CHAPTER 51

It was almost a comical looking thing with the strange scale like patterns on it’s greenish/brown skin. Camiceau had seen dead ones before and she knew that they were not actual scales, no matter how much they resembled fish. It’s head was squat and thick with a powerful and inflexible jaw, under two eyes that rolled back in it’s head instead of blinking, and a snout instead of a nose. It constantly leaked fluid around it’s nostrils and mouth. Camiceau remembered her father saying, one time, that this was how the Orc cooled himself. That was a theory of course, no one really knew. As close as Camiceau was to this thing now, she thought about asking.

Then she stepped on the twig. Camiceau froze to the spot where she was standing and waited. It felt natural to her, a response to fear that might have soothed her apprehension but, she also knew that with an Orc, it was a loosing move. The thing snorted one loud grunt, spun on it’s heels, and raised it’s weapon at her. The long axe like blade, attached to the end of it, was to far away to harm her but, she knew what the fire from it could do to an elf. Camiceau held back the urge to scream.

“Hey fucker,” said Hoop.

The Orc almost squealed a warning off when it realized a human was standing right next to him. Hoop did not give him the chance. He jammed the barrel of his silenced twenty two pistol, loaded with subsonic ammunition, in the things eye socket. Hoop shoved it so hard that it went right in and the eye ball did not stop the silencer. With the barrel sunk in eye jelly, Hoop pulled the trigger and the combination of biological matter, silencer, and low velocity ammunition made the shot sound like little more than a click. The Orc dropped limp to the ground and began oozing a back soup from the eye. Hoop began cleaning his barrel over it.

Camiceau came skipping up to the body and began checking it for anything she might want. She was smiling from ear to ear and with an elf, that was saying quite a bit. Hoop dropped to a knee and began searching the thing as well. He also slapped the little elf on the arm and said, “keep watch.”

The little girl grunted like she was an Orc, and then backed off from the body. She went to a knee nearby as Hoop began going over the things gear and photographing each item he took off of it. As he did, Camiceau asked him, “why do I have to look out? You said that was the last one.”

“Stay quiet,” Hoop replied calmly. The way things were these days, he was not taking any chances and, he was pretty sure the Orc’s were the least of his worries at the moment. He kept up his systematic search and found most of the gear to be pretty standard, if not somewhat confusing. Even the gear that Hoop could not identify was, at least, normal for these things to carry.

The body armor it wore was the most concerning issue, of course. The elves said that it was new, only having shown up about five or six years ago. Hoop had a hard time thinking of that as brand new but, to an elf, that wasn’t even a drop in a bucket. Not that the timing was as concerning as what the vest was made of. Nobody knew and that was the problem. It almost felt like some kind of plastic, similar to Kevlar, only it was flexible like cloth. The Orcs, somehow, wove it into panels that slid into pockets on animal skin like vests which, at close range, smelled repugnant.

Hoop finally got to the big bag and found the Orcs dinner first. He tossed it aside because he already knew what it was and, also, Hoop knew that the smell would make him loose his lunch. The Orcs liked grains and berries that they allowed to rot into a paste like substance. After that, they mixed it with the meat of little dead animals that they tossed in whole. Seeing their “trail mix,” one time only, was enough for Hoop.

What he did find of interest was something he had never seen before. It almost looked like a slingshot or, at least, that is what Hoop would have guessed. This one had two pockets, for projectiles, instead of just one. Hoop snapped a picture of it and then realized, the two front pockets were about the same distance apart as the Orc’s eyes. He opened one of the pockets up and then jumped back, landing on his ass. He pulled his pistol back out and pointed it at the little jelly like creature that crawled out. It slowed down as it moved across the dirt and then it’s color began to change from a pinkish hue to almost white. Hoop put his weapon away and picked up a stick. He popped the thing and it burst like a water sack.

After taking a picture of it, Hoop asked Cami, “ever seen anything like that before?”

The little elf was confused and just shook her head, “no I haven’t.”

