When he entered the tavern, he carried Nuula straight to his room, because if Lynda had any wounded adventurers to treat, they would see her otherwise. He placed her on the bed and hid her black swords in the wardrobe, and then quickly went to search for Lynda to treat her wounds.

  "Wake up! Alwin is wounded! He's in my room!“

  "Why did you put Alwin in your room and not in the room where we treat the wounded?“ She asked as Nogryl awoke her early to help Nuula.

  "No time to explain, just come!“ Both of them went towards Nogryl's room, and as Lynda entered the room, she was left in awe from a sight after she realized that the wounded person is not in fact Alwin, and Nogryl quickly closed the door behind her before she could say something stupid out loud that would uncover their secret.

  "It can't be real!“ She stated,

  "It's a real gorugolm! just like the ones from the tales! Aren't you worried? They are the servants of the evil!“

  "Don't you remember what the Church of Xorael thinks about herbalists like you, Lynda? According to the most pious of them, even you are a witch!“

  "That is, if they didn't think I was just a simple barmaid, else they'd most likely cut my tongue off. It's just nature magic after all." She answered in an annoyed voice, but she clearly understood his point and proceeded to remove Nuula's armor.

  Nuula's bracers, her chestplate that covered only her upper chest, her leg guards, and the caps of her boots were made of common black iron, like the weapons and the armor of ur'gluns. Only her blades were made of valkrulnal, which was much darker in color.

  Her armor was significantly heavier than the one that ordinary humans were wearing because the gorugolm were much stronger than the humans, and the weight of the armor did not bother them. Underneath it, she had a thin leather armor, and her stomach and her upper arms were exposed. Her hooded cloak was made of a dark wool cloth, and it soaked her blood. On her arms she had fingerless leather gloves with iron plates on the back of her arm and knuckles, and her nails were comparable to the claws of a bear, slightly shorter and broader.

  Lynda placed her fingers on Nuula's neck and after a couple of seconds she said,

  "I think she will survive; you managed to stop the bleeding. After I am sure that her wounds are properly sealed, I will change her bandages; she should be fine by tomorrow."

  "Maybe we should wait for her to awaken first; I don't know what she is going to do once she is awake." Nogryl stated and took Nuula's swords out of the wardrobe and wrapped them tightly in the bandage together with their scabbards before placing them back in, after which he settled a chair next to the bed and sat there and waited for the wounded gorugolm to awake, with his hand near his sword.

  Meanwhile, deep in the woodland, Nal'zuk had already reached the den of his clan. He passed between the two tall stones, and when he entered the cavern that was buzzing with activity of ur'gluns reparing the damage left by the fire, he loudly stated from his saddle;

  "Nuula was caught! The humans took her hostage; they will burn her alive!“ But the ur'gluns did not seem to care.

  "Not our business, filth! Many have died recently; she was an outcast anyway! She hunted for herself and never helped the clan!“ One of the goblinoids answered and continued rebuilding the structures inside the cavern.

  After hearing that, Nal'zuk slowly rode towards the stone elevation where the chieftain earlier stood. He was aware that ur'gluns cared about nothing but themselves, and he knew just how to rally them. He yelled,

  "A dark smoke has risen above Lindenrow! Their church has burned into ash! Their walls are rotting day by day! Their god has abbandoned them!“ Ur'gluns stopped whatever they were doing, and Nal'zuk continued:

  "It is too late for Nuula, but we can take the revenge for every last one of us that they have slaughtered! They have doomed us into the underworld, taking everything above ground for themselves! It is time for the debt to be repaid!“

  "Yeah!“ the crowd shouted.

  "The blows of our hammers and pickaxes shall roar below the earth, and we shall smelt the iron and forge it into shields, spears, and scales! We shall rally the other clans and raise an army, and we shall plunder everything we find!“

  "But we no longer have a chieftain!“ one of the ur'gluns yelled from the crowd, and the cavern went silent.

  Nal'zuk's wolf jumped down from the elevation and pounced onto the ur'glun, and Nal'zuk pointed one of his swords towards him and yelled:

  "Chieftains do nothing except take what we have hunted and order us around! The ur'gluns need someone who will lead them into the victorious battle and bountiful raids! A Warchief!, from now on, I am your Warchief!“

  The crowd quickly started whispering with their raspy voices. Nal'zuk was an outcast indeed, but the one who made him an outcast is now dead, and what ur'gluns could see is that he was riding a large wolf, and taming a mountain wolf was a deed worthy of a renown and respect among them.

  They also knew Nal'zuk is extremely capable despite being an outcast, and since the death of their chieftain, by the unwritten laws or ur'glun tribes, his exile was ended.

  ?Yeah!“ The pinned ur'glun shouted, having no other option than to agree or have his face thorn off by a wolf, and after a short silence, all of them approved:

  ?Yeah!“ and chanted his name. In that moment none of them had courage to object to his claim and face him in a duel, so they obliged.

