The Missing Dragon Ch. 05

"At least that's something to look forward to then."

"Damn straight. I'm all about dishing out good incentives." She then highlighted this point by lifting her hand to salaciously suck her index finger between her lips. The slow movement was accompanied with a soft moan, and he instantly recalled how good those lips could feel.

"You know it's not all that easy to fight with a raging boner, right?" He lofted a brow at her actions.

"It's been my experience that you always do your very best work with a raging boner," she playfully nudged him with her hip and they both managed a laugh, though it was subdued by frayed nerves.

As their laughter died down, the entrance to the proving grounds came into view in the distance; looming with the promise of battle and possible grievous injury. It was a simple black arch, forged of orcish metal, and a reminder to all who passed beneath it of what they were about to undertake. Greg let out a long breath to try and silence the little voice in his head shouting: "Run, you idiot!" Deep breathing also helped quite a bit in avoiding the anxiety puke that had been quietly brewing in his stomach since he'd stepped out of the camp.

"Ok then, we're here." He tried to sound determined, but his voice came out a little bit higher in pitch than he'd have liked it to.

"Hey! You know I love you, right?" She reached up to take his face in her hands and guide his attention towards her rather than the ominous test that lay ahead of him. "I mean, I've never known anyone like you. I don't know anyone who could even try to do something this crazy. But you? It's not just that you're going up against a bunch of very dangerous green giants because you think it's the right thing to do. It's that I really do think you've got a pretty good chance of going up against a bunch of very dangerous green giants... and beating the living shit out of them."

That brought a fresh smile to his face, and it relieved some of the invisible weight that had begun pressing down on him.

"Ok, you've got to go," She slipped her hand around his head and pulled him into a firm kiss that went a long way to lifting quite a bit more of that weight. "Before you do... if you do get in trouble in there? Don't get scared. Get angry."

"Greg smash." He nodded. "Got it."

"Now go kick some ass." She stepped back and gave him a firm pat on the behind.

"Yes ma'am." He nodded with a little salute. "And thanks, Jan."

With that, he turned and jogged off to the entrance of the provings with a final wave back to her before disappearing beneath the black arch.

"He is ready."

Janette turned around when the familiar voice sounded off behind her, and she saw Algra striding up to her side. The orc had evidently been following throughout their walk.

"I thought you were sleeping in this morning?" Janette smiled, knowing full well that Algra wasn't about to spend the morning in bed when Gregory was in the provings.

Algra glanced to her out of the corner of her eye and the corners of her lips turned upward. She didn't offer any explanation of the matter. The two women had grown close enough in their time together that speaking of such things was no longer necessary.

"You should have come with us," Janette added after a moment. "He needs all our support."

"He has our support. He knows this. Now, in hours before battle starts, he steels his mind to the fear. Fear is normal in war; but it takes hold of many all the same. A warrior must spend the hours before a fight holding off that fear. For this, he needed you."

"Yeah? Because I'm such a freakin' inspirational bastion of badassery?" Janette rolled her eyes.

"No, because best way to hold off fear in battle is to think of what is being fought for. He fights for his home, and you are the closest thing he has to that. You are also good in talking. Me?" She gave one of her characteristic dismissive grunts as if to highlight the point that she probably wasn't suited to be giving pep talks.

"Huh, well thanks, I guess. Let's go find some seats then." She stepped up beside Algra and smoothly linked arms with her, which the orc allowed without question. "I'll buy the popcorn."

"What is-"

"Never mind."

- - - - -

"Hey guys," Gregory greeted his pack, who had already arrived at the proving grounds with one exception. "Where's Nullik?"

"I'm here! I'm here!" Nullik hopped into the training area whilst still evidently putting on the basic armour that the pups wore.

"Where have you been?" Ulf asked him.

"I may have gotten access to Ulag's private ale stores last night. I could have overindulged a little. It's possible that I woke up in a drinking trough this morning and spent the better part of two hours looking for someone to sell me a decent hangover cure. Where the hell was your White Woman, Greg? I had to go to the medicine huts and pay through the fucking nose."

