Orcblood Legacy: Skirmishes: Orcs Bernard Bertram (good books to read TXT) 📖

Orcblood Legacy: Skirmishes

BERNARD BERTRAM

Orcs Collection: Fangdarr & Bitrayuul

Note: This is a collection of episodic stories of the characters within the Orcblood Legacy Fantasy series. These events are real for the characters and are used to expand them beyond the novels. It is strongly recommended that you read the Orcblood Legacy novels prior to these stories in order to understand what is occurring.

Check out the Orcblood Legacy Series:

-Honor-

-Madness-

-Ravaged- (Coming soon!)

Acknowledgements:

Todor Hristov (Cover Art Illustrator)

Carlos Herrera (Character Illustrator)

Jaclyn Schickling (Map Illustrator)

Disclaimer: These stories are works of fiction. All characters are fictitious, and any likeness or resemblance is strictly coincidental.

1st Edition

Copyright © 2021 Bernard Bertram

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1-7327607-6-4

ISBN-13: 978-1-7327607-6-9

Visit https://bernardbertram.com for additional stories regarding the champions of Orcblood Legacy, updates, contests, and much more!

TROLLS

“Fangdarr rolled to his side, unable to get comfortable in his makeshift encampment. Sleep had not come easy since his departure from the only kin he had a few nights prior. The young orc had nearly returned to their home countless times, save for his stubborn pride rooting him in place. Instead, Fangdarr swallowed his tormenting emotions, tossing restlessly each night under the thick canopy of Lithe Forest.

A heavy sigh escaped him as he stared up at the small specs of whiteness poking through the screen of darkened leaves. Fangdarr closed his eyes, denying the night their golden glow. Only the rise and fall of his chest and the slow sway of a breeze could be heard. The orc replayed the haunting visions of his mother’s headless corpse falling to the ground. Even alone in the wood, the young warrior’s pride refused to express his true feelings.

The rustle of bushes interrupted his memories. Fangdarr lifted his head curiously. Likely an animal, he thought. Soon, the steady sounds of light footsteps tickled his ears. Were it not for the occasional twig and crunch of leaves, the orc would never have noticed. In an instant, Fangdarr jumped to his feet, Driktarr in hand and eyes scanning the darkness.

Breaking through the dense foliage came a pair of figures Fangdarr did not recognize. Their wicked smiles widened beneath the long tusks protruding from their upper jaw. Despite their sinister expressions, their body language showed no threat. Still, Fangdarr remained on the defensive.

“Eh, look what we got here, Gam’ja. It but a wee orc,” spoke the first in an unusual tone. Fangdarr had heard tell of their kind from Tormag, though had never experienced them himself. Now, he was finally able to confirm his adoptive father’s mimicked accent when speaking of them. Trolls.

“So it is, Bon’zo! He look a bit lost, ya tink?”

Fangdarr tightened his grip. Their vocal flair seemed contradictory to their intent and their thick accents were hard to understand. Nevertheless, he asked, “What you want?”

The intruders looked to one another, then laughed in a shrieking cackle that pierced through the quiet forest. Once their humor had ended, Fangdarr could see the pair of crude stone knives in each of their three-fingered hands. Their expressions only looked more severe as the encampment’s small fire cast flickering shadows over the contours of their stretched skin.

Fangdarr didn’t wait for his assailants to strike first. He raised his axe and howled with vigorous ferocity, charging the pair. Gam’ja and Bon’zo returned his roar in kind and took to defensive stances. The orc closed the distance quickly, his powerful legs carrying him with long strides. As he approached, the trolls realized his abnormally large stature but gave no pause, remaining fixated on their opponent.

Just as he had done against the men that had slain his poor mother, Fangdarr planted his foot in the last moment and spun his greataxe in a wide horizontal sweep. Bon’zo managed to put up a dagger to block, but the weight of the orc’s weapon was too great when paired with Fangdarr’s impressive strength. The troll’s eyes went wide in immense pain as Driktarr passed through its ineffective parry and continued to cut a deep gash into its dark-skinned torso. Blue blood sprayed from the wound, painting specks against the orc’s own blackened skin, before the troll fell to the ground.

With the momentum of his strike drained, Fangdarr couldn’t hope to cleave through Gam’ja as well. Instead, the troll’s raised weapons intersected the axe as the creature’s head rushed forward quickly behind. Fangdarr stood a head taller, keeping his neck out of range, but Gam’ja’s tusks rent against the orc’s exposed arm and ripped through his skin. The orc growled at the pain, bearing his fangs.

Fangdarr steeled his resolve and kicked Gam’ja’s knee, dropping the creature low. With his weapon free, the orc slammed it down on the troll’s skull just as Gam’ja’s wicked expression had looked up to him. Driktarr embedded straight into the forehead of its victim and deep into the troll’s brain. Fangdarr pushed the axe—and the corpse attached to it—to the ground, planting a foot against the troll’s shoulder. He ripped his entrapped weapon free, spraying blood and flinging brain matter and bone fragments onto the grass below.

Before the orc could even breathe a sigh of relief, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his thigh. Upon looking down, Fangdarr witnessed Bon’zo’s wide grin paired with another dagger whistling through the air toward his ribcage. Caught by surprise, Fangdarr couldn’t hope to parry the blow. Instead, he twisted his waist as quick as possible to prevent the dagger from hitting its mark. The orc’s brow furrowed in pain as he was only partially successful, feeling the sharpened edge slicing across his skin.

Fangdarr threw a desperate but heavy punch into the troll’s face as he leapt back. Getting back to its feet, the troll stood a short distance away, one dagger still in hand. Fangdarr glanced down at his thigh and pulled the knife free before tossing it behind him. Black blood glistened in the light of the fire as it slid down