill and she was near the entrance. the orcs were hundled around each other playing some orc game of dice over to her left.
to the right was her target. a young human girl the orcs had taken hostage. she was the daughter of the mayor of the town not too far away. strange these orcs had taken a hostage and knew which one to take. that isn't like orcs at all. someone else must be controlling them. but that was a problem for another time. if it wasn't for the "party" she had just joined up with, she could take her time to find out. but those idiots... just wanted to run right into the orc camp and attack the orcs,... then find the girl.
not even considering that the orcs might have just killed the girl before they rescued her, there were too many orcs for the party's "feeble" skills. Tria had told them that, which just made them angry and their pride made them want to attack them even more. She had tried to talk them out of it, said she could sneak into camp and find the girl and be gone before the orcs even knew they were there. and when the orcs sent out search parties for the girl, they could take them out a few at a time. easy.
but no, that stupid barbarian cleric, just had to go charging in while she was arguing with Tomand, that human with too little armor and a big bastard sword. strange that the dwarf, Thorin, was more reserved about attacking the orcs outright. he was willing to listen to her until the barbarian went all... barbarian. she might have to release that barbarian from this life if he was going to continually be stupid. even the human wizard wanted to attack, he even was running right behind the barbarian.
they all went charging in at that point, all but her. she watched from her vantage point. the first 10 orcs, they didn't seem to have much problem with. but more were coming as the alarm horn was blown. things went down hill when the mage threw a fireball at the charging orcs and got the distance a little wrong. the human with the bastard sword and the dwarf were too close. the fireball went off, taking out 5, no, 6, of the charging orcs. a big huge blazing red ball blowing those orcs this way and that. the dwarf managed to roll out of most of the blast but the human with the bastard sword didn't even know it went off till it hit him. he went flying and landed hard on his stomach. he didn't move at first and Tria thought he might be dead. she did see his arms finally move to push himself up but the rest of the charging orcs were on him. bashing him with rock hammers and fists.
the dwarf moved to help but there were too many and they swarmed him, knocking him to the ground. a great surge of 20 orcs. the mage went down next as he was trying to cast another spell. he took a clean hit to the head with a thrown rock hammer. that left the barbarian, who was a better fighter than Tria had thought. swinging that great sword of his, taking down orcs left and right while cursing Tria's name. the thought hit Tria, what was a barbarian cleric during with such a huge, probably magical, sword? it didn't matter though, he took down 10 or so orcs himself before two of them tackled him from behind.
and that was that. Tria sighed a long sigh. again thinking the word "idiots".
she thought that the mage and the human with the bastard sword were probably dead. she heard the dwarf groaning as they tied him up. the barbarian, was missing teeth, bleeding from the mouth, nose and ears as they kept bashing him while trying to tie him up. he keep fighting. getting one arm free and punching an orc in the face. which made two other orcs punch him in the face, again. how much punishment could a human take? one orc got fed up apparently and bashed the barbarian on the head with a rock, twice. the barbarian went limp then. maybe even dead from those two blows. maybe not, he was very hard headed.
she watched the orcs finish tying them all up. they stuck a dirty rag in the mage's mouth and tied another dirty rag around his head. a big orc came walking up to examine each. he had a lot of bones piercing his nose and ears. another through the under part of his chin, shaped like a horseshoe, points down. he had a staff, well, a leafless branch, with little bone skulls and feathers hanging from the top. were those vulture feathers? must be a shaman or wanna be. he didn't seem that smart either. kicking each member of the party with his foot once. not really checking them.
he didn't say anything either but turned and walked back to camp after kicking each one. the orcs started stripping items off of each one and putting them in a bag made of two bear skins sewn together badly. they didn't take the armor off the human with the bastard sword or the dwarf. they tried but it was too hard apparently. they couldn't figure it out and the fact they were tied up made it harder. so they left it on.
one orc gathered up all the obvious weapons. the human's bastard sword, the barbarians great sword and the dwarf's battle axe. the orcs searched the party, handed the orc with the bag daggers, knives and other things they took off the party.
once done with that, they grabbed each party member by a leg and dragged them off towards the orc camp. she saw were they dragged them to, a big pole in the ground off to the side of the camp, next to the big hill and tied them to that, by their feet. strange.
