Chapter 02 - Lucked Out

Bace and Novar get into a bit of a pickle. Good thing luck's on their side!

Chapter 02 - Lucked Out

 

It was morning, too early for there to be light. The streets that were once bustling with life had died and had made a complete conversion to silence. On the corner of a crossroads stood a shoddy building, about two stories high. A tall man in full plate armor stood in front of the building. A slight breeze picked up, lifting his red cape and sending ripples through the insignia of a dragon. The twenty men in leather armor he faced all brandished shields with the same symbol, along with longswords, bows, and quivers full of arrows. The man, taller than all the rest of his soldiers, was their commanding officer. He wielded a hammer, a hammer much heavier than any normal man could carry, let alone take into battle. Some accused him of magic, but everyone knew that the members of the Dragon Army weren’t allowed to cast magic, particularly not officers.

“Alright men,” the Commander said, addressing his soldiers, “We’ve got ourselves a magic user.” He drew his hammer, but only to lean on it, “As of right now, this man doesn’t know that he possesses the power of magic, and it’s our job to apprehend him before he becomes a threat.”

One of the soldiers said, raising his hand, “Uhm, Commander Garrick? Shouldn’t we be focusing on the Drow that’s escaped custody? This one’s not figured it out yet, so we can wait to apprehe"“

“Nonsense. He’s too well-known to just let slide,” Garrick said. His voiced carried with a strange distortion through his helmet, “Besides, we have to follow our orders.”

The soldier lowered his arm, “But what if the target fights back?”

“Our only goal is to arrest this one,” Garrick took of his horned helmet, revealing his brown, wolfish hair and goatee, “I know that we normally kill the targets that try to escape or fight back, but this one is top priority.” Garrick twisted his head to look at the building behind him. He returned his head back front and said, “These orders are from the Emperor himself.”

“Long may he live,” the troop recited, bowing on one knee to an imaginary ruler in front of them.

An Orc stormed past the soldiers as they knelt and approached Garrick “The Dragon Army has no business here!” she snarled, fury burning in her throat. Garrick’s men snapped into fighting positions, their swords at the ready.

“Lower your weapons, men,” Garrick commanded. He then turned to address the Orc, “Quite the contrary. Anywhere there’s magic, it becomes the Army’s business.”

“My child was abducted by you…” the Orc growled menacingly, shaking her finger at Garrick, “…you monsters!”

One of the soldiers chuckled, “Look who’s talking.”

“Yeah, an Orc calling us monsters?” another soldier chimed in, “That’s rich; just look at yourselves!”

“Enough!” the Commander barked, “This mission will be carried out. Step aside, Orc.”

“This won’t be the end, Drakonican,” the Orc sneered, backing away from the warriors, “Just you wait. Someone will have the gall to take you down. One of these days!”

Shaking his head, Garrick shouted to his soldiers, “This is it, men! Today, we capture one of the most powerful people in the land!”

With his warriors cheering behind him, the Commander burst through the front door of the building, barely keeping the door on its hinges. The early morning hours had yet to produce people on the first floor, so Garrick started up the stairs. Four men waited at the front door, another two stood guard at the back door, and the rest followed their leader up the stairs. "This is the one,”Garrick said as he stopped at one of the several doors on the second floor. Four more of his soldiers positioned themselves around the door " two on each side. “One.. Two… Three!” the Commander counted, kicking down the door. This time, the hinges were not spared.

A child Orc and a very pale Half-Orc shot awake at the ruckus.

“Bace Gurat,” Garrick shouted at the Half-Orc, “You are under arrest!”

The remaining soldiers crammed themselves into the room, encompassing Bace and Novar, but leaving room for Garrick to speak to them. One of the warriors began restraining Bace with a rope.

“Wait, what?” The Brawler said as his wrists were being tied together, “I haven’t done anything!”

“Not yet, you haven’t. Take him outside,” the Commander pointed at the door.

“I don’t understand! What’s going on?” Bace demanded, “I swear, I haven’t done anything!”

“Everything will be explained at a later time. As of right now you must come with us,” Garrick motioned for his men to begin escorting The Brawler out of the room. A dull clink resounded from the Commander’s left leg.

“Ouch!” Novar shouted in pain, “I shoulda put mah shoes on ferst!”

Garrick grumbled, picking the kid up by the collar of his shirt, “Come here, you little runt.”

With a surge of boiling wrath, Bace broke free of his hempen bindings and charged at Garrick, “Leave him alone!” But, instead of striking the Commander as he was planning to do, Bace had actually struck a sturdy wooden wall.

“Gahh!” the pain of splinters echoed through his scream, “What the f"“

“Where are we?” Novar asked, looking around.

“An alley, by the looks of it,” a voice said, “A dark one at that. If you keep quiet, the guards won’t find you.” It was hard to tell whether or not it was male or female.

“Who the hell are you?” Bace demanded, searching in vain for the location of the voice.

“Is that really the way to thank the one who saved you?” the voice said, an edge of anger in the smooth tone, “Besides, I told you to keep quiet, unless you’re really in the mood to get sent to prison.”

A very slender Drow dressed in flamboyant raiment emerged from the shadows just behind Novar. A hat with a wide brim topped the Elf’s head, and his sleek, raven-like hair glided effortlessly down his back. Various assortments of weaponry decorated the Elf’s attire, especially the leather belt and jacket, including firearms.

Bace furrowed his ginger brow at the Drow and said softly, “Why should we trust you?”

“Hello,” he said, venom dripping from his cool words, “I just saved your a*s. If you’re really interested in surviving, you should probably stick to just me saving it." He looked at Bace, changing his voice to honey, "When it comes to being accused of magic, you’ve got to stick with your own.”

“But he can’t do magic,” Novar said, then squinted at the Elf. After a few seconds, he said, “Wait… I know you.”

“I bet you do! I’ve got a really gorgeous face. Hard to forget!” the Drow approached Bace and stroked his chin, “Don’t you think, sweetie?”

Blushing in embarrassment, Bace shoved the Drow off, “Get off me!”

“Awe, sweetie, that’s awfully rude,” the Drow crooned. The sound of twenty footsteps on pavement began to resound into the alley. The Elf grinned and said with excitement, “Looks like we’ve got company!”

Novar, wide-eyed with panic, said, “Well how do we get outta here?”

“Just come with me, of course!” the Drow giggled.

“No,” Bace said indignantly, “I don’t trust you.”

Pouting, the Drow pointed out, “I don’t think it really matters right now, seeing as how I’m your only chance of getting out of here.”

“Ugh, fine!” Bace snapped, “But first, I need to know your name.”

With an outstretched hand and his chin high, the Drow replied, “Name’s Rayn. Rayn Firestorm. I’m a pirate.”

Reviews

[SinTrustless]

I don't much like to write reviews, I'm better at writing fiction. But, here it goes...
The two character introduced in this chapter, commander Drakonican, and Rayn, come off as cocky.
Which I enjoy, you need cocky characters to keep stories lively.
Just ensure they are not one-dimensional cocky, it is a trap many let cocky characters fall into.

In the book's remarks you stated your intent was for an anime, and I applaud your goal.
However, I feel it reads more like a forgotten realms book.
Perhaps that's simply because it has orcs and a drow as protagonists.

At any rate, I've enjoyed the book so far.

[NightWatch]

Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it!
Garrick is supposed to be portrayed as a serious character that's much more powerful than most of the others. He's easily annoyed by weakness or stupidity, so I guess it came across more as cocky than serious, so I'll work on making him a bit more serious.
Rayn is most definitely cocky, though. He thinks he's better than everyone else, even when he's not.
I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far and I hope that you continue to enjoy future chapters XD