The sun was so pretty this time of the day. The clouds drifted across the blue sky without a care or concern. It really was breathtaking the way the world worked. The sun was shining off the snow-topped mountains. The ocean stretched forever, the gleaming waves rippling out to the edge of the world. It was hard to tell where the sky ended and the sea began. The forest also had its own brand of beauty. Countless shades of green stretched for miles, like a canopy of living wonder. It was peaceful. In the middle of it all stood an orc. But this was not an ordinary orc. He was slightly taller than a man, with three times the build. He was dressed as a jester, in the simplest of tunics and a cap to match. The most interesting of his features was his face, pale except for two black eye sockets and a huge, black smile.

The Jester was broken from his trance by the crashing of metal. A hard cold blade struck his round shield and knocked him backwards slightly, though he gave no ground. He shook his head and swung his club down in a hard, yet surprisingly graceful movement. The enemy's skull shattered, sending bits and pieces into the warriors around him. A shard of bone flew towards him, about to collide with his face. But he was much faster than he looked. He whispered a word into his shield. It made a small beeping sound and a transparent bubble formed around him. The shard bounced off harmlessly and the bubble faded away. He smiled and kicked an elf in the chest. He looked to his left, and saw his partner Togo. Also an orc, Togos skin was green and bumpy, his hair blood red and black, marbleized together. He was much taller than The Jester, and lankier too. But he held his own in combat. He carried with him a kitana, which was odd for an orc. He arced the sword down quick, cutting an elf in half. He kicked the corpse aside and swung up, slaying another elf. He gave The Jester a nod and continued fighting.

The battle lasted almost all day. By sunset it was over, and the army of the elves was defeated. The Jester, Togo, and their army given to them by the "Order", picked up their dead and headed home. They walked the high road up the mountain, The Jesters favorite place to be. The mountains were one of the only places left on Thordelos untouched by the Itch, and therefore where the Order built their city. Somehow, long ago, the world of Thordelos was transformed. What used to be living soil and plants was now changed into a technological wonder. Everything was computerized. The trees, the plants, even the dirt itself overwhelmed by this change, or the "Itch" as people have come to call it. With the right equipment, anything in the environment could be manipulated, like a computer. The Jester cared not for these "advances"; he much preferred the mountains, where the Itch could not take hold of the environment. For some reason, it hasnt yet figured out how to meld itself with rock or water, which suited him just fine. He looked at his shield, whispered a word, and it started to change. Very mechanically, the shield began to shift and change, shrinking into a small black box. He patted it and put it into his satchel. The leader of the Order had given him the artifact, called the "laptop" to control the Itch, to weld it anyway he chose. He had gotten quite good at it over the years, and it was especially important in these times.

The First was the leader of the Order. He had given The Jester this assignment, which was a great honor in the Order society. A great threat had been plaguing the Order encampments. A diabolic madman named Legolas was pillaging the Order towns and wreaking havoc upon the innocent. Legolas was an elf in nature, a pale scrawny person with long, blonde, girly hair, who hated everything good about life. Meat, violence, even vulgarity was shunned in his society. He built an army of hippies, elves who shared his views to crush the Order. But he did not count on The Jester. The Order had sent The Jester and Togo out on a peacekeeping mission, to destroy Legolass hippy army and to rid Thordelos of his foolhardiness. They were on the second week of their mission, with much success. They had won many battles and raided most of Legolass private hippy camps. But The Jester was growing suspicious of his strategies. In the battles hed fought in the last few days, hippies seemed to be passing up his own soldiers and coming straight for him. He was beginning to suspect that Legolas was out to get him.

The camp was quiet that night. The only sounds were of drunken soldiers and the moans of the wounded, but all in all it was almost silent. The Jester didnt like silence. Silence means death. He sat in a sloth chair, waiting for the First to contact him. His laptop sat open, awaiting the Firsts message. The tent flap opened, and his heart jumped into his throat. She was a faerie, but she wouldve looked human if not for her pale, bluish skin. Her hair was light, so light in fact that it almost looked clear. He marveled at how transparent it looked. She was shorter than him, and her eyes were energetic and strong. The Jester stood.

"Hello Hanna."

She stood at attention and saluted him, standing so rigid and yet relaxed at the same time. "What word from the field? Ohand at ease." He felt nervoushe always did when he talked to her.

"The soldiers have high morale, sir." Hanna reported. The Jester interrupted her,

"No need for formality dear, call me Jester." She grinned and continued.

"Very well, Jester. These recent wins will surely affect their fighting. But there is rumor circulating in the camp. Apparently the artifact archives in West Broch were raided last month. It is believed that Legolas and his hippies were behind these raids. They got away with several artifacts, including the Cypher staff." The Jester raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Cypher staff? What threat is that to us?"

"It is believed that the Cypher staff has the power to manipulate the Itch. It uses electrodes or some such nonsense, to encompass a living organism in electronic energy, like a web. Then the user of the Cypher staff can change the location of whatever is inside this web, to anywhere the Itch has tainted." The Jester grew darker.

"Does Legolas have the ability to use this machine?"

"We believe that in the time since he acquired it, he would be able to understand the power grid and gain full use of its capabilities." She lowered her head, and spoke softly. "Rumor in the camps is that Legolas plans to use it on youI guess he figures if he kills you, the Order will fall." Her words pained her.

"Hanna" He stepped forward and took her hand. It was soft, as though despite her years in battle, she had not aged. She looked up, her eyes almost watering. "Dont worry about me. If anything happens to me, I need you to be strong. Keep faith, Hanna. I know how strong you are" He took her other hand. A small smile came to her face. "You are my most valued asset." All went silent as they stared into each others eyes. Slowly, their lips moved closer together until

"Incoming message from Order command center. Connecting with First now"

The Jesters laptop made a clicking sound then began a light humming. He sighed. Hanna, startled, smiled and left the tent. He turned and sat at his desk.

