Part Twenty-eight
Dale screamed, an enraged and wordless scream that made Duma lift his head and shiver. He drew his whip, but before he could use it Tsuki threw his arms about Dale and put all his weight into keeping him from freeing his arms or moving forward. Dale was physically stronger than Tsuki, as Elves had greater strength than Men of similar build and Dale was marginally larger than Tsuki. He wrestled free, though it was difficult; Tsuki knew how to best use the strength he had and use Dale's own weight against him. Tsuki fell hard to the ground and then, finally free, Dale found he no longer wanted to use the whip on anyone.
Duma, to all observers seemed to be quite frightened. Beryl took his lantern and suggested Gwindor and Galadhiel leave, to continue their watch and to keep the others away. Tsuki was only stunned from the fall, but Dale felt very badly about throwing him down. Beryl was upset about his horse, but more concerned that Dale would be well. He was interested in what Duma would do.
Duma trembled and kept his limbs drawn close, but his eyes looked at Tsuki and then at Dale. It seemed to Beryl that Duma could not understand what had happened between Tsuki and Dale. This was true. Duma did not understand why Tsuki had stopped Dale from punishing him, for it seemed clear to Duma that Dale had meant to punish him and that it must be wrong to eat the horses.
Now Dale was free and he was not trying to punish Duma anymore.
He had never really wanted to. Dale had just been so angry. He was grateful Tsuki had stopped him and sorry he hurt Tsuki. Still, it was not right what Duma had done and it sickened Dale in particular that he had been drinking blood. Dale was not certain how he could make Duma understand.
Duma had lived with Orcs, and so he should respond well to force, but Dale knew that Duma was not only an Orc, and more importantly, Dale himself was not an Orc. "I am an Elf," he whispered. "I am an Elf."
Tsuki stood and swiped dirt from his clothing. He looked toward Duma, his face kept expressionless. Duma seemed like a child to him at the moment.
"I never actually told him not to kill or harm the horses," Dale confessed in Elven, "Just people." He looked toward Tsuki as he took in a deep breath and then turned to face Duma. "I lived among Orcs for more years than you have been alive," he said slowly in the Common Speech, "but I am an Elf. I will not use the whip to punish you if there is any better way to make you learn. I was doing worse than bleeding horses when the Elves found me, and they never used whips to teach me their ways. You cannot act just like an Orc anymore. It is not a matter of right or wrong, it is simply fact that Orcish ways are not well suited for dealings with other peoples and anyone who will not learn to adapt to deal with other peoples is always going to be alone."
Dale took another slow deep breath and watched Duma. He seemed fearful still, waiting for his punishment.
Dale continued, "You are not alone, because I helped to give you life and I have you with me now. Marduk knew that you should be with me. Perhaps he has instructed you to betray me, but I do not care. It is right that you are with me. I am the best one to teach you, because I know the ways of Orcs and of Elves...and because I know that it is not important that you act as others think Orcs or Elves should, but that you act as yourself and as any sort of good person should. Doing wrong is not the way to get what you need to survive or to get what you want to feel content. Being a good person may get you all those things, because any good person, no matter their race, will find a way to deal with others. Dealing with others means not having to do every task necessary for survival on your own. If you show that you are good, there will always be people willing to aid you. That horse belonged to Beryl and now Kato may be deprived of a mount and all our horses will be burdened with more packs. Eating animals is not wrong, but harming and eating animals that do not belong to you is wrong, so you must find a way to repay Beryl and Kato for the wrong you have done them. I think the first order would be to determine if that horse is quite dead...I do not think it is, but I do not believe we could have saved it either."
Beryl and Dale looked to each other as Tsuki and Duma watched them both. There was no obvious communication, but Beryl believed he understood Dale's intentions, after hearing his lecture to Duma. Beryl turned and looked down at Duma, lifting the lantern over the horse. "Toying with prey is a trait of Orcs that good people find offensive," Beryl said, "Kill it now, to end its suffering, and then I will have more work for you."
Duma was not sure how to kill the horse. He had thought cutting the animal's neck would be enough, but it was still breathing a little and looking at him with that one rolling dark eye.
