know, they’re still out there. We expect them to attack again. We could use help.”
“Depends on what else you have to tell us about these attacks,” said Mazik, who recognized an evasion when he saw one.
Sergeant Redsna held up a hand. “First, I need to verify your status. Please show me your guild stamps.”
Mazik stood up and lifted his shirt. On his right breast was a duplicate of the black starburst that Guildmaster Shaeur had tattooed on his hand.
“You just had to take your shirt off, didn’t you?” said Gavi. She muttered a few words, and an identical tattoo shone through the clothing on her upper right arm. Raedren used the same spell and turned around, his mark glowing on his right shoulder blade.
“Of course!” said Mazik. He let his hand flutter over his abs. “Who wouldn’t want to show off these? Yum!”
Gavi rolled her eyes.
Sergeant Redsna held a hand a few centimeters over Mazik’s chest. He recited a spell in the same language, and his hand glowed with the pale, iridescent blue of a tropical sea. Words flashed in front of his eyes, dimly visible to the others, though clearly legible to him.
“Collateral Damage, out of Houk,” said Sergeant Redsna. He read more of the information his spell was pulling from Mazik’s tattoo. “All right, everything is verified. Let me scan the rest of you.”
Once the sergeant had checked all of them, he sat back down. Mazik leaned forward, his elbows on the sergeant’s desk. “So, what’s the situation?”
Sergeant Redsna settled back into his accustomed position, back straight, hands clasped on his desk, expression blank. “Unfortunately, I can’t answer your previous question. I’m not at liberty to divulge where the orck camp is located. We’ve already lost half of our standing forces fighting on their turf, and we can’t afford to lose any more.”
There was silence as the trio absorbed this. “I feel like you need to go into more detail after just casually mentioning that you’ve lost half your people,” said Mazik.
Sergeant Redsna smiled humorlessly. “Earlier today, we assaulted the orcks at their camp. In their first attack, no more than forty orcks were present, and less on the second day—signs that those were all the warriors they had, we thought. So we sent one hundred and fifty people to root them out.”
“And they had more,” guessed Gavi.
Sergeant Redsna nodded. “At least double what we expected, probably more. The entire company was defeated. Less than twenty made it back alive. We no longer have the strength to be proactive. The crown is sending reinforcements, but our army is stretched thin, so it will be several days before they arrive. Until then, we’re restricting operations to defense only.”
“Great. We’re excellent at defending cities. Done it plenty of times,” Mazik lied.
“How long exactly until reinforcements get here?” asked Gavi.
“Three days, at best,” said Sergeant Redsna.
“Yikes.” Mazik made a face. “Well, where are they attacking? I know we saw some damage to the north wall on the way in.”
“That was from last night,” said Sergeant Redsna. “Most damaging was the first night, when they appeared shortly after sundown and knocked a hole in the western wall. By the time we repelled them, they had destroyed two entire neighborhoods and damaged several others, including the mansions of several of our leaders, and one of our finest museums. Last night we were more successful, though they still disrupted an area of town that includes much of our economic base.”
“So you went out to fix the problem today, and got your asses handed to you,” said Mazik. “That explains all the activity out front.”
Sergeant Redsna grimaced, but said nothing.
“Any idea what brought them this far south?” asked Gavi. “Or how they did it without being seen? I’ve never heard of orcks traveling anywhere without trying to destroy everything along the way.”
“No idea. That kind
“Depends on what else you have to tell us about these attacks,” said Mazik, who recognized an evasion when he saw one.
Sergeant Redsna held up a hand. “First, I need to verify your status. Please show me your guild stamps.”
Mazik stood up and lifted his shirt. On his right breast was a duplicate of the black starburst that Guildmaster Shaeur had tattooed on his hand.
“You just had to take your shirt off, didn’t you?” said Gavi. She muttered a few words, and an identical tattoo shone through the clothing on her upper right arm. Raedren used the same spell and turned around, his mark glowing on his right shoulder blade.
“Of course!” said Mazik. He let his hand flutter over his abs. “Who wouldn’t want to show off these? Yum!”
Gavi rolled her eyes.
Sergeant Redsna held a hand a few centimeters over Mazik’s chest. He recited a spell in the same language, and his hand glowed with the pale, iridescent blue of a tropical sea. Words flashed in front of his eyes, dimly visible to the others, though clearly legible to him.
“Collateral Damage, out of Houk,” said Sergeant Redsna. He read more of the information his spell was pulling from Mazik’s tattoo. “All right, everything is verified. Let me scan the rest of you.”
Once the sergeant had checked all of them, he sat back down. Mazik leaned forward, his elbows on the sergeant’s desk. “So, what’s the situation?”
Sergeant Redsna settled back into his accustomed position, back straight, hands clasped on his desk, expression blank. “Unfortunately, I can’t answer your previous question. I’m not at liberty to divulge where the orck camp is located. We’ve already lost half of our standing forces fighting on their turf, and we can’t afford to lose any more.”
There was silence as the trio absorbed this. “I feel like you need to go into more detail after just casually mentioning that you’ve lost half your people,” said Mazik.
Sergeant Redsna smiled humorlessly. “Earlier today, we assaulted the orcks at their camp. In their first attack, no more than forty orcks were present, and less on the second day—signs that those were all the warriors they had, we thought. So we sent one hundred and fifty people to root them out.”
“And they had more,” guessed Gavi.
Sergeant Redsna nodded. “At least double what we expected, probably more. The entire company was defeated. Less than twenty made it back alive. We no longer have the strength to be proactive. The crown is sending reinforcements, but our army is stretched thin, so it will be several days before they arrive. Until then, we’re restricting operations to defense only.”
“Great. We’re excellent at defending cities. Done it plenty of times,” Mazik lied.
“How long exactly until reinforcements get here?” asked Gavi.
“Three days, at best,” said Sergeant Redsna.
“Yikes.” Mazik made a face. “Well, where are they attacking? I know we saw some damage to the north wall on the way in.”
“That was from last night,” said Sergeant Redsna. “Most damaging was the first night, when they appeared shortly after sundown and knocked a hole in the western wall. By the time we repelled them, they had destroyed two entire neighborhoods and damaged several others, including the mansions of several of our leaders, and one of our finest museums. Last night we were more successful, though they still disrupted an area of town that includes much of our economic base.”
“So you went out to fix the problem today, and got your asses handed to you,” said Mazik. “That explains all the activity out front.”
Sergeant Redsna grimaced, but said nothing.
“Any idea what brought them this far south?” asked Gavi. “Or how they did it without being seen? I’ve never heard of orcks traveling anywhere without trying to destroy everything along the way.”
“No idea. That kind
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