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Uhrthug wiped the sweat from his gray skinned brow as he knelt above the winding path below. Him and eight other gray orcs sat in the jagged rocks on the lip of a cliff that overlooked their traditional migration path through the spine of the world. They are all thats left of their original war band which numbered in the many dozens; other orcs bands, goblins, and your occasional ogre are all threats they meet every year, and rightfully defeat. But it was this particular spring that a band of humans has stumbled upon their trail.
They were heading south through the spine of the world, apparently finding this path cuts days from their travel time. As Uhrthug and his tribe followed the same rocky crevice, they eventually met and clashed in battle. The narrow path did not bode well for Uhrthug's tribe which outnumbered the humans, and eventually many orcs fell and they retreated before all were killed.
Uhrthug looked around at the dozen or so that was left, and felt an anger that he could not control. Many of the orcs that died were his friends, family, and close clansmen. He shared fires with them and fought side by side, and even took them on in fist fights which always ended up with more pride than shame. He turned to his nearest orc friend, Khald, and put his hand on his shoulder.
"We can't let humans win. This is our trail, our walk, our right to be. Let's turn to fight. I want revenge."
His frien Khald looked at him and he furrowed his wrinkled grey forehead nad nodded. "Not 'nuff of us left 'ways, we not make walk home. We can fight and kill now and make dead warriors proud."
Khald looked at the rest and they agreed as well. He was the biggest orc around and as their leader had died in the battle, he now was the next to lead them on.
They climbed the sides of the path at the narrowest point, and readied many large rocks that would crush the skulls of humans. For almost an hour they waited until the twenty man strong caravan was right below them.
Khald stood and roared, and all at once they dropped nine large boulders onto the humans and the ones who didn't scatter were almost guaranteed to be crushed along with the three wagons.
"Charge down, kill them all, eat their bones for our dead!" Khald who was quiclky followed by Uhrthug ran down and quickly cleaved many humans to bits. Orc and human blood mixed and flowed to the ground as the merchants were being cut down and the orcs to wrapped up in the bloodlust were run through. It was a brutal close quarters fight that saw almost no survivors.
As the battle neared its end a large man with sword and shield squared off against Uhrthug. He looked around at the dead humans around him, and yelled right at Uhrthug who yelled back at him. "You dirty savages, you killed them all. you will pay for their lives...For Blackwood!" the man bellowed loudly and soon steel clashed in the ensuing duel. Uhrthugs clumsy but violently strong blows were countered and parried by the mans quick finesse, but he could not get a shot in with his sword as uhrthug was not relenting. Their fight found itself down the path and around the bend, where the ravine walls gave way to a narrow and steep plateau. On both sides were near verticle drops onto walls of loose stone, and on their left was the mountains and their right a lush forest that seemed like a carpet of green.
Uhrthug and the man fought until the man seemed too tired to carry on, and Uhrthug went in for the killing blow. But, as a last resort the man hurled himself at the orc and pushed them both off of the mountain and down the near verticle drop and into the forest below. Both bodies rolled and fought down the rocky wall until they bounced off of at an odd angle and flew straight out from the wall sailing into the air. Sheer horror was plastered onto the mans face, but Uhrthug only stared at his opponent as he finally found and opening and bit into the mans throat, killing him slowly. The last thing the man saw before he died was Uhrthug pushing him below himself as a body shield to cushion their fall onto the bottom of the rocky slope.
Many hours passed before Uhrthug woke up. Trees stood all around him, save for one large knocked over tree with its roots covered in fungi and moss exposed into the damp forest air. Uhrthug lay within the hole the tree was in, moss and lichen along with a shallow puddle of water cushioning his fall into it. Laying across the tree like a broken twig was the man. He laid on his back which was flattened along with his ribs by the orc who bounced off of him and into the hole, while his body stuck to the tree like a fly on a wall.
Uhrthug stood, but could barely walk as his ankle felt like it was on fire. He crawled out of the pit and grabbed the mans short sword and scabbard, and tired it to his belt where his axe that was surely lost on the plummet once was. Soon he crawled back into the pit and waited for his ankle to heal. Over time he made the woods his home, this new valley he had stumbled upon becoming his provider and savior. He doesn't know what had happened to his tribe, as climbing and finding a way up is near impossible, but daily he wonders what had become of his bretheren, and who this 'black wood" group was that had slain dozens of his kind. With time he hopes to find all his answers and maybe be able to rectify all that is wrong in this world, all the wrong that could befall an orc and his lowly tribe of savages.