nothing to do now but wait till dark. she was going to save the girl, if she was still alive. she wasn't too sure about saving the party. maybe the dwarf. she studied the camp, got it fixed in her mind. tried to get an approximate count of the orcs that were left. she saw the shaman walk past the party, grunt at them, and then head into a cave opening in the hill that she hadn't noticed till now. most of the orcs went with him. maybe the girl was in there. there were only two tents in the camp. one she was sure was the shaman's and the other they had taken the bag of gear and weapons inside and left. two orcs sat down outside that one, guards perhaps. two more orcs were outside, "guarding" the shamans tent and four orcs were "guarding" the party. when it got dark, she would check both tents, just to be sure the girl wasn't in one of those. then she would check the cave. once she found the girl, she would teleport her back to town and then come back and deal with the orcs. maybe set a few things up before she left with the girl.
once it was dark enough, she cast an improved invisibility spell on herself and proceeded quietly into the orc camp. she moved around the outskirts. she made it to the tent with the weapons inside. found that it was a crappy tent and she could slip inside from the back with no trouble. checking first to make sure no one was inside before she slipped in. the smell of almost rotten meat hit her first. then she saw the stripped, half carcass of what was probably a deer in the tent. she sighed again and tried to ignore the smell. it wasn't a big tent, barely enough room for the carcass and the bag with the weapons thrown on top. they at least put the swords in the sheaths they took from the others, but the battle axe was just leaning on the rest.
she opened up her black silk cloak to get to her portable hole. she was always careful with this and the party didn't know she had it. the party didn't know a lot of things about Tria. they just thought she was a moon elf with some skill at being a rogue. little did they know...
she carefully picked up the battle axe and slipped it into the hole. then did the same with the bastard sword. she paused with the great sword. her curiosity getting the better of her. she ran her hand down the scabbard. hard leather with almost beautiful carvings of human women etched into it. were they dancing or just posing strangely? she let that though pass and ran her hand to the hilt. even through her black doe skin gloves, she could feel the power coming from the sword. it was magical. which didn't mesh with what she knew of barbarians. she smiled as a thought passed through her mind, we all have secrets.
she pushed all those thoughts aside and placed the sword in the hole and grabbed the bag. she paused as she heard a sound from outside. then came a laugh from one orc and a groan from the other. the first orc had passed gas and must have thought it was funny. pushing the disgust from her mind, she doubted she would smell it over the carcass in the tent, she carefully picked up the bag and placed it in the hole.
when she was done, she took 2 bottles of oil out of the hole. she opened one and started soaking one side of the tent with it. then did the other side with the second bottle. she was very quiet as she worked. she placed the two empty bottles back in her hole and then left the tent, out the way she came in from the back. she took another bottle out of her hole and soaked the outside of the tent, very mindful of the two orcs in the front. she was invisible and very quiet and the oil had no smell. at least none they could smell over the other smells in the camp. still, old habits.
she placed the empty bottle back in her hole and moved around the outside of camp towards the other tent. it was bigger, something an orc shaman could sleep and move around in. but it was just as poorly made as the other, meaning she could slip in the back as well. she checked inside carefully, no one was there. the girl has to be in the cave, no other sign of her out here. she moved inside. there was a pile of bear furs on one side and a small poorly made table on the other. half burned candles were on the table. candles? an orc with candles? never mind that. there was a rough looking wooden platter on the table with small little bones scattered on it. yeah, real magic there. there was also a small pile of rocks that looked like they were painted with various colored pigments. nothing of further interest in here. she took out some bottles of oil and soaked down the walls of the tent. then back outside and carefully soaked the outside.
when she was done she looked around the camp. still the two orcs outside each tent. a campfire in the middle of camp and the four orcs guarding the party. the rest of the orcs were inside the cave. no one had went back to take care of the orc bodies the party had killed. more strangeness.
she quietly moved away from the camp and headed to the cave entrance. once she got close, it was actually bigger than she thought. the rocks kind of sheltered and hid the opening. an orc can actually walk up right and still have a foot or two of room. as she peeked in, the opening got bigger and the ground was fairly level with just a slight slope downward. maybe 3 orcs could walk abreast. 2 might be able to fight next to each other without too much trouble. that wasn't too bad. she took a sniff with her nose. it didn't have a moist mossy kind of smell either, was rather dry. that was good. not much in the way of gravel or dirt on the floor either. easy to move quietly. no orc was in sight. she could see the flickering of fire way down the passage way, another good thing. no sign of traps or a warning system. she didn't think there would be, these orcs were dumb, even for orcs. but one must always keep to these habits for safety.
