The Prophesy: Book 4 - Armageddon

 

As they got nearer a slightly stocky Orc called out on Azov.

"What is this heresy Azov? You know the Law: no Human shall thread on our land!"

"They forced me to guide them here!"

"Talk about a liar! We are six and the Orc group is six times bigger!" replied Colibri.

The observers watching the exchange couldn't deny the disproportion of forces engaged.

"Human, your tongue will land you in our larder!" replied Azov.

"Would you break an oath of trust, Azov? You know the law of the land if you do! We shared water, we shared fruits, we shared meat, and we shared salt! Are you this dishonourable?"

Uzul's nods at each item confirmed to the others that what the Human was saying was the truth. Only Azov's Dad seemed to ignore the signs.

"I see no proof of this exchange!" said the older Orc.

"I would hope you could at least ask for confirmation of these facts from the other members of the away team before deciding?" asked Colibri. "Anyway, we did not force Azov, he accepted our request to visit, after we exposed to him the reason for our demand."

Members of the away team again signalled that the Human was saying the truth, and that Azov was lying.

"I heard nothing of the sort!" said Azov, eliciting a number of disapproving growls from the Orcs that had accompanied him below.

"I suspect that Azov is working very hard to gain your status. Knowing what he does now, he could manipulate the Orc Tribe to do his bidding. I doubt it would be in your best interest, First Defender of the Land, Commander of the Fort!"

That the Human knew of his full title shocked the Orc; titles were even more sacred then the land itself. He turned toward Azov and punched him in the face violently, sending the younger Orc sprawling on the ground.

"How dare you reveal the most sacred of names to a mere Human?" thundered the old Orc.

"I did not! He must be a spy!"

"Is it not ironic that those in power see spies in the most unlikely quarters? We Humans aren't even supposed to be able to roam your lands and I would have heard of your title? Does it not sound a bit preposterous?"

Azov had barely stood up when his Dad sent him back on his arse.

"At least, when you lie, make it credible!" said the old Orc, towering over his Son.

Azov stood up, hair straight on his body, eyes red with fury. That Human had humiliated him in front of his village without even raising a finger one too many times. He picked up a lance and charged Colibri, which quickly moved away from the instrument of death. However hard Azov tried to spit Colibri, it never worked as the lance slid on the force field enveloping the Atlanteans' protégé.

"What is it with you, Azov? You know this act invalidates our understanding, don't you?"

"I denounce the peace! I will kill you and your friends."

"So you just admitted in front of the village there was an understanding. How kind of you! Everyone now knows you lied when you said there was none!"

The villagers had heard enough and booed Azov, pelting him with rocks. No one ever lied about a negotiation and got away with it! This was what Colibri had been waiting for. He had the Orcs on his side. As Azov charged again, Colibri dipped a dart in the Spider venom pouch and placed it between his fingers, the poisonous tip now barely visible between his fingers. The Orc charged one more time, and Colibri pushed him on the side, sticking the dart in his ribcage for a very short time before removing it. Azov did not even feel the sting, and the dart was back in its storage container before he could even turn on himself.

It took less then three seconds for the poison to do its job, as it blocked the breathing centre of the brain, and stopped the heart. Just as Azov was ready to charge again, he fell face first in the dirt, dead before touching the ground.

"Betrayers of their words perish from the hands of the Gods!" said Colibri, as the Orcs eyed the dead Azov with awe. The only thing they had seen was the boy push Azov away, and no weapons whatsoever seemed to have been used!

"What is this sorcery?" asked Azov's Dad.

"The sorcery of the Gods," replied Colibri. "Inspect your Son and see if you can prove otherwise!" He then retreated alongside Ian, who stood, stone-faced, and waited with the others for the old Orc to examine the corpse.

«What did you do?» asked Ian.

«I gave Azov a tiny prick of a poisoned dart. It is now safely back in its container. The only one not in the container is the one in the blowgun. As it never even touched Azov, no one can associate it with his death.»

«Colibri, this is a nice move. I suspect the God of War of Atlantis, my Brother Sitar, will like to have you as his student.»

The Defender of the Land examined his Son carefully, but could not even find a trace of a Mosquito bite on his Son, his fur being thick enough to protect him from these minor inconveniences. The Elders paid careful attention to the area where Colibri had touched the young Orc, but nothing could be seen, even from very close. The Elders had to admit they could not find fault to the Human and retired to their previous position grumping considerably.

Uzul, on the other hand, kept quiet, way too relieved that Azov had been so quickly removed from the line of power. Had he known the thoughts of others, he would have realised the feeling of relief was widespread.

The Defender of the Land was furious, but he could not fault the Human. He kept running plans in his head to find a way to get him killed for violating a taboo or another, but so far, the Human and the others had made a no-fault run.

«He is grasping for straws Colibri! As you know, cornered animals are the most dangerous.» said Hildegard.