"You understand. Why have you not killed my horse? It is suffering."
Duma looked up at Beryl fearfully.
"You should not wound animals in such a manner if you are not prepared for the consequences," Dale said firmly.
"Kill it."
"I do not know how." Duma spoke Common Speech quite clearly, and though he had no accent that marked him as coming from a particular settlement or Elven House, there was a specific timbre to his voice that any Orc would recognize as Elven.
"Then, Duma, what does a good person do when they do not know how to do what they must do?" Beryl prompted.
Duma shook his head.
"May I give him a hint?" Tsuki asked.
Dale nodded.
Tsuki leaned forward, as if speaking to Duma alone, though it was obvious the two elves could hear him. "Sometimes people do not offer help, but they would be willing to give it to someone who asked."
"I ask for help?"
"Are you?" Beryl asked.
"I ask you to help me know how to kill your horse," Duma said softly.
"I will show you how," Beryl said, "and if you need to kill an animal some other time, you will do it as cleanly." Beryl drew his sword, put down the lantern, pushed Duma gently aside and swung the sword down on his horse's neck with a force great enough to sever the spine.
Duma sat on the ground blinking slowly as he looked at Beryl. He was certain he did not want Green-cloak angry with him again.
"Now, Duma," Beryl said as he straightened, "You will wash my sword, dry it, return it to me, tie up this carcass and head, drain the blood, skin them, remove the mane and tail separately, butcher the carcass into various cuts of meat, build a fire and spit, cook the meat, clean the bones, and devise some means of transporting the skin, meat and bones when we strike camp. I do not know that many of the innards will be useful, so if you find no use for the rest, take it some distance from our camp and put it on the ground for wild animals to feed on." Beryl held out his sword and waited.
"If you do not know how to do one of the tasks Beryl demands, you know what to do," Dale said, "These tasks will be your way of beginning to repay us all for depriving our party of a horse."
Duma stood, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, which made Dale cringe, and took beryl's sword. "Will I need tools?" Duma asked.
"What do you think?" Dale asked, voice on edge of agitation.
Duma stood and thought, for at least a minute. "I work in the furnace. I make hot fires and tend them. I melt things. I work with small metal, stone and sometimes glass. I do not butcher and skin."
Dale sighed. "It is well you have skills and know them, but taking a life is a serious thing, and even if Beryl helped, you ultimately caused the horse to lose its life. Not it is your responsibility to see its death is not in vain and that the carcass does not go to waste. I do not care if you made the most fashionable pet collars or how long you tended the fires that hurt other Orc's eyes. You do not have to make butchering your career, but tonight you will deal with this carcass as Beryl has explained or I will decide that you are not capable of learning except when I use a whip!"
Duma thought some more. "Are there tools involved?"
Dale sighed again. Duma had not spoken for so long, and now Dale almost wished he would stop, his tone was so...flippant.
"We will provide tools if you need them, but you will have to do the work, as Dale and Beryl said," Tsuki offered. "You will need a cloth to dry the sword and then rope to tie up this carcass. I believe you have a sharp knife. If you get that far and do not know what to do, you may ask me for help. When I was young we killed and butchered large game sometimes, when parties went out to hunt for a village, I believe I remember the principles of the process."
"He means he knows how to skin and butcher large animals. Tsuki is a Wizard...of sorts and sometimes lapses into Wizard Speech."
"We might say I am an apprentice Wizard."
"We might say that," Dale agreed.
"I do not have a cloth."
"What does a good person do when they lack something they require and that others may have?" Beryl prompted.
"I need a cloth?"
Beryl shook his head. "You say, 'Beryl, if it please you, would you tell me if you know of a cloth I might use to clean your sword, for a lack such an item and require it.'"
"Beryl, if it please you, would you tell me if you know of a cloth I might use to clean your sword, for I lack such an item and require it."
Beryl grinned and glanced at Dale. He was quite proud of having gotten Duma to speak such a long sentence. He had almost sounded polite. He switched his gaze toward Duma. "Why yes, I possess such a cloth and would happily lend it to you, provided you use it well and return it in similar condition. I will fetch it. And please let me know if you need any other tools. I have no wish to delay your chores."