she took a step in, putting her feet down easy, toes first, staying off her heels as much as possible. the floor was dry and free of debris, but still, keep to habits. she moved somewhat side ways down the left side of the passage. she could hear orcs grunting further down and kept an ear to those sounds in case they changed, became angry or alarmed. they didn't actually speak much at all. she knew orcish and hadn't heard a word.
she made her way down the passage. odd there were not guards or anyone. they were stupid and it was late, probably sleeping or doing some orc thing. it wasn’t long before she came upon a small cavern on the left side she was moving down. the corridor kept going on but dim fire light was evident from this small cavern. she moved up slowly, the only noise she heard coming from inside was snoring. good. she peeked inside, maybe 20 orc were strewn about slumbering, none of them moved except for breathing. she studied the room, still being aware of the passageway. fixing in her mind where each orc was and noting any obstacles as she marked a path in her mind to move in and around the orcs. there were very few, there was a fire in the middle that was starting to go out. a bear skin here and there that wasn't being used. a pile of bottles over in one corner, she could smell sweat, dung and stale mead in the air, she knew what used to be in those bottles. since when did orcs brew mead and use clay bottles instead of skins. something else to think about later.
she briefly thought to cast a silence spell inside the cavern with the sleeping orcs, but that might actually wake some up for lack of snoring sounds. she could cast it here in the passageway so any orcs further down wouldn't hear any noise these orcs might make as she released them from this world. yes, she would do that. she gathered the power of the weave and shaped it how she wanted. everything got impossibly quiet around her. good. she pull out her Trombash from its comfortable spot behind her back with her right hand and pulled out her magical rod from where it hung on her hip with her left. she sometimes hated there were spells that seemed impossible for her to learn but she could do without most. this rod of hers she had made, covered some of the ones she wished she could cast. it wasn't a normal rod, it didn't have charges and then was useless, no, this one she could use the spells it carried a certain number of times day. more useful and she didn't have to keep having one made.
she moved into the cavern, not focusing on any one orc but keeping her awareness on the small cavern as a whole. she moved to the left, following the path she laid out in her mind to the orc nearest her. she had studied each orc briefly and worked out how to release each orc with the least amount of problems.
she was good at killing. she learned how very fast in her previous avocation. well, not completely previous, it came in handy. she just wasn't "practicing" anymore. she had always hated the guild. they had stolen her when she was young. she barely remembered her mother and nothing about where she came from or the rest of her family, if any. a little moon elf girl. they beat her, raped her and forced her to do things she didn't want to do. but she was good at those particular things, picked them up very quickly. she became one of the best the guild had ever had. but they were stupid too, they never realized she was learning magic as well. why was everyone so stupid in this world? they believed she was one of the best but never realized how good. not until the day came when she killed them all, starting with the guild master. a very vile and disgusting human if there ever was one. the things he did to her, forced her to do...
she had been patient with her plan. she had waited until certain suggestions she made took hold and the guild master gathered everyone together to talk about expanding to another city. that was key, she wanted them all dead. so they all had to be there. it wasn't even that hard, she had been so obedient, never questioned anything. they trusted her, this vile, evil group of assassins and they trusted her. stupid. the guild master even summoned her to his chambers to talk to her before the big meeting. he was still talking when she stabbed him in the back, he fumbled around to see her with such surprise on his face, he didn't even call out. she slit his throat. she smiled, now he couldn't call out. never make her do anything again.
the guards outside the door were even easier. she cherished the surprise on each of their faces as she stabbed them in the stomach and ripped their bowels open. she had feigned to kiss one and then backed away with a giggle and moved to kiss the other. the second didn't even noticed the other was falling to the floor, holding his bowels in his hand.
she went to the meeting hall and entered, looking around. counting heads. counting a second time to make sure. everyone was here, waiting on the guild master. there was only two ways in or out of this hall and the other was wizard locked, she made sure of that before going to the guild master. this was the only way out.
