"Gorbag part 5" by Erik Jensen

Darenya woke up for no apparent reason. The rain had stopped and the sound of singing birds could be heard in the sunshine outside. She looked over at where Gorbag had been sitting. Then she looked out the door. Nokar and Gorbag sat outside in the sunshine. It was a strange sight; the big, armoured back of the black orc sitting quietly in the grass next to the lithe figure of a longhaired sylvan elf. It was not until then she realized that she felt no actual pain when she had moved to look outside. She lifted the blanket and saw only white lines, scars that looked months old. So, the salve had been magical indeed. She felt like she had been running or working hard for many hours, but there was nothing wrong or unfamiliar about that feeling. Now she was hungry and a little thirsty. She got up from the cot and held the blanket around her and walked out. Nokar was talking enthusiastically while he was sewing some sort of garment.

"She's just so cute. Once we've got this business over with, you should go visit them. Artara commented it's been too long since they've seen you." He chuckled. "You could also help them expand the house. If they keep going about it like that they'll need more rooms in a year or two, and when the boys grow they should get a larger stable. The army asked Khendros to train one of the colts for war. Another generation and a little luck, and he'll be getting the best horses we've seen in a long time. And one of the foals, I asked him to put it aside for me. I see a tremendously stubborn stallion coming out of that. He's got three different colours and he looks hilarious, but I predict he will grow into…" Gorbag noticed Darenya's scent increasing and turned his head. Nokar was apparently concentrating more on talking and sewing.

"… dependable in the open, but there's a fear of the woods I'll have to work with. Good morning, Sunshine!" He turned his head and looked at her.

"Are the shadow elves gone?" she asked. Nokar laughed merrily.

"Not for good, but we've earned a little time to ourselves." He pointed with the needle towards an open fire that was reduced to embers. Over it was several lumps of meat, and on a wooden plate next to it was freshly baked bread.

"Gorbag hasn't eaten it all yet, but you'd better hurry if you want any. There's water in your water skin. I'm afraid I couldn't save your shirt, but this should be done in a few minutes." He held up an elven style deerskin shirt. Darenya didn't really know what to say, and there was a short silence.

"I thank you," she finally uttered formally if a bit stumbling. Nokar made a dismissive wave with his hand.

"Don't mention it. Here, use this while you eat." He took a shirt out of his pouch. It was folded neatly and made from very thin fabric, a slightly glimmering silvery grey. He threw and she caught it gracefully.

"It won't keep you warm, but that's hardly what you would need right now anyway." He returned to sewing. Gorbag looked at her with an almost apologetic look on his face. Darenya was speechless. She didn't know what to expect, but Nokar's nonchalant handling of the situation was not it. She put the shirt on and felt a little less exposed. She stole a peek at Nokar, judging that it couldn't be his garment. It was too wide for him, but it fit her perfectly.

"It is mine, actually. It changes size to fit the wearer. I use it on occasion when being informal will be too impractical." Darenya really wanted to know whether he had guessed her thoughts, but she decided not to ask. She went over to the fire.

"Go ahead and use the plate with the bread." She did. Nokar resumed his talking about some of Gorbag's and his mutual friends.

"Oh, by the way, Ahrent made his first name day gifts this year. He made you this." He handed Gorbag a small book bound in leather.

"He wrote something at the end for you." Gorbag looked pitiful as he opened the book, but when he saw that there was no text and only pictures, his face lit up.

"He had a friend write the thing in the end in Orcish. You might recognize the handwriting." He chuckled.

Darenya had taken a healthy lump of meat and a few slices of bread and had fetched her canteen and her eating knife. She was pondering whether to sit inside or go sit next to the two outside. When she had been wondering for a few seconds, she went outside and sat next to Gorbag. She felt very small sitting next to the immense black orc and wondered how she ever worked up the courage to attack him. She felt much less a warrior right now.