  The drums would beat again as the ur'gluns returned to the mines, and not long after, the forges were lit again, and the word of an ur'glun warchief was quickly spreading among the clans.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Nal'zuk knew that the chieftains would not approve of someone who was recently no more than an outcast, and he needed a miracle.

  As the sun rose up, the light passed through the curtains of Nogrly's room and shined upon Nuula's face as she started waking up.

  By that time, Henry was there too, sitting beside a bed together with Nogryl.

  She slowly opened her eyes, revealing two black eyeballs, and she was found in a surprise.

  Her vision was blurry and doubled, and she was still in a delirium after regaining consciousness.

  She started speaking in a strange language, and as her vision cleared, she realized that the men around the bed are Nogryl and Henry, and what surprised her even more is the fact that they were humans.

  "Where am I?“ She asked, and the weakness could be heard in her voice.

  But as soon as a sane thought returned to her mind, she dashed backwards and growled at the men. She was clearly afraid but still ready to fight, even disarmed and wounded.

  "Relax, if we wanted to kill you, we'd already do it while you were unconscious.“.

  Nogryl spoke as he rested his chin on his armored forearms supported by the chair.

  "Also be careful with sudden movements; your wounds are still fresh,“ Henry added as Nuula lifted a blanket from her body, revealing that she is covered in bloodstained bandages.

  "But I don't get it. If you had a chance to kill me, why have you spared my life?“

  The men looked at each other, and Nogryl spoke:

  ?We believe that everyone deserves a second chance.“

  Speaking boldly and confidently, it was still obvious that Nogryl himself was not sure why they have spared her life; if they release her, she will cause more trouble, and if they show her to other humans, they will burn her alive.

  "So what's your plan? You'll just ask your priest if you can keep me as if you found a stray puppy. As if that would ever work.“

  Nuula said sarcasticly through the pain as she held her hand on the wound on her stomach that ruptured when she dashed and started bleeding again, soaking the bandages in dark blood.

  "Do not worry, we will find a solution! I will search the church lib...". Henry started speaking as the realization interrupted him, for the place that he wanted to search for was burned a couple of hours ago, and the smell of smoke still filled the town.

  The man groaned and placed a hand on his chin and started thinking, and a sudden realization came to his mind;

  ?We need Lynda!" The young man yelled as he rushed downstairs to bring the waitress.

  A minute later, Lynda showed up in the room, and after closing the door behind her, Henry asked:

  "So where did you learn your arts? You stated that the church does not approve of that sort of magic earlier, so there must be someone who excels in magic that does not relay on the church.“

  "And why would I tell you that?"

  Lynda was still suspicious of Henry, for her he was just one of Nogryl's militiamen, however he earned a deep respect from Nogryl by his actions in a battle and he considered him to be his friend.

  "You can him on my behalf" Nogryl added.

  Lynda sat on a nearby table and started swinging her legs and explaining:

  ?Alright, in a forest, not far away from here, there is one settlement deep in the Oldwood, no more than a handful of houses around a well, no church or barracks, yet somehow unaffected by the ur'glun raids. That's where my family home is. Not far from there, deep in the forest, there is a hill straight to the north, a place known as Wolf's Hill. On top of that hill, you will find a wooden cabin, and inside, an old lady.“

  "So why is that old lady important?“ Nogryl asked.

  "She is well known among the common folk that live in the Oldwood, the forest around us.“

  "Wasn't the forest named Lindenwood?“ Nogryl asked curiously.

  "Lindenwood is only a part of it, a part where the crown's rule is still respected, but there are many settlements of the forest dwelling folk that lived here before the kingdom claimed the land, and they still live far in the outer reaches where no servant of the crown bothers them." The young healer replied and approached Nogryl.

  "She is known as the White Witch, or Lady of the Woods; you should talk to her, and she will tell you the answers you seek." Lynda whispered in his ear and handed him her necklace.

  Without a moment to waste, Nogryl stood up and approached the room door:

  "Henry, take care of our guest; I will be back in no time; Lynda, hand me some dried ember root; no need to brew a tea; I am in a hurry."

  Hearing that, Lynda quickly walked towards her room and returned with a small linen sack of ember root, and after she handed it to Nogryl and explained the details of the location, he went straight to the barracks to prepare his horse for a journey.

  Lynda returned to her tasks as a barmaid, and Henry was left alone in the room with Nuula.

  "So Aryon Smite,“ she said.

  "Aryon Smite?“ Henry replied in a confused voice.

  "The guy that wrote a book, you said you only needed his name before I attempted to burn you alive."

  "Ah yes! Aryon Smite! His book is nothing more than ash now, but if he wrote it, he probably knows how to cure Nogryl from his curse."

  "I see“ She replied, "Well, I guess you managed to save your friend then, but how will the Aryon Smite know that he needs to intervene?“

  "I'll send him a letter; the messengers from the outer reaches of the kingdom are well-known for their speed and efficiency!“

  "Then you better hurry; the curse won't take long to subdue him,“ she replied.