she smiled and cast a spell. she pulled the tendrils of the weave to her hand, they were reluctant with this spell, as they always were with this spell since she created it. she saw a cleric use it a few times and wanted the spell herself. it fit perfectly into the plan she had been forming in her mind. she spent days and days researching a way to duplicate that spell in her secret master’s library. he was dead now too. he was wicked but what she learned of magic was invaluable. the things he did to little boys though, she couldn't allow him to live.
as the weave came together in her hand, a small ball of fire appeared there. it didn't burn her and she felt no heat from it, but it was flame. a couple of the people in the room noticed her then. it was too late, she had spent weeks preparing this room. a look of concern crossed their faces as she tossed the little ball of flame underhanded into the room.
things seemed to slow down, the ball of flame moved so slowly through the air. the two that had noticed her, their faces changed ever so slowly from concern to fear as they opened their mouths to shout. it didn't matter. the ball of fire landed on the table closest to her and burst into a bigger ball, igniting the table instantly.
time moved faster then, she heard the fire screech as it quickly spread across the table, to the floor, to the next table on each side and around it went, igniting everything. it seemed alive as it jumped around from table to table. the fire jumped further in, onto the floor and spread to the tables and chairs there. the whole room was engulfed before she even heard anyone scream.
she stood there in the doorway, watching to see if anyone might of had a magical ring to teleported out. no one did, most just spun about screaming. it was such a surprise to suddenly find yourself on fire that no one even ran for the door. a few tried to roll around on the floor, but the floor was on fire.
she stepped back and closed the doors to the room, hearing the screams of the people inside. hearing the screams of the fire. she called on the weave again and wizard locked this door. she walked calmly walked out of the building, the smile still on her face, and never looked back.
she looked down at the first orc. he kind of reminded her of Hendry, her half orc butler back home. she liked Hendry, he was loyal. he couldn't help it, she had cast too many spells on him. but he was loyal before that. she just had to make sure.
she leaned over him a bit and slit his throat with her Trombash. it slid easily, like melted butter. the orc didn't even wake up as his life spilled from his throat. she moved to the next orc and did the same. and then the next. and the next. and on and on.
she came to the last orc, this was the one that hit the mage in the head with his rock hammer. she briefly considered letting him live and charming him to serve her, but that would be too much trouble. she slit his throat without another thought. she loved her Trombash, so sharp, most don’t even realize they have been cut. none of the orcs ever woke up.
she looked around the room, all were dead save this last one and he was not long for it. she walked to the exit of this cavern without looking back, she knew they were dead.
she peered first down the passage where she hadn't been yet and then back down the passage the way she came, no one. she called on the weave again and wrapped herself in a physical invisibility spell. better than the other, just a little harder to weave. all spells that were not illusions were harder for her. it wasn't much trouble but she could feel it. the weave was just a tad resistant to her. not like illusions, which took no effort and almost no thought to cast. they were so easy to her, it almost made up for the fact there were some spells she just could not fathom. almost.
she was a bit bolder now, more than half the orcs were dead now. she didn't think there were more than 10 to 15 more, plus that shaman wanna be. she put the rod away and brought out a cloth to wipe her Trombash. she was always careful to do that and careful when wiping it. it would slice easily through her gloves. once she was done, she put it back where it belonged. it comforted her to feel it there. she took the rod back out in her left hand and slowly moved on down the passageway. it slowly bent to the right but she could see a little more flickering from a fire in that direction.
as she slowly went around the bend, she could see another offshoot to the right as the passageway kept going on. she came up to that opening, and peered in. there was another fire in the middle. the were some piles of ropes and more bear skins. more jugs, stacked here. rock hammers were in a pile next to one wall. there were four orcs huddled around each other, off to one side, throwing what looked like dice. to the back of this small cavern, smaller than the other one, was the small figure of a girl. her dress was dirty and torn. she was on her side, facing the wall. her brown hair was a mess but Tria could see her breathe, slow and shallow. she must have fallen asleep. good, she didn't need to see this. she didn't take the time to study this room as she had the others. she wanted to get this girl out.
she called the weave again and turned it towards the orcs, wove them to sleep. one by one, they all crumpled down from where they were squatting and went to sleep. all kind of slowly folding onto their backs. that was nice of them. she pulled out her Trombash and went to work. again, they made no sound as she opened their throats.