«I am aware of this, my Lord. He will not dare face me, but I would not be surprised if he tried to trick us into doing something illegal or in rupture with their strict laws. I plan to circumvent this.»

«How?»

«Watch me!»

«Hey! You are stealing my line!» said Ian, smiling.

"Defender of the Land and Commander of the Fort, we have no wish to insult your laws. May we indulge in your knowledgeable counsel so as to prevent such an unfortunate event?" said Colibri.

If steam could have whistled out of the Commander's ears, it would have. If the strangers did anything against their customs, the opprobrium would be his, and he would be the one blamed for giving wrong counsel! Fury could also be seen within the other Elders, who would look bad for having endorsed a dimwit as Commander in the first place. The Atlanteans had a hard time keeping a straight face at the discomfiture the seasoned Orc was getting at the hands of the witty Colibri! The only ones openly rejoicing of the twisted situation were the other lower-ranking Orcs. That the Defender had been so cleanly muzzled by a Human would be the talk of many a long night, accompanied by belly laughs at the Commander's expense.

Colibri waited patiently with the Atlanteans for the Commander to sort out his emotions and get a grip on the events. Meanwhile, Azov's body was quickly inflating due to the methane gas produced by internal decomposition, and the stench was gaining in pungency.

«I wonder how long it will take for the Orcs to do anything about this corpse?» said Colibri.

«I have no idea, but if I were you I would ignore it completely. Knowing Orc customs, he is meat getting cured naturally for a feast tonight. Do not move a single face muscle, it might give that old snooze the tool needed to force us into a rupture of conventions.» replied Ian.

«I'm having problems. Can you help, my Lord?»

«Sure.» Ian placed the face in a proper neutral expression and paralyzed it, then blocked the olfactory nerves. «No more smelling, no more tasting, and you could see the fucker get butchered alive without even blinking.»

It took the Elders an hour to figure out what to do. By then, the corpse was attracting carrion-eating Insects by the thousand, and the boys could see the work of the Fleas entering the body by all orifices. Above them a wing of Vultures were flying in circles, and their numbers were increasing by the minute. Their cries of protest at being deprived of a meal by the living were reaching a level that made speech impossible.

«Apparently, the Defender of the Land, whose name is Asimov, wants to bring his Son into the village for the ritual feast, while the four other Elders do not want to be dishonoured by the meat,» Ian explained to Colibri, as they watched the dispute come to a close.

«They're cannibals? Are you sure it's worth saving them?»

«Yes, they are cannibals, but we're certain it's possible to rewire their memory so it gets removed from their repertoire of behaviours. We have been doing this for Humans for a while and I see no reason why we couldn't do the same with Orcs.»

«The dispute may be over in appearance, Ian, but the old geezer is waiting for us to get close to stab one of his opponents in the kidney with a poisoned blade so he can lay the blame on one of us,» Edwin informed everyone.

«Where is the blade?» asked Colibri.

«It is hidden in his right sleeve, held in place by two leather straps. He has already unclipped the handle holder.»

"Defender of the Land, may I show you something?"

"What is it, Human?"

"To show you, I need you to come closer. We do not intend to step a single foot closer to your village without proper invitations. Apparently Azov's word was not worth the wind that carried it to our ears."

The insult was indirect but nonetheless hurt the Defender directly in his pride. He couldn't stay with the others without seeming a coward. He took the bait and walked, no stormed toward the insulting Human.

"What is it you want to show me?"

"The proper way to handle a knife, Defender. The one you hide under your right sleeve is badly positioned and would take a lot of time to get out, should you need it in an emergency."

"I'll show you proper handling of a knife, you impertinent Worm!" said the Defender as he threw his knife at Colibri, which side-stepped the projectile, lifted his blowgun to his lips and propelled the microscopic dart to the neck of the Orc. The dart fell on the ground before anyone had the time to see it and Ian ported it back into Colibri's dart bag. Colibri began playing the blowgun like a flute whose deep sound took the other Orcs by surprise. A second later the Defender collapsed on the ground, dead.

"Let it be known that music can kill!" said Colibri as he released the blowgun from his lips, stopping the music.

«So, that's what you were doing during watch! I was wondering!» said Ian.

«And I thought he had spent all watch doing some cooking!» added Hildegard.

«Once things are mixed, you only need to watch the fire do its work,» replied Colibri modestly.

"Enough delays! Will you behave honourably or not? We came here with information that must be told to your Tribe. If you do not wish to hear it and are more into preserving the Law then preserving your life, we will leave you to your fate!" said Colibri.

«I never thought just sharing a tent could lead to temper contamination!» said Hildegard, «He caught the Ian sickness!»

The attitude of the Elders told the Orcs they were going to refuse the offer, but before any of the Elders could say a word, four arrows left the Orc delegation standing with the Atlanteans and pierced their throat.

"I have decided for these old fools," said Uzul. "You will be received as honourable guests. You have proven beyond any doubt in our eyes that you were Gods, and it is out of the question we risk insulting Gods because of outdated laws. We value the life of our family, even if these old Goats value their faith more then their own Children."

