System Break - Chapter 138: The Bear Trap

The Orks acted like they were cornered. They knew that I was hunting them, their numbers were half what they once were and most had died by my hand. When they discovered the three dead jailers – I was nowhere in sight – but they knew it was me.

Their leader, the biggest and ugliest of them all let them argue while the marbles rolled around in his tiny brain. I watched from the top of a four story building as he barked instructions and they marched as a group to the manor. Despite it being one of the few stone buildings I was delighted.

I was over politicians. Weak cowards who hid behind the strength of others and played games with our lives. If the orks killed the mayor I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep and I certainly wouldn’t lift a finger to help him.

After they entered the manor I crept closer. The first thing I noticed was three orks carrying longbows on the flat roof. They longbow orks hadn’t covered themselves in glory but they never had this type of vantage with height before.

I broke into one of the nearby buildings with a pitched roof and once inside found it vacant. Then I made my way to the attic and carefully removed a few roof tiles so I could watch the manor without being seen. I lay down in the darkness, melded with the wood and watched their cores and movements through a couple of cracks I’d made in the tile roof.

After a couple of hours of inaction I set a few traps using items I found around the home. Some string and a bell, a bucket full of utensils behind a door and I covered the stairs in lard. Then I got some rest.

The orks waited for dawn so they could find me easier. They should be oblivious that I had reinforcements coming and I hoped the captain didn’t inform the mayor. I could tell from the number of cores in the manor that the bastard was still alive. He was the sort to place his life above the town he was supposed to serve. But I couldn’t read too much into it, if the orks only kept him alive for information they could kill him once they had it.

The sun rose and I woke. The purple clouds still darkened the sky and it forewarned of more monsters to come.

The three longbow orks lay on the roof out of normal sight. And the rest were gathered near the centre of the manor.

Dark Bear was still running and if he wasn’t so excited, he’d be exhausted. Gisael had just fed him a core and Demon Bird flew above them.

Ailen and the five new adventurers were present but Talila and her guardians were missing. Which was wise because someone had to protect the forest. Kysandre ran beside Gisael who followed Snow. Dark Bear was leading them.

I waited and watched the orks. Several made their way to the roof and looked out over the town. Their leader stayed inside where I suspect they planned their next move.

There were still ferals outside the gate and the three orks who ran from the southern wall ambush were out there somewhere. Demon Bird scouted ahead of Gisael, so I did not ask him to search for them. When the fort came into Dark Bear’s view I moved.

I broke the legs off a round table it was made of thick wood. Then I left from the rear of the house and  made my way onto the street. I stood there confidently in full sight of the manor and I waved.

I used the tabletop like a large shield and readied for an assault. The orks on the roof did not hesitate and sent a few arrows my may. My qi flowed from my hand into the wood and I covered it in a lattice pattern similar to the barriers I’d seen. One line followed the wood and the other ran perpendicular. My qi loved wood and covered it with very little resistance.

The arrows smashed against the tabletop and the power should have cracked it like a dish dropping on a hard floor. But my qi shield worked as intended, and the arrows buckled and broke after the qi inside them disintegrated.

“Weak sauce,” I taunted. But it was true, the orks possessed many qi techniques and none of them were strong.

There was movement inside which I watched carefully while I stood in the middle of the street taunting them.

“Come on you cowardly bitches. I’m all alone. Come and get me.”

They shot three more arrows which I dealt with effortlessly and laughed. My booming laugh echoed up and down the street. More than a few locals peered through cracks in their windows.

I grabbed my crotch and gesticulated in a manner befitting Braveheart.

They spilled out the front door with weapons brandished but the did not charge. They closed ranks and waited for more to spill out. All but the archers on the roof gathered in front of the manor.

One threw the mayors severed head down the street.

I laughed. “I hated that bastard. Thanks.”

The leader barked an order and three Orks ran off to the left and another three to the right. There were fifteen left in the centre and they took a few steps towards me.

I took a step backwards and scanned the entire fort from high above with Demon Bird’s eyes. My friends were close and the orks were predictably trying to catch me in a pincer.

The three runaway orks were watching the fort from a hill and who knows what they were planning. Perhaps they were scared the leader would execute them if they returned to the fold now.

I took a few more steps backward and it emboldened them. They thought I was moving backwards because I was scared. Because I was about to run.

I held up both my arms high above my head and then knelt. A massive dark bear shaped truck jumped over me and a deep guttural growl escaped his mouth.

I stood an enjoyed the looks on their faces. I swear they pissed themselves.

Dark Bear had entered the battle.