Mage X Orc Chapter 12-B: Outskirts

Days of hard travel while his head swam with questions had taken their toll, and so Nickolas zoned out for most of the remaining journey.

They were attacked twice more, but in both instances Necun managed to react quickly enough that they could speed past the hunting beast without slowing.

One had a shell, launching itself at the pair with a burst of crude aura. Necun had smashed it aside with a contemptuous swing of her axe. The other was a furry multi armed beast had tried to tackle them by dropping from above, getting an kick to the belly instead.

Nickolas found the events strangely calming.

Then, suddenly, they were in civilized territory.

The transition shocked Nickolas out of his musings, and for a moment he failed to understand why he came to that conclusion. Acting on instinct he twisted his neck to look behind at the ground they were leaping over.

Tall fences, and terraced gardens met his gaze. A few heartbeats later Necun came to a sliding halt on a carefully prepared branch. The wood had been stripped away, and Nickolas noticed a fibrous rope with wooden handholds bound inside swinging gently in the breeze.

Nickolas felt a tap on his hands and fell off his wife's back, shaking out his aching limbs.

In front of him Necun took a few deep breaths before turning to grin at him. A beam of sunlight fell from above to capture her sharp features perfectly.

"Welcome to the city." the Hunter drawled. "Take a quick rest, then I'll take you in."

Breathing out a small sigh of relief Nickolas took a moment to look around.

The fence was less impressive than he thought he saw with his brief glimpse. A part of him, the Warden's son part, expected tall walls of stone, or at least wood, to stave off the beasts. Instead what separated the wild Green from the orderly gardens was a fence. Not even a good fence. The parts Nickolas could make out from his vantage point wouldn't keep a determined rook in, much less a rampaging beast out.

No wonder they look at our walls with amusement. Nickolas thought dryly. They've never seen a wall in action.

Turning his attention to the actual gardens Nickolas's estimation of the city rose. Orderly lines of dark soil was separated by walkways. Fresh greenery sprouted, fighting for the sparse light as they grew fat with fruit. Orc's dressed in simple clothing chatted as they walked along the path tending to the plants, gathering whatever fruit seemed ready, and plucking any weeds that caught their eye.

One of the figures, who Nickolas could barely make out under a wide brimmed hat, was peering up at him. He waved down at what he presumed was a farm girl, who immediately turned on her heel to rush towards a larger figure.

The Mage smiled as he caught the tailing echo of the child demanding her mother's attention.

"We should get moving." Necun called out. "I need to get us situated. The Chief will want to know we were separated from the caravan."

Nickolas turned to see Necun offering up her arms. He raised an eyebrow, but stepped into his wife's reach.

As he was scooped up he swung an arm around the Hunter's neck to steady himself.

"The Chief is your house-mother?" Nickolas asked after they had launched off the branch.

"Necun grunted her confirmation.

"Any chance I can change robes?" the Mage asked. "These aren't what I want to be wearing for a first impression."

Nickolas glanced down at his chest, his threadbear and torn robes had even started to lose colour over the several days of hard use. Necun blinked down at him for a moment as they landed on another perch.

"I'll take you home." she said after a long silence. "You should rest before you meet the rest of the house anyway. Father won't mind. He won't care about a torn robe."

Yes, because fathers always look kindly on their daughter's husbands. Nickolas thought, holding back a snort of derision. Few choices anyway. Though I'm tempted to present myself like this just to see a few heads turn.

While he enjoyed the remainder of the journey in Necun's arms the position prevented him from observing the farmland below. The curiosity he had surrounding orc gardening, and large scale farming in such a hostile environment was barely satiated by what he had already seen, and he made a mental note to visit the farms again as soon as it was practical.

Instead he was treated to a remarkably similar view to what he had seen in the untamed Green. The only major differences this high up were the platforms, ever present ropes, and the noise. Even to his duller senses the background noise was obvious. The swish of wind through the over-sized branches was drowned in a buzzing sea of civilized sound.

Hammering and cutting.

Metal slamming against metal.

The dull roar of a crowd comprised of hundreds of individual interactions.

All of it flowing into a single great wave of sound that blanketed the surrounding area long before Nickolas could spot the city with his own eyes. Excitement bubbled in his chest, and he gripped a strap from Necun's armor as he scanned for the first sign of the city.

Necun bounded around a corner, and Nickolas's breath hitched.

His first impression was that he was looking at the corpse of a great monster pressed against the largest tree he had yet seen. The bustling thoroughfares winding through the ribs, with the greatest buildings attached to the curved spine.

But that was absurd. No creature could reach this size. The city was impressive, clearly housing a hundred thousand orcs or more. How they had found materials capable of holding the weight was an interesting question, but no great shock in the magical land of the Green.

Internally he chided himself for expecting something so ridiculous as a corpse the size of a small mountain.

Necun kept moving, the perspective shifted. He noticed the windows seemed far too small. They were farther away then Nickolas realized. The scales of what he was witnessing shifted in his mind.

It dawned on Nickolas his first impression was terribly correct.