she cleaned her blade and put it away as always. walking quietly towards the girl, she released the invisibility spell. another benefit to that spell. she didn't want her to wake up and scream. Tria didn't see any blood or any other signs of injury as she came to the girl. she knelt down and put her hand on the girls shoulder. she didn't move. good. she pulled the girls hair back to see more of her face and gently rolled her back. the girls face was dirty and very tear stained, but wasn't cut or injured that she could see. she was probably pretty under that grime for a human girl. small oval face and little girl nose. Tria brushed her hair back behind an ear and the girl’s eyes opened. pretty little pale blue eyes, bloodshot from crying. Tria moved a finger to her own lips to signal the girl to be quiet. after a short look of surprise, the girl nodded. good girl, maybe she isn’t stupid like everyone else. Tria kept a hand on the girls shoulder as the girl rose. she then looked around this small cavern, studying it. she needed to be able to come back here.
Tria turned back to look at the girl who was looking up at Tria hopefully. Tria smiled and pulled the girl into her lap as she pictured the room where she first met the girls father. Tria called the weave and wrapped it around both herself and the girl and then released it. the cavern went away and was replaced by the room she had been picturing in her mind. she saw the girls father off to the side. he had been pacing and writhing his hands. he turned and noticed Tria and his daughter and his mouth dropped but no sound came. he didn't move.
the girl noticed she was home and then noticed her father. she cried out to him, "FATHER".
she had the presence to pick herself up and run/stumble to him, arms outstretched while he stood there dumbfounded.
he came to his senses and scooped his little girl up in a big bear hug. Tria wondered if he was going to break the girls back but it seemed the girl was hugging him tighter. Tria wondered what that was like as she stood. only briefly though as she pushed that thought away. she pictured the small cavern that they just left in her mind. she called the weave and wrapped it around herself. she heard the father say "than..." before the room went away and she was back in the cavern.
she turned slowly, getting her bearings. nothing had changed. she heard no orcs yelling and such. good. now to take care of the rest. she had one more physical invisibility she could cast and wrapped that around herself. she silently walked to the exit of this cavern and peered out, first down the way she hadn't gone. she saw an opening at the end with fire light. then turned and looked the other way. she couldn't see past the slow bend but didn't hear any noise from that direction. she stepped out and slowly made her way down the right, walking towards the last opening. the lighting got brighter and she could smell orc sweat, more dung and more almost rotten meat. ugh. does everyone stick in this world? does no one have a sense of smell?
she mentally sighed as she came to this opening. she carefully peered in. it was bigger than the others and had a slightly higher roof. the fire lit up the room enough, she could see all the walls. no other exit. good. the orc shaman wanna be was sitting cross-legged towards the back of the cavern. gnawing on a leg from some animal rather noisily. there were five other orcs scattered around the room. three were sleeping. one was sitting, apparently checking his head for bugs or something. the fifth was gnawing on a bone trying to get every piece of meat.
good.
she backed away from the opening and crept her way back to the exit. she was maybe twenty-five feet or so from the exit when she stopped. she was pleasantly surprised none of the orcs from the outside had made their way in yet. that was good. she reached in and pulled open her portable hole. she wanted more oil, the more flammable one. she pulled out a large flask, not a bottle, and opened it. still always surprised it had no smell and started pouring it on the floor and walls. walking sideways towards the exit and pouring the oil behind. she emptied that flask, pulled out another and did the same. and then another. and another. she was reaching for a fifth when she realized she was close enough to the exit. she folded up her hole and examined her work.
ok, everything was set. she just needed to go kill those other eight orcs outside first. she looked out over the encampment. the two at the shaman tent looked asleep. the two at the "storage" tent looked asleep. the four "guarding" the party were huddled down playing one of their dice games apparently. every now and then, one would turn and grunt at the barbarian, who was awake, trying to be subtle about trying to get lose. he wasn't very good at either. the mage was definitely still out. the dwarf and the human who had a bastard sword when this started, looked asleep but she could see their breathing wasn’t slow enough and they would twitch here and there. even at this distance she could see that. so at least three were alive. she couldn't tell if the mage was breathing or not with those stupid over-sized thick robes. might as well just embroider "WIZARD" on them. not that he was that good at being one.
