Octlantis

Original characters, please let me know what you think!

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With a brutish yell, Nokk’s war hammer slammed into the bandit’s temple. She was dead before she hit the ground, a horrific dent in the side of her head as her knees buckled under her own weight, and she fell without a sound. 

Nokk panted, shouldering the hammer. All five bandits lay dead on the dirt paved road, scattered around the cart. The horse whinnied pitifully where it lay, it’s two front legs broken and mangled in the mud. Nokk’s greenish skin was flecked with pink gore and dark red blood. She licked her tusks that grew out from her bottom jaw and tasted salty copper. Her hearts pounded in asynchronous rhythm as she approached the wooden cart and held out her palm in a human show of peace.

Seven hostages were bound and captured, thrown haphazardly in the back of the carriage. A couple humans, one dwarf, and an orc girl not even eleven years old. All females. 

They recoiled and shifted into each other as Nokk stepped closer, unsure if she was another marauder. 

Nokk huffed, her hand lowered to her side. She ground her yellow teeth as she glareed the hostages down. “Fine. Stay in the cart. I don’t care.” 

“My dearest, you were incredible!” Came the lilting, high voice of her traveling companion. From his hiding place behind a cluster of moss-covered trees sprung Sylvester, dressed in a fine purple cloak, a silk white shirt and red trousers. His outfit made Nokk’s eyes hurt, and his voice caused her to drag a hand down her face. 

“You were so brave to defend these good people! And to protect me! You saved my life again, my love.” He swooned and rushed to her side. He squeezed her burly green arm. He tried to slide his arm around her own, and she pushed him away by his head. The elf barely came up to her elbow. 

“Oh, you poor little dears.” He gasped when he turned to the cart, raising a hand to his mouth. His glossy nails and soft hands had never seen a day’s work in their lives. He leapt into the cart with ease, his silver-blond hair hanging loose over his shoulders, glistening in the sunlight that broke through the leaves above like a waterfall of the purest platinum. 

“Your wrists, how tender they must be. I’m going to cut you loose now, but have no fear. This knife would never kiss your soft skin.” He winked at one of the human girls as he cut the rope about her wrists. The girl had been as stiff as a corpse just moments ago, but now her shoulders shook with nervous laughter as a smile tugged her lips. 

Sylvester climbed out of the cart and offered his hand to the human girl, helping her down. She lighted on the dirt path and thanked him under her breath. 

One by one, he helped the women from the cart, drawing a blush even from the dwarven maid. He carried the fierce orc girl on his back as he turned to Nokk, a giddy smile on his face. 

Nokk snorted, her nostrils flaring as she began to lead the group back to the village. She could feel Sylvester’s obnoxious grin, even when she wasn’t looking at him.  

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“Another round for the heroes who brought my daughter home!” Madam Bellanora cheered, lifting her tankard into the air with one hand, and the dwarven girl’s in the other. 

The tavern cheered, lifting their drinks to the orc in dull, blood-splattered leather and the elf dressed like a peacock. Sylvester stood up in his chair and took a few long bows, flourishing his hand in the air. Nokk’s lip curled in disdain before she lifted her tankard to her lips. Damned things were too small, she could swallow the contents in three gulps. 

Nokk’s chair creaked under her weight as she leaned back in her seat, watching Sylvester roam about the tavern to shake hands, drink and talk. He never stopped talking. 

She wanted peace, wanted quiet. Wanted to get back on the road and leave this village far behind, but he’d insisted they stay the night. She downed her tankard and slammed it on the table with a low grunt. 

“Knock-Knock?”  

She snorted, then turned to her left with wide eyes. How could someone so loud and colourful sneak up on her. 

The elf had his fist in the air, rapping at an invisible door. He grinned and took his seat beside her, dumping twelve little pouches on the table. “Look at this, my love! Look how grateful the people are to you, this is nearly twice what the Madam promised us!”

Nokk grumbled, eyeing her tankard for the last few drops. 

“You look like an angel when you scowl, but my heart aches for you.” Sylvester pursed his lips into a pout, clasping his hands to his chest. “Oh, my darling… What is it? Perhaps you’re tense after your fight. Shall I massage your shoulders?”

“They are grateful to you. Not me. I killed the bandits. You claim the gold.” Nokk snarled, lowering her eyes to the elf. 

“Not at all! This is all yours, sweetness. All of this is from the families of the girls. I would never suggest to be the hero.” He leaned forward to place his elbows on the table, his chin in his hands. A slow, dreamy smile crept up his lips. “You will always be my knight.”

Nokk ground her teeth, her bottom jaw jutting forward. 

Sylvester tilted his head, like a curious dog. “Do you scoff at my love?”