The shock was complete, and the other Orcs were left without leadership. Uzul began giving orders, and the village Warriors began retreating within the fortification. The Atlanteans and Colibri were framed by the Orc delegation, which wanted to make sure there were no more incidents that might anger them in the slightest. Uzul led them to the back of the village, and climbed the very slick cliff face to open the hidden door to the nest, much to the shock of the other members of the village.

The villagers wanted to see how the guests would climb to the entrance, but no one had noticed they had already ported to the gallery, until Uzul hollered.

"Move it, the Gods are waiting for us, we should never make Gods wait needlessly!"

As the first Orcs made their way to the entrance, they saw the six strangers sitting quietly on a bench. How could they be in their main entrance? By what miracle had the strangers climbed there without even being seen by anyone? The questions were on every lip, but Uzul was not in the mood to get into a theological debate with his kinsmen. He simply walked to the Atlanteans, kneeled and pressed his head on the ground. Under instruction from Ian, Colibri counted to three and then spoke.

"Stand and lead your people to the nest."

"Be welcomed to our nest," replied Uzul as he stood up and moved on.

The other Orcs did the same and the entire procession quietly behaved like Uzul, uttering the same welcome.

«Apparently, Ian, we have a group of Orc followers. I wonder how we will resolve the issues this will cause.»

«We'll deal with the problems when they arise Raja. It is no use swimming the lava river until you reach its shores.»

As the last Orcs stood up the Atlanteans and their protégé followed them along the dark passage. Ian held Colibri tightly.

«Colibri, the path is narrow and twists considerably. On one side is a drop of several hundred feet and on the other is a wall. I will guide you. Do not worry, I am using Dragon sight to follow the Orcs' thermal signature.»

«I was wondering how you could move so easily. Do Orcs have this ability?»

«No, they use tactile feedback. I can see them touch the wall continuously. Ah, this place is going to be tricky for the Orcs. No wall on either side of an arch. They are bending on all fours to negotiate the passage. We're going to give them the shock of their life. We are going to walk the arch! Hold tight!»

Ian gripped Colibri near the neck, and pushed him ahead. The first part was easy, but the upper arch was even narrower then the climb. Ian guided Colibri every step of the way, and they reached the downside branch of the arch safely.

«Ok, we are going down, one step at a time. Go slow, and take your time. The Orcs themselves are having issues here, and I can smell fear. Given how many have peed on this bit of rock due to fear, I can understand their issues. The smell itself must be enough to cause worries.»

Just as Ian was explaining this, one Orc slipped and fell over the side, hollering in fear.

«Do not move for a few seconds. I'm focussing on the falling Orc. It's time for another miracle.»

A few seconds later, the Orc materialised, totally immobile in space, barely an inch over the last narrow pathway leading to the nest. His clattering teeth could be heard in the darkness.

«Tell him to stand up, he is used to your voice.»

Colibri did as Ian instructed, and the Orc stood shakily, leaning against the passage wall. The other Orcs kept quiet as their survivor supplied all the noise necessary to inform them of the events.

"Please, let's finish this tricky passage with a bit more care," said Colibri, as per a request from Ian.

The Orcs continued their climb down and engaged themselves in the last segment of passage before their nest. The Orc that had been saved was the last to do so, just before the Atlanteans and Colibri. The last passage was a gentle downward slope and lasted about five hundred steps, before reaching the floor of a much wider and open area. There, some torches were spread around the outer wall and along the streets of a village. No roofs or walls were actually visible. Flat rocks acting as fences no higher then a foot delimited the homes. In the middle of the village was a dark lake, an almost perfect mirror, were it not for the occasional passage of a flat-bottom boat whose position was signalled by prow and stern torches.

Far, almost out of sight, was a rock island where a complicated structure had been assembled. That structure seemed to be important, given first its size, but also because it was illuminated by a profusion of torches. Boats kept going to and coming from the island, which had two long peers at one end. It was only the presence of torches, which marked the edges of the piers and the numerous boats tied there, that told those on the shore of their presence.

Uzul guided the visitors to the dock, and invited them to step into a flat boat. The Orc that had been saved by Ian unceremoniously invited himself with the Atlanteans and took to the rudder.

"Uzul, I owe them my life. This bond is greater then any taboo, and I will kill anyone that tries to stop me from going to the Temple and stand testimony for their good intentions!"

Uzul knew better then to start a fight; he would have won, but the more voices stood for the visitors, the more likely things would be bloodless, although he did not have high hopes for a peaceful outcome. Those in the Temple were even more rigid then Asimov and Azov. With a hand sign, he invited all those that had seen the strangers do miracles to board flatboats. It was a veritable armada that left the lakeshore for the Sacred Island. Each and every one of them was armed to the teeth, another violation of the Laws that governed the Orcs.

