Founding of Deania [10] (Patreon)

Sam and Erula hastily descended from the mountain's cliff. Sam flew them down and they soared over the battlefield from on high, Erula worked the same spell she'd used the last time they'd led this army against a force of orcs. Rain fell from the sky sapping the strength of the orcs while strengthening the elves.

This time, Erula's spell had neither the strength nor the scope it had possessed when she was at full power. Instead, a small cloud traveled over Erula and Sam's heads, dripping rain wherever they flew. It wasn't nearly large enough to cover the battlefield, but Sam took them over anywhere the elves seemed to be losing ground to help turn the tide.

"I'm not seeing Dean anywhere." Erula shouted over the sounds of battle and the rainy downpour.

"You know Dean." Sam replied. "He'll be where the fighting is thickest."

"I thought so too, but that's where we've been going, and we haven't seen him." Erula struggled to hide the worry in her voice, but didn't quite manage it.

"He'll pull through." Sam assured her, but he realized he sounded worried too. Sam hadn't run into any of the Bronze Skin orcs or the great warchief, which meant they'd all come after Dean. That was seven opponents at Dean's own level. Could he handle that many?

Sam's heart sank when he saw the great warchief striding up to the battlefield without Dean anywhere in sight.

The thin orc's lips were moving and any other true mage wouldn't have caught the faint words being spoken.

"I spend a few hours' back home and they all run out like this..." the great warchief muttered.

He reached into his robes and drew a thin axe. It was of normal size for an elf, but compared to the gigantic bladed weapons the orcs usually wielded it looked positively diminutive. Sam wasn't quite sure what to make of it when the shaft and head suddenly lit up with runes.

The orc swung the thing axe and ten paces away from him an elf was split in half at the waist.

"We'll have to deal with him." Sam said.

Erula grimaced. "This is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I might need your help."

Sam nodded and steered his flying sword towards the ground.

They touched down behind the great warchief, and Sam and Erula both jumped off before Sam send one last command for his flying sword to fling itself forward as fast as possible towards the great warchief's back.

The great warchief's cloak lit up with orcish symbols moments before Sam's flying sword impacted it. The sword clanged against the orcs shirt as though it had struck a stone wall and the tip bent over before the sword crashed into the ground nearby.

The great warchief turned. "Well... it looks like we'll get to fight a second time, my lovely war prize. I noticed you were missing from your post. Fortunately the other two were still there or my patron would have been very cross with me."

Erula pointed her hand at the great warchief, palm out. "I'm not talking to you." She said. Then a water gushed out of her palm as though her hand was a portal leading to the bottom of the ocean. The geyser of water hit the orc like a physical blow, tearing him off his feet and sending him spinning through the air before he collided with the ground.

When the water finally stopped flowing and started draining into the ground Sam saw the runes on the orc's armor flicker off. They'd just protected him from suffering any serious damage and the orc stood up, unharmed.

The great warchief frowned as water dripped from his clothes. "To be honest... I expected much better from a wizard. It seems my elf restriction devices are effective even after they're removed."

Erula frowned, then pushed her other palm forward, releasing a second gout of water. This time the great warchief just chuckled and touched a hand to his arm. A bubble of energy flared up around him and the water Erula sprayed washed over it. Inside the bubble he was completely untouched.

"What about you, human?" The great warchief asked. "You're an unusual find. I suppose this place is one of the better worlds for a weak human to make their home, given your nature and that of the elves. But I can promise you that you'd fare even better on the World of Struggle and Strife. Any orc warlord would take you in and gift you with a thousand elves of your choosing. Hells, I bet more than a few elves would submit themselves willingly if you chose to serve one of our warlords."

Sam rolled his eyes. He'd heard this speech before, considered it, and rejected it. Still, he did his best to pretend to listen patiently, all the while preparing his opening attack.

"That does sound like an interesting offer." Sam replied, taking a step closer. Then he threw a fistful of buzzing barely visible specks of light into the orcs face.

It was a simple spell that lacked the flare of Dean's lightning bolts, but it was effective in its own right. It looked like Sam had dug his hands into a fireplace and tossed a handful of hot embers at his enemy. They flew lazily, scattering left and right. Sam didn't yet have the ability to control fate zeal as effortlessly as he wanted to, but he'd spent the last few years honing one particularly enigmatic and frightening offensive spell.

Anyatara had taught him that fire could consume nearly anything. Her own spells worked like poison spreading and seeping throughout the bodies of her enemies.

