The Emerald King

Kulg fell to the floor as his consciousness snapped back to his body, the echo from the landing bouncing off the stone walls of the barracks. Kulg could feel a tingle in his skin from the heat of the fire golem that exploded. He never knew that he could come to harm while projecting himself into one of the emeralds. Yet here he sat, his skin prickled and skin ever so lightly singed.

It looks like that one might be trouble, Ver’s voice rang in his mind.

Yes… Kulg thought back. What’s worse is my sister is working with that wrinkled pig. My own sister.

It is unfortunate, Kulg. But that is why I am helping you. The other orc clans have been brainwashed by these humans. That is why we use their own weapons against them.

Kulg looked to the twenty mages lined up by the far wall, eyes glowing a hazy light blue from the power Kulg imbued them with. When he had taken over their minds they hadn’t put up much of a fight, very unlike the old man he had just encountered. It was clear that they had seen very little battle in their young lives and lacked much experience.

I may have control of the pigs now, but will they be enough? We know the tiger spirit has been watching us. We know the other clans are coming.

Cease your worry, Kulg. Ver said, his voice now carrying a commanding tone. It matters not whether the pigs can win or not. You have your own warriors hiding in wait if they fail, and if they fail, then you will be more than enough. The emeralds will take care of everything in the end. Just have faith in our power.

You’re right, Kulg said feeling the power of the emeralds coursing through his veins.

He walked over to the mages standing silently in wait for orders, but they would receive no more orders. He had control over the majority of their army. He created the very fortress they stood in with the power of the emeralds. Now, he would have their power as well. Kulg opened his arms wide and focused on each of the emeralds embedded within him and began to siphon the life from the mages.

They screamed in agony as they shriveled into husks and then to dust. The screams rang so loudly it could have been heard all throughout the fortress and maybe even outside of its walls. Surely it would cause great dismay among the army that awaited him outside. As the screams died out Kulg could feel a presence that seemed to be staring directly at him, but there was no one else inside the barracks with him.

He reached out with his mind, feeling the lives of the humans under his control, and the Zruhk hiding in wait. He reached farther out, past the fortress walls and throughout the enemy camp outside. A tiger…no, an orc. An orc that was imbued with the power of the tiger spirit. Kulg knew the orc could feel his power, and he knew that this orc would come for him once the battle began. What this orc didn’t know was the utter despair he would feel once he found out that tiger’s power would be of no use against him.

Now all Kulg needed to do was wait, and wait he did. Soon he felt a small group of orcs move away from the main camp and start traveling towards the outer wall. Once they had passed through it, he realized they were actually digging underground, as a quick glance outside showed no sign of it being breached.

Clever, Kulg thought, amused.

They made their way slowly, taking several hours to reach the center of the courtyard outside. By then the battle had begun as the human archers loosed arrows down toward the army advancing from outside the walls. Not to his surprise, their volley had little effect with the strength of tiger against them. Kulg opened his eyes and looked out one of the windows of the barracks, seeing the undead fighting with the humans under his control. With them were several necromancers from the marshes and one orc who caught his eye. She was a Zruhk, no doubt low born from one of the smaller villages that had been destroyed. It couldn’t have been anyone from the cities, as they were either now Kulg’s followers or completely unaware of the battle that was taking place to begin with.

If she were from a city, however, Kulg would see to it that this would not happen again. He had only taken over the cities under the rule of Geel and Maar, and all the warriors he had brought with him to this fight were from his late uncle’s city. It was possible that someone had sent word to those not yet enlightened, but it was highly unlikely. For now, he would do as planned and wait.

As the battle wore on the forces outside had managed to break through the gate and pour into the main courtyard, slaughtering all those that stood in their way. The battle was pitifully one-sided. It still baffled Kulg that these pigs had managed to gain any ground in their conquest up until this point, but it mattered not, they were merely his pawns.

Amongst those who had broken in was yet another Zruhk, who seemed to have been transformed by the tiger spirit. He tore through the pigs with no remorse, and so swiftly that Kulg was almost impressed.

If only he hadn’t strayed from the path of his own people, Kulg thought disappointed. He would have made a fine lord in my new order.

