Legacy of Oblivion

His message was broadcast over thousands of miles — across great oceans, over towering mountain ranges and through the vast, arid places of the world. The directive was not audible but resounded in their minds as clearly as if he were standing before them. Willingly or not, the collective thoughts of the organization’s leadership were sucked into a telepathic bubble and forced to listen.

“This is a priority code Alpha! All Officers report to secret base Delta Alpha Tango Picnic!”

What followed was confused and agitated silence, save for the familiar tickle of other consciousnesses.

Perched on top of her totem, Sabe turned to the hunter who stood nearby, leaning casually up against the meeting stone as he watched his pet lizard chase bugs. He looked up at her, raising an amused eyebrow.

“Picnic?” Sabe mouthed at him.

With a grin, Thundrax shrugged and returned his attention to his pet. He had no idea what the voice was talking about, either.

The explanation they were hoping for did not follow and tension grew as silence settled over the telepathic conference. Finally, as if snapping a taut wire, the silence was broken by a voice that sounded as if the scourge had only left him a single vocal chord and it, too, was in danger of rotting off.

“What in the @$#* are you talking about, Zug?”

The garbled word indicated the profanity filter on the Officer Channel was still malfunctioning. Someone would need to look into that.

The original voice came back, explaining as if it were obvious.

“It’s code, Arcadi.”

The priest sounded largely unimpressed.

“Oh yeah? Well, what’s the code for ‘I’m going to give your entire family the @$#*ing Scourge if you don’t shut your pie hole’?”

Thundrax looked up with a wistful expression.

“Mmm, pie,” he said.

Sabe’s stomach growled in agreement. It had been a while since either of them had been treated to the luxuries of civilization. Their recent assignment had living off of bare necessities in the Horde outposts throughout the region. They had been looking forward to a little time off.

Apparently that wasn’t on the agenda. Before the argument between Arcadi and Zug took off, their leader, Caulbraen, intervened.

“We have a situation. For now, you are all being pulled off current assignments until further notice. Get moving to the arranged location and be careful.“

Coming from their leader, it sounded much more urgent. Although he always exhibited an overabundance of caution, the rogue had a keen sense for danger. He never jumped into a bad situation blind.

Arcadi snorted into the channel. “Get moving to where, secret location Picnic?“

Despite the urgent message from Caulbraen that had just been delivered, snorts and laughter filled the channel.

Sabe hopped off her totem as it started to dissipate.

“Where are we going, Thund?” She asked.

Pushing himself away from the meeting stone, he stood upright.

“You heard Zug,” he said, smirking. “We’re going to Picnic. Very dangerous.”

“It’d be better for all of us if he was going to Bath.”

The hunter’s telepathic projection cut through the laughter with a low, scratchy tone.

Meet up at Swamp of Sorrows, in the usual room,” Thundrax instructed.

“That’s what I said!” Zug protested.

The laughter ended and the channel flickered, indicating every other Officer had turned their attention to packing up their current operations and were preparing to move, too.

Sabe whistled. Her wolf mount responded, crashing through of the trees and underbrush, nearly bowling her over. Assuming it meant they were all leaving, Thundrax’s wolf mount followed but was much more well behaved. It stopped alongside its master and waited patiently.

As always, Caulbraen left them with caution.

“You are to speak with no one until you arrive at the location. Should anyone else find out about this before we have a plan, it may cause unnecessary panic, especially among our own. Get moving to the arranged location and be careful. Make sure you are not followed.”

Their mental connection was cut, and the communication ended. The telepathic room released them with a mental snap that felt like a bubble popping.

What do you think this is all about?” Sabe asked, grabbing the reigns of her mount.

Thundrax shrugged and swung himself up on top of his wolf. “Lions, tigers, and bears.”

Hoisting herself up onto the back of her wolf mount, she laughed. “Oh my.”

Nudging their mounts into a run, the two orc appeared as blurs as they cut across the landscape to the nearest transport, not bothering to look for a road.