Sam took a subtler approach. His flames consumed his victim's future.

Every ember made victory more likely. This was a sinister attack that even Sam himself didn't fully understand. He just knew it could get by all but the most powerful defensive enchantments. As far as Sam knew, there was no defense against this ability at the true mage level. After all, Sam had never heard of another true mage who could conjure Fateflame.

To true mages and their equivalents, the embers seemed like nothing more than an insult, like dust thrown at their face. When they died, most didn't even know the true cause of their demise. Fatefire latched onto its victim and burned away their future good fortune.

The thin orc took a step back at the approaching attack. His fingers went to his pocket and grasped a few gold coins in his hand. He thrust them forward as though they would shield him from the Fateflames, but nothing happened and the coins simply clinked the orcs shaking hands.

The great warchief opened his eyes and glanced at the coins in his hand. He realized whatever defensive spell he'd been prepared to use hadn't activated, and that meant Sam's attack hadn't been capable of hurting him.

The orc curled his lip and spat as he wiped the embers away, still not comprehending the damage they'd just done, and what they were still doing to him.

"That's the best you can do?" He sneered.

"Yes." Sam said, squashing a tiny smile.

"Then perhaps I was wrong to offer you a place among us. I don't think you'd fit in."

Sam stood still and waited for the orc to come to him.

Erula wasn't so patient. She pressed her palms together and summoned a serpent of flowing water. Sam had seen this spell before. Once it had cut a hole through the center of a mountain so they could escort a trading caravan through it instead of walking around. Today, it was no bigger than a Stone Hoof Unicorn and didn't even look as strong.

The newly born water elemental charged at the great warchief, who hefted his axe and casually split it in two. Erula used the moment of distraction to rush in herself and sweep her hand over the orc's shoulder. A narrow band of water shot out of her finger, sprayed with speed and power that would likely have cut the orc in half if his enchanted clothes hadn't saved his life again.

Sam focused on the little dots spreading throughout the orcs body. Their physical vessels had been rubbed away, but Fateflames were not quenched so easily. He encouraged their growth like little tumors eating away at their host.

The orc battered Erula aside with the flat of his axe and Erula went tumbling like a rag doll.

"This must be humiliating for you, wizard." The great warchief said. "Drop to you knees and let me place a new collar on you and we won't have to do this."

"Sam..." Erula panted. "Help?"

"I am." Sam replied, narrowing his eyes as controlling the Fateflames took every ounce of his concentration. "Just keep fighting."

Erula bit her lip, drawing blood. She wiped it off on the back of her hand and then used that hand to channel another spell. The blood evaporated like it was boiling away and a red cloud formed above Erula.

That was when the Fateflames finally showed their worth. The orc tried to tap his arm and activate his defensive enchantment, but at that very moment a gust of wind blew and tossed his cloak in the way. He tried to push it aside but in doing so he accidentally activated its own defensive enchantment early.

His defenses could only activate to their full power momentarily, otherwise the energy expenditure would be too high for him to possibly maintain. By mistakenly activating it, he gave Erula an opportunity to hit him straight through his defenses.

Erula waved her arm forward as though throwing a ball and the red cloud followed her. It flew past the point of her finger and continued to soar until it struck the orc in the center of the chest. His eyes bulged in shock at the unfairness of it all as his skin started to blister and bubble. Sickly red dew accumulated on his skin, staining his green skin and interfering with the enchantments drawn into his clothes.

"Blasted twists of the heavens!" The orc cursed as he tore his clothes open and tossed them aside.

Erula was no unblooded warrior, and she knew a chance to finish the fight when she saw one. She pressed her advantage, clenching her fist in a tight ball. The orc's skin swelled as tendrils of water tore at his insides, but inside his own body the orc's cultivation held the advantage. Zeal swelled and warred against Erula's spell, quickly seizing control over the water zeal and expelling it with his own power.

Sam bent over and picked up a simple rock. He pulled back his arm and threw it, where it collided with the side of the orc's head.

The orc warchief fell over as the stone struck him in the temple and he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Did you... do something?" Erula asked curiously.

"My spells aren't particularly flashy." Sam explained. "But they get the job done."

"Still, it's impressive that you could take a Bronze realm orc down with a spell disguised as an ordinary rock."

"Oh. No, that was just a normal stone. I threw it and just happened to hit his head just right." Sam shrugged.