While eating she caught glimpses of the pictures in the book. They were all very simple and kept in few colours. She didn't know whether there was some sort of symbolism, but it seemed to her that the art value of the whole thing was very little. She hoped for Ahrent's sake that he had done this on purpose and that this just was the sort of pictures Gorbag preferred. Suddenly, Nokar chuckled and began singing a small part of a song in sylvan elf. She had never heard it before, but it was a clear and melodious, and Nokar's voice was enchanting.

"I am on safe ground with pure and simple
When yes is yes, and no is no
There is no place for doubt in my heart."

When he stopped singing, Gorbag hummed on, still looking at the pictures. Darenya realized that she had stopped eating while Nokar was singing, and she returned to it. She stole another glance at Nokar and saw him looking at her with a smile.

"It's a song about Gorbag, you know." Darenya nodded and returned to eating, blushing a little. She never had been the social type. There was silence for a little while, disturbed only by Gorbag turning pages in the book and humming. Darenya found herself stealing another glance at Nokar, who had returned to sewing. She started forming a sentence in her head, and then spoke it.

"The shadow elves… Why were they here? What do they want?" Nokar shrugged, almost uninterestedly.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Darenya tried to judge his facial expression, but he didn't look up from his sewing. She continued.

"I don't think my guess is as good as yours. You know a lot about this that I don't. I don't even understand why I'm still alive, and I don't know how an elf can be a friend of… of…" Nokar looked up, calmly.

"An orc?"

"A monster!" she corrected him, out of habit. Nokar chuckled, but Gorbag looked at her with a wounded look on his face. She looked down and muttered something she didn't even understand herself. Why did she feel bad about hurting him? Nokar interrupted her thoughts.

"As for the shadow elves you're right, my guess is probably more educated than yours, but it's a guess nonetheless. To be sure we'd have to capture one of them, and that seems to be a difficult task. As I see it, we've only won confrontations when we got the jump on them, and besides their numbers were small. There's a force of 30 of them descending upon this place even as we speak." Darenya took that message calmly.

"Then we better get a move on." She leisurely cut a piece of meat and put it in her mouth. Nokar laughed appreciatively.

"You're free to go as you came, but Gorbag and I are staying. There's a reason we've been guarding this place for so many years."

"And that is?" Darenya asked, not looking at Nokar and sounding particularly disinterested. Nokar laughed again.

"There, it's all done." He held up the shirt. Darenya wondered how he managed to sew that in so short a time. It was pretty sophisticated, traditional sylvan elf forest shirt with a long slit down the front and straps to allow the gap of the slit to be adjusted according to the heat; the colours helped it blend with natural surroundings. It looked incredibly soft. There were also straps to attach dagger sheaths near the shoulders.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but where did you get the skin?" she asked. Nokar grinned and pointed to the meat on her plate.

"It was wrapped around that."

"I'm no tanner, but doesn't that take days and require a lot of equipment?"

"If it took days, I wouldn't have been able to do it in just five hours, now would I?" He laughed at the half curious, half annoyed look on her face. He continued.

"Well, if you're done spilling on my shirt, maybe I can have it back?"

"Not quite done yet," she retorted to Nokar's endless amusement, and he got up and threw the shirt over to her. She caught it and put it down in front of her. She shook her head with half a smile on her face.

"You sure laugh a lot," she commented. Nokar made a carthweel and a backwards flip, standing tall and stretching his arms.

"And I'm a show-off. But today is made for laughter. When in my line of business you really have to savour every minute out of enemy reach."

"I guess I won't be much wiser for asking you what line of business that is."

Gorbag stirred. He looked up and started sniffing at the air. He got up and closed the book, looking around. The two elves looked at him. He snarled, looking almost directly upwards. Lifting their gaze, their elven eyes saw what Gorbag only smelled: A dark bird of prey, slowly circling the little forest high, high up.

"Looks like I won't be leaving either," Darenya said calmly, putting the last bit of bread in mouth and chewing thoughtfully. All cheeriness had left Nokar, and he and Gorbag went to get their bows.