Page 2 of Steel & Thunder
“I think that’s Zeus.” Corrine’s voice echoes through the chamber, startling herself. We all stare at her and then back at the wall.
The elf is flanked on either side up and down by clouds, each of them thundering with lightning. Strewn among the clouds and lightning are dozens of eagles, each carved so intricately I can make out the individual feathers from here. I’ve heard the name Zeus, but my family has never been terribly religious and wasn’t exactly interested in learning about someone else’s. But I’ll take Corrine’s word for it—she is the “missionary” after all. And if we’re looking at a god, I guess he might be life-sized after all.
“He’s not usually depicted as an elf though.” She steps past me, looking confused.
“The only other magical thing in the room is inside that box,” Nathaniel announces to the rest of us and points to the pedestal in the center of the room.
“Fuck, I think that’s where that sound is coming from too.” It hurts a little to even look at it.
“What are you talking about?” Adam uses the floor to put out his torch now that the room is lit.
“Seriously, does no one else hear that?” I put my own torch out and rub at my ears again.
“No.” Elisabeth moves forward. “What are you hearing?”
“I dunno, like a really high-pitched screech?” I shut one eye and rub my ear as if that’ll help block out the sound. The rest of the group converges on the pedestal while I stay put. Getting closer to that box makes my head hurt.
“Looks like it’s made of lead,” Nate says before tapping the box with his staff. “It’s pretty rusted and banged up. Probably meant to block out whatever magic thing David is hearing.”
“What happens if we open it?” It’s not gonna make my head explode, is it?
“Dunno. Wanna find out?” Nate grins and lifts his staff high to strike the box.
“Hold on. Maybe we should—” Adam cuts himself off when he hears the same thing I do: footsteps. Heavy ones, coming down the hall toward us. Shit. “David, on my right; Cor, Nate, get behind us.”
I move to stand in formation, ignoring the throbbing pain in my head as I get closer to the lead box. I drop my pack and bedroll from my back and kick it to the side of the chamber, the others doing the same with their heavier gear. Corrine starts to speak the words to a spell, and a second later, my body tingles as the magic bolsters my strength. We all pull out our weapons as the footsteps quickly get loud enough for everyone to hear, and they’re moving toward us fast.
I can feel everyone around me tense up as a group of orcs bursts into the room, swords drawn. A total of seven pour in, all green skin and leather armor, weapons aimed steadily in our direction. After a tense moment of both groups eyeing the other warily, the leader (I mean, he’s the one in front at least) shouts something at us. Unfortunately, since none of us speak Orcish, it just sounds like a lot of growls and grunts.
Adam and I share a confused look, and he turns back to the leader. “We can’t… Are you able to speak Common?”
The orc narrows his eyes at us and huffs, looking very displeased. He opens his mouth to respond. “Who—”
And that’s when all hell breaks loose.
“IGNI!” A fireball the size of my fist flies over my left shoulder, landing near three orcs on our right who leap out of the way as it explodes.
“Dammit!” Adam shouts, annoyed but having no real choice but to leap toward the enemy leader while he’s distracted.
Liss and I are right behind him, each taking on a group of orcs on either side. Nate’s little stunt, while stupid, did manage to take out at least one of my group, who looks to be out cold with some nasty burns. The other two might be a little singed, but mostly they just look pissed off. I hear the sounds of grunts and metal on metal to my left, and I’ve got to hope that my team is able to handle things themselves for now.
I grip the sword tightly in my hand, ignoring the constant ringing in my ears and waiting for one or both of them to attack me. I really wish I’d brought that second sword. These two are big muscle-y motherfuckers: a man and a woman. Strong doesn’t mean graceful though, and when one of them runs at me, it isn’t too difficult to dodge and send him flying to the floor with a well-placed kick.
Just as it looks like his friend is going to lunge at me, a high-pitched scream has us both turning our heads. I find the source, Corrine, running around the back of the room with an orc in pursuit. The rest of the team fares no better, with Liss pinned to the wall by one orc and Nate being literally pinned to the floor by another. Adam himself is being wrestled to the ground by the leader who is growling something at him that I can’t make out from here.
“Hey!” I shout at the orc on Adam and rush him, and fuck is he big. Taller than Adam and with shoulders wider than I’ve ever seen on a human. I attempt to tackle him, but he doesn’t even stumble as I bounce into his side. Ugh, have I lost that much weight?
I pick myself up and grab my sword, ready to try again, but the orc doesn’t give me the chance. Dropping Adam, he barrels into me, shoulder checking me across the room and right into the pedestal. As searing pain shoots through my head, I look up to see a blurry green figure looking down at me, and then everything goes black.
I dream that I’m flying over an endless ocean. Dark clouds fill the sky above me, stretching on forever. The seas and winds are calm, at least until the rain begins to fall. It starts slowly, barely a trickle, but soon it’s torrential with lighting streaking across the skies and thunder so loud my body shakes. The lightning begins to strike faster, moving closer and closer, until with a loud crack, my vision is blinded by white.
“I think he’s waking up.” That sounds like Corrine.
“Mmmmff.” I slowly open my eyes, the blurry world coming back into focus. I wipe a hand down my face and sit up. “What happened? Where are we?”
“A jail cell,” Nate answers. “The orcs took us back to their city.”
“City? I thought it was just a small camp?” I rub my head. Feels like I’ve got a nasty bruise.
