Gorgon

"Omerta, you're here."

The orc witch nodded, dropping herself on a log faster than I could offer her the place. Her huge companion remained standing. I couldn't tell if it was an ogre or an orc, or why he wore women's clothing, but I would not dare to ask him about it, even with an army behind me. Instead, I sat down too, readying my questions.

"So where should we start?" I asked, glancing to the side. Avalon and Ember were here too, but I didn't post guards, not to intimidate her.

"What do you want to know, Gorgon?" She asked unfazed. Her legs crossed, wearing all black, the orc girl looked like she owned the place. But I could see some signs of nervousness. Her legs shook a bit, but her entire body resonated with them.

"Let's start right in the middle." I leaned back, trying to act confident too. "The Champions reported that you engaged in a magic duel with a human. Where was this? Why? And who was it?"

"It happened nearby, although this road was not laid down yet." She said, pointing at a small hill to the north. "We landed to let our wyverns rest, and were greeted by the Elder of the Cranta Chruch."

"What? How did she know, you'd be here?" I asked. According to the witnesses, she was indeed fighting someone powerful, but the Elder of the Inquisitorias? She was probably telling the truth though.

"How did she know? Beats me." She shrugged at first. "Maybe it was luck, maybe she had some informants among us. And I also have a reason to believe, she was the one that gave the Demon Lord information too."

"T-that's, do you have any proof?" I tried to keep my cool. Avalon beside me did it way better than me, and Ember didn't even pay attention to us. She was mesmerized by that huge orc standing behind the other witch. I mean, he was sure odd and menacing at the same time.

"Proof? No, nothing that could prove it beyond a doubt. But she almost killed me. I wasn't exactly trying to gather evidence at the time." Omerta explained, and now her bodyguard stepped forward too.

"I fought her. The Elder, I mean." He claimed. His voice was raspy, but the way he talked was very affectionate. It was giving me the creeps. Just what was his deal? "She easily overpowered both my sister and me. If it weren't for Nati, we'd both be dead by now."

"Nati? Who's Nati?" I asked, confused. "I thought your chieftain was called Charlotte. Is that an orc warrior, or the shaman's name?"

"No, she's..." Omerta went silent and exchanged glances with the other orc. It looked like they were telepathically communicating. In the end, she must have changed her mind. "It's not important, just a member of the tribe. But we got confirmation later from people who served under that mage. She was almost certainly the Elder and plotted to take over the Cranta Church. It seems obvious, that she played both sides and tried to cheat the Demon Lord too."

"Do you think the old man is scammed that easily?" The Fire Witch joined in, looking for a fight. "So the great witch of the Twelve Champions, backed by the rest of her squad had her ass handed to her by a single human mage? Just how pathetic you can be?"

"Ember, please." I tried to calm her down before they jumped at each other's throats. Both of them seemed ready to explode. "The Demon Lord already suspected the informant trying to fool him. Please, disregard her and continue. What was the source of your information?"

"I um, heard it from the Princess, after the Captain captured her. I managed to regroup with them in the village." She started reluctantly, saying as if it wasn't a big deal. I was surprised.

"So the Champions did succeed with the mission?" I asked, standing up. "And then Dioneras interrogated the Princess? We already wrote his mission off as a failure, but if he's returning with her, that changes everything. I have to write a report quickly."

"No, well um, They released her." She confessed. My jaw dropped. Dio? Released the target, after she was successfully captured?

"Wh-what? Why?" I demanded, feeling as if the ground disappeared from below my feet. "Why would he do that?"

"It's a long story, so you better wait until the end before you start writing your report," Omerta said with a big sigh. She adjusted her black hair and then gave me a summary. "They fought the humans but were cut off from the rest of us, which was lucky, because I got to fight the Elder, and they captured the Princess. They would have never stood a chance otherwise. Well, I almost died too."

"So you're saying, your betrayal of the commander enabled the mission to succeed?" Avalon asked, with his eyebrow raised. He remained silent until now but listened intently. "That is quite an odd claim, but go ahead and enlighten us."

"Again, I have already sorted this out with my Captain, and I have no reason to answer those questions." The witch pulled her nose up, and I had to intervene again. Then she reluctantly continued. "Anyway, we all ended up in Nateaser one way or another. Both the Captain, his captive, and the other humans as well. We were forced to sit around a large table and exchange information."

