winged-hussar5643

[winged-hussar5643]

A bit of writing

Thought I’d post a bit of writing I’ve been working on, not much else to it.

I was never a fan of being stabbed, it's neither desirable nor particularly pleasant. But I suppose we aren't entitled to controlling every event in our lives, that is left to fate. Though if there is someone out there writing our fates they must have it in for me. These thoughts danced through my mind as I fell to the ground in pain clutching a wound as blood squirted through it but at least they’d had the courtesy to remove the blade albeit further cutting through the flesh. No, it was not a pleasant experience at all but to change the subject for a time I suppose an exclamation is in order detailing how I found myself in this ‘predicament’, one which I will happily provide.

You could stay it started last night. I was sat, half asleep, on a chair after a notably boring day. My sword hung in its scabbard seemingly sharing the boredom with its silverlike blade looking duller than ever. Four others lay around in a similar manner, all occupying themselves with mundane tasks like sharpening weapons and making futile attempts at small talk or just in a similar state to myself. Lucky for you I won't ramble and spread the past boredom, I’ll skip straight to the action. The door flung open and a rather small man with glasses, a neat white shirt and a clean blue tie entered, his name was Gerald. “A group of Orks is on the move over at West End so if you five could be the smallest shed useful intercept them.” and with that, he ran out.

At long last, the saviour from our boredom had arrived and with a wave of excitement I jumped up “You heard the man.” Swords were seethed, pistols holstered and gear donned with a buzz of excitement and relief. In as little as thirty seconds we were out of the doors, maybe a bit too quickly as it slammed into Gerald as he was talking to a colleague.

“Watch it there you idiots, you nearly crumpled my shirt.”

After a rushed apology we were of again. Dragons Keep was a large square semicircle building consisting of four floors which I'll describe the contents of later. We continued on across the marble floor and through the metal stairway doors. Halfway up the stairs, a group walking down the stairs blocked the way so I leapt against the wall and pushed with me feat and arms to launch myself over the railings onto the next floor. One of them looked up.

“In a hurry.”

“Yep.”

One of my companions sighed “He’s mainly just showing off.”  and we continued on.

On the third floor, a roof exit appeared around a corner blocked by a Dragon Guard. The Dragon Guards are the are the elite foot soldiers and guards of Dragons Keep. Unlike the Niht wiga (Night warriors, us) they were clad in heavy, jet black plate armour and wielded halberds Their heads were encased in a helmet similar to the rest of their armour and the only part of the guard's body visible was his eyes through the lifted visor.

The guard saluted “Blade master Aethelwulf, sir, what is the nature of your exit?”

“Just hunting some Orks, ordered by Gerald.”

“The only one who wears a shirt and tie?”

I smirked at the thought “That's the one.”

He chuckled “Alright good luck, sir.”

After the guard pressed a button the door slid into the wall and as we stepped forward the cold air hit me like a soothing breeze.

For a second I felt every action in my body, the stable and deep beating of my heart provided a comforting feeling while the rush of blood ran through my veins. I’ve seen a lot in my time but the beauty of London at night still hit sharply but nestled into a warm feeling. A vast black ocean crashed against the dancing lights of the city, themselves an array of bright beautiful colours. The streets, although quieter, still seemed alive as the hum of traffic and pedestrians echoed in between the metal colossus that were the skyscrapers. The Thames sparkled as the light bounced off it and I saw a ferry glide down its water. A plane flew overhead, its flashing lights preventing the dark night from enveloping it. While zoomed out view it resembled paradise. My sense of awe was abruptly cut short by an annoying voice “You gonna stand here all night? I'm sure we can handle this.”

I looked at him “Good joke.” and started to run.

“Do we even know where in West End they are.” Instead of the annoying one, I’ll call him Jack.

“Yes, their being tracked and are on your map.”

He checked his arm “Someone's in hurry.”

I sped up “Which means we are too.”

We leapt over vents, ducked under pipes and flew between buildings with each landing accompanied by eight thuds from boots. I performed this with a familiarity gained over the years, each movement was seemingly automatic and when combined jumps, rolls and sprints only increased my speed even more. The cold air rushed against me as I pierced through it and the familiar sound added to the comfort and relaxation. I let the darkness that occupied the unlit rooftops envelop me and it filled my body but not in the negative way often associated with it, no the darkness seemed to fill a gap in my soul that I just about felt whenever away from its soft comforting hands. I wrapped myself in it and truly felt at peace, however it suddenly retracted almost painfully as a distant roar echoed through the sky that would normally be swallowed up by the streets below but up here it sailed uninterrupted and although annoyed at being ripped from the comfort I smiled, this would be fun.  Eventually, the residential houses became bright stores covered in billboards and promotions, the quiet streets became bustling commercial centres and the relaxed, calm residents became loud and annoying shoppers. Call me cynical but I found most people in areas like this annoying. However we can’t really let people be massacred by the Orks, it just wouldn't be very chivalrous.

I checked my wrist at half ten just as we came across a taller building that seemed to tower over its dominion, if buildings had a societal structure but I’ll leave out the relevant philosophy in that regard.

I looked backwards “Map says the Orks are near so we'll climb this to have a look.”

This time Ezilda spoke a tad playfully with her almost stereotypical English accent “Lead the way, but be careful with that back of yours.”

I glared at her “Kids”, and leapt onto the building.

The apartment block was covered in a dotted layer of plant pots, window sills and railings. I worked my way up leaping from window to window until a slightly larger gap appeared in between the windows. My gloved hands grasped a railing on top of the window and I crouched down on a plant pot. As I stretched my legs mid jump the plant pot cracked, wobbled a little and snapped off with a painful shriek of metal. It fell through the air forcing Jacob to launch himself from its path before crashing into a thankfully deserted street.

“Oi watch it! You trying to get me killed?”

“I’m saving that satisfaction for later.”

Ezilda looked up “If your done redecorating and arguing there are Orks to kill.” With a sigh, I moved on.

After less than a minute of climbing, we leapt onto the top of the apartment block with ease. The view was similar to that of Dragon’s Keep but lighter due to the commercial buildings. I scanned the sprawling streets until my eyes locked onto a green mass moving over the rooftops. At first, they were just a small green mass but once I pointed them out and looked through my binoculars the mass became the distinguishable forms of Orks. They were a large green humanoid with bulging limbs and massive chests. Their heads were large and hosted an often fierce face with a large tusked mouth. They carried a variety of weapons including axes, hammers and even the occasional jagged sword. The beasts were clothed in furs and animal hides with often carried skulls and bones of defeated those. Some were tattooed with crude red and black patterns or violent depictions. The immense weight landing on rooftops would be loud if not for enchantments from Orc mages, the Orak. I’ll spare you from that grim description for now.

I lowered my binoculars “Well there they are, loud and boisterous as always. It's a wonder they aren't seen or heard enchantment or not.”

“And the people below don’t even know of the great danger that could drop down and slaughter them at any moment, it’s a weird and unsettling thought.”

“But we’re the thing that stops them, and the threat of exposure that would tip ours and everyone else's world upside down. If they find Orks even the great hidden Dwarven and Elven cities won’t be able to hide for long. I can’t even imagine the effects of that.”

Now Delphin spoke, “And we’d all be trapped in the middle of the chaos.”

This was followed by a small silence as simulations played through our minds, the cold, biting wind picked up and blew against us and its animal-like howl was the only nearby sound.

I checked my sword “Well it seems the moods darkened a bit so why don’t we indulge in a bit of Ork hunting.”

And with a smile, we descended the building and returned to the lower rooftops.