It took the small fleet thirty minutes to reach the island docks. The approach of the torches had made it clear to all the Dockers they needed to clear the docks for the incoming ships, and they had spent the time tying the flatboats and pulling them out of the way using winches. By the time the impressive delegation reached the island it could dock every boat without even a single obstacle. The dockers tied the incoming flotilla, and then were told to retire to the shore by the incoming party. None had yet to spot the Dragon boys or Colibri in the crowd of Orcs, and the impressive delegation progressed unhindered to the door of the Orc Temple. As the group neared the impressive wooden doors, two Guards stood in their way.

"Who are you and why are you here?" asked one Orc Guard.

"We are the Guardians of the Fort, and we demand a meeting with the High Priests!" replied Uzul.

"Where is the Defender of the Land, the Commander of the Fort?"

"He is where he is."

"That is not an answer."

"Because the answer is none of your concern!"

"We can deny you access if you do not answer."

"We can deny you life if you do not step aside."

"Are you threatening the Clergy?"

"Merely bringing to your attention a numerical fact: you are two, we are hundreds."

"This door is opened only from the inside, and we are trained to sacrifice ourselves to protect it. You will not know the code, because only the Guardians know."

Colibri walked to Uzul and simply said:

"Kill them."

The two Orcs did not even have time to acknowledge it was a Human talking before they found their breathing pathways obstructed by an arrow.

"Remove them out of sight."

The two corpses were quickly hidden behind two pillars, and Colibri walked to the door. He raised the hammer and slammed it in a rapid sequence, spacing each hit a certain interval.

"There you are, they will come and open the door, Uzul. I will rejoin the Gods."

Uzul did not understand how the Human could have known the code for the doors, but he was not in the least surprised when a strong series of racking noises coming from the other side indicated that the locks and rods were being removed. He moved his troops near it, and readied them to storm the door.

As soon as the door opened, ten Orcs rammed it, forcing themselves in. The two Acolytes that had been in charge of manning the door were knocked out cold, tied up, and gagged.

"You sure are quick, Uzul."

"Thank you, my Lord. This revolution has been brewing for a long while, and your arrival has given us the incentive to take action. The Priests have been acting more in their interest then in the interest of the Tribe. This said with the utmost respect, my Lord."

«Colibri, do not get an overinflated ego from getting called a Lord by Uzul,» said Ian, as the boy blushed.

«I do not intend to, but keep reminding me once in a while!»

"The Gods are not offended. And, Uzul, I am only their spokesperson, nothing lordly about me."

"You speak for them, it is true; but it is a great honour to do so. The High Priest wants to be called Lord at every word, and he has yet to prove he can do as much as you."

"Another ballooned ego? He'll fart it out his rear door, then. Just make sure there is no open flames when he does, he might torch the Temple!"

Uzul and his group snickered at the comment. They knew for certain that the High Priest's ego was so big he believed he did not even touch ground when he moved around.

"Follow us, we need to be careful here. Only a few of us have ever entered the Temple, and I'm sure there are enough traps to decimate an Army."

"I will tell you of them as we progress," replied Colibri, informed that the Atlanteans were already scanning the Acolytes and Priests' brains for the proper information.

As they made their way toward the main hall, Colibri followed Ian's telepathic directives to the letter. He would turn left, right, and go down or up stairs, indicating which steps not to walk on, or press on bricks in the wall to lock in a floor trap or a ceiling one. The group made it safely to the main hall's entrance, having met token resistance as the alarm had yet to ring in the Temple. The few Acolytes that crossed their path were tied up and gagged, before being ported to the lakeshore by the care of the Atlanteans.

The group reached the Great Hall, where the Priests were assembled around an altar, readying yet another Orc sacrifice for the glory of their God.

"They are sacrificing one of your young on the altar, Uzul. Do you want us to intervene?"

"What do you mean they are sacrificing one of our young?"

"They lied to you. It is only one out of ten of the young that get the Acolyte's robes. The others are sacrificed to your God. They are raped on the altar before getting gutted and eaten."

"Rescue the sacrifice please, and let us kill them all! We will not tolerate this assault on our people anymore."

Just as the young sacrifice was being readied for buggering by the High Priest, he vanished off the altar, much to the frustration of the old pervert. The Orcs waiting near the door pelted the Priests with arrows, killing half of them on the first flight. The remaining Orcs found refuge behind the altar hollering for the Guards. Unfortunately for them, Hildegard had installed a silencing spell, and, short of a blow up of the room, the Guards were blissfully unaware of the issue.

"Spread around and kill them all without mercy," said Uzul to his troops. The Orcs dutifully butchered the Priests one by one, using the altar and sacrificial knife to rip them open. Colibri grinned from ear to ear as he saw the blood and guts, remembering his own Tribe's sacrificial stone and how he hated the Priest, his Grandfather before the Gods had disposed of him.

Once the butchery was over, any trace of the events were quietly disposed of in the Amazonian forest.

