Chapter Twenty Seven - The Bandit Camp

  Jason and Stella sat in a large clearing with the rest of the camp members. It was dinner time. The camp cooks were serving people tankards of chicken soup.

  The stew smelled great and was very hearty. They had made enough for seconds and thirds. The stew had carrots, celery, capsicum, garlic and ginger. The cooks used the chicken meat and chicken bones in the stew. It tasted salty, with a subtle spicy flavour.

  Jason thought it was delicious. He sat next to Stella at a fire. Batuuk sat on the other side of the fire. He had chosen to have a private dinner with Stella and Jason.

  “I am one of the last Orcs.” Batuuk said to Jason. “I am the end of a bloodline, but soon, I will be king and these lands will be my lands. So, tell me. How can you be of service to me, Jason? You can make me blades, and make my soldiers armour for their battles, but I want more, Jason. Tell me, where are you from? Port Anna? The miserable town that reeks of fish? No blacksmith in Port Anna.” Batuuk scrutinised Jason, looking for cracks.

  “Buttermilk,” Stella responded, cutting in. “We live in Buttermilk.” Batuuk started laughing uncontrollably. He had seen the entire town turn to rubble in the furious attack.

  “Buttermilk is not looking well these days. The town has been flattened.” Batuuk said after he was able to calm down. “What a sight that was, magnificent beast, eh?” Batuuk shook his head in disbelief at the memory.

  Jason and Stella realised that their home had been destroyed and fell silent. They looked at each other and Stella’s tears flowed silently down her cheeks. Jason held her.

  “My father works as a guard in the city. If you let us go, I can take you there and get you close to the king. If you wear my father’s armour you can walk right in, walk right up to the king.” Jason said, hoping that the Orc would take the bait. Jason was hoping they could escape by meeting up with the guards. His father could warn the castle and get Batuuk stuck in a trap.

  “And walk right into the dungeon.” Batuuk quickly responded. “This sounds like a trap. You want me to walk against an army.”

  “In disguise.” Jason said.

  “I want fifteen suits of armour.” Batuuk said. Then I can bring my best men.

  “Fifteen?” Jason shouted and stood up. “Two. My father’s neighbour is a guard, we can borrow his.”

  “Two?” Batuuk stood up and shouted.

  “Two.” Jason walked closer. “And Stella and I go free, and you leave us alone.”

  Batuuk thought for a moment. The king. Jason hoped he would take the bait. Batuuk huffed and shook his head. He walked away from the fire looking annoyed.

  Jason looked at Stella and looked down. He had failed. They were trapped there.

  Jason sat back down. He picked up his tankard and sipped some chicken soup.

  After dinner, they were ushered to a tent on the forest floor near the middle of camp. They slept next to each other under furs. Bandits loudly joked by firepits nearby, getting drunk on stolen liquor.

  In the morning Jason woke up to a kick in the leg. Batuuk stood above him, dressed in a beige wool shirt with a collar and dark brown pants with a brown belt. He was wearing hefty brown boots and he had a sword in a sheath on his waist. He was standing beside a mage.

  “Two suits of armour, for two souls. You get me my armour, I will give you your freedom.” Batuuk threw an apple at Jason and walked to the gate with the mage.

  Jason and Stella were excited to be leaving. They quickly stood up and followed behind the pair.

  The four of them got onto the same carriage they had ridden earlier and got onto the road.

  At nightfall, they had arrived at the castle gates. Batuuk hid his face under a hooded cloak. Jason directed the men to his father’s house. The lights were on, Rodrick was inside.

  The four of them stood outside Rodrick’s doorway.

  “Let me talk to him first,” Jason said. Then he knocked on the door. Rodrick opened the door and was surprised to see Jason and Stella. He hugged Jason and ushered him inside, then noticed the Orc.

  “Jason! The Dragon! I thought it killed you.” He patted Jason on the shoulder and sighed deeply. “And Stella, you’re okay too. That’s great news.” Batuuk rolled his eyes.

  “What are your friends doing here so late?” Rodrick said, eyeing the orc nervously.

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  “I’m coming inside, close the door behind us,” Jason said.

  Rodrick’s house was humble. A scrying orb on a dresser, a comfortable couch set, a simple kitchen and a bedroom. The scrying orb was currently tuned to North City. A stand-up comedian was performing to a drunk crowd.

  “What’s the deal with flying carpets? Somebody looked at a carpet and said, ‘You know what. Make it fly. Imagine that conversation.” He paused and the crowd erupted in laughter as he raised his eyebrows.”I tell you what, if somebody made a flying couch I would never leave that bitch. The adventures of me and my flying couch.” The comedian said to more laughter from the crowd.

  They all smelled Jason’s father’s dinner. Roast Beef and baked potatoes.