Soon Kulg’s own warriors began to spill out of the walls and from the shadows as the pigs’ forces waned. They showed no mercy to any in their path, even the pigs. He had mixed feelings on this as they were killing valuable pawns, yet at the same time, he was happy to be rid of them. In the end, a battle against orcs should be fought by orcs.

When he focused his attention back to the traitor Zruhk, he saw him saving the Zruhk female from earlier, before she could be felled by a volley of the special arrows Kulg had given his warriors to use against the tiger spirit. Shortly after that, he was making his way toward the barracks and to Kulg, lying in wait.

“It’s time,” Kulg said, feeling excitement well up within him. He stood back in front of the wall opposite the door, waiting for his visitor. the door slammed opened as the light from outside briefly washed away the darkness of the barracks. In came the traitor.

“I’ve been waiting, brother,” Kulg said mockingly, hoping to agitate the traitor that stood before him. “I’m surprised, to see one of my own fighting alongside such… lesser clans. I had hoped better of one who carried the Zruhk name.”

“Kulg,” the orc said, a mix of anger and sadness in his hissing voice.

“You’ve heard of me?” Kulg asked, humoring his visitor.

“You know damn well that I have. My village was within your domain. We saw you as a hero, you were one of the few who allowed the common orc passage into a great city. It was said that you treated every one of us as kin. Yet here you are, fighting with these humans. Using them against us this whole time.”

“You misunderstand,” Kulg said, feeling a hint of his mortality come back to him. “I was a fool. But I have been shown the truth, the truth of all of our clans. The truth of the Zruhk power that was lost to legend. I didn’t make these humans invade our lands, I only used them after I found out the truth.”

“What truth?” the orc said, his anger now showing clear as day on his striped face.

“Those orcs you fight without there, those beasts of the tiger spirit that fight alongside them. They are traitors.”

“The only traitor I see here is you!” the orc yelled as he charged toward Kulg, claws ready to sink into his flesh. But such a thing was nothing to him. The orc looked as if he were moving in slow motion as Kulg stepped to the side and backhanded him in the face, sending him flying into the wall. It cracked from the force and the entire barracks shuddered briefly as dust and small bits of stone came loose from the ceiling.

“I am a merciful lord, so this will be your last chance to listen.”

The orc was dazed for a moment, stumbling to stand up and collect himself. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth and a large purple bruise had appeared on his check where Kulg struck him. He held an arm against the wall, trying to find stability in his footing.

“Thousands of years ago we fought against the Gorilla spirit. It was scared of our power, and rightly so. I am just trying to fix things, make them as they should be. The Zruhk ruling once again, bringing peace to all clans. that’s all I want, is peace. Without our union, with the Zruhk leading the charge, those molten apes of destruction will return and destroy us all!”

“D-damn funny way of showing you care.”

The stubbornness of this orc angered Kulg,.Why could he not understand? With this power he could stop an invasion from ever happening again, no ones’ homes would have to burn due to negligent leaders, brothers and sisters would not have to lose each other in pointless conflict. The frustration of it caused Kulg to snap and before he knew it he was beating the orc down, repeatedly landing blow after blow into his face, his gut, his back. He picked him up by the collar of his tunic and threw him to the opposite wall, and in an instant used the power of the emeralds to fly to him and thrust his knee into his chest.

Gor coughed and wheezed as he struggled to breathe.

“WE COULD BE GODS, WE COULD RULE JUSTLY, THE EMERALDS COULD BRING AN AGE OF PROSPERITY TO OUR LAND! Yet here you are, wanting war and death. These humans came to our land burning, pillaging, and raping. I brought them to heel. My fellow lords conspired behind my back and I put them down!”

The room around them was hot, nearly as hot as the inferno the old mage had conjured within the emerald.

“YOU AND THE OTHER CLANS SOUGHT TO BETRAY THE ZRUHK, TO BETRAY ME!”

“W-we never betrayed you...we-”

Kulg cut him off, “SILENCE.”

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his face was hot with anger and he was ready to kill the traitor where he lay until he noticed a change in the atmosphere. It was quiet as if the fighting had ceased. Was the battle over? Did his warriors claim victory? Kulg focused his senses to the outside, he could feel countless bodies of both orc and tiger.

