A Monster Life

40 - Between a Rock and a Golem

'We were hired to finish you off since there's no stronger gang than mine.' said the orc. 'I don't know the name but he was a canine, black with some brown in his throat.'

'Your name?' asked Elzbieta.

The orc sighed. 'Grandell.'

She held the tip of her knife in front of his nose and leaned closer. 'I'm sure there's more to tell. Unless you prefer my darling uses his claw instead of this.'

Grandell's eyes went wide. 'He only said the wolf's a failure, something about dominating him! That's all!'

Iphigenia looked at Ulric. 'Domination failure?'

He looked back at her. 'I'm beginning to wonder if my summoning wasn't an accident.'

She nodded. 'Increasing a monster's intelligence far enough might make it easier to handle.'

'Either way, the point is that there's someone actively trying to silence us.' said Elzbieta while staring into the orc's eyes. 'What did you notice about the canine?'

Grandell swallowed. 'Nothing! Really!'

'Darling, he says he'd like you to talk to him.'

Grandell's eyes shot at Ulric, who grated a rock against a claw. 'All right, I think this one's blunt enough to use.'

'No, wait!' said the orc. 'He never said it but I'm sure he's part of a higher demon organisation!'

'And what makes you think so?' asked Elzbieta.

'The money bag. It was marked on the inside with a small symbol that I recognised from the time I worked for a high demon. It's a circle with a flame in it I never learned anything more about it'

'Demetrus had some notes about a group of demons who acted in secrecy. It seemed they had some contacts in different countries and influence with powerful people.' said Valdys. 'They obviously have some talent in hiding if that's all that's known about them.'

Ulric nodded. 'We'll have to be extra careful from now on. This piece of scum proves they operate outside of demon territory.'

'We'll have to come up with some strategies for common situations.' said Iphigenia. 'If we're attacked again we should be ready to defend at once.'

'Indeed.' said Ulric and looked up at the cloudy sky. 'We'll discuss it while we continue our trek. I want to leave this place as far as possible behind us before we take our next rest.'

***

'Are those travellers going to be all right?' asked Ulric when the party went down the hill later.

'We treated their wounds, and they were on their way to a village just a few days from here, so they should be fine with the provisions we gave them and the weapons from the orcs.' said Iphigenia. 'What did you do with that orc?'

Ulric grumbled. 'Stripped him naked and tied his arm and legs around a tree. I smelled the scent of those brown-white striped vicious predators, the ones that attack at the least provocation.'

'Gotgers?' asked Iphigenia and chuckled. 'You have a mean streak.'

'It still feels too quick an end for what he did to others.'

'I can't disagree.' said Iphigenia and stroked his neck softly.

'So, what good fortune brought you to us, Conchim?' asked Ulric.

Her cheeks turned dark purple but she kept her eyes forward. 'There's just something I have to find out and for that I need to join you.'

Ulric tilted his ears. 'You want to join our party?'