"The Gods decided to supply food to the Ants by feeding them the Priests," Colibri informed Uzul and his Orcs. "We now proceed to the Guard rooms and disarm them. I have been informed by the Gods they will dispose of them for you to reduce bloodshed."

"It is fine by us, my Lord."

Again the procession resumed its walk, crossing to a side door that led them directly to the Guards' resting area. Colibri explained to Uzul it would let them come on the back of the Guards rather then cross a number of control points if they took the regular way from the entrance. It took the group fifteen minutes to reach the level.

There, an ugly show was revealed. A group of Guards were involved in a feast, busy eating one of the earlier sacrifices of the day. The Atlanteans took no white gloves and charged, gutting the fifty or so Orc Guards in the blink of an eye. Uzul and his Soldiers realised for the first time what facing the fury of Gods meant, and thanked their lucky star to be on their good side. In all, five rooms full of Guards were cleared, for a total of two hundred and fifty dead. Each room showed a spit with the residues of one or more sacrifices.

"Let's go free the future victims of this bunch of freaks," said Colibri. "The Gods say they are below this level. Follow me."

"What should we do with the Acolytes?" asked Uzul.

"Those that are still alive have not yet been involved in a ritual. The others are dead and spread around the Amazon River basin, I am being told."

That last sentence left Uzul on his appetite. How did the spokesperson and the Gods communicate? He heard nothing, yet he had to admit the Human had proved invaluable so far.

Colibri quickly led them along a narrow passage, and unlocked a door. Beyond it there was a terrible stench, and a series of steps that led the Orcs and the Atlanteans to a series of cells. Each cell door was locked, but Hildegard and Raja made quick work of breaking each with a powerful punch. Each cell was occupied by ten young Orcs, suffering to some degree of malnutrition, dehydrated, and in generally poor hygiene. Each one was tied to a short chain, which the Atlanteans quickly disintegrated, before porting the prisoners to the surface of the island supporting the Temple.

"This place is now vacated. We can return to the village, Uzul. The Gods will care for the young as soon as we are in the village. Their parents, if they still are alive, will be notified by your care, as soon as we are done. Follow me carefully, we will have to take a different route to reach the surface quickly, and it is filled with traps of all sorts."

Again, Colibri followed Ian's instructions to the letter, and they reached the surface after fifteen minutes, a substantial gain from their original hour and then some it took to reach the cells.

"Uzul, the Gods will destroy the Temple, if only to prevent its reuse by ill-intentioned members of your community, but mostly to prevent curious Children from getting hurt while exploring that horror."

"I was going to ask. Thank them for anticipating my request."

Just then the Temple collapsed on itself, all four basement fell on each other, in ruins. The Orcs that had been looking at the returning fleet were stunned and moaned in despair. Little they knew their loved ones were no longer under that pile of rubble.

«Paschal, I have use of Mitsuko. We have several hundred young Orcs to heal.» Ian told his big Brother.

«Tell me when to go, Ian.»

«We will dock in fifteen minutes. I am on the last barge, and they are moving as fast as they can to bring us to dock.»

«Did I hear you right? You said Orcs?»

«Yes, we found Orcs about the size of Rockhook. They seem friendly enough, notwithstanding the Priests, which are now feeding the predators in the Amazon jungle. We are docking.»

«I'll be there in five minutes.»

Colibri and the Atlanteans moved off the last boat. The Orcs were looking at them with awe. The news of their presence had spread like wildfire in the village; everyone was curious as to whom these strangers amongst their midst were.

«We are on the dock.»

Paschal popped right beside Ian, Mitsuko in its scabbard. Uzul almost fell down from shock, but a firm grip from Hildegard saved his dignity.

"May I introduce Paschal Atlantis, God of Healing for the circumstance? I am being told he is the Grand Architect, so he must have designed life itself if he can heal."

Paschal turned pink at the flowery introduction done by Colibri, but kept quiet.

"Have the families found their loved ones?" continued Colibri, as the Atlanteans stayed mute.

"Most have recovered at least one of their young ones. The others wonder why they have not seen their missing Children."

"The God of Healing will fix those that are sick, and return to Heaven for his duties. We will explain the situation as soon as this is done."

«Colibri! Watch. You have been wondering why I asked for my Brother Paschal. This is the power you will a day weld.»

As Colibri and the Orcs watched, Paschal walked to stand in the middle of the youngsters and took out Mitsuko. Raising it above his head, he incanted his command silently: Heal the sick and the old, cure those deserving of health, and dispose of the enemies of Atlantis! The cave became aureoled in a deep green light, streaked with an occasional red streak. Those hit by the red thunderbolt died instantly and vanished, ported to the jungle outside, while the others felt their body heal miraculously. Every Child was restored to health, wounds and infestations of all sorts disappearing as the green light penetrated their body, A few rare adults, mostly Guards and Priests that had survived the first purge of the Temple, died from a red thunderbolt and disappeared from the cave floor. As the healing progressed, the dark green light became ever lighter, until it disappeared completely. Paschal then reinserted Mitsuko in its scabbard, did a quick curtsey to Ian and disappeared.