she moved to the shaman tent. released them first. which she did, easily. slitting each throat with her Trombash. they didn't wake up. she then moved around the outside of the camp, towards the other tent. this would be harder. it was much closer to the other four orcs. if they made any noise, the others would notice. but she didn't hesitate. when she got to the back of that tent, she got down and slowly crawled towards the front, cursing in her mind that she might tear her silk cloak. she was invisible, but still, stick to habits. she did her best to not put her knee on her cloak as she crawled. ever so quietly towards the orc that was closest to her at this tent. this one was the easy one, he was mostly out of view of the four. she came up behind him and using her left hand, carefully opened his throat. he didn't move or make a sound as his life left him.
good.
now for the other, she would have to crawl around this one to get to him. she didn't care if her cloak got dirty or stained. she had a spell that cleaned and removed all stains. she just hadn't found a mend spell yet. so always worried about tears. silly, she thought, as she silently made her way over this orc and up behind the other. she could see the other four, they weren't looking this way and only glanced once in awhile the other direction towards their prisoners and grunting.
she reached all the way around this orc's neck with her Trombash in her right hand and pulled it back across. careful to avoid his artery but making sure she opened the big vein. she hadn't needed to do that before now, it was mostly second nature. for some reason, if her target is asleep, opening that artery sometimes made them wake. she put extra effort into this one even though it was habit.
it all went to plan. he left this world and the other four didn't even notice. now for these last four. she stood now and called on the weave and spun it towards those four orcs. it engulfed them and three slumped over. great, she sighed in her mind. she quietly walked towards the fourth, at least his back was to her. that orc must of been a bit smarter as he noticed his other three friends slumped over asleep at the same time. he made a questioning grunt as he stood, looking down at those friend. Tria couldn't help but smile as he scratched his head. she stopped behind him and whistled softly. the orc turned his head, still scratching. when he didn't see anything he turned completely around to look for the source of the whistle. Tria moved. bringing her Trombash down and to the left of her and slashed it upwards from the orcs right hip to his lower left rib. he looked down confused. then his bowels started to fall out. he reached down to catch them and started to scream but Tria brought her Trombash up and opened his throat. she made sure to go deep enough to sever his vocal cords, but from this angle, the cost was she opened his artery. blood sprayed out across her face. she did manage to move enough to not get it in her eyes. the second spray caught her across her chest. yep, going to need that cleaning spell. she was out of range for the third spray. the orc then dropped to his knees, not able to, but still trying to scream. trying to hold his guts in. trying to hold the blood from his neck in. it didn't work.
she released the physical invisibility spell, she didn't need it anymore and she had a desire for this orc to see her. she was so tiny compared to him, so delicate looking. she stood there, with her wicked looking little Trombash. she smiled sweetly at the dying orc. she could see in his eyes that he realized, this little girl had killed him with her little knife. a little girl. it almost looked like he was going to cry. how would he tell his god that a little girl killed him? then the life left his eyes and he crumpled to the ground.
she stood calmly, looking down at this orc for a moment, then proceeded to move from one sleeping orc to the other, releasing them all. when she was done, she stood again, carefully cleaning her Trombash. the job was almost over. she took a deep satisfying breath. then a sound brought her attention.
"my Gods" the barbarian softly said.
she turned to him as she put her Trombash away. laying on his side, looking at her. shock on his barbarian face. shock on the human who had a bastard sword's face. less shock on the dwarf's face but still there. the mage was still out, if alive.
"what?" she asked, "i said i was good at killing, just not good at fighting."
she then turned to go back to the tent.
"Wait, where are you going" the barbarian said a little too loudly.
not bothering to turn back, Tria said, "quiet or i will kill you too. its not over yet."
she ducked into the storage tent. pulling open her portable hole, she pulled out the bag of items and the party's weapons. she put the hole away and picked up the weapons, one by one and placed them in her left arm. then grabbed the bag and dragged it out of the tent, being careful with the axe. she stopped a few feet away from the barbarian and dropped everything but the axe. with that, she moved to the dwarf and stuck one side into the ground so the other was facing up. close enough the dwarf could scoot around and cut his hands free. then she headed towards the middle of camp.
