Chapter12

In the morning, Kendrik awoke to a loud thumping noise. At first he thought it was someone pounding on the door and jumped up, kryss in hand. He crept to the door, peeking out the little window. No one was there, but in the distance he could see the Orc Fort and a group of orcs out front fighting with each other, almost as if they were sparring. Off to the side, Kendrik could see a man - or at least what he thought was a man � pounding maniacally on the source of the thumping� a set of orcish war drums. He was carrying on with his tune, beating the drums in a frenzied rhythm. It annoyed Kendrik to no end� then he realized the beat of the drums was a war beat. A tune designed to make creatures and beasts of all ilk fight amongst themselves.

Kendrik looked closer at the strange bard. He was ridiculously tall, with bright red-orange hair, obviously dyed by the towns� newest shopkeeper, a hairstylist. He could barely make out the man�s face, but it was clearly not human� in fact, he almost looked orcish!! There were orcs and there were humans� but this man appeared to be a mix of both! He was clad in brownish, torn clothing and barefoot, laughing madly as the orcs he had provoked into a fight were clomping each other soundly.

�What in all Hythloth is going on out there?!� Kendra stumbled sleepily down the stairs, yawning and stretching her arms over her head. �What is that infernal racket?!�

Kendrik chuckled. �Some weird ass bard is out there provoking some orcs into a fight. Look at him� he looks almost like an orc!� Kendrik moved to the side so his sister could view the strange spectacle that was the bard and his angered audience.

�For the love of British�� Kendra muttered. �Never seen that guy before. And thankfully hadn�t heard that dreadful pounding until this morning, either! Ugh!� Kendra paused as she saw a blue portal pulse into view. �Hmm� probably a neighbor with a bone to pick.� She quipped.

�Um� I don�t think that�s what it is at all�� Kendrik replied, staring wide-eyed as a dragon shuffled forth from the gate, followed by its master. The bard stopped pounding, staring much like Kendrik was. The orcs in the fort came pouring out like a nest of ants, clearly upset with the presence of the unwanted visitor. The two siblings watched as the bard changed his tune, shouting out orders left and right to the orcish captains, who in turned passed on the orders to their grunts.

�Flank da tamur!! Nub wurree bowt da dragun!! Git da hummie furst!!� The bard�s new tune was soothing to the ear, a severe contrast to the cacophony he was playing earlier. His mastery of music was clear in his new tune as it confused the dragon. Kendrik felt calmed by the soothing drumbeat and the tune had the same effect on the dragon. Its master had to constantly command it to attack targets as the orcs surged forth to attack the animal tamer.

The orcs� efforts were valiant, but simply weren�t enough to take on a beast of that size. The dragon�s fire breath was roasting grunts left and right, and mauling yet more with its incredibly fast claws. The orcs were panicked by the intensity of the battle, and further confused by the bard�s tunes. They were fighting a losing battle. Soon, most all the orcs lay dead or dying, crippled by the force of the tamer and his beast.

The bard was stunned by the huge losses he had suffered. The orcish captains were swinging axes at the dragon, but it merely shrugged the blows off, chomping them neatly in half with its enormous maw. Kendra winced as she heard metal and bone crunch and snap. The bard chanted some words and a burst of flame rose up, scorching the dragon�s scaled belly.

The dragon roared in pain and snapped its head about in the bard�s direction. The tamer urged his pet by pointing at the bard and crying out, �Devaney, kill!� The dragon growled in response to its master�s command and rushed forward, eager to chomp the thing responsible for its singed tummy.

�Uh oh�� the oddball bard muttered as he turned to run.

�We have to do something, Ken� we can�t just let that tamer and his smelly pet kill him.� Kendra flew up the steps two at a time.

�Errrr� what the heck are we going to do about it?!� Kendrik called up the stairwell.

�I dunno!! Figure something out!� his sister shouted. He could hear her rummaging around her room.

�Wonderful�� Kendrik grumbled to himself. He unlocked the door and opened it, almost getting run over by the panting bard.

�Help Gahrugh, hummie!!� The bard slammed the door shut behind him, bracing his broad back against it.

�Who the hell is Garooog and who the hell are you?!�

�Gahrugh iz Gahrugh, toopid. Now help!!� The dragon�s heavy footsteps could be heard right outside the cabin.
�Rrrrrriiiiiight�� Kendrik gave up trying to make sense of the newcomer, and instead concentrated his efforts on keeping the dragon outside. �Kendra!! We could use a little help down here!!� The dragon started butting its head up against the door, nearly knocking the two men to the floor.