Chapter 12: I Just Want a Peaceful Carriage Ride...

CHAPTER 12

What was this now? I stood up as suddenly as the system’s warning came. I drew my dagger and inspected the area around me. The young traveler must have noticed my alertness as he got up and moved closer to me.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

I held up a finger to quiet him. He gulped and drew his own short sword. I listened carefully until I finally heard something like a rustling sound in the forest behind me. The darkness veiled whatever hid there. I heard the sources of the sound coming closer and closer, lots of them.

“Watch out.” I hissed, pushing the man aside as violent force took hold of my left forearm.

The jaws bit into my flesh and before pain overtook my senses I made a quick work of the creature striking his neck with my dagger. The jaws loosened and the beast fell to the ground. It was a large thing of grey fur, a wolf perhaps.

[Prey identified] the system announced [you have slain a dire wolf]

[Information on dire wolves obtained. Would you like to view it?]

Before I could answer, the rustling from the forest continued as more and more of these beasts jumped out from the bushes.

“What in the hell?” I heard the coachman from behind me.

“We must protect the carriage” the man said as I noticed the sword in his arm shaking.

One of these beasts was the size of three regular wolves at least. Their furs were a combination of grey and black, strewn with white specks like snowfall. The beasts growled, their crimson eyes shining in the dark, needless to say they seemed hungry. But what did the system say about me invoking their bloodlust, did they attack because of me?

The coachman joined our side, holding an axe.

System, activate [Layer of the Abyss]

[Layer of the Abyss activated]

The system said as the now familiar dark aura enveloped my dagger. I wanted to hope that they were not as bad as the ghouls I fought earlier today but these guys seemed like hunters, not scavengers, not to mention that they were all approximately the size of the ghoul leader.

“You two stand back and prioritize protecting yourselves. I’ll be on the offensive.” I said as I took the step forward. The dire wolves had no intention of backing down from this.

There was another thing that bothered me. I could still hear a crackling noise approaching our direction from the forest, more dire wolves perhaps? That was unlikely since the sound was different. I was bracing myself for the appearance of another enemy when the trees themselves began shaking and out came a large silhouetted figure that fell down onto two of the dire wolves, smashing them underneath its weight as if they were made of glass.

The rest of the dire wolves diverted their attention to this new creature. They growled and barked at him, before finally launching their attack. The creature swung its giant arms sending the dire wolves flying every which way. He grabbed one of them by the neck and smashed them into the ground. The sound was nauseating.

This creature had a humanoid appearance. It seemed around three meters tall, bulky, muscular build and if it was not the darkness playing tricks on me, his skin appeared to be green. He had a long shock of dark hair and two tusks protruding from his mouth. I couldn’t help but be reminded of an orc, that would be my guess as to what this creature was. The creature let out a loud shout, almost like a battle cry which echoed through the forest at which point the dire wolves dispersed and went back into the forest. The creature looked in our direction and its nostrils flared.

Here it comes, I thought, bracing myself for its assault. I held up my dagger and I was ready to defend and attack at any moment.

“Is everyone alright?”

Did the creature really just speak?

“You must be scared so your tongues are tied, I understand.” The creature continued scratching its head.

“You can put the dagger away at least, is that how you plan to repay me for helping you out.” He said, pointing at me.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I finally came to my senses and lowered the weapon.

“That’s better. Let’s start from the beginning. Is everyone alright?”

I cleared my throat and spoke.

“Yes we are alright,” I said, turning to the carriage, everyone was awake and up at this point but no one was harmed thankfully.

“Thank you for coming to help us, I…I wasn’t expecting that.” I added.

“Those bastards weren’t expecting it either.” He laughed. “I see you have managed to slay one of them, not bad, you did this?”

“Yes, they took us unawares,” I said looking at my bleeding arm, with the adrenaline in my blood going down, the pain was now hitting with full force.

“Oh you have been hurt, that is something one should mention when asked if they are alright.” The creature said.