Hoop checked the second pocket of the “slingshot” and it had the same kind of little creature in it. He killed it with the same stick before tossing it aside. Then he got back to work and, as he did, he heard a strange whistling sound floating through the trees. Hoop relaxed a little after hearing that and then he looked up to his companion, “now we’re going to tell your sister, what?”

Cami was still nervous and asked, “what was that sound?”

“The all clear,” Hoop said as he then produced a hollowed reed from his own equipment belt. He blew into as hard as he could but, it made very little sound. As he put it away he told the girl, “the Orc’s can’t hear that, I can barely hear it.”

Cami was almost nauseated as she put up a hand and then went to a knee to recover, “I heard it just fine.” Hoop began to prep the body for a proper disposal in the way that he normally took care of enemy bodies, with a hand grenade booby trap to be set off by the next Orc patrol. He then asked his question again and Cami snapped in reply, “I know already. She doesn’t find out how we killed this Orc, all right? I don’t know why you’re worried Hoop, I’m just as good out here as she is.”

Hoop had to admit that the little girl was pretty good, deadly enough with her little crossbow, and could probably take care of herself. What Cami was not, was familiar with how his team operated. That alone made her a liability and, for this trip, just a passenger. Hoop had used her out of desperation and nothing more. Cami had been and easy means to a kill. None of which was really on Hoop’s mind at the moment. That was the past and, right now, the future scared him a lot more.

“Tell me this girl,” Hoop gestured around them, “what the hell is going on here? Why did Taylya stash you up in Nordhalt to begin with?”

Cami was a little bit hostile about the subject, “she didn’t tell you?” Hoop just shrugged and then Cami told him, “it was with good reason Hoop. Probably to protect you and, besides that, you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

“Try me,” Hoop was not going to let it go this time. He had asked Taylya and gotten the same evasive answer. He knew the futility of continuing the subject with Tay but, her little sister was another matter. All Hoop had been waiting for was the opportunity. “Look, little girl, we’re probably going to all die anyway, in case you didn’t know it. I’d like to know why.”

Cami motioned to the body that Hoop was finishing up with and she told him, “don’t see how you figure that. We handled these Orcs easy enough.”

Hoop backed off from his trap and then pulled out a towel to wipe his hands. He had shoved a live grenade down the things throat. The hardening tissue of it’s tongue, hard enough when it was alive, would hold the spoon in place till somebody tried to shake it. That would be enough to dislodge the grenade and, in turn, that explosion would set off the charges it had on it’s vest.

Hoop looked to the little girl and told her, “them things ain’t all we got to worry about. Tay said something about us being set up. Care to fucking explain?”

Cami remained obstinate and then, suddenly, without warning, she broke down and said, “she thinks Dad orchestrated this whole thing, to get us out of the way.”

Hoop blinked, “what the fuck does that mean?”

“It means,” Cami explained, “he doesn’t want us in the city. He probably thought we’d be safer up here.”

“Up here?” Hoop looked around the forest and he could think of a few safer places than this. “That don’t jive.”

“Jive?” Cami had never heard that word before. She could figure out what it meant though. She waved it off, “I was promised, ok? Dad didn’t like it but, he was prepared to go through with it. Taylya wasn’t happy about it, ok?”

“I figured that much,” Hoop told her as he knelt down beside her and began to reconfigure his gear for another road march. Given what they found at this landing zone, he was pretty sure that was what would happen next. The Alternate landing zone was a good ten kilometers away over some rough terrain. As he did he asked the girl, “you’re the star child, ain’t you?”

Cami just kept scanning the area and took a moment before she would answer. She did not sound all too happy when she did, “yeah, some honor, huh?”

The “star child’ was some religious designation with the elves. Hoop knew that much. Their religion looked kind of like astrology to him and, Hoop understood it even less than he did those stupid predictions on the internet. He did know they tracked births very carefully and, they had your future all planned out from the minute you were born. Apparently, it all depended on what time and, in some instances, combined with what place, you pooped out of the womb. That was where it got too complicated to keep Hoop’s interest.