"It is done. Those that were hit by red lightning are dead. The others are healthy. Listen to the voice of Uzul, he will tell you what has transpired since we first met!" Colibri then sat on the floor and Ian sat in his lap.

«You did well, Colibri! I am proud of you!»

«Thank you my Lord. But why have you not spoken ever since we entered the Orcs' land?»

«It eases relations, it gives you importance in their eyes, and more importantly for us, it gives you the self-confidence necessary for you to take your rightful place amongst us.»

Uzul exposed the events of the day, and was himself surprised it had only been such a short period to cover so momentous changes. As he told his story, the listeners were enraptured by his rich voice and his ability to spin such a strange tale. It was only the constant presence of the strangers, the unyielding support of the away team, and the fresh miracles being held by their parents that kept scepticism at bay. No one dared interrupt the long-winded story, and Uzul used all the versatility of the Orc language, secretly inspired by Ian and the Atlanteans, to wrap the minds of his listeners in a tight cocoon of Magic and Gods. It took two hours for Uzul to come to his conclusion, and by then, his throat was getting parched. Colibri took over.

"The Gods came to save us from certain death as the war rages in the sky. Uzul has explained what he has seen to you. I have seen this often as well. Your Priests probably have seen it too, and tried to appease the Gods with sacrifices ever more numerous, to no avail. The time has come to ready yourself for the move to a new land, a promised land where the Orcs will be safe. Decide now if you want your Children to have a future, for them to see another year, or if you value this place more then life itself!"

Families held meetings in their respective areas, and quickly, some came back with their acceptance of the proposed move. Apparently the female Orcs were in no mood to sacrifice their offspring for a cave and made it very clear to their other half, some even going to the point of breaking an arm to get their point across. An hour after the proposal had been laid on the ground, half of the Orc families had said yes, and two hours later, everyone had agreed, some holding one a left arm, another a wrist, while some sported one or two black eyes, or a bloody nose.

«Orc Mammas are not to be trifled with!» said Ian as he saw the collection of crippled males make their way to the Atlanteans' seats.

"So, the entire village moves? Fine. All stand!" said Colibri, following Ian's instruction for the port. "We will transport you in batch of ten families. In Heaven, my Lord Ian tells me you will be invited to lie down and sleep while the Angels complete the fix. Everyone will be safe. Do not be afraid."

"What are Angels?" asked a little Orc, no more then five years old in all appearances.

"The Gods' helpers, I am told. The Gods cannot be kept busy for trivial matters when they are occupied rescuing as many life forms as possible, so it will be the Angels that will deal with you on an individual basis. When you wake up, you will find you are even healthier then what you feel now, and yes, those black eyes, broken arms, bloody noses, and furless patches will have been fixed. You will be awakened by family cluster. For those youngsters that have no living family, and there are quite a few from what the Lords tell me, they will be taken care of. Uzul, your family will go first, but you will be kept awake until the last family group had been transported to Heaven, so you can help the Angels reassure the Children and the adults."

"What about our family goods?" a very avaricious adult male asked.

"They will be transported as well, and stored until you are awake. Some goods are perishable and will be disposed of. Food is no longer an issue for your Tribe."

Ian and the other four Atlanteans began porting whole families to Thebes, at the rate of one family per five seconds per Atlantean. Colibri kept talking to the little Orcs and the nervous parents, telling them of what he had seen in Thebes, and the marvellous things he had been witnessed to.

"Will we see flying Dragons too?" asked one little Orc, as he was being readied with a group of orphans for his own port.

"Sure! Tell me your full name and I will make sure you ride on one!"

"I'm Yousef Ishtar, my Mom drowned in the lake and my Father never came back from a hunting expedition. The Priests told me I would do a good Angel. Will I need to die to become one?"

"No, Yousef, you need not die to become an Angel, you need only act like one. Being an Angel is both difficult and easy. It is difficult because you must fight constantly with yourself to keep in check these things that make you hurt others for your own gain: this internal war carries a name, the Jihad, or Holy War. The Gods need you not to fight for them, they can do it themselves much more effectively then you ever will be able to, and you never know what type of Jihad the person in front of you is fighting within his own mind. It is also easy, because when you seed joy and love around you, it multiplies like the Garden of Eden multiplies under the Care of the Gods."

"Will I see the Garden?"

"Yes, Yousef, you will."

"Will you be there when I wake up?"

"If the Gods so wish."

It was now the turn of Yousef's group to port to Thebes, and Colibri gave a hug and a pat on the little one's head before the Orc group vanished. Ian and the Atlanteans had left Colibri to his own devices, surprised at how easy it was for the native boy to establish a positive rapport with the Orcs. Finally, after three hours, one hundred and eight thousand Orcs had been ported to Thebes. An additional ten minutes were necessary to port family goods and Orc art to storage, sorted by family ownership.

