Chapter 781: The Treasure Smells Like War (Patreon)

“We had no choice,” Tarvik continued. “They made us search for something called the Orc Treasure.”

Orc Treasure?

Luke kept the interest off his face. “Who?”

“General Ruax.”

Tarvik explained that Ruax had invaded the tribe several months ago and taken the ratmen heirs hostage. The tribe had been working for him ever since.

“What is this Orc Treasure?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know.”

Luke stared at him.

“That’s all they told me,” Tarvik said quickly. “Everyone else was just ordered to search.”

“For something they can’t even identify?”

Tarvik hesitated. “They said we’d know it when we smelled it.”

Luke went still.

Smelled it?

“If you don’t know what it is, how are you supposed to find it?”

“They need our sense of smell. That’s all I know.”

If the Orc Treasure was some kind of weapon, why would it have a scent? And why were they so desperate to find it?

The ratmen had also been forced to grow food for the orcs and send them regular shipments.

“We had to send supplies to a dwarf tribe every week,” Tarvik said. “We couldn’t miss a shipment. Even if it meant going hungry ourselves.”

“So you betrayed the forest,” Luke said. “Were you the ones who told them about the goblin village?”

He already knew they weren’t. The attack on the goblin village had been carried out by the orc king’s faction, but he wanted to hear the answer.

“We never told them about the goblins. Or the location of the Great Tree,” Tarvik said. “We would never bring that evil down on our neighbors.”

Luke watched him in silence. “You’re my prisoners now. I’m taking you and your wife as hostages until I know for sure.”

“You’re not hurting our king!” one of the soldiers shouted.

Luke looked at him. “Wish you’d shown the orcs that much fire.”

“Please, Lord Moon,” Tarvik said, bowing his head despite himself. “They have my children. If I disobey, they’ll kill them.”

Luke’s expression didn’t change. “They have your children?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then I’ll take them back.”

Tarvik stared at him. “You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“They’re with him in a fortress deep in the forest. It’s dangerous.”

Then Angie’s voice came through their connection, and Luke focused on [Soul Infectation].

“My lord, we found the corpse of a dead giant wolf,” she said.

A giant wolf...?

Angie couldn’t hear him. He couldn’t even contact her with [Message] at the moment.

“Pip says it was one of the wolves that attacked him.”

Through Angie’s vision, Luke saw Nara and her children searching through the forest. Then Angie told him they had found a cave filled with dead dwarves and orcs.

Luke grabbed the rat king.

“What are you doing to my husband?!” the queen screamed.

He grabbed Boggy too.

“Taking both of them with me. I’ll be back.”

Then he ran outside.

Luke summoned the spectral beast in its [Wild Raptor] form, put the two of them on its back, and headed for the Great Tree. When he arrived, dead orcs littered the ground.

“Boss!” Norn said excitedly when she saw him. “Norn killed all!”

“Boggy, show her the way to the ratmen tribe. Norn, protect the ratmen from any orcs that show up. Though I doubt there’ll be many. Charlie should be hunting down whatever’s left.”

“What about Great Tree?” Norn asked.

“I don’t sense anything nearby. And even if they get inside, I can kill them later.”

Luke grabbed the rat king and started leaping again, picking up speed. Tarvik trembled, clinging on for dear life. Along the way, Luke questioned him about the dwarves, the orcs, the fortress, and anything else that might matter. When he reached Angie, several crates sat outside the cave, packed with fruit. Weapons lay scattered across the ground, and orc corpses were piled near the entrance.

Inside, dwarves lay sprawled across the floor.

“Some of them are still alive,” Angie said as soon as she saw him.

Outside, Nara searched the forest with Pip. Her children clustered around the cave entrance, restless.

“Who’s that?” Angie asked, looking at the ratman.

“King of the ratmen tribe.”

Tarvik looked visibly nervous. Angie was kneeling beside a dwarf, healing him. Apparently, she’d already gotten a few words out of him.

“What happened?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know,” the dwarf said weakly. “We were working for the orcs like always, and then the wolves... attacked.”

Two dead dwarves lay nearby. They had clearly taken the worst of it.

“Chief...” the dwarf murmured, staring toward a fallen dwarf couple.

“I found those two near the wolf’s body,” Angie said.

“Those are the dwarf chiefs?”