"It's her day off." Greg tried to sound as passive as possible before turning to Ulf. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, Alpha."

"You've earned some respect, Gregory Hopkins. Nullik struggles with that concept." Ulf grunted before shaking his head when Nullik offered a rude gesture in reply.

"What's this!?" Ulag's voice boomed out signalling his approach to where The Runts were waiting. "Where in all the dark realms have you idiots been? And why, by the First, is this thing still with you?" He pointed angrily at Gregory.

Ulf stood up with a respectful salute to the proving master, and the rest of the pack immediately fell in line and did the same. Gregory felt a tinge of anger rising in his chest whilst he offered his salute, but subdued it to focus on the pack instead.

"Master, we have taken leave whilst one of our pack recovered from injury. Since we could not field a full pack, we have not reported to the provings for any challenges. We have continued our training under a proven warrior, and she may vouch for our ability to fight this day. All of us." Ulf stressed those last three words whilst his eyes shifted to meet those of the larger and older orc.

"Oh? And who would you wretches have found to waste their time trying to train you into something of any worth?" Ulag marched down the line with a nasty sneer on his face.

"Algra Strongblood, master." Ulf called out the name and the noise of several other packs who were training nearby fell silent.

The mention of that name stopped Ulag in his tracks, and he turned to round his attention on Gregory. The sneer shifted into a snarl of frustration. Algra's reputation was well known, and as the War Chief's niece an open challenge to her could be seen as a challenge on Grolfir himself. It seemed that for a few moments Ulag tried to burn Gregory off the face of the earth with the power of his gaze alone, until he finally growled and rounded his attention on their new weapons.

"What's this foolishness?" he asked.

"We aim to try something different if given the honour of a proving, master. These are our chosen weapons. None have a sharp edge or point, and cannot crack iron."

"A shield!?" Ulag stopped when he saw the circular shield that Wrut carried. "This is a coward's weapon. I wouldn't have thought you of all people would want to wield such a thing."

Though it was clear the proving master was trying to get a rise out of the one armed orc, Wrut didn't move and continued to stay in a rigid stance whilst keeping his eyes focused into the middle distance.

"I have learned to accept what I am, master. It is good to make such peace, and know one's limitations."

Ulag spat on the ground to show what he thought of Wrut's limitations and then stepped back to look over each of them.

"Very well. If you want a proving? You have one. Rolk!" he yelled for the Berserker alpha.

Nothing happened.

"Rolk!?" Ulag turned around and scoured the training field with his gaze. "Where the bloody hell are The Berserkers?"

"They're with the healers, master." Nullik happily filled in.

"What the hell are they doing with the healers?" Ulag's right eye twitched with rage.

"Er... well I'm not rightly sure, master," Nullik hesitated. "I heard that they ran afoul of Dregolf and his war-pack yesterday. Don't worry, master. Last I saw, the healers were doing a good job of putting them back together. All the broken bones were set and I was told that Rolk's face looked a lot less like an inflated sheep's bladder than when he'd first been brought there."

For a brief moment after that it seemed like the Runts' first proving match of their return might have been against their proving master. At one point Gregory was pretty sure that steam was going to start whistling out of Ulag's ears on being informed his favourites had been injured without him being alerted to it.

"Bear Claws!" Ulag finally yelled.

Immediately, a group of seven orcs ran through the training grounds to present themselves in a similar line to that which the Runts had formed.

Gregory glanced over to them and what he saw was not encouraging. They weren't collectively as big as the Berserkers but they still looked like a bunch of over-enthusiastic Olympians with psychotic tendencies.

"Put these idiots back in their place! Proving begins at my signal." Ulag yelled before looking over the runts dismissively. "Shouldn't last long."

The other orcs gave a collective howl of approval and then began to file out of the training area towards the seating around the proving pits.

As soon as the proving master had stormed off, the Runts gave a collective breath of relief before looking to each other warily.

"Alright guys, time to skin some bears." Gregory said.

They all looked at him in horror.

"Not fucking literally! Jeez! I mean it's time to put all this work we've been doing into practice. I reckon we should run the falcon on them. What do you think?" he asked Ulf.