The orc barked out a single note of thunderous laughter. The music and fanfare of the tavern faltered to look back to their table. A member of the city guard standing by the doorway reached for his sword, his eyes narrowed on their table. After a few moments, the music began again. 

“Like silver bells in the lightest breeze…” Sylvester’s eyes fluttered shut, his words a whispered coo. his eyes falling shut. They snapped open as Nokk seized him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close. 

“Do not make me laugh. I do not want your love. You share it freely.” Nokk growled. Her anger only boiled when he swooned under the flecks of spittle that splattered over his face. She let him go with a huff and wiped her hand on the tabletop. 

“Your eyes are like diamonds when you sneer and snarl.” Sylvester placed a cool hand to his hot face. “Oh, my. Darling! My love, please. Don’t turn away.” He placed a hand on her arm as she moved to stand. He cleared his throat and pat his cheeks to calm down, then met her gaze with a more level stare. “Nokk, I enjoy beauty in all it’s forms. I cannot help but appreciate a sunset, a pretty woman’s smile, or the whistle of blades through the air.” His hand danced through the air in a dramatic flourish, smiling with all his white, perfect teeth. He turned back to Nokk and his smile faded. “But of all the most beautiful creations in this world, you are the most intoxicating. You are who I dream of when I close my eyes, who gives me butterflies in my belly. I will travel with you to the ends of the world, if you would have me. But if I am too much, I understand.” 

He stood up from his seat. He lifted her heavy hand that dwarfed his own and kissed the back of her calloused, cracked knuckles. “We have traveled very far. If this is truly the end, I do not regret a minute of it.” He gave her index and middle fingers a gentle squeeze before pulling away completely, drawing his cloak tighter around himself. 

Nokk wrenched her hand away from him as soon as he let go. She growled something low in her throat before standing up and moving to the bar. 

Her arm struck the metal pauldron of the guard. An iron grip caught her wrist, and the orc whirled around with a snarl, jutting her tusks out. 

“That’s assault on a member of the crownsguard. And that’s a threat.” He gestured to her expression and tightened his grip on her wrist. “Disturb the peace again, and you’ll be spending your last night here in the stockades.”

Nokk snorted and drew herself up to her full height. She had at least a foot and a half over the guard. Her eyes scanned the tavern before they landed on him again. “Try it. You are alone.”

The guard grasped the hilt of his sword and pulled. Nokk left her hammer in the inn, but her fists would be enough. She snarled, bending her knees and lifting her hands into the air. 

“Jonah! I thought that was you.” A lilting voice called from her right. She faltered and glanced down to see the elf approach the pair with a smile, then clapped the guard on the shoulder. “Have you accepted my offer for a dance? I told you, people love a man in uniform, just so long as they’re agreeable. So come along! I know the blacksmith’s boy had an eye on you.” Sylvester winked. 

“Not now. I’m right in the middle of something, you pompous twat.” The guard known as Jonah sputtered, batting the elf’s hand away. He paused, then glanced across the tavern. A muscular human male stood among some of the musicians, bobbing his head to the beat. His brown, tousled curls bounced with the movement. 

“... Did he really?” Jonah asked in a whisper. 

“He did!” Sylvester pulled the guard closer and spoke in a low, conspiratorial tone. “He says he keeps trying to get you into the forge and make you some custom armor, but you never have the time!”

“The capitol sends us our armor.” Jonah mumbled uselessly. “I don’t need anything special.”

“I know! It’s common knowledge! So why does he keep pushing it?” Sylvester pulled back with a grin, then pushed Jonah toward the crowd by his shoulders. “Go, get out of here.”

Sylvester snickered to himself as the guard awkwardly staggered through the tavern, his head bowed and his shoulders hunched. The blacksmith’s son turned to him with mild surprise, then an eager smile. 

Nokk snorted. Sylvester craned his head to meet her gaze, then tilted his head to the side. “Anything wrong? Oh! Right. Leaving you alone. I’m very sorry, darling-... I mean, Nokk. I’ll get right on that now.”

Nokk rolled her eyes. A thick hand tousled his perfectly combed hair. “Could have handled that myself.”

“Oh. Oh!” Sylvester stammered, unsteady on his feet when she pulled her hand away. He chuckled, combing through his hair with his fingers. He shifted his weight as he stood in place. “I know, of course you could have. You’re amazing.” Nervous fingers tapped together. “I just thought, perhaps, that you wanted a peaceful night. In a bed, rather than in the city dungeon.”

Nokk pushed her tankard into his hands. “Get us more drinks.” 

Sylvester swooned, placing the back of his hand to his forehead. “A noble quest for the fairest maiden~.”

Nokk crossed her arms over her chest. 

“You have no sense of humour.” Sylvester stuck out his tongue and turned for the bar. 

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