“Yes...”

Ore carts, tools, and makeshift tracks were scattered throughout the cavern. This had been a working mine before everything went wrong. Luke left the cave. There was still one question that mattered more than the others. Where had Nana gone?

“[Message] to Nara,” he told the Grimoire.

He sent the message, and Nara returned immediately. Luke activated [Assassin’s Tracking] and followed the marks outside. The spiderlings moved aside to let him through, their looks a strange mixture of hostility and hope. Maybe they hated him, but they wanted him to find their sister.

“The tracks coming out of the cave are from wolves and orcs,” Luke said.

Then he stopped at another set of tracks.

“Spider tracks.”

Nara surged closer.

“Older ones. These are Nana’s.”

“My Nana! Where did she go?!”

Luke crouched. The ground was a mess of overlapping tracks. Two sets of large humanoid footprints crossed through the wolf prints, and the dead giant wolf nearby confirmed that a fight had taken place.

“There. Nana struggled with an orc here.”

“No...” she whispered.

Luke examined the tracks. “Then he jumped.”

A little farther ahead, the orc’s footprints disappeared while Nana’s continued.

“He rode her. Nana carried him away from here.”

“Impossible! My Nana would never do that...” Her voice broke, then turned dangerously quiet. “...not willingly.”

Her sinister aura swelled, but Luke kept looking at the ground. There was something else: a rectangular imprint in the dirt, like a box had been set down there. His eyes narrowed.

The orc went out of his way to take the box with him. He carried it away on Nana.

Luke looked at Tarvik. “Rat King. You mentioned a fortress.”

Tarvik stiffened.

“Something tells me he forced Nana to carry him there.”

“Where?!” Nara surged toward Tarvik. “Where did they take my baby?”

The ratman fell backward in fear.

“We want to go too, Mommy!”

Nara seemed to have forgotten that Luke could simply follow Nana’s tracks. Luke decided not to interrupt a mother spider consumed by murderous rage.

After explaining the situation to Angie, Luke headed deeper into the forest. Pip rode on one of the spiders, while Tarvik rode on another. The group followed Nana’s trail until the forest began to change. The ground turned wet, and the smell of stagnant water crept into the air. They had reached a swamp.

Then Luke slowed. Something stood ahead through the mud and dark vegetation: wooden walls, watchtowers, guard posts.

That’s not a camp.

It was an orc fortress, and it was far better organized than Luke wanted to admit. He raised a hand, and the spiders stopped. Any closer and they risked triggering traps or alarms. Even from a distance, they could see goblins, ratmen, and dwarves outside. They were chained and forced to work under guard. Some chopped wood, others loaded stones into wagons, and some sharpened spears. Others were locked in cages.

“G-goblins!” Pip said, his voice tight. “They’re here. We found them. Nim might be in there!”

“My children,” Tarvik whispered. “This is where they are.”

Luke studied the fortress. Ratmen heirs, missing goblins, the dwarves’ children, Nana, Ruax’s soldiers, the supplies, the attacks. Somehow, every trail had led here. This wasn’t just another outpost. It was the hub supplying everything nearby.

There have to be powerful orcs inside.

Angie’s voice came through [Soul Infectation].

“My lord, the dwarves are waking up.”

“My Nana is in there!” Nara said, nearly trembling. “I can feel her!”

“Mommy! We have to go!”

The spiders started forward, but Luke stepped in front of them.

“What are you doing, Lord Moon?” Nara asked.

“He doesn’t want to save our sister, Mommy!” one of the spiderlings shouted.

Luke stared at them without moving. “If a group of spiders storms that place right after a spider was brought inside, what do you think they’ll do?”

The spiders froze.

“They’ll kill Nana or use her as a hostage,” Luke said. “Same goes for the goblins, dwarves, and ratmen. We rush in, people die.”

“Then what do we do?” Nara asked. “My baby is in there. She’s in danger.”

Angie’s voice came again, cutting through the tension.

“My lord, the dwarves want to come too. They heard what I told you. They’re afraid the orcs will consider their agreement broken after the attack and kill their children.”

Luke stared at the fortress. Even Pip looked ready to charge in. There was too much anger, fear, and desperation around him.

“I have a solution,” Luke said. “I’ll lead the attack. We’ll go in together as an army.”

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