“Lucky bastard,” said Bonebite, seeing Redclaw’s eyes analyzing the wound. “I tore his head off for it.”
“Gather our dead,” Redclaw told him. “It is time we honor them.”
Twelve wolf-men had died in the attack, a far cry from the two-hundred dead orcs. Many others were wounded, but his people were strong, and he knew they would endure without complaint. They gathered the twelve together, laying them in a line side by side. Redclaw scanned them, searching for the strongest. Recognizing the corpse of a young, hot-tempered wolf-man that had gone by the name of Bloodgut, Redclaw walked over to it and then knelt on all fours. He was the one he’d seen struck by a spear.
“To our glorious dead!” Redclaw cried out, plunging his claws into Bloodgut’s chest and tearing out his heart. He shredded it in his teeth, the blood sweet across his tongue. With that, the rest descended upon the bodies, all strength of the pack preserved and redistributed throughout. The twelve were not enough to sate their hunger, though. Each wolf took the body of an orc, some still alive, and flung them over their shoulders.
“Let us return,” Bonebite said, two orcs across his back. “My pups will be hungry.”
They walked back on just their two hind legs, the journey much longer. They walked in victory, though, so they bore their aches and the light of the sun in good humor. At last they reached their camp. Only the pups remained, those not strong enough to fight. The women had come with them on the attack, and they had performed well during the slaughter. Redclaw dropped the orc he carried. His two pups approached, their arms lightly touching the ground for they were still learning to walk upright.
“Eat well,” he told them, proud of their size. Already he knew they would outgrow him. Come the day they feasted on his remains, they would fight amongst each other, the winner sure to be a great and powerful pack leader. Maybe they would surpass his accomplishments. He hoped they would.
As the rest arrived, Redclaw saw that it was not just children at the camp. A smaller wolf-man waited in the camp’s center, kneeling on his haunches in a display of humility. Redclaw recognized him as Yellowscar.
“Why have you come?” Redclaw asked him.
Yellowscar averted his eyes, his ears pulled back against his skull.
“Rotfur crossed the river,” said Yellowscar. “He went against our wishes, and he feasted on the blood of a human woman. The second time he crossed, he never returned.”
“Damn him,” growled Redclaw. “Better the humans took him, for that fate is better than what I would have given.”
“It is worse,” said Yellowscar. He pressed his stomach flat against the ground. “A group of humans ventured into the Wedge, led by two terrible men, one with a sword of fire, the other a shield of light. We killed many before they could retreat, but we lost six of our own.”
Redclaw felt anger flare through his veins. He’d led an assault on two hundred orcs and lost twelve, yet Yellowscar and the rest of his scouts lost half that to a mere party of humans?
“They will know we are coming,” Redclaw growled, his voice deep and dangerously quiet. “They will send for men from the towers, armed with metal skin and cowardly bows. You let Rotfur’s bloodlust go unchecked. I said watch, and see if the waters are safe to cross. You fail me, Yellowscar.”
“I know,” Yellowscar said, his snout pressed to the dirt.
Redclaw grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him to his feet.
“Wolf does not kill wolf,” he said, staring into Yellowscar’s eyes. “You will pay back your mistakes. When the men come down the river, you will be ready, and you will be the one at the front of the attack.”
“I understand, pack leader.”
Redclaw dropped him and ordered him away. His rage still beat through his veins, and he knew his vow might be tested should the young scout remain in his sight. Fearful for his plan, he looked back at his pups. They deserved far better a home than the Wedge. Beyond the Gihon there was plentiful game, creatures they saw rarely. Deer, with meat so soft. Rabbits, which squealed when biting into their tender flesh. Streams, with water clean and light on the tongue…
“We will escape your prison,” Redclaw growled to the west, imagining the legion of humans that would quake with fear at the sound of his howl. His words were a promise, a vow to which he had sworn his entire life. “We will escape your blades. It is we, the wolves, who will feast.”
4
Despite the respect his men showed him, despite the importance lauded on him by the nearby villages, Sir Robert Godley knew his position was an insult, the best King Marcus Baedan could think of for one of his station.
“The seer says this winter will be a harsh one,” said one of his lieutenants and closest friends, a slender man named Daniel Coldmine.
“Who, that old crone in Dunbree?” asked Robert, staring out the window of the great tower overlooking the Gihon. “She also said I’d fall for a lovely lass come my fortieth birthday, but she’d only betray me. Been a decade past that, and still no lass.”
“Maybe she meant King Baedan,” Daniel said, joining him at the window, a smug grin on his face. Robert chuckled. Perhaps Daniel was right. He looked down at his portly body, remembering a time when it had been all muscle, his heavy fingers calloused from the daily wear of his sword’s hilt. But that had been before the disastrous defeat at the hands of the elves years before. They’d chased their kind out of Mordan for good, but at the southern bridge leading to Ker, the elves had sent their greatest to make their stand. The magic they’d wielded was immense, godlike powers he still saw in his nightmares. Boulders of ice the size of houses had crashed through his ranks, and fire had rained from the sky, each piece of burning hail bigger than his fist.
“Baedan’s no lass,” Robert said. “He’s just a spineless bigot, Karak curse his name.”
Daniel pointed to where smoke burned in the far distance inside the Wedge.
“A hunting party, perhaps?” he asked. “Orcs? Or have the hyena-men finally learned how to make fire?”
“No matter,” said Robert. “It’s too far away. I won’t lead what few men I have in a hopeless chase of distant smoke.”
“There was a time when we would have ridden across those dead plains on a hundred horses,” Daniel said, a wistful look coming over his face. “The damned creatures feared the very sight of the Gihon, our boats and our towers. What happened?”
Robert turned away from the window and leaned against the stone. Closing his eyes, he sighed. During that disastrous attack against the elves, he’d pulled back his men, refusing to continue. They’d lost thousands trying to kill a mere ten. There would be no victory, no revenge. The fight had lasted another six hours, and when Marcus heard of his retreat, he blamed him for the deaths, as if his cowardice had allowed the elves to endure as long as they did. But Robert was also the hero of Dezerea, and it was his strategy that had burned the elven capital to the ground. Unable to punish him how he wished, instead Marcus had sent him to the wall of towers.
Year after year, the king had denied requests for supplies and soldiers. Their boats grew worse, their weaponry chipped and dull no matter how often they polished and shined it. They’d been forced to beg donations from the nearby villages, for Baedan’s coin was not enough to feed them all. Their role in patrolling the river, protecting the lands from the various creatures of the Vile Wedge, ensured the local populace aided them whenever they could. Robert’s muscular body had thickened as the tedious years rolled on. His calluses had vanished, his black hair grown long and gray, and his finely honed reflexes had faded away into the dusty corners of his mind.
“You want to know what happened?” Robert asked. “I was put in charge. That’s what happened. Marcus will bleed us with the patience of a spider, until at last we are so weak something gets through. He doesn’t care how many die, so long as he can strip me of my title and exile me in shame.”