"This makes absolutely no sense." I shook my head, but I needed to know the rest. "Okay, so let's assume, I believe that a random village in the middle of nowhere had the means to force you both to negotiate. And?"

"We did have the means." The huge orc bodyguard claimed. "For one, all of them were on death's doorstep, and two, we had um, authority."

"Hana, let me do the talking, okay?" The witch requested, shaking her head. "Anyway. Yes, we sat down to talk and clarified a few misinformations. Ones that got leaked to the Demon Lord by the Elder."

"Please, do tell." I was losing my patience. And the number of questions I had only grew. "What was that misinformation?"

"First of all, the Princess was in no way a threat to the Lord. She could not cast banishment at all. She is a seer who can reveal people's true names thanks to her natural ability. She can feel their presence once attuned to them." She told us confidently. I had a hard time believing that but let her continue. "The one that banished Gamma, the Demon Lord's brother was a court wizard called Lambert."

"Wait, Lambert? The chef that this Gomel fellow looked forward to meeting?" The Fire Witch jumped up, and now I had to sit down. Another hundred questions took shape in my head.

"So you let go of the Princess without proof, and this Lambert is in this village?" I asked, at the end of my wits. "Why didn't they bring him back as ordered then? I mean Dioneras. They left without him?"

"Yes, well, that was part of the agreement," Omerta said, in a cryptic voice. She was not telling me something, and avoided my gaze too, looking at that big orc next to her. They nodded at each other, and she continued. "The thing is, the Goddess of Luck returned."

"Your jokes are starting to get out of hand, Omerta," I warned her, not considering for even a second that she was serious. "How would we miss such an important occurrence? And what would it have to do with this?"

"I'm serious. The whole reason why the Princess and Lambert set out was to confront her." She explained, without batting an eye. "Or do you think, the most important Crantan noble would just come out here for a little picnic? No, she felt the presence of the Goddess, and we all ended up here. Nateaser is under the protection of Alexandra now."

"So where was she, when we arrived an hour ago?" Avalon asked so that I didn't have to. Yet I didn't feel like she was trying to lie.

"It is a long story. Again. But the important piece is that she's out, trying to find the victims of the old capital." The witch told us. Now she looked straight into my eyes. "She claimed it wasn't her fault and looks for evidence now. Lambert attempted to attack her and failed, so he became a hostage in the village. You could say, he is in house arrest."

"It is to guarantee he can't threaten the Demon Lord either. And my sister is here as an ambassador to the New Order, but also to oversee his captivity." The orc claimed, which explained a few things. But I couldn't ignore one specific part of what he just said.

"Your sister. Are you referring to Omerta? Are you by any chance Hank, the Gladiator?" I asked, struggling to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. No wonder he was that big, and odd-looking. He was a legend.

"He's the one the Champions tried to recruit but disappeared?" Ember seemed curious too. "That legendary Hank?"

"I prefer she, or they. And I left that name behind as well." He explained. Or they did. "Call me Hana instead. And I retired."

"Hana um well, it's a great honor to meet you regardless." I stood up and bowed my head to him. Them. I was so confused, and more and more questions came up again, but I had no chance to ask them.

I heard some yelling, and the whole camp seemed to be upset by something. It took me a moment to figure out what the scouts were shouting, and I did not like it.

"The lizards are coming. Shield wall to the south. There are loads of them." I heard it now, and I couldn't believe it. We slowed down after the bridge incident, and I thought they stopped following us, but now, only half a day after we finally reached our destination, they were back at it again. And more than that, this was far beyond their borders.

"Lizards? Did you piss them off by stealing their pack animals or something?" Omerta asked, looking to the south. "I never heard about them appearing this far to the north yet. And they are willing to chase an entire company too? These guys have guts, I have to give it to them."

"Guts? They have thousands of guts!" Avalon yelled, getting ready to take command as well. "We had to fight our way through the highlands to get here. We haven't seen them for a few days, but they still haven't given up on us. How many are there?"

I jumped on one of the wagons to observe the situation but did not like what I saw. Not in the slightest. This was the most lizardmen I have seen so far in one place, and they were relentlessly rushing right towards our camp at the crossroads.