Below he spotted the fallen skull of the corpse, a eye socket larger than the central keep of his home.

This was not a home for one hundred thousand. This was the home of a quarter of a million people at a minimum.

All infesting the overgrown bones of a monster that could devour any human city in a day.

A deep seated piece of Nickolas's mind snapped under the strain, and a sense of cold calm washed over him. Such creatures were beyond his ability to even plan for. If this corpse's kin wandered into the human lands there would be nothing Nickolas could do to even lesson the death toll. A scenario it was pointless to worry about.

Instead, he studied the lay of the city as they approached. The Mage marveled at the ingenuity of whoever had designed buildings that could efficiently grip to the titanic ribs. He even caught glimpses of what appeared to be smallish trees growing under the great spine, no doubt supporting buildings of their own. The result gave the city the appearance of an insect hive using an animal skeleton for it's structure after they picked it clean. If anything the comparison fell apart by being too accurate to the reality.

They had similarly spread to the trunk of the titanic tree the bones rested against, though nowhere near the same extent. What buildings he could see seemed to stick far closer to the bark than their bone bound counterparts. They continued up until they were shrouded by both mist and the branches of other trees. Nickolas craned his neck to spot the top, curious to see if there was anything special.

In the shadow of the city proper were orderly rows of buildings which reached differing heights. These outlying areas teamed with activity. Great carts moved through in a constant snaking line as they ferried resources into the stomach of the city before loading up with it's waste, and returning to the outer farmland.

Nickolas wondered where they sourced their metal. The tithes had not gone on nearly long enough to allow for this scale of equipment. His pile of iron ingots now seemed like far smaller of a bargaining chip.

Around them other women were leaping across platforms. A girl no older than twelve passed by their path with a woop. She was so close Nickolas could make out the wooden trinkets woven into her braids.

Several other forms stopped to stare at him as Necun carried him past, but none commented loud enough for him to hear.

The platforms were growing larger as they grew close to the city, some so large he couldn't see the branch beneath. The wood was well worn by the constant passage of boots.

"Necun!" a voice called out, cutting through the background clamor.

Necun slid to a stop, and a heartbeat later they were joined by a pair of strangely clad orcs.

The women were armored, though not like Night Hunters. Instead of the black scaled leather they wore fluted steel chestpieces lined with fur. The armor was then further decorated with paint in a variety of patterns Nickolas could barely discern. Intricate enough they blended together even a short distance away. Their heads were mostly covered by loose hoods which fell to their brows, their hair flowing from each side, and down their chests. Instead of a cloak the hoods were attached to two tails of cloth which flowed freely, waving with their moment to flap at their side. Their arms were bare save for each having a sheath attached to their left wrist, housing a knife with identically carved bone handles.

"You are early." the women on the right barked. "Did something happen to the caravan? Who's the boy?"

"We were separated in a swarm." Necun reported, straightening as much as she could with Nickolas in her arms. "He's-"

She glanced down, meeting his eyes.

"He my bond." she continued, a grin splitting her face.

Nickolas shifted his gaze in time to see the front most woman recoil as is slapped. The other grinned like a scavenger spotting a limping animal.

"It would appear we need to speak with the Chief, whelp" the front woman said with a growl. "We-"

"I'll be stopping by my house. Nickolas needs to rest." Necun butt in, keeping her tone even.

"Ill advised." the rear woman cut in before her partner could respond. "The Chief needs to see you immediately, regardless of your....companion."

Bad sign. Nickolas thought, eyes narrowing at the second woman. She didn't even glance in my direction. And if they can speak to the Chief's almost daughter like this.

He glanced up, seeing Necun worrying her lip.

"It's fine." he announced, causing his wife to jolt slightly. "If it's that important I'll swallow my pride."

Sighing dramatically he rolled his neck, refocusing on the strangely dressed women.

"Of course if this isn't as important as you make it seem I'll be sure to inform the Chief of your...talents as messengers." he said, putting as much ice as possible into his tone.

In sight of the city for less than a bell, and already making political enemies. he thought sardonically. That has to be a worthy of a title. Nickolas venom tongue? No, that sounds too grandiose. I'll work on it later.

The front woman was grinding her teeth as if she could chew the threat, while her companion merely sharpened her grin. She looked like she was holding back actual laughter.

"We're wasting time." the humorless one barked. "Follow."

The woman leapt immediately, while the other lagged behind, allowing Necun to go first.

This does not feel like an honorguard. Nickolas noted. More like we've been taken prisoner. And why were they ready for us?

He could see the woman following behind, though the timing only gave him brief glances of her armored form. It suddenly struck him that with the sheath on her forearm it would be difficult to use the hook glove Necun used to maneuver through the upper branches.

Internal security. Not Hunters. he surmised, careful to keep a grimace off his face. Really not a good omen. Let's hope the Chief doesn't have cause to...take offense.

His grip on Necun's armor strap tightened. His heartbeat slowed.

I have her. the Mage remained himself with a slow breath. We'll face it together.