IM AN ORC?

6 - A Whisper in the Shadows

After the sting in Ruk's head eventually subsided, leaving behind a ache and a humbling clarity. The backlash from his failed analysis of Grummok had been a necessary lesson. It had painted the top of the food chain in colors. Grummok was not a king to be deposed, but a being to be shown as a lesson to others later. Any path to power that involved a direct confrontation with the Alpha was not a to take early.

This realization didn't discourage him. If the path up was blocked by a mountain he would not try to climb it or he would tunnel beneath it or he would go around it.

He spent the next day in a state of awareness, his mind was planning and calculating different possibilities. He kept to his routine, slipping into the upper tunnels to hunt, but his purpose had now shifted... He needed a currency that Nym would value, something more promising than a shared glance across a firelit cavern. Information was her trade, but information was a two-way street.

To receive, he must first give and he needed an offering.

The flint knife she had left him was a constant weight tucked into the leather strip he used as a belt. It was more than a tool and he hadn't used it yet. Too him it was valuable.

He pushed deeper into the upper tunnels today than he ever had before, his AGILITY allowing him to navigate the harsh narrow tunnels with a new found confidence. The LOW LIGHT VISION turned the darkness into a landscape of gray and silver. He was at home here in the tight and forgotten spaces of the world. He passed chambers of glowing fungus and crawling hoppers and ignored them.

He was hunting for something different today. Something… unique.

He found it in a section of the tunnels where the air grew thick and heavy with the smell of sulfur and metallic minerals. The rock walls here were lined with veins of a dull, black ore that seemed to absorb the light. He ran his fingers over it faint vibration shot through the stone.

He used ANALYZE.

[Target: Iron Ore (Low Grade)]

[A common metallic ore. Requires extreme heat to smelt. Of little value in its raw form to the clan.]

He moved on...

It was interesting but not valuable enough. The clan had no smiths or forges. Their tools were stone, bone, and scavenged scraps. Raw iron was just a heavy and useless rock to them.

He walked on following a narrow, winding passage that sloped steeply downwards. The air grew warmer and the sulfurous smell got worse. He came to a small chamber and his eyes widened. The chamber was lit by a soft crimson glow, emanating from a cluster of strange crystalline formations that grew from the cavern floor like blood-red teeth. They pulsed with a faint light and the air around them was warmer.

He approached cautiously with his hand resting on the hilt of his new knife. He had never seen anything like this before and he focused on the largest crystal and then activated his skill.

[Target: Heartstone Shard]

[A rare, geothermal crystal that stores and radiates heat. Highly prized by creatures that live in the cold deep. When crushed into a powder, it can be used as a potent alchemical ingredient for potions of warmth and fire resistance. Weakness: Brittle. Can be shattered by a sharp impact.]

"This was it", he said out loud to himself

This was his currency and the clan had no alchemists but he thought of Nym, the information broker. The one who had unseen knowledge… she would understand its value or if she didn't, she would know who did.

He carefully with the butt of his flint knife, broke off a small shard. It was warm to the touch, a pleasant heat that seemed to pulse in time with his own heartbeat. He wrapped it carefully in a piece of leather he had and tucked it away. Now he had his offering.

Now came the hard part...the approach.

He didn't want to seek her out right away when he was gonna return. That would be too obvious. So he waited and he spent the rest of the day hunting with his mind calm and focused, his energy bar slowly going up. When he returned to the main cavern eventually with the setting sun, he faded back into his crevice as the warriors celebrated another successful hunt. He ate his small share of the scraps, with his eyes constantly scanning and waiting for the right moment.

The opportunity came late when the fires had burned low and the cavern was filled with the heavy breathing of a sleeping clan. Then he saw her with flicker of movement near the cavern entrance. She was preparing to leave with a small leather satchel over her shoulder. This was the time when the shadows were darkest in the cavern and she could unseen.

He slipped out from his crevice with his heart pounding and a knot in his stomach. He moved with a silent born agility from his days spent stalking tiny prey. He didn't follow her directly, he took a parallel path by using the large rock formations and piles of trash as cover.

His LOW LIGHT VISION giving him a clear view of his target.

She led him out of the main cavern and into a series of smaller less traveled tunnels. She moved with a silence and her knowledge of these hidden paths was crazy to him. She was a creature of the deep places of the world. Finally she stopped in a circular chamber, far away from the noise of the clan.

