Taeric Starfall

From Toosigma

I can still remember her hair, the lustrous gold so uncommon among our people, and her eyes, a sparkling blue more brilliant than any mountain lake. I remember her laugh, a light bubbling sound that could brighten any day. And I remember her screams...

It was before dawn, with the cold air nipping at any exposed skin. Though winter was almost over, and the weather was definitely beginning to turn, the frost of early morning snapped at anyone foolish enough to be up and around.

Someone like Taeric. He had never been able to sleep in and was always wide-awake before the dawn. The rest of his family slumbered peacefully in their tent, but Taeric crept outside to see what sort of mischief he could find this day. If he was lucky, he might even be able to catch a rabbit for Anja before breakfast. The five-year-old boy was no longer the baby of the family, with little Joren and Kirsten to keep his mother occupied, but he would always be Anja's favorite. His half-sister was just about to turn seventeen, and she had been more a mother to him than his mother ever could. Not that his mother was uncaring, but she was always busy with some business or other, especially since the little ones had arrived. Anja would always be happy to listen to his fanciful stories about great warriors and beautiful princesses, and she would regale him in turn with her own stories of heroic knights and terrible dragons.

But now was the time to catch rabbits. Taeric dashed across the open plain to reach the nearby hills in search of the traps he had set the previous evening. He had just found the second trap empty when he heard a strange sound over the hill. Curiosity always takes precedence over prudence when one is five, so he scrambled up the slope and peered over the ridge.

What he saw chilled his blood and sent a shiver of fear down his spine. A horde of orcs, armed to the teeth, milled around in the small vale, only a few hundred spans from his tribe's camp. He quickly turned and headed into the now lightening east, hoping to reach the camp in time to raise the alarm, but before he made ten steps, the whole world went black.

The others were horrible, 'tis true, but their torment pales in comparison. There are nights when I wish he had killed me as well, just so I would not have had to endure her suffering...

He awoke hours later to a throbbing headache. The sun stood high overhead, and a heavy chain was attached to his ankle. He pulled at it in vain, before he took in the rest of his surroundings. The stench of burnt flesh was upon the air, and a great cloud of black smoke marred the blue sky to the west. His gray-green eyes filled with tears as he thought of what happened over the hill. Then he noticed that he was not alone. Little Kirsten lay whimpering not three feet away, while Joren sobbed in Anja's arms. Gerrit and Karel were chained together a few feet beyond. Hope surged in Taeric's chest, since his missing father must still be free, and the mighty warrior Arvor would not fail to rescue his children from these foul orcs. But like a candle that burns brightest just before it flickers out, Taeric's hope was crushed by the devastated expression on his oldest sister's face.

Soon the orcs returned from whatever carnage they had been indulging in, and brutally roused the children. Taeric could see now that they were all chained together, and he was forced to plod along behind Gerrit and Karel as the whole band of orcs arrayed around they, marching away to the southeast. Though no stranger to long arduous marches, the weight of the chain soon had Taeric limping along, while Kirsten clung to Gerrit's back, and Joren continued to cry in Anja's arms. As day turned to night, the orcs continued their march, not resting a moment until nearly midnight. When they finally did stop, the five exhausted children collapsed where they were.

Taeric awoke a few hours later to the sound of metal scraping on rock. He looked up quickly to see Gerrit and Karel struggling to open their manacles by the flickering of the firelight. Taeric crawled over to them, and picked up a small pointed stone. The three boys spoke in hushed whispers, desperate not to disturb the sleeping guards in the nearby tents. Taeric jammed his small rock into the lock of Karel's manacle, and to his surprise it clicked open. Sadly, the force of the blow shattered the small stone, and no matter how they tried to use it to open the other locks, it did not work.

"Karel, you must escape and try to find help. I'll stay and take care of the others!" Gerrit whispered to his twin. Conflict raged in Karel's eyes, but he knew that if he stayed, he would only be recaptured and then they would all be doomed. So the fourteen-year-old boy fled into the darkness, hoping to find some other tribe to come to the rescue. Taeric and Gerrit settled back into the darkness, a faint glimmer of hope rekindled in their hearts.

That morning, the camp was like an anthill Taeric had once disturbed. Orcs scrambled in all directions, seemingly without purpose or direction. Until the largest orc he had ever seen started walking toward them. Though he couldn't understand what the orcs were saying, Taeric could easily understand that the giant tusked orc was furious, and there was nothing subtle about the way he gutted the two guards who had been on watch that night. The orc then grabbed Gerrit by his neck and lifted him clear off the ground before dropping him back to his feet. He whipped the rest of the orcs into a semblance of order, and the march continued southward.