"The falcon? Do you not think that the turtle might be better suited to holding off their attack?" Ulf asked.

"Probably, but if we let that lot charge us down properly then we're going to be in trouble. Besides, we only get one chance to show off our secret weapons before everyone clues in on them."

"I don't know..." Ulf looked around at his other pack mates to check their thoughts on the matter.

"Gregory speaks truth," Wrut noted.

"I like hitting better than I like blocking," Frun agreed.

"I always liked the falcon," Frelki added.

"Shit, worst comes to the worst then those healers looked like they had some really comfy beds over there, and after all this training I could use some shut eye. Why not?" Nullik grinned.

Ulf nodded his agreement and then looked back to Gregory.

"Falcon it is then," he clashed his baton against his shield to signal them to start moving out.

- - - - -

As they walked down into the proving pit, Gregory wished that he'd had some time that morning to warm up his skills properly. He started hopping on the spot until Frun noticed and gave him a concerned look as if he might be losing his mind. Not wanting to worry anyone, he stopped and offered Frun what he hoped was an encouraging nod.

Many orcs began to pile into the seating area around the pit. The pups were the first to take their seats, but it seemed that when it got around that the human was fighting again more curious orcs started appearing to watch. They weren't exactly supportive in their curiosity, and seemed to want to watch him get pulverized again. He heard a few jeers and shouts from the crowd. They were definitely annoying, and that frustration ignited a familiar flame of anger in his chest. The sensation was oddly comforting, and for the first time that morning he felt the desire to hurt something start rising up to challenge that little voice telling him to run for his life.

It didn't take much searching before he saw the familiar red hair belonging to Janette amongst the collection of green bodies. She gave him a little wave when he looked at her, and he felt a flush of calming heat run through him when he spotted Algra seated at her side. Strangely enough, it seemed the area around the pair of them was very quiet as no one seemed to want to insult the human within reach of his mate.

"Gregory, are you ready?" Ulf brought his attention back to the pit.

"Yeah. I'll hold with Frun and Wrut. You settle behind us until we've taken the first charge."

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, I'm the one with the shield. Just get ready to bite back, ok?"

"As you wish." Ulf nodded.

They both ran to take up their positions in a simple line facing their opponents in the centre of the pit. Gregory couldn't help but take a glance at his shield. It would not have been a good time to spot a crack in the hardened, weaved wood. With a blink, he cast that thought out of his head and focused on the orc opposite him before lifting his shield to lock it in beside Wrut's larger one.

Their order had been planned as part of their falcon tactic. Nullik and Frelki stood at each end of the line, Wrut and Frun took the middle with Gregory and Ulf filling the gaps on each side of them. Since the Runts were only fielding the minimum of six warriors, the Bear Claws had placed one of their number aside to watch from the seats to keep things even. It came as a relief to know that they wouldn't be starting off outnumbered.

The Bear Claws focused on a more traditional orcish opening stance of screaming war cry's and working each other up into enraged frenzies for their inevitable charge.

"You know, when only one side of the fight is doing that shit they kind of look like idiots," Nullik murmured to the rest of his pack.

Ulag saw the smiles spread across the faces of the Runts, and the sight brought a snarl across his own features. Without any of the traditional build-up or ceremony, he raised his arm and brought it down to signal the start of the fight. Then he slumped back in the chair of the proving master and settled in to watch another steam-rolling in the making.

As soon as the signal was given, the Bear Claws charged with their clubs held high and fresh war cries urging them on.

Ulf watched them close in, and when they had covered half the ground between them he yelled out his first command.

"Break!"

The centre three of Frun, Wrut, and Gregory immediately tightened ranks and began a controlled march toward the charging pack. Ulf stepped back behind them. Nullik and Frelki both bolted out toward the flanks of the field, away from the core group.

The Bear Claws saw the movement, and each seemed to narrow their focus onto the tightly aligned three in the centre that seemingly protected their alpha. The weak duo of Frelki and Nullik weren't considered threats, and so none of the pack broke off to pursue them.

"Ready, guys!?" Gregory yelled out with false bravado as he stared down the oncoming charge. "Now!"

