Chains unleashed a metallic din as they dragged the gate into the air. A gentle breeze blew. Josarl broke out in a rash of coughing. Warm air carried in fumes from the volcanic pin. He began weighing whether he should use his remaining air supply to protect him from the toxins. While he absentmindedly fiddled with the suit seal, Josarl approached the two orks waiting for him on the other side. They were deformed creatures like their brethren, though bigger in person.
“Good morning, human,” said one of the orks. “I am Kans.”
“And I am Nez.”
“And we are here to escort you to the Dark Lord.”
“How far is he?” asked Josarl.
“Not far.” said Kans. “A couple hours walk.”
“We will not ride?” asked Josarl.
“Of course not! Horses do not like the volcanic gases. Neither do we, but we didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
“You didn’t live here of your own accord?”
“No,” said Nez. “We were forced here. Thousands of years ago we were the Ven’tar’eil. We lived with our brethren until the farnders came, forced us from our homes and corralled us here. Years of exposure to the volcanic toxins caused increasing numbers of birth defects until we became the orks.”
“You war for your old homend.”
“Yes,” said Kans. “We yearn for our own nd, our old home and a culture that is not defined by the inconsistent eruptions of the mountain.”
“Then why do you follow someone calling himself the Dark Lord?”
“Mostly to spit in the face of our enemies,” said Nez.. “When the royal line was eliminated, they called the first leader to rise up the dark lord and we keep the moniker with pride. He’s not really a lord.”
“Then what is he?”
“An overseer? Coordinator? A sort of chosen leader for the year.”
“You- voted for him?”
“Eh, sort of,” said Kans. “See, we’re from an anarcho-syndaclist commune, but we’re too small to prosecute a war, so we allied with other communes to create a temporary socialist alliance.”
“You say temporary,” said Nez, “But it’s stood for two thousand years. Most empires don’t st that long.”
“True enough,” said Kans. “However, we still retain autonomy as a commune. If we don’t want to send anyone to fight, we don’t have to. The whole affair is voluntary. Probably why it takes hundreds of years to prepare between attempts.”
“Getting the communes to agree is difficult,” said Nez. “Especially when they argue over form and praxis. That’s part of why we instituted a state, even though its bsphemy to most.”
“Instituted a what?” said Josarl in confusion.”
“The state. You know, a nation.”
“Yeah,” said Kans. “Turns out we only managed to go stateless for so long because the humans were content to let us live in this wastend rather than come and take it. This time with the hammer, we will surly win!”
“Remember what Tez said about pcing hope in a single war winning object,” said Nez.
“Yeah, yeah, we work as a collective if we want victory.”
“We should set out sooner rather than ter,” said Nez.
The nd was a dark shale that stretched all the way from the mountains to a distant peak. Dotted along their path were little shanty towns made from rocks quarried elsewhere. Josarl noted a distinct ck of food. He didn’t see even a hint of it. No animals as far as the eye could see and only lone twisted trees of the variety that seeded themselves through the wind dotted the nd. The orks were chatty, to each other at least. They would answer questions he posed, however those answers quickly degraded into back and forths reted to the technical aspects of their philosophies. Oddly enough, the hammer could be heard by them and would chime in from time to time. After a couple of hours of this, they reached a great pit, inside of which many building fronts had been carved. There were windows all the way down and a cross-work of wooden beams that supported a ramp that spiraled down into the pit. The trio descended the entirety of the pit, finding the Dark Lord’s apartment with retive ease. Kans stepped up to the guards and spoke something just out of Josarl’s hearing. The guards nodded and waved them in.
“The lord will speak to you now,” said Nez. “Goodbye.”
Josarl stepped hesitantly into the dark interior. Bowls of oil on stone stands provided weak yellow light by which he could discern an armored form. Sharp points and flourishes reminiscent of carvings defined the armor. The voice that emanated from it echoed in a vibrant roll. “Welcome, Josarl. We’ve heard you have our hammer. For what would you trade it?”
“Your orks took something of mine when I arrived. I want it back.”
“This?” asked the Dark Lord, holding up the recall device.”
“That very thing.”
“We have a trade.” The dark lord rose and handed him the recall device. He in turn handed over the hammer. “Go in good health.”
Josarl nodded, turned and left. No one stopped him when he exited the apartment. No one stopped him when he ascended the ramp. And no one stopped him when he stood on the volcanic pin and activated his recall device. A crackling sound emanated from his left. He turned, watching as pulsing rings of the lime green light burst from a point in the air, stopping at a circumference simir to that of the gate. It built up and crackled for a few minutes before a bright light exploded into his eyes. As the spots cleared, Josarl could see the ring of energy. Contained within, like the border to a window, was the Acornial and home. He stepped through the portal. He heard it fizzle out as several members of the staff ran up to inspect him.
Duke Loftner burst into the room. “Mr. Starx! We thought for sure you were dead!”
Josarl bowed. “I nearly was, my Lord.”
“Rise! Rise! We need your report! What happened?”
“In brief, My Lord, the portal opened on an unstable cliff face. It colpsed under my weight. Fortunately, the forests below prevented an untimely death and I spent the next month or so trying to recover my recall device back so I could return.”
“Incredible!” said the Duke with an eager expression. “Obviously you must clean up and then write a full report. After that, however, you will be taking the next couple weeks off. We need to pn the next tests and you need to be prepared to return to the breach.”
“As you will, My Lord.”