  “Dad, we’ve been kidnapped and we are being held hostage. If you give these men your armour, and steal Arthur’s armour from next door they have agreed to trade us our freedom.” Jason said, getting it out in the open. Batuuk shrugged and put his hand on his blade gently. Rodrick saw this and noticed how outmatched he was. Batuuk was clearly a very dangerous killer.

  Rodrick thought and spoke very carefully. “Okay. I will convince Arthur. Give me a moment. My armour is in my bedroom.” The bandit immediately entered the bedroom to start getting dressed. Jason’s father grabbed his money pouch and started to count the coins, then he walked outside, looking scared.

  He returned a little while later missing his coin purse and he was awkwardly carrying the whole set of Arthur’s armour. Batuuk started to dress himself when he noticed the MC was introducing the next comedian on the scrying orb.

  “All the way from Ashwood, this next comedian is the biggest and baddest. Welcome to the stage, Rico Atilla.” The MC shouted and the crowd cheered. Onto the stage stepped an Orc dressed in a fine suit. One ear had many piercings. He stood in front of the crowd and spoke into a wooden magic wand. It amplified his voice.

  “Hey guys, It’s great to be here in North City. I’ve travelled a long way to be here tonight so I hope I can put on a good show and not burn down the place.” The crowd laughed and cheered. “My name is Rico and I can tell you the best thing about being an orc is the barbecues. Orcs can be all big and angry but as soon as you give a big son of a bitch like my dad a chicken wing he’s gonna turn into a puppy.” Rico joked. The audience was loving it.

  “Did you know orcs once had a war over seasoning? Over five hundred years ago, the spice wars changed the trajectory of history. Now that's how you know you make a good chicken curry. Am I right or am I right? Nothing says good curry like five years of war.” Rico said.The crowd was laughing at every line. Batuuk was stunned. He stopped and moved closer to the scrying orb.

  “Where is this?” Batuuk asked.

  “It’s a live show, from North City.” Rodrick replied, confused. “It’s about fifteen days by horse.”

  “Shut up- I’m watching the- thing.” Batuuk shouted, interrupting Rodrick. Batuuk was brimming with joy and sadness at the same time. He looked confused.

  Batuuk stayed and watched until the show ended. The other bandit joined while Jason, Stella and Rodrick took a seat at the dining table.

  When it was finished, Batuuk got dressed into Arthur’s armour and walked out of the door with the bandit. The door slammed shut and the trio sat in silence. Then Rodrick left through the back door and started sprinting toward the castle, staying out of sight. Stella started crying.

  Batuuk walked through the streets with the bandit. They were inconspicuous now, they could blend in perfectly. The helmet covered enough of Batuuk’s face to hide his skin colour, although he barely fit the armour. It was good enough though.

  Batuuk followed the bandit mage to the main keep. They walked right past two other guards who simply nodded.

  “Fucking dragons.” The bandit mage said as they walked past.

  “Fucking right.” One of the guards said.

  They wandered through the courtyard and came to the castle doors. They entered the empty throne room and started wandering through the corridors. Soon they came to the king’s room.

  Batuuk stepped inside and saw the king smoking in his chair. The king noticed the guards and spoke to them.

  “Hi, I’m okay, thanks for checking.” The king said dismissively then he hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t ask this, but would you like to smoke with me.” The king shyly asked. Batuuk was stunned. This was going to be easy. The king was a lot younger than he had anticipated. He remembered the king before. An old man with strong shoulders and long white hair. This was a different king.

  The bandit looked at Batuuk with an eyebrow raised. Batuuk looked around the room. The four-poster bed, the bookshelves, the lavish decorations. One thing that stuck out was giant painting of a naked female, with quite amorous breasts. Batuuk pulled out his sword and started marching forward quickly towards the king. The king put up his hands and shouted.

  “Stop! Stop! Stop! What are you doing! Stop him, Guards!” He shouted as Batuuk came closer. He asked the bandit for help. Batuuk looked at the king. He lowered his sword and took off his helmet.

  He sat down on the couch, picked up the king’s long wooden pipe, topped it up from the king’s golden bowl of wizard tobacco and lit a match. He smoked the pipe long and hard. Then refilled the wizard tobacco and passed the pipe to the king.

  Inside the tavern Nathaniel was talking to the barkeep. He was drinking straight out of a moonshine bottle sitting in a booth. The barkeeper was sitting beside him drinking from a large bottle of rum. The pair were laughing about some drunken mishaps that had occurred in the past at the tavern.

  “He’s still banned actually, and we put up a sign that says, No Fire Spells In The Bathroom.” The bartender slurred.

  Nathaniel started laughing.

  The church bell started to ring and a very large number of armed guards rushed past the windows. Nathaniel and the bartender looked at each other nervously.