This was her place of sanctuary.

He waited for a minute with his back pressed against the cold stone, his breathing slowed down and then he stepped out of the shadows.

She didn't startle or reach for a weapon. She turned her face calmly and slowly to him with her eyes and met his in the gloom.

"You are quiet", she said with soft whisper that was barely audible. It was the first time he had heard her speak and the sound was as subtle as a mouse.

"So are you", he replied with his own voice equally quiet. He didn't move closer he kept a distance and a clear sign that he was not a threat.

"The knife was a good piece of flint", he said with his hand resting on the hilt. "The edge is sharp".

"Good flint is wasted on scraping bones", she replied with her eyes pointed down to the knife and then back to his face. "It is a tool for a precise hand".

The subtext was clear.

'I gave you a weapon because I believe you are smart enough to use it for more than just cutting meat.'

"I have something for you", Ruk said and reached into his pouch. He unwrapped the Heartstone shard and its crimson glow flushed his hand in a soft light. "A tool for a precise mind".

He tossed it to her.

She caught it with a swift motion, her fingers closing around it. She held it in her palm studying its warm light. He saw a flicker of surprise in her expression, the first crack in her neutral face.

"Heartstone", she breathed out. "From the deep passages, how did you find it?"

"I look in the places others ignore" he said simply.

She closed her hand around the shard and her expression once again became unreadable... "This is a valuable gift" she said, her voice neutral.

"What do you want in return?"

This was the moment of truth he was waiting for, the negotiation. He had thought about this for hours in his little crevice and he couldn't ask for too much but he couldn't ask for too little.

"Information?" he said, "And an introduction"

"Information is my trade" she said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "It is not cheap"

"I am not asking for your handout" he replied with a firm voice. "I am proposing a partnership. I am a hunter. I can gather things of value. Things that others overlook. I will provide you with a steady supply of resources, rare minerals, Unique flora, strange creatures and in return, you will be my eyes and ears. You will tell me what you see and what you hear. You will help me navigate clan."

She was silent for a moment with her mind weighing the deal. He had offered her a consistent and reliable source of the very things she used to barter for her own safety and influence. He was offering to make her more powerful.

"And the introduction?" she finally asked.

"There are others in this tribe", Ruk said with a low voice. "Others who are not happy with the way things are now and those who are smart but not strong. I want to know who they are"

He was asking her to reveal her secrets and it was a huge risk, a massive leap of faith. But it was a calculated one and he knew that her desire for the resources he could provide would outweigh her doubt.

A slow smile spread across Nym's face but It was not a warm smile. It was the smile of someone who has just met a worthy opponent. "You are not a whelp" she said, her voice filled with a respect. "You are something else entirely"

"I am a survivor" he said with his voice echoing his earlier words to Bor, but this time they held a different meaning. They were a statement of fact.

"Very well" she said, her voice crisp and business like. "We have a partnership then" she said as she tucked the Heartstone shard into her satchel. "Your first piece of information is this: Bor is not as stupid as he looks. He is paranoid and his paranoia makes him predictable. He visits the fighting pits every third day after the main hunt to assert his dominance over the younger warriors. He is overconfident and his guard is down after that. A clever hunter could use that to his advantage"

It was a simple piece of information, but it was a start. It was a weakness he could take advantage of.

"And your introduction?" he pressed.

Nym's smile widened. "You have already met him" she said, her eyes gleaming in the dark. "You are looking at her."

She was the network...

Of course she was and she trusted no one. She had built her web of information alone in a world chaos and she had just invited him into her web.

"I will need more Heartstone though" she said her voice turning back to business. "And anything else you find that is… unusual. In return I will keep you informed of Bor's movements and of Grasha's moods and of Grummok's decrees. I will be your shadow and you will be my sword, ok?"

He nodded at her with a sense of satisfaction. "We have a deal"

He turned and left back into the shadows from which he had come. He did not need to say anything while leaving... He had his first ally he had a purpose more than mere survival.

He returned to his crevice, his mind racing with new plans, new possibilities and he had just made his first move.

He looked at the flint knife, the gift from his new partner, and a sharp smile formed from his lips and Ruk, with Nym's help, was going to find the perfect moment to over turn Bor.