They were heading south through the spine of the world, apparently finding this path cuts days from their travel time. As Uhrthug and his tribe followed the same rocky crevice, they eventually met and clashed in battle. The narrow path did not bode well for Uhrthug's tribe which outnumbered the humans, and eventually many orcs fell and they retreated before all were killed.
Uhrthug looked around at the dozen or so that was left, and felt an anger that he could not control. Many of the orcs that died were his friends, family, and close clansmen. He shared fires with them and fought side by side, and even took them on in fist fights which always ended up with more pride than shame. He turned to his nearest orc friend, Khald, and put his hand on his shoulder.
"We can't let humans win. This is our trail, our walk, our right to be. Let's turn to fight. I want revenge."
His frien Khald looked at him and he furrowed his wrinkled grey forehead nad nodded. "Not 'nuff of us left 'ways, we not make walk home. We can fight and kill now and make dead warriors proud."
Khald looked at the rest and they agreed as well. He was the biggest orc around and as their leader had died in the battle, he now was the next to lead them on.
They climbed the sides of the path at the narrowest point, and readied many large rocks that would crush the skulls of humans. For almost an hour they waited until the twenty man strong caravan was right below them.
Khald stood and roared, and all at once they dropped nine large boulders onto the humans and the ones who didn't scatter were almost guaranteed to be crushed along with the three wagons.
"Charge down, kill them all, eat their bones for our dead!" Khald who was quiclky followed by Uhrthug ran down and quickly cleaved many humans to bits. Orc and human blood mixed and flowed to the ground as the merchants were being cut down and the orcs to wrapped up in the bloodlust were run through. It was a brutal close quarters fight that saw almost no survivors.
As the battle neared its end a large man with sword and shield squared off against Uhrthug. He looked around at the dead humans around him, and yelled right at Uhrthug who yelled back at him. "You dirty savages, you killed them all. you will pay for their lives...For Blackwood!" the man bellowed loudly and soon steel clashed in the ensuing duel. Uhrthugs clumsy but violently strong blows were countered and parried by the mans quick finesse, but he could not get a shot in with his sword as uhrthug was not relenting. Their fight found itself down the path and around the bend, where the ravine walls gave way to a narrow and steep plateau. On both sides were near verticle drops onto walls of loose stone, and on their left was the mountains and their right a lush forest that seemed like a carpet of green.
Uhrthug and the man fought until the man seemed too tired to carry on, and Uhrthug went in for the killing blow. But, as a last resort the man hurled himself at the orc and pushed them both off of the mountain and down the near verticle drop and into the forest below. Both bodies rolled and fought down the rocky wall until they bounced off of at an odd angle and flew straight out from the wall sailing into the air. Sheer horror was plastered onto the mans face, but Uhrthug only stared at his opponent as he finally found and opening and bit into the mans throat, killing him slowly. The last thing the man saw before he died was Uhrthug pushing him below himself as a body shield to cushion their fall onto the bottom of the rocky slope.
Many hours passed before Uhrthug woke up. Trees stood all around him, save for one large knocked over tree with its roots covered in fungi and moss exposed into the damp forest air. Uhrthug lay within the hole the tree was in, moss and lichen along with a shallow puddle of water cushioning his fall into it. Laying across the tree like a broken twig was the man. He laid on his back which was flattened along with his ribs by the orc who bounced off of him and into the hole, while his body stuck to the tree like a fly on a wall.
Uhrthug stood, but could barely walk as his ankle felt like it was on fire. He crawled out of the pit and grabbed the mans short sword and scabbard, and tired it to his belt where his axe that was surely lost on the plummet once was. Soon he crawled back into the pit and waited for his ankle to heal. Over time he made the woods his home, this new valley he had stumbled upon becoming his provider and savior. He doesn't know what had happened to his tribe, as climbing and finding a way up is near impossible, but daily he wonders what had become of his bretheren, and who this 'black wood" group was that had slain dozens of his kind. With time he hopes to find all his answers and maybe be able to rectify all that is wrong in this world, all the wrong that could befall an orc and his lowly tribe of savages.