The rest was pretty easy to figure out though. Hoop asked her, “Olyan-Notae?”

Cami nodded and there was deep regret written all over her face, “yeah, Dad said it would ensure peace. I’m not sure he really believed that. All I know is, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life howling at the ancestors.”

There was something about this story that was not adding up and, Hoop knew exactly why. If Taylya was right then the old man had maneuvered his daughters into running away, something he was well capable of. That meant he wanted them stashed away but, again, why? Feyland wasn’t big enough for them to hide forever. The Olyan-Notae could find them eventually, if they were of a mind too. It would never come to that anyway. If Montceaus Odaylya ever thought, for one second, that old Quintescau was double crossing him, there would be some get back, elf style. The Notae probably wouldn’t give a crap about one offering, they’d go after something else, something more valuable, something they wanted. Did Quintescau want them too? That didn’t make any sense to Hoop unless he did not have the entire picture.

A quick whistle got Hoops attention off his intelligence gathering efforts. He saw Taylya nearby. She had exposed herself just enough to get his attention. Hoop grabbed Cami and then they both joined her sister. Tay looked extremely disturbed and, to Hoop at least, that was never a good sign. He actually stopped her before they moved out and then he asked, “what’s wrong?”

Tay took a deep breath, “you need to see this.”

She started to move out again but, again, Hoop wouldn’t let her, “look Tay, we need to have a quick conversation.”

“There’s no time for this right now,” Tay protested.
“Make time goddamn it,” Hoop told her. She knew he could be stubborn and the quickest way to get past this was just let him go on so, she did. Hoop told her, “we need to take little Cami here, and get the hell out.”

That confused Taylya. She gestured around them, “how more out can we get? I thought that’s what we were doing.”

“Hell no,” Hoop told her. He huffed, licked his lips, then told her, “Tay, what do you think the army is going to do me when I’m done with all this? You know they’re going to order me back one day, me and Anders. I got a feeling that day is going to be sooner than later, now, with the way things are.”

“What?” Taylya was shocked he would bring this up now, “we already talked about this. We both knew, from the start, that you and I could never…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about Tay-Tay,” Hoop replied.

Cami became shocked when she heard all that. Her eyes got big and she pointed at them, “you two? You? You? You’re kidding right?”

“Shut up,” Taylya snapped at her sister.

Hoop put his hand over Taylya’s mouth before she could speak and then he told her, “something ain’t adding up Tay. Most of this damn team is as crooked as a hound dogs back leg.”

Cami winced, “what does that mean?”

Hoop grunted at Cami while Taylya shoved his hand aside. She then snapped at Hoop, “you aren’t. You’re probably the only one who is actually out here doing what he’s supposed to. What are you worried about?”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about Tay,” Hoop told her with deep concern. “I’m the only one that can rat everybody else out. You think they’re going to let me? You already think we been played like a cheap fiddle. What do you think is coming next?” The elf backed off as she thought about what Hoop had just said. The frightening part was, Taylya knew he was right. She had just not wanted to see it. What Hoop could see was that his words hit the mark. That was why he told her next, “we take Cami and get the hell out of here. We just leave the goof balls here and go.”

Taylya was doing something that Hoop had never seen before. She was about to cry. She also looked panicked and then she said, “we can’t.” Before Hoop could protest she told him, “you have to see this first. Then, you’ll understand.”

With reluctance, Hoop followed Taylya back to the spot where she left Anders and Charlie. They were standing over a lumpy black cloak that was riddled with bullet holes. Those holes were oozing a greenish black liquid that would bubble every now and then. Hoop walked up to it and Anders told him, “we found it creeping around behind the main Orc ambush. I think it was trying to get away after we iced the Orcs.”

Chan told them, “it went down easy enough. A hell of a lot easier than an Orc. I didn’t even have to aim for the eyeballs.”

Hoop became concerned, “you telling me this ain’t an Orc? What is it, an elf? It’s too big to be Gnome.”

Chan shrugged, “roll it over and see.”

