Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [44]
"It is an evil thing you tell me, Thanial."
"Can knowledge by itself be evil? Only the use to which we put it. Not telling you about your parentage- that might be considered evil. When you know the truth, you are free to make the best decisions possible. With the time we've spent together, I've come to know your character, and you are good."
Someone pounded on the exterior of Thanial's cabin door. The grizzled ranger gave Marrec's shoulder a reassuring squeeze then saw to the caller.
It was a boy from the village, babbling of another attack. The ogre raiders had returned to the village, vengeful and more cruel in the wake of their ignominious retreat months earlier. Worse, a truly abominable ogre, nearly double the size of the others, led the raid. The boy said the village elders had sent him. He pled for Thanial's help in driving off the threat, not recognizing Marrec, who was older and attired similarly to the ranger.
Thanial grunted, "I will come." He glanced at Marrec. "And my apprentice, too."
The ranger shrugged into his leathers; Marrec did the same. His leather armor was another gift from his benefactor. Thanial grabbed his sword, Marrec his wooden spears, and they were off through the forest. Thanial told the boy from the village to stay in his cabin. The young villager was too exhausted to protest.
A dark form paced them, partially visible through the trees. It was Thanial's companion, the great wolf Shira. Marrec felt better knowing that Shira would be with them.
Just before they reached the village, Thanial paused. They could hear screams and the clang of steel through the trees. They were close.
Thanial said, "Marrec, this is an opportunity for you to use your abilities for good. Stifling them can't be healthy; they are part of you. Your actions define your nature, not your heritage or the sins of your forebears. Defend the village any way that you can."
Marrec took a deep breath and simply nodded.
Thanial leaped out of the trees and ran for the village gates, Marrec on his heels. Shira rushed ahead.
The first ogre they saw was dead, surrounded by three villagers, also slain, just within the gates. Beyond was the town square. A dozen ogres swarmed the courtyard, each twice the size of an ordinary villager, but the ogres in turn were dwarfed by their leader. They swarmed around the feet of what may have been a giant in truth, their heads topping that creature's belt.
The overlarge ogre appeared something like a bestial human grown far too big, but it was larger, stronger, and armored in the cured skins of its fallen enemies. In its hand it gripped a wooden club that was twenty feet long if it was an inch. Rusted nails and the fangs of unknown animals protruded from its length.
The sight of the leader's armor, with its sewn limbs, bodies, and faces, stretched and distorted to make a whole sheet of leather armor, made the gorge rise in Marrec's throat. He stumbled, coughing and retching.
Thanial was made of sterner stuff. He charged in, slaying an ogre outright with his blade, clearing a path toward the towering ogre leader. Shira followed Thanial, guarding the ranger's back from the other ogres, a ferocious shape larger than a man herself.
Several villagers, those who were not strewn unmoving around the courtyard, were grouped in a small alley. The giant leading the raid turned his attention from attempting to crush them with his tooth-and-nail-studded club to defend itself against Thanial's advance. It screamed something unintelligible to Marrec in a foul, phlegmy tongue and brought up its club. Its silhouette was enough to completely shadow the ranger's approach.
Thanial ducked under the club and stabbed the creature. A flattened human face on the creature's armor clamped its flaccid mouth down on the length of Thanial's blade, trapping it. The ranger screamed in frustration as he attempted to pull his sword free. No good. The giant ogre laughed.