Invasion by B.N. Crandell Page A

looked up at her with sincerity in his eyes. This orc would cooperate eagerly with her — the slayer of his brother’s killer.
    “First things first,” she said, not wanting to waste time, “we must open all the city gates and let the Ta’zu army in. Then I want all the shamans brought to me. Can you arrange that?”
    “At once, Supreme Mistress. Although forgive my boldness, but not all of the Black Skull will be so eager to let the Ta’zu into Gnash.” Biv’rak lowered his head.
    “Then send all that are not needed to open the gates to the arena. I will speak to them there,” she ordered. “They will soon learn that they are much better off under my leadership.”
    “Of course, Supreme Mistress. It will be done.” Biv’rak bowed his head low and then scurried off.
    “Now, let’s go to the western gate and meet General Jak’ho,” she said turning to the Captain.
     
     
     
    Gerard and Jeff entered the Bathhouse together and searched for Major Isak and Jerzy, with whom they had made arrangements to meet here the night before. The Bathhouse consisted of ten long baths which were fed by a small fountain at one end while the water drained at the other. Gerard figured that the water would be filtered and recycled although looking at the colour of the water he wasn’t sure about the filtering process.
    The baths were divided by paved pathways allowing access to them from both sides. At one end of the large room were raised streams where the slaves washed their clothes. Beyond those streams were a number of drying rooms where constantly fed fires dried the hanging clothes. The whole process was quite ingenious and efficient.
    It didn’t take long to locate the boisterous dwarves and they made room beside Major Isak. They kept the conversation light while an orc guard stood in earshot, but when he moved on they started discussing escape plans.
    “We’re going to need weapons — and armour would be good too,” said Gerard in quiet tones while looking at Jerzy and the dwarf he had been told was Thirak Bomstotter who had been the leader of the captured dwarf squad. “Do you think you can acquire some?”
    “Ay, weapons should be easy ‘nough. Armour could be a problem tho’, laddie. Most th’ armour we be makin’ is for orcs, tho’ apparently they ‘ave be’n craftin’ human armour too, but certainly no dwarf armour,” said Thirak.
    “Not to mention the time it’d take for us to put on the armour,” added Major Isak. “I doubt we’ll have that sort of time.”
    “Good point,” said Jeff. “The sooner we’re on our way the better.”
    “Okay. Forget about the armour then, just get weapons. We’ll also need as many water skins as we can carry and food. Jeff and I can arrange the food,” said Gerard.
    “I can arrange the skins from the Leatherworkers’ Shop,” said Major Isak.
    “Excellent. Other than that we’ll all need to keep an eye out. We need to know everything — the guards’ patrol routes and times, systems, compound and building layouts, locked doors and whatever else you find of interest. We’ll pool our knowledge each day here until we’ve figured out a workable plan.” They all voiced their agreement and went back to talking about mundane things as a guard returned.
    Feeling much cleaner, Gerard left the Bathhouse a short while later with Jeff by his side. Both lost in their own thoughts, they talked very little on their way home. Once Gerard had said goodbye to Jeff he went to visit Sarai to see if he could garner any more information from her.
    She answered the door in the same black silk night-dress and beckoned him in somewhat hesitantly. Gerard took a seat at the small dining table which looked identical to the one in his own residence and waited for her to sit opposite him before speaking.
    “I apologise for leaving you the way I did yesterday, but after hearing what you told me I had to speak with a friend immediately.”
    Sarai nodded, “This friend is from