Steven Burke - The Dark Tide

General Tomo’s army did not look back at those who remained behind in the enchanted forest. Even though the orcs were united under Kana, they were still divided by their different tribes. They remained loyal to the general leading their particular army and did not fraternize with anyone outside their respective clans. The fallen guardian had realized that it was no good in trying to make them get along, so she felt it was time to divide them up. She felt confident that by moving the three orc armies into positions in the north, west, and south that they would finally be able to have a balanced attack. She knew that this would give her minions the best chance of finally gaining some ground against the stubborn forces that ringed the cliffs of Landen.

As Tomo’s troops began their work they discovered several old dilapidated buildings that had not been used for many years. Rust appeared to have done its work over centuries of neglect and lack of use. As the general’s commander made his way through these structures he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Commander Nolan looked closer at the rust color on the walls and discovered that it was actually dark red blood. A soft hoot of an owl overhead made the stout leader jump. He cast his eyes about to see where the ruddy bird was. He started to back away from the building as the atmosphere around him seemed to be closing in on him. As he turned his attention to his troops who had watched him enter the eerie place, he noticed that they all had frightened looks on their faces. He felt invisible hands reaching for him.

“What are you dogs looking at?” blasted Commander Nolan Sugguk harshly. He was trembling slightly at the unexplainable oppression around him. He shrugged as though he was trying to ward something off. He was not too happy that some of the soldiers saw his jumpiness. I hate this cursed forest!

“There are shadows or spirits in that place” replied one of his soldiers as he pointed to the buildings the commander had just left. This timid behavior was not acceptable to any orc soldier; however, no one seemed inclined to ridicule the one who had spoken since they all felt the same way.

“What are you on about? There’s nothing back there! Back to work!” barked the commander loudly. His anger was escalating quickly as he felt the situation getting out of control though he had no idea what was happening or even what the situation was.

The soldiers dispersed slowly while muttering beneath their breath about the evil spirits they thought were all around them. They did not try to hide their disapproval of making base camp in such an accursed place. They believed that the elves had twisted the forest to attack anyone who was not of their own race. Not a single soldier paid any attention to the commander who had returned to the buildings again. Commander Nolan was determined to discover what had happened in this place. He also wanted to rid himself of the owl who kept on hooting at him.

“Nolan! Why are you wasting time in there?” bellowed General Tomo in his deep, ruddy voice. The general was also sensing some kind of disturbance; however, he was more concerned with getting the base established. What are you doing in there? We do not have time to waste with trying to figure out what happened here!

“Do you see something moving in the shadows?” asked the commander unabashed by his general’s rebuke. His mind was quickly slipping from his control as though he was mesmerized.

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” asked the general with a hint of concern in his voice. He had seen something moving in the shadows and did not feel like admitting it. One of them had to hold themselves together. An unnatural chill sent shivers down his spine as he watched his commander. Is this one of those cursed elven tricks?

“Look at the walls…they are covered in blood. How is that possible? This place has not had a living soul in it for centuries.” Nolan was the most accomplished orc tracker and was able to determine the age of something without much difficulty. He was bewildered by the scene in front of him because the blood was clearly not elven and was likely a thousand years old. The really strange part was that the blood had not been removed by the elements or the passage of time. These two facts made his hide crawl.

“This place reeks of elven magic and treachery! Let’s get out of here” urged the general with great intensity. His eyes shifted about quickly as he scanned the shadows for an unseen enemy. He reached toward his commander to urge him to leave the damnable place. The blood on the walls started to run!

“There! Did you see that? There are spirits or something in the shadows. This place has been marked with a dark curse. Something truly evil occurred here many centuries ago.” The commander had completely lost his composure and spoke at a feverish pace before going silent. He just noticed the blood that was running down the walls.

“You are a cheerful one. If this place is cursed like you say then why don’t we leave? I will order the troops to stay away from this place.” The general began to back away slowly as he scanned the shadows for unseen demons. His muscles tensed as looked for that which could not be seen. The blood on the walls started to flow like water from a fountain. He had tried to sound dismissive and unconcerned.

The two leaders did not notice the Seda that were encircling the massive orc army while they had been distracted by the cursed village of Kylrilion. They did not realize that this was one of the villages of the long extinct Eldar. Commander Nolan knew that the place had never been inhabited by elves, but he could not determine who had actually lived there. While the Eldar were not exactly elves, they were the forerunners of the elves who inhabited the Black Forest. This was partly why the commander could not positively identify the blood. The other reason was the new blood that was flowing over the old blood…which was clearly not the same type.

The orcs had stumbled upon the threshold of the most cursed dwelling in any land in Tuwa. An unbelievable act of barbarism had taken place here and had marked the entire village with a curse. Anyone or anything that entered the city would suffer an excruciating death. If the two orc leaders had been paying attention, they would have noticed that even the Seda avoided the dwellings. The curse was not from the lands of Tuwa and was from a time long forgotten. Even the ancient order of druids did not know of the origins. The only thing that they did not was that the curse involved the life of someone innocent.

One of the soldiers who had watched Commander Nolan earlier quickly approached the general on his right side. He was slightly out of breath because of the haste he had made in order to reach Tomo. He had come to inform them of the Seda forming a wall behind them. His eyes were drawn to a surreal scene unfolding itself before him. General Tomo and the messenger watched as the commander was lifted high into the air by some invisible force. Then with a sickening crunch, Nolan was twisted like a wet towel. His body went limp and fell to the ground with a thud. He had died the instant he had been wrenched in opposite directions. His blood spilt all over the ground as he lay broken in the middle of the stained dwellings. A black mist rose from the blood on the ground as is eerily seeped into the dirt.

“No one is to come near this place…got that? I want everyone assembled right now!” ordered General Tomo angrily. His pride had blinded him to listening to his fears, which had warned him to leave the unholy grounds they had trespassed on. Waves of heat radiated off him as he turned away from the broken body. He had never heard of such devilry.

“General, I have come to deliver a message…” began the shaken messenger. He had temporarily forgotten his original purpose while watching the gruesome spectacle. The black mist continued to swirl above the desecrated orc body. The blood had vanished into the ground without a trace. It was as though the dirt was drinking the orc’s blood.