<Scene break>

They searched the orc warchief's body and removed his enchanted equipment. Without his tools and gold he'd be little threat to either of them, and Sam was anxious to study orcish enchantment and goldmongering. They also recovered Erula's own bag of holding on his person.

After rummaging around for a few precious items, Erula was able to consume several potions and restore herself to top form. After that, they hunted down the remaining Bronze Skin orcs. There were only two of them and they were wondering why when they finally managed to run into the Songstone elder.

"Revered wizard Erula!" The Songstone elder said with a bow. "And esteemed true mage Sam! Despite her great age, she seemed as giddy as a freshly manifested elf. "Did you see Dean slay four Bronze Skin orcs, on his own!?"

"Where is he now?" Erula demanded.

"He's safe." The Songstone elder assured. "He overexerted his body and is resting in my own tent. We think he did something to damage his meridians. An elf with the same wounds would be crippled for life, but he seems to be healing as we speak."

"Good." Erula said. "Then let's finish this and rescue Yonda and Anyatara." For the first time in many days, Erula's lips slid up into a smile. "They're going to have to stop calling me the weakest of us three after today."

Clouds filled the sky, empowering elves all over the battlefield. Erula's spells were back to their full strength now and she quickly washed away the outer walls in a torrential downpour that turned the earth to mud. The orcs broke and many of their number simply grabbed an elf or wisp before fleeing the battlefield altogether. Some managed to slip away, but most were being hounded down by elves pursuing them through the forest hoping to do to the orcs what the orcs had originally planned for them.

Then the elves broke into the stronghold and fought their way through the streets. No band of orcs or stone defenses could stand up to Erula's magic, and soon enough the entire army was marching on the inner keep.

"Are those... the other revered wizards?" The Songstone elder blushed as she saw both Anyatara and Yonda bound and collared on wooden platforms suspended for all to see.

"Let it be a lesson to you to never underestimate your opponents." Erula said.

The Songstone elder eagerly nodded. "Of course. I'm sure you would  never allow yourself to be captured like that."

Erula blushed slightly but otherwise didn't respond.

Sam busied himself with getting Anyatara and Yonda free while the elves chased down orc stragglers and scavenged for anything of value.

"You couldn't have rescued us more... privately?" Anyatara blushed as Sam undid her bindings, leaving her mostly exposed to the open air.

"It was the easiest way to rescue you." Sam whispered as he threw his own coat over his elf companion. "I'll make it up to you later."

The elves finally untied Keergal, the orc they'd captured at the first castle, and let him down from the tree. The orc warchief took his place and Sam left him for the elves to do with as they pleased.

"So." Sam said as he sat Keergal down. "You're the highest ranking orc left among your little invasion force. I think that makes you the leader."

"Mhm." Keergal grunted. He'd gone quiet days ago. Those days hanging upside down in that tree as every elf in the army taunted him seemed to have changed something in the muscular orc.

"Rounding up the rest of your people would be more trouble than it's worth for us. However, we would like to see the captive elves returned, along with the ones you captured before."

Sam placed a spell on Keergal that would let him find the orc in a month and then let him go. Whether Keergal wanted it or not, other orcs would rally around him in an effort to rebuild a fighting force. Dealing with the orcs as a group would be far easier than trying to hunt down and round up thousands of individual marauders.

The elves celebrated their victory, claiming the orc stronghold as their own. The orcs had chosen a good location for the center of their operations, with long stretches of plains in all directions. There was a small stream running through the area that provided much-needed water and Sam wondered if he could follow it to its source and expand that stream into a river. If he could, this site might one day become the heart of bustling city, assuming someone could move the nearby mountains.

With Yonda and Erula working together to heal Dean, he was back on his feet by the end of the week. The elves celebrated his recovery with as much gusto as they had their victory over the orcs, and all of them thanked him profusely for leading them glory. Many of the clan leaders looked at Dean with wide eyes, and it seemed that every elf of status was trying to curry favor with him.

"We're going to have trouble prying him away from this pampering." Yonda sighed as no less than twelve elves competed to put candied strawberries in Dean's mouth. And those twelve elves weren't servant girls or ordinary warriors either, every one of them was at least an elder, and most of them were matriarchs in their own right.

Two of them, including the Songstone elder, reached true mage during the battle. They could have anything they wanted, and yet they were using their newfound power to push the other elves aside so they could better pamper their hero. They'd all insisted he refrain from doing anything himself as he recovered from his injuries and Dean was happy to let them keep him company.