The three defenders in the centre waited until the Bear Claws were almost upon them before breaking into a run to meet their momentum. Gregory lifted his shield and ducked his head behind it before leaning everything he had into the push. The clash hit like the meeting of two out of control freight trains. In that moment, Gregory was glad for every fall, every push, every bruise and cut he'd taken in training. Without the strength it had given him he'd have very likely almost torn his shield-arm off at the shoulder from the impact.

Three of The Bear Claws had all tried to strike him down at once, but his shield had given him enough protection to hold off the frontal attacks of the chargers. Wrut immediately shifted the edge of his shield directly into the chin of one of those attackers. Another had tried to slip around Gregory's shield to attack his side, but had instead found himself almost nose-to-nose with a very angry Ulf instead.

Yet it was Frun who had bought them the initial time they needed. Rather than thrusting his modified halberd at one of the Bear Claws, he had shifted it off to the side at the last moment before sweeping the heavy end of the long weapon across the Bear Claw's charging line. He'd timed the attack perfectly to land a devastating blow on the flank of one of his attackers that had spun the Bear Claw off balance to crash into the side of his pack mates at full speed. The manoeuvre successfully sent the entire pack off balance and took quite a bit of momentum out of their charge.

After the charge, Gregory swung his weapon over the top of his shield for it to connect hard with the shoulder of the orc he was facing down. The melee broke out immediately, with little time for him to collect himself. His shield arm felt numb from taking the impact of the attack, and they were immediately outnumbered by the Bear Claws, leaving him giving ground and trying to hold off the attacks of three opponents at once.

Ulf and Wrut did a great deal to help even the odds. The attacker who had tried to outflank Gregory still stubbornly seemed to insist on trying to put the human down rather than concentrate on Ulf. Ulf seemed to take this as an insult, and every time the Bear Claw tried to turn to hit Gregory he found Ulf's two bats smashing against his joints. This resulted in The Runts taking the first victory of the match when the enemy saw Gregory expose the back of his head and shifted to aim a swing of his club at it. Ulf's bats connected neatly with the back of his knee before thrusting up together on the tip of his chin. The Bear Claw missed the swing entirely and almost hit his pack mate before spinning around completely and then falling on his face.

Knowing that he was now not likely to get his ribs cracked from the side, Gregory lowered his shield a little and aimed several more strikes at his own opponent before offering a feint and delivering a hard kick to the inside of the orc's leg. Realigning himself, he shoved all his weight behind his shield again and smashed into his opponent's chest like a battering ram. The Bear Claw stumbled backwards, finding his knee wasn't as stable after that kick. It gave Gregory some space to return Wrut's favour of giving him some additional protection by smashing his bat into the side of Wrut's opponent, the Bear Claw alpha.

Frun was not faring as well. After his brilliant initial strike, he had a much more difficult time of facing down his own opponents without a shield to aid him. Wrut tried to assist him, but Frun struggled with getting the proper distance between him and the enemy to use his halberd properly. He'd taken several body blows, and one to the face that left his lip swollen and bleeding. Though he was moments away from falling, he gave his opponents a bloody grin.

This was because Nullik and Frelki had finished encircling the Bear Claws, and had leapt into the fray from the rear. Nullik announced his presence to two of Frun's opponents by flying feet first through the air and swiftly using both of them to deliver two hard kicks to the sides of their heads. He followed through this attack by launching the end of his staff directly into the face of the third of attacker and spinning gracefully to land at his friend's side.

As the one who had taken a staff thrust to the face stumbled backward, he found Frelki's long leg to sweep his feet from beneath him. She then leapt up to thrust her own staff under the favoured arm of the Bear Claw pack alpha to plant it hard in his armpit. With a second of their number now fallen, and half of the pack stunned, the Bear Claws were forced onto the defensive.

It didn't matter. Gregory and Ulf easily swept around to remove the orc who had taken it as his duty to put the human in the dirt. Nullik and Frelki attacked from both sides, making two of their opponents forget that they hadn't actually put Frun down. He stood up and lifted his halberd to deliver another crushing sweep of the weapon that took both of their opponents out of the game entirely.