I guess it wasn’t fair to call him a creature anymore. He came closer to me and although my instinct was to step back from the intimidation of his sheer size and appearance, I stood my ground.

“Let me see,” he said.

“It’s just a scratch,” I replied.

“That’s what they all say and before you know it they are rolling on the ground with foam at their mouth and blood coming from their eyes. I understand that the instinct of you humans is to act tough but an orc will see through it each time.”

So he was indeed an orc. I looked at him and seeing no reason to doubt him I extended my arm towards him. He removed the sleeve and looked at the wound.

“Not serious, but certainly more than just a scratch, I think this will do the trick.”

He began opening the pouches at his belt and rummaging through them. I looked back at the other passengers and saw that they were all stuck together, their eyes filled with fear when looking at the orc.

“It’s alright everyone, the danger has passed.” I waved at them. They seemed to relax a little at my words.

“Aha, found it,” he said holding up his finger that had some green substance on the tip of it, “this should lessen the pain and prevent infection.”

He applied the substance onto my wound and although the smell was kind of odd, the cooling sensation on the burning wound felt quite pleasant.

“You’re a knowledgeable orc,” I told him.

“I am? What kind of orcs have you been running into?”

“To be entirely honest, not many,”

“I should try and leave a good impression in that case.”

“You just saved our lives, can’t make a better impression than that.” I smiled.

“Where are you folks headed?” he asked.

“I am headed for Tobermory village. Where are you from?”

“I live in the forest, not too far from here; I was relaxing for the night when I noticed the pack of those dire wolves running as if they had gone mad. I chose to follow them and here I am. It’s strange, I still don’t know why they came here, they’re not the kind to go out of their way, this far on the open road.”

I remembered the system’s warning once again and wondered if I indeed had something to do with this.

“They were just hungry, would be my guess.” I said.

“I suppose,” the orc said, scratching his head again.

“Do you have a name, by the way?”

“Name’s Obby Lan; And yours?”

“I am Oren, as for the other passengers, I have no idea, we haven’t been acquainted for that long.” I explained.

“I see, well they don’t seem too fond of me so that’s alright. I will leave you guys to it, you should all rest before the sun rises, and don’t worry about those things; they won’t be coming back any time soon.”

“Thank you immensely Obby Lan, we are indebted to you.” I told him.

“It was my pleasure, stay well. Also I will be taking these guys with me if you don’t have any objections.” He said, pointing to the corpses of the dire wolves.

“No objections.”

“Farewell then.”

As he was about to leave I began to think about this new world and what making a friend, but more importantly what making an enemy meant. I remembered Meili and the other guild members and how helpful their companionship had been and then I also recalled Arrin the Twisted and how severe his animosity had been. Friends over enemies, always, I told myself. It was the sort of enlightenment a third grader might have reached but whether one would put it into practice or not, made all the difference.

“Hey, Obby Lan!” I yelled before he was out of sight.

“Yes?” he turned around.

“Are you open to having a human as a friend?” I asked.

“Of course, anytime.” Obby Lan nodded with a perplexed smile.

“If I ever decide to seek out your friendship in the future, is there any way I can reach you? I doubt I would have an easy time seeking out your home inside this lush forest.”

“You could spend a lifetime searching for it and you would still have no luck.” he laughed as he proceeded to walk towards me. “You are truly an interesting human. The idea of having you as a friend is rather pleasant. Take this.”

He procured a small wooden instrument of marron wood, streaked with red lines all over. It was a whistle of sorts, I guessed.

“When you have enough free time to hang out with this orc, come back to this very spot we are standing in and blow into this whistle three times. I will come and find you.”

“Understood.” I nodded, accepting the whistle.

“Farewell for now, Oren, human.” he said.

“Farewell for now, Obby Lan, orc.” I said with a smile.

Obby Lan nodded, and tying the dire wolves together with a rope he retreated back into the forest.