Derreck knocked and was greeted by a dark haired knight with a scar on her left cheek who announced him before a voice inside said he may enter. Inside he saw though the dimly lit candle light the red hair of lady Ameila dancing in the flickering flame, the rest of presence now came into view as she sat on a cot in the corner of the room. He came to sit beside her as she greeted him but couldn’t look him in the eye for some reason. “Many thanks to you brave knight for my valiant rescue, it was incredible, unheard of even in the old sagas. But I fear in my brush with death I..” she paused as she looked around the room nervously “I made oaths, that I fully intend to keep” Derreck raised his hand to stop her “you were delirious and near death, I’ll hold you to no such oath” he said it plainly so she would understand but it only seemed to anger her “I am a knight sir, of the holy Order of the Rose, princess of the kingdom of Holforth Lady Ameila Barzod, daughter of great king Thuragon. And I keep my oaths. In what I thought were my final moments on the battlefield I prayed to Elsbeth the goddess of mercy that a strong warrior would come to lead my knights and keep our holy order alive. And there you were in a flash, a knight without peerage who could push back a tide of orc savagery, even slay a champion with a dagger alone.

  I knew Elsbeth did answer my prayers and you would lead my knights well even if I had to repay Elsbeth for her great gift with my life. But Elsbeth is truly merciful giving me to you as well which I am..” again Derreck cut her off rising from his seat. “I don’t except any such oath” he said in an angry tone shocking Ameila and her knights “ I don’t need to lead your order and I don’t need you. I just need your knights fight when the horde comes that’s all” Ameila had no words to save her wounded pride, she was not prepared to be refused outright by any man. While she put little vanity into her beauty she at least acknowledge it by the many number of suitors who had tried for her hand in the past. And this man, the kind of man she had hoped for, a man not interested in position or court gossip but a man of action and he denied her, why.

  Before she could plead her case there was a knock at the door, it was Tom’s voice “ hey Derreck you need to come see this it’s bad”

  Derreck had made his way to the front of the store and out the double doors before he knew it. His eyes narrowed as he looked out into the darkness at the mass of torches. A sea of green-skinned orcs had gathered at the edge of the parking lot, snarling and shouting in their guttural tongue. The air was thick with anticipation, the calm before the storm.

  “I thought you said they like breakfast before slaughter” Paul said nervously

  “I guess they’re on a diet” Derreck responded with a bad joke that didn’t raise the mood as he intended.

  “They’ve bolstered their numbers,” Henrick, growled. “Green bastards are preparing to besiege us and starve us out.”

  “No,” Derreck corrected, his voice grim. “Their warlord has arrived. Now they’ll march.”

  Paul, standing nearby, started to panic. He fumbled for words, trying to give directions to the employees and customers, but nothing he said made sense. Derreck stepped forward, taking charge.

  Derreck marched through the crowd like a man possessed barking orders. “Paul get these people inside and in a safe place away from the external walls in case there are any siege weapons, Tom get a crew of guys to head over to garden center with a pallet, jack, and shrink wrap. Grab shovels, hoes, bush axes, and anything else over there that can be sharpened and has some reach. Wrap it all up and bring it to the front to the doors, have one of your crew go over to sporting goods and grab all the sharpeners, have somebody else line pallets up alongside each of the front doors to make a bottle neck. When your done tom I need you to put that old marine leadership to work and hand pick people to use as a wall of spears at least three rows deep at each bottleneck, you’ll be our last line of defense so tell anyone you pick that if they get past you.. then everyone here is dead”. He turned the knights and shouted to Henrick.

  “Henrick!”! Get your knights in formation across the doorways in the vestibules. Your our main line of defense don’t let them past you, stop them cold. Use the doorways to make their numbers count for nothing!”

  Hendrick hesitated, stunned by how this stranger knew his name, he had giving it to no one here and he did not recall any of his subordinates speaking it either.

  Before he could ask, he heard a familiar voice behind him. “Do it, Henrick.”

  He turned to see lady Ameila being held up by her healer Lady Ashley as she limped her way to the door. She gave him a single determined look of authority and Henrick obeyed making his knights ready as Paul ushered people inside. Derreck remained outside in front of the store watching everyone moved into place around him as he retrieved something from his pack Henrick paused for a moment confused. “but wait my lord, who will act as the vanguard to halt their advance”

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  Derreck responded as he readied a blue device that looked something like a crossbow without its arms at least the way he cocked it. “I’ll handle it, it’s not like we have enough warriors anyway.” Henrick stopped cold at Derreck’s words, did he really mean to stop an entire horde by himself. Derreck slid a glass jar full of some liquid in place down the barrel of the weapon attaching a line to a pin at the end of the deep blue rifle looking weapon with the letters Nerf on the side which Henrick assumed were protective runes. In reality the weapon was designed to launch tennis balls for dogs up to 50 feet but he modified it with bungee cords to get about 75 feet, he also attached a fishing reel to it for the purpose of attaching a line that could be pulled back to release a pin on his makeshift glass jar grenade so he could time this bomb.