"We're done here. Let's get out and return to the Amazon River. We have a lot of work to do," decided Ian. The Atlanteans ported directly to their pirogue. Colibri was not in the least surprised by the move, having gotten used to instant transport with the Atlanteans. One day, he swore to himself, he would be able to do this!

***

The Atlanteans quickly made their way back to the Ucayali. By the end of the day, just as the Sun was setting down, they reached the mouth of the Marañón and set up camp. The forest was quiet, strangely quiet, in fact.

"I find the forest way too peaceful, my Lords."

"We are aware of this, but I think it is due to a considerable reduction in the number of nocturnal predators. We have ported most of the big ones to the Ark, and Ophidians are also well underway to being moved out to the Ark," replied Raja.

"I wonder when Greywolf will be out of stasis?"

"He should be out a few days after we return to Thebes, Hildegard. We'll bring Colibri with us when he comes out of the chamber," answered Ian.

"When will you bring the Orcs out of sleep?"

"I do not know. Why do you ask, Colibri?"

"I promised to be there for one Yousef Ishtar, Lord Xianathan. I do not want to deceive him by not being there when I promised I would be. He seems so innocent and candid about things."

"That's the first time I heard these two adjectives tied with the word Orc," commented Hildegard.

"There's a beginning to everything," replied sententiously Edwin.

"Bedtime. Tomorrow, we travel to the Amazon along the Ucayali. That should take us the day, then we move down to the Juruá, clean up its banks of Tribes, proceed quickly to the Purus, Madeira, Tapajós and Xingu, Araguaia, and the Tocantins. That would close the book on the Amazon basin. If we are lucky we have enough time left to do the Orinoco."

"Why not port directly to the mouth of the Ucayali? It would save us a full day of travel," suggested Edwin.

"Because I want to make sure we did not miss anyone."

"Oh, ok."

***

The progress down the Ucayali was quick and led to the recovery of a hunting party. The Atlanteans simply ported them right off without even bothering to question them. The Hunters seemed lost, as if they had been out of their tribal land and were looking for something.

"Do you think they were looking for us?" asked Xianathan.

"If they were, they found us, if they were not, we found them," said Ian.

Things sped up considerably from then on. Tribe after Tribe were waiting for them, all aligned neatly along the rivers' banks, with their pets, their Dogs, their Pigs, and their belongings.

"At this rate, we'll be done in a week."

"Don't sell the Crocodile Priest's skin before killing it, Hildegard."

"It's the second time you mention Crocodile Priests. Ian. What are they?"

"Some mutant horror. From what I understood, they created the Orcs."

"Anyway, Colibri, do not wish to meet them. They are no fun. They eat their Mother to get out of the nest, they eat each other so it is the survival of the most witty, they eat Humans as lunch, preferably still kicking and screaming," stated Raja.

The team reached the ocean five days later, back to their entry point in the Amazon basin. They had made their trip a lot shorter after Colibri mentioned it was not very useful to travel a river twice, once to go up and another time to go down. They ported their canoe at the source of each river, did a single pass until they reached the mouth, ported to another source, did the same, and were therefore able to cover three, sometimes four rivers in a day.

"We do the same with the Araguaia and the Tocantins. The Araguaia provided with another ten Tribes, but the Tocantins seemed strangely devoid of Tribes. As the boys descended, Ian noticed their Magic field flash more often, and then as they turned around another bend, the entire field glowed bright red.

"Back off! Back off! We are entering highly radioactive waters!"

The canoe came to an emergency stop and then quickly reversed course. Edwin brought them beyond the bend and then immobilised the trimaran relative to the shores.

"What the Hell happened?" Colibri asked, who had yet to learn about radiation.

"We entered a highly dangerous area of the river. Did you notice anything when we went around the bend, Colibri?"

"Apart from the Magic field turning ruby red, I did see what would seem to be a dead stretch of forest on the right side."

"That forest is a very special type of forest, Colibri. It is a Glowing Forest, not because it is alive, but because it is dead from intense radiation poisoning. It is the river that carries the poison."

"I think we found the river leading to Brasilia. From this point on, this segment is under military control and I'm calling in the God of War, Sitar. Bring us up river a bit further, Edwin. We will set camp on that narrow sand beach. It will be safe for a short while."

Edwin did as Ian requested, and shortly, the camp was set. Framed by a powerful anti-radiation force field, it would be the base camp for Sitar's work. As soon as camp was set, Ian asked for Sitar's presence. The Atlantean Prince immediately came to the call.

"What's the issue?"

"We found the river that drains Brasilia. It is highly radioactive. I do not think anyone will be able to live on either side of the Tocantins. The only life form fit for that are Crocodile Priests."

"Did you see any?"

"Not yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some by the end of our stay here."

"Fine, I'm moving in a Centurie for your added protection. My team will then travel by air along that stream to Brasilia. Are there any markers?"

"Apart from the dead forest, none. I doubt they ever considered marking things here."