"I need some rope, and I think...some wood. If you please...do you have those things?"
Beryl laughed, his back already to Duma. "I will bring some rope. You will have to get wood for yourself."
Duma stood thinking again and then remembered he should begin his tasks before he worried about the ones later to come, so he went to wash the blood from Beryl's sword. That was easy enough. Duma had already learned today that water cleaned many things.
Beryl was waiting with a cloth and coil of rope when Duma finished washing the sword blade. Duma dried the sword and then returned it. He accepted the rope and then looked toward the carcass in the pool of lantern light and blood. The other horses had been moved. Duma saw Dale and Tsuki standing near the other horses and he went to them.
"Yes?" Dale asked as Duma approached.
"Is felling trees offensive and wrong to someone here?"
"It depends how you go about it."
"We have exhausted the dead wood in the area I think. There are not very many trees here," Tsuki told Dale.
"I will show you the right way to fell trees. Orcs seldom go about it the right way and they only earn enemies for it. Tsuki owns a small ax. You can ask to borrow it."
Duma made a clacking sound with the metal stud in his tongue against his upper teeth. "Tsuki, if you please, may I borrow your small ax, for I lack a tool that will fell trees or split wood and I require one to complete my chores."
"You may borrow it, though I imagine Dale could have shown you how to make a stone-bladed ax."
Dale groaned. "True, but I did not kill someone's horse today, so I should not have to do extra chores. It takes a long time to make a proper ax head from stone and since you have an ax already made, I ask that you get it before I loose my mind."
"I was going to, I only wished to point out that it is not absolutely true that Duma needs my ax, only more efficient and faster to ask for help than to have to sit making an ax from stone, wood and lashing while the carcass sits. It is the benefit of being social: finding life is easier when you do not have to accomplish everything alone."
Dale laughed, though there was little humor in it. "I know where the ax is. Perhaps I could go get it while you explain your mechanical advantage to Duma and advise him how to accomplish stringing up a horse carcass alone."
Tsuki shrugged and looked to Duma. "How would you go about hanging something as heavy as a horse?"
"Call for bigger Orcs?"
Tsuki laughed.
Duma laughed.
"The trick is not to try to lift the weight of the horse on your own, but devise a mechanism for lifting the weight that only needs your own strength put into it to accomplish the task."
Duma stood blinking.
"Come with me. I will make a drawing to shw you."
The rest of the party was awake, but still within their beds for the most part, when Tsuki led Duma to the fire. There were some traces of blood on Duma's face and on his shirt and Gwindor and Galadhiel had informed the others what he had done. Dale was nearby, putting things back into Tsuki's saddlebags, which he had removed to reach the ax.
Tsuki paid the others no mind and went to take a burnt stick from the fire. Nearby there was a rather flat outcropping of rock, which they had made their fire near, so that the surface could be used for preparing food. Tsuki began drawing lines on the rock with the charred end of the stick. He made some sketches of trees and some primitive stick figures and some other lines to show position of rope and angles.
"You see, if you go up into the tree and try to lift the carcass up to you, you are pulling against the natural forces that cause all things to fall, it would be the same if you tried to lift the carcass over your head from below, only then there would be no one to tie off the rope. In this example, you put the rope over a thick branch first, and use some cloth or piece of leather to make the surface more smooth. This reduces dragging and needs less force to work. Then you attach one end to the carcass so…and you pull the other end of the rope in this direction, using your own strength and weight with the natural force, against only the weight of the carcass…and it should be lifted more easily. There are further devices that could make the work easier, but this is the simplest method and should be tried before others."
Duma cocked his head, made a clacking sound and studied the drawings. "This means me?"
Lenaduiniel gasped softly and some of the others took more notice, as they had not heard Duma speak before.
"Yes, it is a schematic. This represents what would be done out there, with a real tree and rope and so on…"
"Sounds like…war machines Wizards tell some Orcs to make."