"wait, where you going, cut us free", the barbarian called.
she turned and said sternly but not as loud as the barbarian, "one more word and you die. this isn't over and if you alert the others before i am ready, you die. Killian can get himself free and then free the rest of you. but then stay out of this. its almost over and its all set up. understand?" the barbarian just stared at her sideways from where he was on the ground, mouth hanging open.
a little more forcefully but still not as loud as the barbarian, "Under Stand"?
this time he nodded slowly.
she turned back towards the camp, headed in the direction of the fire. it was dying down but still had burning embers. that was all she needed. she kicked at a couple of embers carefully with her hard leather boots. working a couple out of the fire. once she had a couple out, she kicked one towards the storage tent. once it was there, the tent caught fire quickly. she looked down, made sure her foot wasn't on fire and then kicked the other ember towards the shaman tent, which also caught fire easily.
she made sure her foot wasn't on fire again, turned and headed towards the cavern. she could hear the fires behind her, could see the light coming from behind. they kicked up quickly and were burning like bonfires. when she got to the entrance of the cavern, she almost thought she could feel the heat. she pulled out her rod and called down the cavern passageway, in orc:
"you disgusting bags of dung, you deserve to be wiped off the face of this earth. you are good for nothing except eating up all the rotten meat no one else would. but then you shit and make the whole world smell as bad as you"
she smiled, standing there just outside the entrance,"that should be enough", she thought.
she waited there, rod in her left hand. it didn't take long, she could hear the yelling first. not even using their words. pity. she would of liked to hear what insults they might throw. then she saw them, the shaman wanna be leading the way. good. almost there. closer, closer, closer...
she heard the barbarian from behind her, "Gods, do something, kill them, anything, they are almost on you".
she sighed in her mind again. she let the orcs get within 10 feet of her. some of them slipping, here and there, in the oil. one fell down in it and the others trampled over them.
she raised the rod and pointed it at the cave, the shaman saw her, anger left his face, replaced by fear.
"Denati", Tria said softly and the rod obeyed.
a small strand of thread zipped from the rod towards the entrance to the cave. when it got there, there was a sound of hundreds of papers tearing at once. from the entrance back down past the orcs, silky white webs filled the passageway.
the orcs stuck and were confused. the look of fear left the shaman's face, replaced by confusion, then replaced by anger as he started tearing through the webs, eyes ablaze with that anger as he stared at her, making his way towards her slowly.
Tria smiled, showing the orc her perfect white teeth. then looked down at her hand and called the weave to create her little ball of fire. she looked up again at the shaman, still smiling. he saw the little ball of fire and the fear came back to his face, he now tried to turn and head back the other way frantically, but there was even more webs that way plus the other five orcs. the one that had slipped was stuck to the floor with another caught on top of him.
Tria gave the little ball of fire a toss and it flew through the air, towards the oil on the passageway floor. time slowed down again. the ball was falling towards the oil so slowly, the shaman was half turned watching it fall. eyes so wide with fear they almost popped out. the ball of fire came down and made contact with the oil.
time sped up, the little ball burst, the oil caught fire and raced down the passageway. and then went up, flames slashing the roof of the passageway, engulfing the orcs, burning them alive.
Tria stood there watching, feeling the heat from the flames, real this time. hearing the orcs scream. watching them flail around as much as they could in the burning webs. feeling that good feeling she had when she got her revenge on the guild, on her former spell master. she was feeling that good feeling now for the little girl. she was taken, as Tria was, but she had been returned to her father. safe and sound. this was the little girl’s revenge, one she wouldn't have to take for herself and still remain a good little girl. Tria kept smiling at that. yes, these orcs paid the price and the little girl didn't have to collect it. that was good. there was still some little good inside Tria. not much and it might be a little bent, but it was there. so there might be hope.
ah, forget that, she thought as she felt the others move up behind her. the dwarf had gotten them free.
"gods, how could you forget about the girl?" the barbarian sounded fearful at that.
"IDIOT", Tria yelled as she turned towards he barbarian, "the girl is already safe and sound, at home, no thanks to you and that stupid little barbarian mind of yours."
the barbarian was taken a little aback, "but they were just orcs"
"GODS", Tria yelled as she walked past him, "too many orcs, there were over sixty here. you all managed to take down maybe twenty or so before they overwhelmed you".
she stopped and turned back to them, "the horses better still be where we left them or there will be Hells to pay".
she stood there glaring, staring them all down. they all turned away from that stare. she smiled and turned back to walk on in the direction where they left the horses. maybe they might listen to her next time. maybe.
