Chapter 54: Demut
The sudden outburst caused a commotion in the ranks of the orks and the humans. The painted woman had a fast exchange with the woman in silver but her hand still pointed at Marcus. He could feel the power of the Blood Mage in front of him. She did not need a knife, he was sure she could just reach out and snap him in half. How was this possible? How could there be so many powerful class holders in this small place? Marcus could not take his eyes of the Blood Mage and it took some time for him to realize that Janette stood right next to him, and not only her, the whole team was here.
The tall ork woman turned back to Marcus and curiously observed his teammates, like a child who had found an odd looking insect. Then, as if she only now had realized it, dropped her hand. She looked at Marcus for a moment, before she turned to join the other ork woman and the diplomats.
Marcus could tell by the tense expressions of his friends, that they understood how hilariously outmatched they all were. The leader and the Blood Mage alone could wipe them out he was sure. No, either of them could do it without breaking a sweat, this wide was the gap in power between them.
The discussion seemed to have reached a pause and the diplomats and Ms. Taylor walked over to Marcus and he felt dread spreading in his guts. Jerry the diplomat was the first to speak. “Marcus was it? We have met an obstacle in our negotiations. They seem to be very interest in getting to know us and to open up relations but the moment the “other” woman called out, things changed.” What could he have done to cause such an upset? Marcus wondered. Jerry continued “It took a bit to understand it but… apparently they want your blood.” Marcus mouth dropped and he looked over to the ABSOLUTELY 100% confirmed Blood Mage. And the woman looked right back at him. He avoided eye contact.
“Not a lot of it. It is not like they are asking to kill you or to bleed you dry. We made certain this is not the case. These are not savage primitives.” Jerry quickly added but Marcus felt no better about the whole situation. “We do not know why you and they were not very open for what they need your blood, but they made absolutely clear that there would be no further talks until this has happened. For some reason this is extremely important to them.” Jerry finished. Marcus felt trapped, it was clear what the diplomats and also Ms. Taylor wanted him to do. “So you sacrifice Marcus to get a good deal.” Janette said ice cold.
“That is not the case. I can and will not order Marcus to do this but as it stands the success of the whole mission is hanging on this. Although, as you are aware if they wanted they could take your and all our blood by force.” Ms. Taylor said and Marcus knew she was right. “Are they really that strong?” Jerry asked silently. Everybody nodded “There is no human on earth who could match even one of these women and some of the other warriors are stronger than Kim too.” Ms. Taylor said with a dry voice. She hated to admit it.
“I will do it.” Marcus said and the relief in the faces of the diplomats was overwhelming. It was the best, no most likely the only path forward, Marcus thought. If they get upset and use force every human here could end up dead and he looked at Janette. She held his gaze until he turned and followed the diplomats back to the negotiations. Jerry and the others explained a few things and Marcus observed their work. Neither side understood the language of the other but the use of the drawing tablet made things quickly clear. Both ork women were very happy and Marcus could see their white teeth with elongated incisors as they smiled. He could not help and imagine vampires waiting to feed on him.
Marcus expected the Blood Mage go to work, she had a nasty blade and most likely a bowl or bottle on her body somewhere. Always ready to drain somebody dry, Marcus thought. But instead the woman drew on the tablet. She seemed to have quickly understood how to use it and what she drew made it clear that they wanted Marcus to come with them into the city for the ritual, ALONE. That news caused some stir with Ms. Taylor and the diplomats but Marcus waved it away. “It does not matter.” It was an illusion that they were safe out here.
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The two ork women exchanged more words and the Blood Mage gave Marcus a sign to follow her. He passed by the waiting orks and saw many faces looking at him with great interest. He felt the eyes of the team in his back but did not turn around, he was not sure he could give them a confident look in this moment. They passed the gate, the streets and houses behind the gate were full of orks. Orks of all ages, they all stared at him while the woman lead the way. She turned her head from time to time, her eyes measuring him.
The place looked for the most part like something he expected in a medieval town. He had seen enough shows and played games that depicted that era of humanity and the level of technology seemed comparable.
They walked past many streets and followed the main road deep into the settlement. They crossed a market and Marcus saw foods and plants that looked alien to him. All the way the crowd followed him until the woman turned once more and said something in their language and they all stopped following. A few words were enough and everybody down to the kids obeyed, Marcus did not miss that.
They finally reached a large multi story building. It looked far more sophisticated with many ornaments and large banners with unknown symbols on it. The palace? Definitely did not look like some religious place or anything Marcus had expected. Guards stood at the ready but instantly made space for the woman. He could see their surprised faces, as a human walked by them but the authority of the woman made them obey without fail.
On the inside, his guide walked up a wide stone staircase with beautiful flowers on the side. They walked through hallways with large windows (they seem to know how to make glass?) and Marcus saw many pieces of elegant furniture and works of art. She finally stopped at a large double door and knocked. After a second she opened it and indicated Marcus to step in. He walked past her and she followed, closing the door. Marcus made three steps in and stopped by the sight of the ork in front of him.
The lavish decorated room with a wide window front had a stone throne in the middle, on it sat an ork of massive proportions. The man was at least 220 cm tall and felt as wide, he had long, black braided hair on his back and a thick, black beard. Simple gray clothing covered most of his body only his left arm and some of his neck seemed to be covered by some white substance Marcus could not identify. What made Marcus stop was not the size of the ork but the instantaneous impression he got from him. The ork watched Marcus from half closed eyes and Marcus felt like every atom of his body was measured and judged. The pressure he felt was suffocating, a force of nature, a hurricane in the form of a man. An instinct made Marcus fall to one knee and bow and he did not dare to raise his head until he was told to. The existence of this man changed everything, Marcus knew.
His own fate suddenly did not matter anymore, he had to tell humanity about this ork. This was not a mortal being, this was a demi god. Something that should only exist in stories and myths.
The woman next to him exchanged a few words with the giant ork and Marcus heard his deep and heavy voice for the first time. He felt the hand of the woman on his shoulders and she asked him to get up again. She lead Marcus closer to the obvious ruler of this world and started to take off Marcus’ armor. Was his blood for this ancient ork? Marcus’ thoughts felt murky and slow, he still looked down on his own feet and everything happened in total silence. The woman made him stretch out his arm and her knife cut into his skin without any resistance. Marcus watched his red blood float out of the wound and gather in a red ball floating in the air. The Blood mage controlled it without any hand motions and the ball slowly grew. Marcus felt weaker the bigger the ball grew and he started to feel cold, his breath grew unsteady and the old ork said something in his language and the bloodletting stopped. His wound closed seconds later but he still felt weak and drained.
The white faced Blood Mage moved the big red orb closer to the ork man and Marcus watched as suddenly black, murky blood dripped from the large ork’s left arm and Marcus’ blood entered the veins of the ork on the other arm. The process only lasted a minute but Marcus could see a change in the stoic face of the old ork. Was it pain? No, it was the opposite, elation. Marcus had no idea what kind of illness or malady the ork suffered but it must cause him constant pain. A pain that seemed to weaken through a treatment with Marcus’ blood. The woman talked with the large man and Marcus could see tenderness in her eyes. He felt dizzy and seconds later Marcus fell over and blacked out.