"It is a plan for a machine of sorts," Tsuki admitted, "I trained with a Wizard. The one who was previous to the war The White and lived in the Wizard's Vale, I live with him. More recently I have studied with The Brown."
Duma had been spawned in the wild and later found by other Orcs. He had never gone to Wizards who called for Orcs to serve them. Even Wizard's who had promised meat and other gifts. But most of the time, Duma had been kept by stronger Orcs and they had not let him decide whether he would go or stay, but ordered him to remain working in the bright, hot cave where fires and furnaces burned.
Only sometimes his Master had sent for him to play or taken him to their breeding pits deep in the mines, but no matter what they did to him, Duma could never make the thicker stuff come from him. He was not like other Orcs. His Master had said the new Westerners were like that, never the lucky ones…and so many newly spawned Orcs were resembling them. Master had tried to keep his pets and females away from the Westerners, but when Marduk had offered support in the battle against the other Chieftains, Duma's master had not very well been able to refuse joining forces with the Westerner.
Marduk had offered because of Duma. His band had come down to the hot room with treasures and inquired whether they were of any use to Orcs. The Master of the Forge had told them only Elf-Scream cared to work with jewels and soft metal, such things were no good for weapons, and only good for decorating pets if one was Elvish enough to want such a thing.
Marduk had seen him, in the light, before his name had been Duma, and he had grinned and given Duma all the treasures and asked the Master of the Forge who was the master of Elf-Scream. "I will have work for you," Marduk had said, "But you will not mind, because I give you pretty things to work with and it will mean being free of your master."
Duma had not known until they had left the mines that Marduk believed him the spawn of his enemy Death-Shadow. Marduk had said he would find some opportunity to send Duma to Death-Shadow. He said Duma should learn about their enemy and bring back information if he was able.
It seemed important that Tsuki had studied with two different Wizards and that neither was the ones working in the north that had made Orcs sick, and whom Duma had heard of from other Orcs. Marduk did not even know Tsuki's name, he said he was Death-Shadow's pet, but Duma had only seen Tsuki and Dale behave as equals.
Duma wondered what he should do. Marduk had not just sent Duma to Dale, like he had suggested, but traded him for Ugarit. It seemed a fair trade, so Duma should belong to Dale. And apart from that, Duma did believe Dale had lived among Orcs for many years and that he had been strong enough to become a Chieftain. He also believed that Dale had spawned him. Duma had seen his reflection in shining things and he knew he looked strange for an Orc. He knew he looked very much like Dale. They had the same eyes.
If Dale had spawned him and won him back from other Orcs fairly, then maybe Duma should not do what Marduk asked. But perhaps Duma belonged with Orcs and Dale hunted them like some Orcs said and Duma should try to leave Dale.
The ranks in this band were difficult to understand. Whip lashes were kind compared to this terrible list of chores they expected Duma to do. Even with some tools and advice, the tasks seemed impossible, and Duma was quite accustomed to whip lashes.
Now he was supposed to climb trees like an Elf and do the work of a butcher. He did not even like the smell of the dead horse. He had just…felt hungry and not known how to get more food. This band of Elves, Men and Halfling kept everything so carefully secreted away. Duma was not sure if certain things should be considered their personal property or belonging to the band.
They seemed rather fixated on admitting weakness and need and asking for assistance. Orcs did not ask, weak or strong, they attempted to take and either succeeded or failed. Here people asked for what they wanted, and so far, Duma had not noticed any firm denials. At times they suggested an alternative or promised a partial favor or a favor at a later time, but they did not deny each other what they wanted.
Duma wondered if they ever asked for things that others were absolutely not willing to give. There was a lot Duma did not understand about asking for help and being good. He only partly understood all the things Dale had said about being good in order to get what you wanted.
Perhaps a request that was considered good was never refused if it was in their ability to give it, and only bad requests were denied.
How was one to know what a bad request was except by asking and being refused?
Duma clacked the stud through his tongue against his teeth as Dale called to him and reminded him the carcass was still on the ground where insects and animals could reach it. Dale had not mentioned that part before, Duma thought. They had not made it clear the purpose for tying up was keeping the meat free of infestation. They had not said his chores should be accomplished within a set time. Orcs would have made their demands very clear and probably repeat themselves very many times and loudly.