Through his guidance, these rival clans set aside their differences and formed a pact for mutual defense. Their hearts weren't really into it yet but it was something Dean found interesting so they were happy to play along. To everyone's embarrassment, Dean was already trying to come up with names for this alliance and seemed to have settled on Rodworshipa, after how he intended the elves to seal the pact.

Pacts that formed like this around sharing a particularly noteworthy man weren't unheard of, but they often failed within months. Fortunately Dean had both power of his own and several wizards backing him up, so Yonda and Erula reasoned that even if this whole thing fell apart tomorrow Dean would make it out alright.

"I don't think we will be able to pry him away." Erula sighed. "Remember how you wanted to settle down somewhere? Maybe this is a good place to start. At least for a few decades."

"Easy for you to say." Yonda blushed. "You weren't bound and humiliated in front of the entire army."

While Dean spoke with the tribal matriarchs Sam gathered all the knowledge he could about the orcs and where they'd come from.

"Other worlds..." he muttered. "That certainly sounds interesting."

"You want to visit one?" Anyatara asked in surprise. "The Ten Thousand Worlds are a dangerous place, you know. There are plenty of things I can't protect you from. But I suppose if this last adventure has taught me anything, it's that you're finally strong enough to protect yourself."

"It could be fun. I know Dean's going to want to play here. Maybe I'll claim a small patch of land myself. We could use our share of the teleportation arrays to build a little network extending all over this world, and maybe even to worlds abroad."

<Scene break>

Dean seemed to have no intention of getting better any time soon, but after a month of being cared for even he was starting to feel the urge to do something new.

When Sam said it was time to meet with Keergal again, Dean happily jumped out of bed and donned a new set of clothes.

"Let's go see this orc friend of yours." Dean said as he hopped onto Erula's flying sword. "Farewell ladies!" Dean waved to the elves below. "I'll need you all next time I'm wounded!"

Keergal stood in the woods, surrounded by a dozen female orcs.

"Looks like you finally got the memo too." Dean laughed as he touched down.

"I've gathered up my people." Keergal said, which was the most Sam had ever heard him say in one sitting. "Our captives will be permitted to return, if they wish it."

Sam furrowed his brows. "Will any want to stay?"

Keergals shrugged. "Some do."

Sam nodded slowly and pulled out a map, which was already dotted with lines.

"You will abandon this area and head further south." Dean said. "That will be the border between us, and no orc is to set foot over that dotted line."

Keergal's eyes darted up to Dean. "Do you speak for the elves of this land?"

Dean shrugged, so Sam answered for him. "If anyone speaks for them, Dean does."

Keergal nodded. "Then so be it, king of this land. We will move south. But I warn you when this planet comes near the World of Struggle and Strife my kin will come again."

"Next time, your people won't find this place such easy prey." Dean replied. "Tell them to look for better hunting grounds elsewhere. Otherwise I can't guarantee the elves won't start taking you as captives instead."

Keergal shifted uncomfortably for a moment before steadying himself. "Very well. Let there be peace between orcs and elves."

Dean and the orc shook hands and the orcs turned and headed south.

"I'm surprised you didn't want to wipe out the orcs completely." Sam said once Keergal and his group were out of sight.

Dean shrugged. "Count me as an optimist, but I think there's a lot we can learn from them. Besides, I'd rather have an orc horde at our door we know we can handle. That way the elves will keep their weapons sharp for when the next one shows up."

Sam clapped Dean on the shoulder. "That sounds like something Theo would say."

The End.

Final thoughts:

I hope you all enjoyed this diversion from the Spellheart series. This is where I planned to cap Sam and Dean's story. We may see more of them in future short stories or we may explore other characters and worlds.

I enjoyed writing this one and it was fun to try something new. I got to do a little world building that wouldn't have fit in the main series and explore Sam and Dean before they show up again in person. This ended up as a full novella rather than the short story I originally intended, but I enjoyed being able to play with a different writing style and writing in third-person limited instead of first person.

At some point I'd like to try writing another third person story that can incorporate antagonist point of view scenes or try third person omniscient narration, but I'll leave that for the next writing experiment.

In other news, just yesterday I finally settled on my outline and completed my plans for the next book. I even have a tentative opening scene written, though I haven't settled on it yet. It my head book 5 is already written, but now it's time to put words on paper for real. My current goal is to have chapter 1 for book 5 up on Wednesday.