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Getting to his feet easily, the golden haired warrior stood up on the balls of his feet, and nodded his head to the big woman. “Come on, Daria, we’ve got us some work to do.”

Nearly the size of an ogre herself, Daria looked down at Gregor with a sneer, her neatly braided black hair tinkling behind her as she spat in disgust, “What do we do with it?” Her finger stabbed in Gregor’s direction.

Enraged beyond belief, Gregor would have stood up to give her a piece of his steel, if he knew for certain that he would not fall back down again. That blow to the side of the head throbbed abominably as they all but ignored his looks of outrage, when Gauldryon shrugged his shoulders, his burnished plate squeaking as he began to walk away.

Teeth pulled back into snarl at the way they so easily dismissed him, Gregor barked out, “-wait! What has this got to do with the elf?”

To which the lordling replied, “that conversation will have to wait, first we deal with the ogres, then we can talk.”

His cheeks stiff, and his heart pumping with barely contained fury, Gregor thought again of standing up, and going for his greatsword which rested on a nearby rock, when he was lightly wrapped with knuckles on the back of his head. The gnome that he had seen earlier with the group, traipsed out from the trees behind him in voluminous blue robes that did not quite cover his knobbly pale legs, a short wiry body, and two clear grey eyes.

With a rumpled blue hat on his head that made him look utterly ridiculous, the gnome gave Gregor a warm smile. “Now, now, warrior, you lost your fight, fair and square. So either you help us or you be on your way.”

Half wondering if he was somehow related to Serela, since she so enjoyed hitting him as well, he growled underneath his breath, “I don’t have to do anything of the sort,” and considered going for his greatsword again.

The gnome, who seemed to find that amusing, grinning broadly at him, and waved his blackened staff from side to side. “Careful, friend, you wouldn’t want to hurt yourself again. Perhaps in due time, my lord would be willing to offer you a second chance to redeem yourself, but I should warn you if you should ever attack him again while his back is turned, I will be forced to kill you.”

Grinning at the direct threat, Gregor was sure he could handle the pint-sized wizard with a spell of his own, that is if he could rely on his magic not to fail him again. Getting himself killed by this bloody mudsap would be extremely embarrassing after all he had achieved.

His head nodded in agreement after a brief moment of silence in which they stared at each other, he refused to swear or make any such promise. The gnome, who seemed not to notice that, smiled again as Gregor waved at him to go ahead.

Not sure what else to do, he trailed after the gnome down the rugged countryside. The ground covered in snow up to his boots as snowflakes drizzled down from a sky that still blazed with four suns.

His eyes shaded against the glare, the gnome spoke over his shoulder. “My name is Glindol by the way, and it is a pleasure to meet you. There’s few around that can hold their own against my Lord Gauldryon, but you came very close. You should be proud of that.”

Muttering again about how the mudsap had cheated in their fight, they found a dirt trail that winded off into a grove of trees, the colourful mellow-heart birds that flitted about the branches, staring down at them as they stopped just short of the way inside.

His small head turned back around to face him with a bulbous nose that was far too big, Glindol said, “perhaps it is better that you should lead, since you are the warrior. I’ll guard our backs.”

Unable to hide a smirk at the thought the gnome did not trust him, Gregor considered what he would do next after he had sated his anger against the lordling? When he stepped into a wave of warm air.

Mouth dropped open in shock, the gnome looked around him in wonder, pinched the bark off the nearest tree, and grinned. “Aahh, there has been an enchantment placed here, I sense that it is not malicious, and we should proceed with all haste, I did not mean to tarry this long.”

“Then tell me why Khorasan sent you after me, and I shall leave?”

Head shaking stubbornly from side to side, the gnome replied, “I’m afraid I cannot do that, that is for my lord to divulge. And besides, we could use your help. I know you humans like gold, and we have plenty of it.”

Hiding a grimace at the reward that was meant to be for him, Gregor trudged onward, his thoughts meandering back as always to Caroline, and Kira, when the snow melted at his feet, and he entered a clearing with a small wooden cabin.

Gauldryon in his brilliant white armor, stood with his companions hunched behind some bushes as he waved them over to join. “Looks like we were too late,” he said, his blue eyes blazing suddenly with a righteous fury, “I counted at least six of the horrible beasts, so we should be careful.”

Gregor, however, determined to show up these turd eating puke drinkers, let out a wild cry of rage, and raced down the used path to the doorway. The ogres, upon hearing the noise outside exploded through the shattered doorway just as Gregor drove right into them, a few of the sprawling on their backs from his powerful charge.

Leaping to his feet in an instant, he whirled Lost Flame into deadly strikes that attacked joints, hands, and knees, and caused the large grey skinned warriors to howl in pain as they tried to clobber him with their fists.

Surprised that these fools wore only fur clothing with little to no protection besides their toughened hides, Gregor guessed them to be wild ogres that lived out here on their own, their big round heads shaking with ill repressed fury as hot drool flew from their mouths. The torn up remains of the orc family that had lived, rested by the fireplace as Gregor came on again, his rage mounting as he thought of Gauldryon and all the gold that was supposed to be his. Damn it! It should have been his.

Hit with a ham sized fist that knocked up against a bookshelf, he snarled in pain, greatsword carving the beast’s belly open as it came on in a rush.

Down to five wounded and dazed ogres, Gregor smiled, imagining the looks on Gauldryon’s face after he had bested all six alone, when the wooden walls of the house blew inward, leaving a gaping hole. Wooden splinters flying through the air, he had only a moment to realize what was happening as Daria, the dwarf, and Gauldryon charged inside, arrows flying over their shoulders as firebolts sizzled through the air. The five remaining ogrekans were dead in seconds.