The Battle of Bloodneck Valley - Finish The Story #30

The Battle of Bloodneck Valley

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The Contest Introduction:

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Shog, called the Bonecrusher by his people, knew they’d lost when human horns roared across the battlefield. The Imperiate had come after all, to aid their elven allies of the Alish’tae Republic. Shog’s people, orcs of the Galak Tribe, so named after the mountain upon which they’d once lived, fought hard and well. But they fought alone.
Orcs no allies. Not even their Gods, the Old Ones, cared anymore.

As the morning sun crept above the clouds, illuminating the blood soaked fields, the Imperiate horsemen charged out from the forest. Muk’nola, matriarch of the Galaks, sounded her war horn, signalling the retreat. But it would be too late, Shog knew. Those horsemen would slaughter them as they fled. Their children, next.

An elf, empowered by the sense of looming victory, stormed forward from their line, straight towards Shog. He parried the elf’s longsword then heaved his mighty hammer, Breaker of Worlds, in a perfect arc. It smashed upon the elf’s helmeted skull, and he proved his namesake for the countless time. The elf’s head exploded in bone and carnage.

“Back!” he heard. “Fall back!” In disarray, the others around him fled towards Bloodneck Valley, where they’d encamped. Their position fell. Shog screamed to maintain the line but knew the day was lost. His people fled. He had no choice but to follow.

He reached the camp, already nearly moving again, fleeing up the valley to the highlands. Shog, exhausted, reached Zee-zee, his daughter, and Gheelah, his love. Gheelah had already packed their yurt and few remaining possessions. “Flee!” he shouted to her.

“And you?” Gheelah asked.

“I stay to hold them back.”

In typical orcish fashion, their utter devotion, love and mutual respect expressed itself only in their shared gaze, never in public, spoken word. He gripped her hand. He told Zee-zee to be strong. Gheelah nodded. Then the doy galloped away with the rest of the fleeing, broken host.

Muk-nola, matriarch, rallied the remaining Galak warriors. They reformed to a single line. Bloodneck Valley was narrow. Rocky. Layered with crimson colored clay. The land elevated as it led to the Highlands, their only advantage.

Maybe at the height of the tribe’s strength, before the humans had come with their purges and stolen their land, before the elves had arrived to ‘cleanse the world of evil’, maybe they would have been strong enough. But Shog saw they had a few hundred left. A few hundred to hold a line against an entire battalion of Imperiate horsemen and Alish’tae swordsmen, the latter no doubt already being reinforced.

The ‘Fair Folk’ would aim to eradicate the Galak now, as they fled.

Shog marched up to Muk-nola. She hailed him. “Yog-Sothoth burns in us,” she said.

“Yog-Sothoth hasn’t given a shit about us since Galak Mountain ceased its fire,” Shog replied.

Imperiate horns loomed. The sun flared, blinding Shog for a moment. Another disadvantage. The ground rumbled with the cavalry charge.

“Either way. I’ll crush his soul in hell. Right after I’m done with these Fair Folk.”

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My Entry:

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Zee-Zee sat atop a large boulder in the highlands, looking down into Bloodneck Valley, now owned by the Elves. Her mother had warned her many times to not venture too far, for fear of being seen and killed. But Zee-Zee felt a magnetic pull towards the place. The way the winding rocky path lead through the valley and the clay rose to the surface after a good rain storm, looking like the blood of her enemies.

Her father had died during the battle that took place here years ago. She knew the stories well. But she could scarcely remember her father's face, or the way he said her name. She had been too young to remember much of anything.

The Battle of Bloodneck Valley was told as a warning to the children. Her father, The Bonecrusher, had been a valiant warrior, slaying many Imperiate and Alish’tae swordsmen in his last hours. Zee-Zee was proud of the man she barely knew. Despite his best efforts the Galak had lost the battle. Those who were left found refuge in a cave on the North side of the mountain. The bodies strewn across the valley were left to perish to time.

For many years the Tribe had trembled in fear of the outside world, rarely seeking the pleasures of sunshine or fresh air.

Zee-Zee shifted her position as a horse came into view under the shelter of the trees in the forest edge. The majestic creature walked a while, stopping every so often to try the grass. She watched, fascinated with the way it walked, and lowered its head, and flicked its tail.

She wondered if she would ever look so graceful, she hadn't grown into her full height yet and was always tripping over things, including her own feet. Her own mother called her clumsy.

A hand clamped on her shoulder, giving her the scare of her life. The boy growled with laughter.

“You frighten too easy Zee.”

Her friend, Urug liked to frighten her as frequently as possible.

His laugh alerted the horse to their presence and made a beeline for the forest. Zee-Zee was disappointed to see the horse leave, but she knew Urug would only tease her for her trouble.

“The meeting is now”

The meeting consisted of those that had been alive for the first battle and those that were willing to fight again. The arguments were always the same, the elders feared the extinction of the Orc race whereas the younger Orcs saw it as an opportunity to live up to the calling the matriarch, Muk’nola and The Bonecrusher had left them.

Zee-Zee watched as her mother's generation quarreled with her friends. They were all tired and angry. They had lived this way for too long.

Zee-Zee never made her voice heard in these meetings, having a cautious disposition. But today was different. She felt a presence within her soul guiding her towards the right words.

“We have lived like rats in a hole for too long. We have watched and waited for the right moment to strike against our enemies. We may be your children, but we no longer cry for our own needs, we cry with the hunger for vengeance.”

This is my entry to the @bananafish Finish The Story Contest.

Find out about it here.

Image from Pixabay

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