El-Vador's Travels by J. R. Karlsson

survived
a long winter of Orcish occupation and murder was on his mind.
    This
didn't go unnoticed by Chief Sarvacts, who seemed amused by the
display. 'You would really challenge me as I sit upon this great
steed?' he replied in equally fluent Elven. 'I could ride you down
without so much as an afterthought. Why make such a foolish gesture
of defiance to me?'
    El-Vador
refused to answer the question, which he knew may well have been
true. He probably could not load and fire his bow quicker than the
Orcish Chief could ride him down. 'When will you leave these lands?
You do not belong here.'
    The
amusement on Sarvacts' features was fading, he clearly hadn't
expected such words from anyone. 'I can never leave these lands, I
shall remain here for the rest of my days.'
    He
started to trot down through the rest of the settlement, clearly this
conversation was at an end in his mind.
    'This is your last chance, Sarvacts. Leave these lands.' El-Vador
said with deadly purpose. He could well kill the man now if he
wanted, it would do little but anger the Orcs if he were to do so
though, no doubt Sarvacts would be replaced by an equally gruesome
Commander and his settlement would be torched. No, his father had
been right, he had to be patient and choose the right time to strike.
    The
Orcish chieftain rode on in spite of El-Vador's threats, leaving him
alone once more.
    His
father was bedridden most of these days, the combination of the harsh
winter and his growing sickness had robbed him of all his former
strength. El-Vador did all the work these days and his neighbours had
acknowledged that, though his efforts were growing increasingly
redundant as the Orcs continued to expand.
    Firewood
was the furthest thing from El-Vador's mind now, he needed the
counsel of his father. 'I must do it soon father.' he said quietly,
wondering if the man was sleeping.
    'I
know that you feel threatened by their growing grip over the land my
son, you know that you cannot act in haste or your efforts will be
for naught.' Cusband tried to prop himself up in the bed but groaned
to a stop. Eyeing El-Vador, he said, 'We have endured a long winter
together, you and I. We cannot afford to have weathered that and
throw it all away by acting rashly now that spring has reared its
head.'
    'Chief Sarvacts himself walks freely in our settlement and not one
person opposed him.' El-Vador said quietly. 'They grow complacent and
overconfident in their occupation.'
    Cusband's
gaze narrowed and sharpened. 'You mean Sarvacts himself walks alone
and unprotected amongst us?'
    El-Vador
nodded. 'I do. It was him, he said as much when we spoke.'
    His
father's eyes widened. 'You did not do anything that would cause him
to raise the settlement, did you?'
    'I
am no diplomat, father. He did not seem overly concerned at the words
we had.' said El-Vador.
    'I
do not suppose that will put you in any particular danger,' said
Cusband. 'He probably expected a degree of hostility from some of
us.'
    'He received none from any but I.' said El-Vador.
    'This is terrible news,' said his father, seemingly too weak now for
anger. 'It has singled you out as the sole dissenter to his
occupation of our lands, he may well want your head soon in
retribution for your words.'
    Cusband
set a large, hard hand on his shoulder, as if he had made his mind up
about something. 'You may need to act sooner than I suspected before
he decides your words are a slight that he wishes to make an example
of. Before this week ends, you must strike. Keep clear of Orcish
forces for the time being, if they come looking for you we will know
the time has come to strike.'
    'If
they come for me, I shall deal out my vengeance without mercy.' he
promised.
    Whenever
El-Vador went into the woods to hunt these days, whenever he loosed
an arrow, he imagined he was aiming at Chief Sarvacts' Orcish
warriors. He had not experimented with the arrows any further, not
wishing to draw the attention of the Orcs with the noise they