Inheritance

Month 1 Week 3

The Hive – Horde Territory

The air was bitterly cold, flurries of snow swirling in the dark of the morning air. The others of his new patrol unit huddled near the fire drinking warm drinks and nibbling a bite to eat before setting out for their daily rounds. Brox was just coming off his turn as night guard and was blearily readying for sleep. None of them were ready to set out at the appointed time as Kron was and eyed him suspiciously as he walked up to the fire in full gear and ready to go.

“Kron.” Krol shook his head tiredly, stifling a yawn. “This is an ungodly hour to… be so prepared for a day’s work. Sit down and rest a spell before you make the rest of us look bad.”

“If it’s just as well…” Kron tried not to bristle at the lackadaisical attitude of this patrol. Didn’t they realize that they were the first line of defense against attack? “…I’d prefer to start my patrol as soon as possible. Unless my partner isn’t ready then I am perfectly willing to wait.”

He’d added the last sentence in a hasty rush as it hadn’t occurred to him until that instant that he might actually be partnered with someone. That was how patrols were supposed to work usually though and now that the thought was dancing through his mind, he realized that he was looking forward to at least having company to keep his mind off his growing misery. The patrol leader’s next words dashed that burgeoning hope before his subconscious had fully birthed it into thought.

“No. I’ve not assigned you a partner.” He waved a hand at the rest of the group, none of whom appeared delighted with the prospect of partnering with a known berserker. “If you are eager to start you might as well get on with it then. You’ve got your map, haven’t you? It’s fully up to date, just walked that route yesterday myself.” Kron nodded and the patrol leader continued. “Follow the outer edge of the Orc territory as outlined in the treaty. See if any humans are on Orc land, scare them away if you do. If they don’t scare away or become hostile, or have set up any kind of permanent structures, retreat and come back to base to report.”

“As you say.” Kron confirmed his orders and stalked off through the frozen air pushing aside the branches of evergreens laden with freshly fallen snow, his cloak swirling around his ankles in his wake.

The heat of his temper melted the dainty flakes that landed on his brow, dripping annoying little rivulets into his eyes. Furiously he slapped away the lower boughs of the small evergreens that grew up this close to the Hive and soon found his arms coated with the piney resin of a half dozen kinds of tree. The aroma inundated his senses and overpowered the underlying perfume of organic humus and decaying woods.

What was he doing? Why was he working himself up over this? This was how it was now right? Taking stock of his emotions Kron slowed his steps and took a few deep breaths. One good thing had come from his assignment to this patrol; the first day that Krol walked him out to the patrol’s camp he had made a big show of taking deep breaths and then sighed and turned to Kron. “You smell that? That’s the smell of being alive. It might not feel like it right now but it’s a thing you ought not to squander.”

Even remembering that the drunken lazy old fool had said something so sage seemed like a hallucination in the dark grey of predawn as icy water ran down him and soaked his warm furs. Ah well. He might as well follow orders for now. Kron tromped along following his map and enjoying the brightening day despite the chill.

Despite his general malaise, the young warrior’s senses were keen as ever and by midmorning, he sensed a general wrongness in the area he was patrolling. It wasn’t anything obvious or overt. There were no signs of human settlement, no dangerous animals. In fact, the place was downright idyllic.

Somehow the forest on the human settlement side of the mountains was less desolate than the woods he’d been traveling through his entire life. This was the back ass of the Hive so to speak and it was lusher and more beautiful than any place Kron had ever seen. No wonder so many of the Orcs argued that they should end the truce with the Matriarchy and take back this part of the land.

The bubbling of a stream splashing nearby reminded him that his water skin was empty. He could see the inviting liquid winking in and out of sight just through the trees as it tripped between moss-covered boulders. The trees grew closer together along the watercourse. Loath to put himself in a position where he might have to fight in close quarters, Kron looked for another way to the water.

Finding none, he cautiously slipped among the denser trees near the edge of the rivulet twisting one way then another, deeper and deeper; deeper than he had thought the way was until he found that he could not twist any longer. The Orc had gotten himself tightly closed in on all sides. There was no path to advance upon and glancing behind him, there was nowhere to retreat. Even the gaps between trees he had just passed seemed to have disappeared in the moments between then and now.