Hoop did just that and he was a bit surprised by what he found. It’s head was almost human like. Hoop would have to use the designation, “like,” because he had never seen anything quite like this. It had a jaw that was similar to an Orc, big and strong, but it’s chin protruded out like a stump. It didn’t have a snout either. It had a nose, just like a human or elf, only bigger and crooked. It’s skin was definitely Orc like though, except smoother. Hoop exposed the rest of it’s head which proved to be bald, and had little rock like protrusions, around the base of the skull, maybe horns of some kind?

The thing gurgled, a fluid shot out of it’s mouth, just missing Hoop. He jumped back to his feet, pointed his weapon at it, and all at the same time, “holy shit! Is that thing still alive?”

Chan laughed, “no, it’s been doing that for a while.”

Hoop was still freaked out, “did we check it for intel?”

This time it was Anders who laughed, “I ain’t touching that thing.”

Hoop got back down on his knees as he told Anders, “fucking pussy.” Hoop then began to search the creature and all he found was a bag full of all kinds of weird, gross, and unidentifiable things that made him wonder if this creature was some kind of ubran legend, organ stealer, from back home. Hoop got back up and then decided that Anders was probably right. He also asked, “any weapons?”

Again, Chan only shrugged, “nothing I’d call a weapon but, who the hell knows?”

As Hoop pulled out his digital camera and began to photograph, he asked Taylya, “you ever seen anything like this before?”

Taylya was quiet on the matter and it took Anders prompting her before she spit out what little she did, “only legends, ok? I never believed them.”

“You better start believing woman,” Hoop told her as he finished is photographs, “and then you’d best start giving me some answers. What the hell is it?”

It was Cami who replied, “she won’t say it so I will.” When Taylya tried to protest Cami snapped at her, “they’re just children’s stories to scare you into staying in bed at night. That’s all!”

Taylya was still shaken, “you’re not supposed to say their name. It makes them come.”

Cami rolled her eyes at her sister and then said, “Wychenclyf.” Cami almost wanted to laugh. She poked her sister in the arm and said, “you see, there, I said it! Nothing happened!” Cami poked her sister again, “Wychenclyf!”

“Shut up,” Taylya slapped her sister and that almost started a fight. Hoop had to push them apart before it got too involved. After he chastised them both, the now angry Taylya told them, “she knows better!”

Cami stuck out her tongue and said, “she said she saw one outside her window when she was a little girl.”

“I did,” Taylya was adamant. “No one ever believed me.”

Anders slapped his forehead, thought about it, and then said, “are you telling me we just waxed the boogey man from the closet?”

Hoop was now angry, “would everybody stop pissing in each others corn flakes here?” He pointed at the thing, “that ain’t no fairy tale. It’s fucking real. Don’t matter what it is no more. It’s dead.” After a second thought he added, “I hope.”

Chan was easy going enough as he said, “you know I hate to admit when Hoop is right but, we got to get humping guys. We need to make the alternate eL-Zee before Jamie gets back up here with the chopper, or he’ll just draw in more Orcs like what happened here.”

Anders nodded as he got ready to move out, “yeah, no kidding. I never seen these guys able to cover all the eL-Zee’s like this. I mean they used to act like it was too much trouble. Now?”

Hoop took one last look at the thing they had killed. He hoped they did not run into any more. It was not like the thing appeared to be all that dangerous. It certainly was easier to kill than an Orc but, it was an unknown and, right now, there were too many of those in Hoop’s life. His desire to run like hell was even more intense. If these things didn’t kill him, then his own people might. If that didn’t happen then he was not looking forward to the debriefing he’d get when he got home. Given what Hoop knew, they might decide to kill him. Tay was right though, this new factor eliminated the vanishing act into the forest, at least, for right now it did.

That was why Hoop tossed his weapon back on his shoulder and said, “Charlie, take point. Let’s get moving.”

As they began to snake their way towards the next landing zone, Cami tugged at her sister’s shoulder and asked, “do you smell that?”

Taylya simply nodded, “yes.” She left the subject there, for now. It would have to be dealt with later.