"I need this no-dragger thing," Duma said pointing at the drawing. "If you please, can anyone tell me what might be used to make it?"
Dale sighed. "If any of you feel inclined to show him kindness, you may help, but Duma should do as much of the work and the thinking involved as he is able, because it is his punishment for depriving us of a mount."
"I appreciate that Duma is working off a debt," Gwindor said, "But the longer we take, the more time for other parties to track us."
Duma knew he meant Orcs. Duma did not know if they were tracking, but he supposed they might be."
"Our fire has been obvious enough. Marduk was half bluffing. He will come after us, but not until he gives his spy a chance to collect information. Besides, Laurel and Tsuki did a protection spell and I for one am not going to knowing work against it by doubting the possibility that it is working right now."
"I am quite fond of Laurel and Tsuki both, but is it not true that…" Lenaduiniel stopped, "Well I just wish I understood better how it worked."
"What does he mean by 'no-dragger'?" Kato asked, "If it means I get back to sleep I would give him this thing if I have it."
Duma watched the others speaking. This was familiar to him. This discussion in which many presented their opinions was how Orcs of similar rank negotiated what should be done. It had seemed for a moment that Dale held power, because he had given permission for them to help, but Duma realized afterward that Dale was only claiming authority over Duma's treatment, not the group in general. They still avoided speaking of the purpose of their journey in Duma's presence.
"In place of a proper pulley, I described to Duma how to reduce friction between the rope and branch by placing some agent between the two…"
"What does that all mean in Common Speech?" Kato asked.
"The no-dragger may be a piece of cloth or leather. It is something that reduces dragging between rope and branch."
"Could thou not strip the bark to make the surface smooth?" Fei asked.
"Trees need their bark!"
"You cannot just strip the bark!"
Dale desperately looked to the female Elves. "I suppose this a bad time to announce that we next plan to fell a tree."
"Fell a tree?"
Beryl went to Gwindor and patted his arm. "It is all right, Dale is going to show him the respectful way to do it. We need the wood."
"Duma," Tsuki said quietly, "Have you seen us use anything that is made of leather and which is smooth on the top and which could be attached to the top of some other object, at least a wide as a large branch?"
Duma knew Tsuki was trying to give him a hint. He was trying to help Duma do his work. And before, he had stopped Dale from whipping him. Duma was not sure if Tsuki was more kind or cruel. Tsuki seemed very smart. Smart Orcs lived as long as Strong Orcs, sometimes longer, as they were not ordered first into battle. Duma had survived by being smart. He was not very large and larger Orcs had used him as they wished, but they had also kept Duma fed, because he knew very well how to tend the forge fires, repair small tools and weapons, do piercings and other tasks that demanded intelligence and dexterity.
"A saddle?"
"A saddle might work, and there is now one Kato will not need, unless he finds another horse. It is there." Tsuki pointed to the packs. "You can go get it. Kato does not need it now. Hurry. We will probably be safe here for a while longer, but it would be better if we did not cause any more delays than absolutely necessary."
Duma wondered if Marduk would be happy this group was delayed or if he was waiting. Duma had learned nothing of this band's mission. They were more concerned with teaching him to smell nice.
Duma went and got the saddle. He left the firelight and went back to the horse carcass. Tsuki followed. Tsuki believed that Dale was probably correct in guessing that Orc, Marduk, was smart enough to have recognized Duma and make a plan to set him as his spy. Duma was Dale's, so their only decent option was to keep him with their party and to do their very best to teach him by their words and actions that he could trust them and did not have to betray them. And just in case he did not learn, they must be careful what the said around him.
Fortunately, no one but Kato and Galadhiel seemed to know their destination, and Tsuki now suspected Galadhiel was the decoy.
Duma climbed up into the largest tree with the coil of rope and saddle. He had never climbed trees before, and was afraid he might fall. He did manage, with much wobbling, to fix the saddle in a bough and then to feed the rope down over each side.