"Ok. Raja, I want you to fly and check the rest of the Tocantins for signs of Human or animal life forms. Shelter yourself from by radiation using a force field. If you see anything, just mark it, but take no action."

Ok. I'll wait until nightfall. I'll be less visible and fires are good indication of Human activity; with my infrared vision, it's a very effective way to detect villages, huts or even hunting parties."

"Fine. I'm leaving with my special intervention team as soon as the Centurie is here. It's a Dragon Centurie under command of Alaric."

"That's fine, Sitar. Alaric has a good head on his shoulder."

"As long as a head-hunter does not spot his fiery-red hair!" Edwin said.

"Because you think blondes are less attractive maybe?" Ian said, making Edwin bleach.

As they waited for the Dragons to arrive, Ian told Sitar of his progress and that the only river left to deal with was the Orinoco. He also told him about the miniature Orcs they had rescued some days ago, and how Colibri had performed exceptionally well under the circumstances, even befriending a young orphaned Orc.

"I'm surprised the orphan did not get converted into a meal."

"The Priests were planning to, before we made them into Ant lunch. The Amazon will have the fattest Ants of the planet!" said Hildegard.

"If they don't die of Orc poisoning before."

"True."

The Sun was setting down when the Dragons landed, converting to boy form to take less space. Sitar left with his team as soon as darkness fell.

"It is easier to see the Glows in darkness, Colibri. That way we will not lose the river under a thick cover of dead branches."

"Should we wait for your return to proceed?"

"Yes, Ian. And we must also wait on Raja's report."

Raja's report came back to Ian by matins. He had seen three small villages, located very far from each other, clearly preventing any exchange whatsoever.

"If this is confirmed, that means another batch of intensive genetic re-sequencing, Ian."

"Nothing we can't handle. After all we got the blind ones from the bunker, the Seraphrims, the Orcs from Africa, those we just ported, and quite a number of other ragtag individuals from the United Kingdoms, and the Goblins. We have years of work to do."

Just as the false dawn peeked over the river, the team led by Sitar returned with their discoveries.

"Ian, there were no doomsday device there. External assault flattened Brasilia and there were no nuclear weapons in the immediate area. Did you find any trace while doing the Amazon?"

"No. We did see ruins, but nothing indicative of nuclear power being used for weaponry. There were a couple of power plants, but they had degraded considerably. Their fuel rods are still stored in muddy pools, not worth trying to recover because of the residual radioactivity. From what we saw, four more plants were being prepared by the Ancients, but they never became active."

"Ok. Raja, I was busy. What is the news?"

"Three small villages, totally isolated by the presence of excessive radiation in the Tocantins basin."

"Let's deal with them right away."

"I agree Sitar. However, expect some trouble. These villages have no knowledge of our presence, and they have never interacted with any we visited."

"I don't plan to spend too much time saving their faces. My idea is you five set a force field around the village; I land in Gold Dragon from, scare them stiff, and port them to Thebes for installation into the chambers while they are still in shock. No fancy footwork. Do not even bother recovering their food sources, I suggest you mark the entire zone off limits and we port every damn life form to the Ark, minus the contaminated soil."

"When do you plan to do that?"

"Right now for the first village. Then we do another one after sunset, and finish off at sunup for the last one. Agreed?"

"Fine by us, Sitar. Colibri, we will port the pirogue at the mouth of the Amazon and tie it there. Alaric, you and your Centurie are to protect Colibri while we do this first village. We'll be back by sext."

"At your command, Ian."

The boys quickly did as Ian had ordered and it took them less then fifteen minutes to move into position around their first target. When they arrived, the Dogs did not even bark, thus preventing the alarm from being raised. Taken by surprise the villagers did not even have time to get their weapons before being stowed away in long-term stasis chambers. By sext, not only had the village been vacated, but also every living life form recoverable was either in stasis for radiation poisoning treatment, or in stasis until the equatorial ecosystem was firmly re-established in the proper tessaract.

"Let's go to camp and rest," decided Ian. "The night will be short."

The process repeated itself flawlessly for the last two villages, and finally, the Amazon was deemed empty of Human life form, while just about every animal bigger then a Mouse was tagged to be ported to Thebes when the day came for the big disturbance.

The Orinoco river basin proved to be a lot simpler to deal with then the Amazon. In all, only five villages were found, all ended up treated as quickly as the last three of the Amazon were dealt with.

"Home sweet home, guys! Let's port the trimaran, it served us well, and it is an example of one of the most primitive water transport ever. Consider this a museum piece!"

After the pirogue and their camping gear had been moved back to Thebes, the boys sent Alaric on his way.

"Don't worry about us, we'll be home before you reach the Atlantic."

"Colibri, grab my hand. That port will be a long distance one, my little Brother," said Raja.

A few seconds later, the Amazon had seen the last of its Humans in its current location. Meanwhile the Atlanteans were still busy porting the Goblins to Thebes and preparing the genetic re-sequencing that would allow them to live safely in the megalopolis