By noon, the column reached a roadway, but Taeric was surprised that the road was a pale white, instead of the expected brown. When he discovered the source of the unusual color, his stomach turned to lead. They were walking on the bones of dead humans.

Days and nights passed, and as time pressed on, hope for rescue slowly faded away. Every step took them farther from their homeland, and further into whatever hell the orcs called home. The sky had darkened considerably, and seemed to always be overcast. It was if some colossal fire had released a cloud of smoke and ash to blot the sun from the sky. As they neared their destination, the sky darkened to match their moods.

In the middle of the second week, they finally witnessed their destination. To Taeric, it seemed as if all the stories of hell and evil that his parents had used to frighten him had been given form and reality. Hideous creatures beyond description and far from nature's hand walked walls blackened with soot and blood. Thousands upon thousands of orcs walked the shadowy streets. Taeric saw other humans, but these evil-hearted men would never rescue him and his siblings.

The giant orc led them deeper and deeper into this city of darkness, approaching a building that was the cancerous, twisted heart of all evil. Though Taeric had lived without hope for the last week, marching through the black gates, passing beneath the leering visages of hideous demons, Taeric felt a darkness more complete than the blackest pitch wash over him.

They were led into a large audience hall, with Joren screaming at the top of his lungs, and Kirsten crying unabashed. Fear tinged Anja's eyes, but Gerrit and Taeric maintained their stoicism, trying desperately to cling to their proud heritage.

The figure seated in the throne at the far end of the hall was the most terrifying thing any of them had ever seen. It looked like it had once been a man, but it had been twisted and burned and scarred to turn it into some horrifying hybrid between man and demon. The creature radiated evil like the sun radiated heat, and it crashed into the children like a tidal wave.

"Come forward, Jhordak," the creature commanded, its voice rasping as though with age, but with such power that none could disobey.

"Mighty Old One, I have killed the interloper, the Wolf captain known as Arvor. These are his children, whom I have brought for your pleasure," the giant orc responded. A smile spread across the old one's lips, but rather than being a familiar and reassuring expression, on this face it was like a promise of pain and suffering.

"You are the spawn of a brave warrior. A warrior who spent years killing orcs and attacking whatever forces I sent to the howling hills. I can see that some of you share his bravery, but know this: you are now mine! And you will know fear..." The creature nodded at Jhordak, and the orc stepped up to Anja, ripping the tiny form of Joren from her. The infant screamed even louder as Jhordak grabbed him by the neck and the shoulder, but his screaming ended in a sickly gurgle seconds later as Jhordak gave a brutal twist. Anja screamed, and Gerrit surged forward, but Taeric merely stood staring in shock at the mutilated form of his brother. The Old One smiled again, this time a promise kept.

Gerrit grabbed at the giant orc, but with a single backhand, Jhordak knocked him to the ground. Blood dripped from his mouth, and tears of anger filled his eyes as he struggled to stand. But before he could reach his feet, Jhordak shoved a dagger into his forearm. Gerrit cried out in pain, and fell back to the floor. Jhordak stood over him, slowly drawing his sword, smiling with the same vicious glee as his master. The orc slowly and deliberately stabbed the prone boy over and over again, each time eliciting a scream of anguish from Gerrit. Jhordak didn't stop until the body stopped moving.

Anja had collapsed to the floor, weeping, and little Kirsten was screaming, but still little Taeric stood quiet, horrified by the scene before him, but unable or unwilling to make a sound for the pleasure of these twisted creatures.

Jhordak moved from the dead forms of his two brothers, and grabbed Kirsten by the arm. Anja leaped to grab her, but a vicious kick from the orc dropped her to the ground in a heap. She just sobbed on the floor, leaving Taeric to watch his little sister's fate alone. By now Kirsten had screamed herself hoarse, and she made little sound as Jhordak drew his sword and held it hovering over the tiny girl's head. She didn't move so much as an inch as Jhordak swung his sword high overhead and brought it down, cleaving her nearly in half. There was a sickening sucking sound as he withdrew his sword and kicked the body to the floor. With a terrible gleam of bloodlust in his eye, the orc turned toward Taeric.

"No," came the rasping voice from the throne. "He still owes me a scream. Khalajen! Come to me!" he shouted over his shoulder. A shadowy figure came out from behind the throne. The creature towered even over Jhordak, its head was that of a giant dog, and it had two pair of arms, one pair of humanoid arms extending from its chest, and two enormous muscled arms ending in crab-like pincers. It walked straight to Anja, and lifted her effortlessly with a single claw.

