Orc Calamity

He slogged and sweated for the evening under the glow of the magic lamps that illuminated the warehouse, and the wagons they stocked, him and a team of other coolies. He worked for the largest trading company in the city and kingdom, Central Eve Trading Company.

Phillip ignored the envious gazes of the other coolies that he long became accustomed too, as he picked up another stack of four crates of potatoes. With 50lbs each, the other coolies loathed Phillip for being a showoff, and thought he got paid more, though he received the same wages as the rest.

The whistle of the nightshift blew, and the light winds swept across the warehouse compound, as this was payday!

All the coolies, including Phillip lined up to get paid, though Phillip with his size lumbering was near the end of the line due to fatigue.

The line moved slowly, and now it was finally Phillips turn in line, all the coolies, from his team, all twelve of them had a strange smile, including the accountant that was paying out everyone"s two-week work. The ones that were standing to the side that had been paid and the few behind Phillip.

Phillip held out his large hand, when he something knock into his back. With his hand held out, he looked behind him to see a coolie pushed into him. At this time, a slanky coolie walked over, and the accountant stealthily handed him a fist of coins, and then slunk back quickly, while the obnoxiously loud coolie that b.u.mped into Phillip did his best to apologize for knocking into him.

"I said it"s alright... Alright... Thank you... But it"s alright." Phillip repeated, with his hand still stretched out.

Then his hand felt heavier than it had ever been on payday, as he looked back up to see the accountant smiling strangely right before he yelled out.

"STOP!"

"What?" Phillip wasn"t sure why he was just shouted at, so he continued to hold out his hand to the accountant to take back the excess.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" The accountant yelled again.

"Then take it... It"s not mine, I just want my pay." Phillip said, as he began to get agitated

"Hey! We all get paid here! Don"t act cause issues!" A guy near the end of the line yelled to the front, unaware of the plot unfolding.

Phillip distracted turned his head to yell back, as one of the coolies to the side darted up and knocked the hand of Phillip scattering the large amount of copper coins in his hand sending them flying across the yard.

The other coolies in line broke and started to gather the coins, as the accountant yelled more, and the other coolies barked at Phillip.

With one coolie taking a swing bringing this conflict to another level, Phillip finally snapped and started to fight back. One coolie was picked up and tossed into the side of the building that had the window for payout, causing the accountant to cower behind. Two more coolies rushed to his legs to bring him down so the others could deal with a toppled opponent, but they were disappointed when a hard kick sent one rolling along the ground in an odd position, not natural for human bodies.

At this time the compound guards rushed forward, three in total for a reason for the commotion.

"What"s going on here!" The lead guard yelled.

"He reached over and took a large hand full of money, and refused to give it back, and then the others tried to make him, and now he"s start to beat them." The accountant accused, and as the guards turned, he took a bit more out of his drawer for himself... After all he had to reward himself for a job well done, why else did the other coolies think that this big oaf got paid more. He got paid more, and the coolies would get rid of someone they disliked. It all worked out in the end, as the accountant believed.

With the guards rushing up behind Phillip, he twisted his waist sending another coolie flipping through the air to land like a kite with his string cut.

"Stop you!" The guard bellowed.

Caught off guard, Phillip turned to see the guards, and as he was about to open his mouth, he was pushed forward by the last four coolies taking this chance to push him down. This served to push him into the guards, which sent the later into a fury as two of them was near crushed under the weight of Phillip.

"f.u.c.kING PIG, GET OFF ME!"

"GIVE BACK THE MONEYS, OAF!" The standing guard snapped out his lightning rod. These rods were carved by craftsmen from the Lightning Cord Root Trees. These trees were stroke by Lightning, and the magical properties of the tree retained a trace of that lightning. This wasn"t a rare resource, but it was difficult to find craftsmen that could handle it. It became a very popular item with law enforcement of all levels.

As Phillip got to a knee from falling on the two guards, the third guard struck him with his rod, sending the shocking force through his body, as he quivered.

With the other guards, now angered from being near flatten, they snapped out their rods, as the three of them began to beat Phillip in earnest, and now with the force of lightning behind the blows, it wasn"t long before Phillip cowered on the ground like a prawn, quivering.

After exhaustion sat in, the guards stretched their backs, as they called to the accountant, "Hey, Charles... How much did he take?"

The accountant already counted the draw and did the math of how much he handed the Oaf, how much he handed the coolies, and of course his cut.

"He took two crowns and four pence worth... A hundred and twenty-four pence coppers in total!" The accountant pointed his accusing finger as the curled Phillip on the ground.

One of the coolies had gotten back to his feet, and casually walked over and kicked Phillip in the face, as he laid on the ground as hard as he could. A sweetness spread through his mouth, as the numbness began.

The guards captured the coolie, and pulled him back, giving him a few lashes of their rods to subdue him. Now with the guards here... If anyone was going to do the beating, it was them, and not before.

The guards began to take everyone"s accounts.

Phillip spat from his mouth three teeth... With a shaky hand he reached out for his teeth on the floor not believing they were his... His most precious possession, his good teeth... The same he brushed every day, and took care of because his sister said he should keep good teeth and have a good smile for her...

He spat another mouth of blood, and used his hand to touch his bottom teeth, and found they corresponded to the three he seen on the ground... His two bottom canines and an incisor, though he didn"t know these names, he knew what they looked like...

"Ahoy... Lookie here, Bruce. The fat pig has a coin strap." A guard spoke out, as Phillip no longer had time to think about his teeth, if felt his coin purse being pulled from his side, he reached out to grab it back, "No! I need rent."

"Then you shouldn"t have been a thief." Another rod struck Phillip in the arm, causing his hand to lose feeling, and failing its mission.

After a few more rods to Phillip from the guard for good measure, they took the reports of all the coolies, the accountant, and made their decision. They enlisted the aid of the coolies, and drug Phillip to the entrance and tossed him out of the warehouse compound.

He laid limply in the street, as he squeezed out the words, "My teeth..."

"Haha, what about them?" They all turned and went back in... No one would care about the firing of a coolie, and they should thank them for not chopping off his hands. The guards now had a new mission... Recover all the moneys that was flung into the yard, with interest.

A head guard turned to the other, "Frank, get the City guards to remove him... We can"t let him block the entrance with his fat."

With a nod, the other guard went to send a message.

Fatigue sat in, as depression took hold. His eyes closed, and darkness took him yet again.