Two masses faced each other, but there was no fighting. Once he had calmed down and could focus better on who was who, he was left half surprised. His warriors had been whittled down to a no more than a mob, at the mercy of the enemy forces. Then he heard talking. Kulg walked back to the window to see the leader of the Riverlands giving terms to his surviving warriors.

“I give you this one chance, my brothers and sisters of the Zruhk,” The leader of the Riverlands said, voice booming. It was Gulmar, someone he once would have felt honored to meet. But now he was no better than the rest of the filth.

“I have no desire to continue this slaughtering of my kin,” Gulmar continued, “you may be of a different clan, but you are still orcs. No matter what spirits you pray to, or what clan you hail from, we share this land. What say you?”

Kulg could feel his rage dissipate and tried to collect himself as best he could. He swiftly grabbed the battered orc by the arm and dragged him along the ground. The power of tiger had waned and the physical changes of his body disappeared. He stopped before the door leading outside as a thought occurred to him.

I should hide my true power, just one emerald should suffice.

He focused on the emeralds once again allowing each of them to seep from his body and float into the air around him. The last one to fall out was the one embedded in his forehead, which he caught in his hand. The emeralds flew off, back to his fortress where they would be safe from any potential harm. He then pulled the gold chain necklace from underneath his robes and inserted the remaining emerald into it.

“You’re pathetic,” Kulg said in disgust as he dragged the traitor along. “Let’s go make an example of you, shall we?”

Using the power of the emerald, Kulg enhanced his voice so that all could hear him.

“WE SAY DIE, FISH WORSHIPPING FILTH. YOU AND THOSE PATHETIC CAT LOVERS!”

The Zruhk outside began to cheer and chant, pounding their chests with a proud vigor. With that Kulg swung open the doors of the barracks and stepped out into the crowd of Zruhk warriors huddled around it. Now was the time he would show the lesser clans his power. Now would be the beginning of his revolution to a greater and more peaceful world. With him leading at the helm.

Kulg made eye contact with Gulmar as he stepped forward, still dragging the traitor behind him. The Zruhk around him stepped aside as he advanced, leaving an aisle for him to walk. When the path was clear he threw the traitor down the aisle, watching as he landed with a thud by the feet of the female Zruhk he had seen earlier. He casually walked to Gulmar, stopping directly in front of him.

“Kulg,” the female Zruhk said weakly, “why-”

“Because we were meant for greater than this,” He interrupted. “We of the Zruhk have always wielded great power, regardless of the existence of the spirits.”

Kulg could see a silent rage in Gulmar’s eyes as the chieftain took a step towards him, as well as a hint of either sadness or disappointment. Which one, Kulg was not certain of.

“You are considered one of the greatest leaders of all the clans,” Gulmar growled. “Yet here you are, working with these outlandish pigs and slaughtering your own kin. Tell me, when did you succumb to such madness?”

Kulg was silent for a moment. He could feel a smile grow on his face that he could not hide.

The ignorance this so-called chieftain carries.

“This is not madness, Chieftain of Gron, this is revolution. You seek to borrow strength from the spirits, only receiving a small piece of their power, but I…. We, seek to use that power to its fullest, as it should be.”

“We?” Gulmar said angrily. “You mean the other chieftains of your people seek the same goal as you?”

Kulg stared at Gulmar with a face of stone. It was clear that Gulmar and his people would never understand. If he knew the truth of what happened to the other lords, he would most certainly refuse to believe that truth. He had no other choice.

“I knew you would disagree, old friend. That is why you must perish. You and every other clan that is not Zruhk. None of you will ever understand the work I do.”

The look on Gulmar’s face was to be expected. Clear disbelief in hearing the words Kulg had uttered. Without hesitation Kulg channeled power from the emerald around his neck and backhanded Gulmar, causing him to fly through the air and crash into the southern wall of the fortress. A large female from the Riverlands ran to Gulmar as another orc from the mountains charged at him, having taken on the form of tiger.

Like Gulmar before him, the orc was easily swatted away, as if no more than a bug. Kulg stepped closer to the female Zruhk and with the emerald’s power, probed her mind.

“Allow me to show you the full might of the horse spirit, young Torra. Maybe then you’ll understand.”

“Who among you wishes to share in this power?” Kulg bellowed with as much majesty as he could muster.

His warriors howled, cheered and thumped their chests in response.

“Then let us begin.”