All I can remember is her screaming. I cannot describe her torture, because reliving it is far too painful. The demon spent nearly two hours in the killing, with nary a break. Anja screamed the entire time. Even after her voice was gone, her scream came out more as a wheeze or a rattle. Just before the end, I felt a hand on my shoulder, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the horrible scene before me. The voice behind me said simply, "Justice will be yours, in time"

Taeric never looked away, never shed a tear. His jaw merely clenched tighter, his eyes hardened to stone. When Anja's life had finally fled, the Old One himself rose from the throne, and walked up to the boy.

"You have uncommon courage, boy, but I promise you that you will regret it. Yours will not be a quick death. You will suffer more in the years to come than your sister ever did..." The creature reached out a withered hand and touched Taeric, almost the caressing touch of an admiring father, but like his smile, this touch had only malice and hatred. "Remember Iuz, my young friend. Remember me in your prayers each night as you wish to die!"

His touch burned, not like fire, but like the coldest ice. He left a scar on my right cheek, a memento to the cruelty of Iuz so I might never forget the horrors visited upon me that day. I never saw him again, as I was given to Jhordak as a pet, a small reward for his victory over my father. Jhordak beat me every day and often every night. Sometimes he would give me over to the children of his tribe, and they would be far less gentle. I was forced to fight for table scraps with the dogs. Nearly five years I spent with the vile orcs...

Taeric was now nearly ten years old, and his harsh upbringing had done little to stunt his growth. He could beat almost any orc one-on-one, but the odds were seldom if ever that good.

Jhordak was now a powerful commander, and was in charge of a large band of orcs in the city of Grabford. He often raided the nearby villages of Furyondy, and would bring back prisoners, trying to force Taeric to fight them in a crude gladiatorial arena. To a boy hardened by brutal beatings from orcs and his early barbarian heritage, the farmers and merchants Jhordak captured never presented much threat. Every time Taeric refused to kill them, he would be forced to watch them killed by the orcs, in addition to a severe beating for his efforts.

It was fall of 381 that the chance arose. Jhordak had taken Taeric out to watch him slaughter a rebellious goblin tribe. The mighty orc stood near the rear of his forces, and didn't notice the three orcs sneaking up behind him, but Taeric did. Despite his chains, he managed to hold off one of the assassins while Jhordak killed the others. Impressed with his loyalty, Jhordak let Taeric sleep near him.

That night, while Jhordak lay in a drunken stupor, Taeric used a small piece of sharp bone to slit his throat. He then unlocked his chains for the first time in five years, and escaped into the night. He used a secret tunnel constructed by Jhordak as an emergency escape tunnel in case of siege.

The next few weeks were a careful matter of evasion and skulking to reach the northern edge of Furyondy. Taeric was not about to trust anyone, however, and even after he reached relative safety, he stayed well away from the villages during the day, sneaking in at night to steal what food he could.

Taeric woke early, long before the sun rose, and was shocked with the smell of cooking rabbit coming from just over the hill. Lady Luck was with him indeed. He crept up to the ridge, and he couldn't help but remember another early morning, so long ago and so far away. He almost decided to forego this chance encounter and find his own breakfast, but his rumbling stomach convinced him otherwise.

Over the hill was a young man seated before a small campfire, with two rabbits roasting on a spit over it. The man's bedroll and gear were still stretched out next to the fire, but the man's back was to Taeric. He slowly skulked down the slope, wielding a small tree branch as a club. He was nearly ready to strike when the stranger spoke:

"I wouldn't do that, were I you." Taeric nearly tripped over himself with surprise as the stranger whirled in a single deft movement and had a sword placed at his throat.

"You are the lone wolf who's been stealing food hereabouts, aren't you?" the stranger asked.

"Yes."

"Would you be willing to explain why?"

"No."

"What if I were to offer you one of these rabbits in exchange for your story?" Taeric considered a moment before nodding. The two sat, and over breakfast, Taeric gave a terse account of his life.

"That's either the grandest fish story I've ever heard, or you have had one hell of a life. I'd be willing to bet my life it were the former, if not for the look in your eyes. Tell you what: I'll take you with me, and I'll provide you with food and shelter, if you'll promise to quit stealing. Do we have a bargain?" His mouth full of rabbit, Taeric only nodded his ascent.

Reghan Starfall was and still is my one true friend. He took a starving and barbaric young boy and turned him into the man I am today. I owe him my life many times over, and will never truly be able to repay the debt. He helped to introduce me to Heironeous, who has been so instrumental in my recent life. He taught me to fight, but more importantly, he taught me how to think, and how to live.

Taeric and Reghan journeyed together for several weeks, working to protect the honest villagers on the border between Furyondy and the orcish hordes of Iuz. During that time, Reghan began teaching young Taeric to read and write the Common tongue. It wasn't until the first warm day of Readying that they crossed the Crystal River at the township of Ashenford.