  With the makeshift weapon ready, Derreck eyed the advancing horde of orcs. He had no way of knowing if this would work, but he had no choice. With a deep breath, he advanced across the parking lot to meet the oncoming horde. he launched the first jar toward the orcs. For a moment, nothing happened until the jar hit the end of the line and released the pin. Then, the jar exploded midair, raining fire down upon the horde. They halted, stunned by the sudden ball of fire.

  Henrick standing at the double doors alongside lady Ameila and Paul gasped. “By the gods… what fire magic is this?”

  Derreck reeled in his line amazed it actually exploded, he thought at best the mixture would catch fire and shatter against their shields but his bombs were performing better than expected. He readied another jar, this time he would try one loaded with drywall screws from the hardware section for shrapnel, he fired again watching for when it was over head of the orcs then he grabbed for the line unwinding off the end of the weapon pulling back sharply as he herd the pin release. The second explosion tore through the orc ranks, sending shards of metal into their flesh, stopping their advance cold this time as their ranks started to panic, there was a fire mage here.

  But then, a large orc stepped forward from the mass of bodies, his tusks gleaming in the firelight. He roared something in their guttural language, making wild gestures with his hands. This was their warlord, Derreck recognized him instantly and stepped forward, glaring at the orc, and shouted some taunt in the orc tongue. Then he flipped the orc off, his middle finger raised defiantly.

  Everyone, knights and employees alike, stared though the door glass in disbelief. “He truly does speak the tongue of the green skins?” Henrick said still shocked.

  There was no time to dwell on it. The orc warlord in the front charged forward ready to combat this “mage” even as his follow orcs cowered in fear, Derreck readied another round launching it at his new target but to his shock the warlord lept forward s smashing the glass jar to pieces with a mighty swing from his war club. Derreck cursed under his breath, but he was already moving reeling the line in and loading another round as the orcs regained their composure and started to form ranks again. Another round launched and again the warlord shattered it before Derreck could release the pin, “fuck” he said as he cast aside his weapon. His trick wouldn’t work anymore, there was no choice now but to trust in his new found reflexes.

  Derreck dropped his backpack, pulled out his makeshift war clubs, and mentally prepared himself with several deep breaths. Paul clinging to the door unable to move shouted. “Derreck do you… do you know what you’re doing?”, his voice trembling.

  Derreck didn’t respond. His focus was solely on the advancing orcs. He gripped his weapons tightly, testing their weight, Henrick went to move his knights into position behind him to form a flying column but Derreck motioned for him to stay with the door, Henrick was truely ready to move into action and march against such impossible odds, but he obeyed, his lady commanded him to follow this knight’s orders and this old soldier would do so even if it seemed like madness he would hold the door. Derreck shifted his weight and adjusted his stance almost calmly and finally, when everything felt right, he charged forward with a battle cry that echoed through the parking lot.

  The knights shuddered at his actions, to dive head first into danger alone, would he be able to slay the warlord and stop the advance, they didn’t know but his bravery could not be ignored. Henrick quoted the book of warrior oaths young knights read in training “in all the rest of my days will I ever be so valorous.” Lady Ameila thought the quote was fitting but did not acknowledge it, she kept her eyes glued to the scene in front of her.

  Derreck dove into the mass of orcs, his war clubs swinging with deadly precision. He moved like a man possessed, carving through the orcs with ruthless efficiency. Bodies fell around him, as his strikes swift and deliberate, created a circle of death around him.

  A familiar scent hit his nose, if was the scent of his makeshift grenades, it meant the warlord was close, the creature was still covered in the liquid from the glass jars he smashed. Derreck spotted him and acted fast moving in close, he wouldn’t miss this time. He hacked and slashed his way right up to large orc until he was right outside of his club’s range. The warlord growled in rage as he raised his warclub up high but Derreck just smiled and pulled his flare gun from his belt and fired, setting the orc ablaze along with several others nearby as the large orc flailed around into others caught in to the mass.

  But the battle raged on for some time after, Henrick, Lady Amelia, and Paul watched in horror from the doorway as the horde encircled Derreck. For a moment, he disappeared from sight, swallowed by the mass of orcs.

  “Tis a shame,” Henrick murmured. “He was a brave one.”

  But Lady Amelia’s eyes never left the fight. “Look!” she cried. “They’re pulling back!”

  Henrick squinted and saw it too. The orcs were retreating, backing away in fear as they cried out in their own tongue that the warlord has fallen. And in the center of a pile of bodies, Derreck still stood, bloodied and battered but alive.

  “As I live and breathe…” Henrick muttered in disbelief.

  The orcs, now leaderless, began to disperse, with their morale shattered they scattered into the hill country wanting no more of a fight from this terrifying monster that fiery death on them and cleaved into their warriors like a knife through warm meat.