Duma climbed down carefully and then set about tying the rear legs of the horse's carcass to one end of the rope. Tsuki gave approving nods, or shook his head slightly when the lashing looked unstable. Tsuki suggested not to stop and go often but to try to pull on the rope steadily, as a jerking motion might simply dislocate the legs. Duma tried to lift the weight, but he could not get the carcass of the ground, even hanging on the rope.
"Try holding the very end of the rope and walking off in that direction," Tsuki suggested after watching for some time.
When Duma tried again, the carcass rose higher, but Duma was struggling. Tsuki bade him lower the carcass momentarily and then made some adjustments, climbing into another tree himself to wind the rope around its trunk and then returning to the ground and instructing Duma to pull in the opposite direction.
"What are they doing?" Beryl wondered aloud. He could see Tsuki and Duma moving, though not very clearly, as there was only a lantern near them and Beryl was in firelight.
"Who knows," Dale sighed as he rested on Gwindor's unused bedroll. Gwindor and Galadhiel were nearby, with their swords drawn and backs to the fire. "Tsuki will not be stopped from helping him now. He gets so excited by Wizardry and his machinery. Perhaps he misses the fort. I think I am beginning to miss it. The cabin felt like having a home, though it was in a way only a place for soldiers to be assigned to work and sleep. We had plants inside and a garden and Tsuki had helped make Cal a wheel driven by pedal and belt to spin his clay and he had made himself a lathe based on similar principles…of course we understood that we were Rangers and that Rangers leave their forts to help those in need and to patrol areas that seem unsecured…but escort duty has a way of feeling unfulfilling."
"You do not enjoy or find satisfaction in keeping others safe?"
"It is not that…exactly. I suppose it can be satisfying. Rangers should keep other citizens safe if they need protection, and everyone here does something to help, even if they are not very good in a fight."
"Brave, if I am to believe Fei's chronicles."
Dale laughed. "Yes, brave, every one of us, but not equally skilled. Perhaps it is not the type of duty. This has just been a very strange mission and though we seem able to survive in the wild, I do not know that I enjoy doing so. When we started out, I had an idea we would be seeing a lot more taverns, but so far, even when we came to settlements, I have not visited one."
"The common room of an inn is often more interesting to me than a tavern. It is more likely I can get myself hired as entertainment, fights seem less likely to break out, and the food is often better. Taverns are only good for rather specific purposes, and you can smoke, drink, dance and find good company at an inn, if you do so with care."
"None of that is mainly what I did at taverns."
"Perhaps in the future we will come to the point where we visit such an establishment, and then you will find out if you really need to be there."
"I suppose I will."
"There is no level of companionship that I want for and cannot find from someone in this party. I know I was not given any mission, but for now, my path is the same as yours. I think it is the same for the others. For Lenaduiniel, and Laurel and Fei. They do not have to remain with us, but they have chosen to do so."
"I suppose it has worked out well enough. Though, I do not know what we will do with one less horse. Kato often rode with you, but his horse still carried packs. Now we will all be more burdened."
"It will all go well enough," Beryl assured Dale. We will devise some way to redistribute the packs. We are not traveling that heavily and some have fewer personal belongings and would not be burdened with carrying more of our shared supplies. If absolutely necessary, we can rid ourselves of a few items."
"It just seems we packed so carefully when leaving your house."
"Everything is useful, but that does not mean carrying the things is more important than survival. A person should be willing and able to carry what they wish to save on their back. The good event to come of this, is that Tsuki's horse which was injured has had ample time to rest. I believe I can re-shoe Moon-halo. I packed a few shoes of various size and nails and hammer. Heavy, but very useful when traveling with horses. We retained the shoe he through, but it was warped."
"Dale, time to show Duma how to fell a tree," Tsuki called.
"Have they actually managed to get that entire carcass off the ground?" Beryl asked.
Dale looked out into the night. It seemed to have gotten quite misty and the stars and moon were shrouded, but the fire and lantern gave off enough light for Dale to see. "They have. Took long enough."
"If we were most concerned about the meat we would have all helped. Do you think he is learning yet?"
"Not certain," Dale answered, "we can only hope he does,
or he will betray us."