"Every time" He sat in front of his laptop, awaiting the First. He appeared on screen, his face long, pale, and expressionless. He wore a tall, narrow hat and a robe. He spoke almost immediately.

"Excellent job on your victory today, Jester. You and your partner will be rewarded generously when you return from your campaign."

"Thank you Master. My will is to serve the Order." The Jester said almost symbiotically. He hated these meetings.

"You have done well Jester. I have faith that you will complete your mission successfully. And when you return, a grand banquet will be held, and you and your men will be hailed as our saviors"

"The First is wise." The Jester said in the tradition of the Order. Togo entered the large tent. The Jester glanced at him, and Togo nodded and sat down.

"Tomorrow you are to continue south. Sweep quickly to the Tower of Biach in heart of Rhotus. Be weary, Rhotus is difficult to enter and Legolas has many hippies guarding his tower."

"For the Order"

"Indeed." The Firsts face disappeared. The Jester stared blankly into the screen for a second, collecting his thoughts. Then he closed the laptop and put it back into his satchel. Togo stood almost bumping his head on the ceiling of the tent.

"Did I interrupt anything?" He said with a grin.

"If you mean one of my romantic chats with the Firstthen yes!" The Jester grinned and stood up. "Get some rest friend. Tomorrow we march." He opened the flap to his tent and walked out, lighting a cigar. Togo lit one himself, and they walked to the fire to talk strategy. A loud scream came from the front of the camp. Sounds of clanking swords could be heard. The Jester and Togo looked at each other then ran towards the sound. The Jester grabbed his laptop.

"Shield." The laptop clicked, and then did its mechanical transformation into his round shield. By the time he grabbed his club from his side, Togo had already unsheathed his kitana and cut down two hippies. The Jester rushed up along side Togo, and saw the Order soldiers defending the entrance. A hissing noise came from the distance, and then an intense explosion blasted the Order soldiers back. Through the smoke rode Legolas on a white horse, girly hair blowing in the breeze.

"Im sick of your filth! Be gone disbelievers!" He held up a long gnarled wooden staff. He said some words in Elvish and the tip began to glow.

"Heyshes cute!" The Jester said to Togo and they both laughed. A beam of silver light shot out at them, covering them with light. The Jester put his shield in front of his face, but the light was still blinding. It was as if the light pierced his eyelids and seeped into his brain. He felt dizzy, like falling over. All went black as he fell. The last thing he heard was Togo roaring.

******

"Jester!" Hanna screamed as she unsheathed her sword. A white mass of light surrounded The Jester and Togo and seemed to be getting thicker and thicker. They could hardly be seen now. The Order soldiers were arming themselves and running towards the fight screaming,

"For the Order!" The hippies were beginning to fall back, and Legolas was brandishing his sword in the air.

"For the Order!" Hanna shouted as she stabbed a hippy in the throat. She leapt weightlessly in the air, landing on a hippys shoulders, breaking his collarbone and sending him to the ground. She looked up at Legolas. He grinned at her, his eyes evil and girly at the same time. He sheathed his sword and gave an order in Elvish. His troops slowly started retreating. Hanna growled, then prepared to leap at him. He shouted more words in Elvish and a wall of flame appeared before her.

"Dont you just love the Itch? Its amazing, the things it can do!" he shouted, and then charged out of the camp.

******

This pain was different. Not the pain of a stab, or a cut, or even a traditional headache. This was worse. Every one of their muscles ached, and their heads felt like an overfilled canteen, about to burst. The Jester and Togo woke up covered with dirt. Their ground was hard, they were sure of that, and except for the pain in their heads and the aching muscles, they didnt seem to have any injuries. Togo was the first one up. He was a resilient orc, more so than your average beast. In battle a human soldier once broke a steel punch-shield over his face, and he laughed at the man because he broke his wrist. He helped The Jester up and he dusted himself off. A wave of panic fled over him. He reached down and looked over his shield.

"Whew" He said to himself, relieved that his laptop was unharmed. Both the orcs did a weapons check, and found everything to be in order. Confused by these happenings, Togo asked,

"Where are we?"

"I dont know man." They both gazed over the black wasteland in front of them. The sky was yellow and the sand at their feet was black. The air was dryvery dry. The Jester looked around again, taking in the atmosphere. He brought his shield to his face.

"One." The shield shifted and clanked its way back into laptop form. He sat down in the sand and put the laptop in front of him. Out of his satchel, he pulled a small black cord. Togo raised an eyebrow as The Jester plugged one end into the laptop and shoved the other end deep into the sand. He started clicking.

"Weird." Togo said, and then turned around.

"activating atlas" A map appeared on the laptop screen. It showed the planet of Thordelos, and then it zoomed in closer to a very small island. "Char" appeared on the screen, and then disappeared as the map zoomed closer to a small black area.

"Island of Char, eh?" Jester said as he continued clicking. The map zoomed out a little and showed the entire island. Despite the calamity of the situation, he still admired the beauty of the island. It had mountain ranges, rivers and beautiful stunning forests. There appeared to be no outlet back to the mainland. He was about to close down, but then noticed a small marking. He clicked on it and the map zoomed into a cave at the base of large rocky plain.

"Hmm" The Jester said as he scratched his chin.

"You sir, are an idiot!" Togo said with a grin.

"Right back at ya, happy-pants!" He touched the screen where it said "more info".

He thought for a second, and then closed the laptop. He yanked the cord out of the ground, folded it neatly, and then put it and the laptop in his satchel.

"Well?" Togo was getting impatient. The sun was boring down on him, and like any orc he did not like the sun.

"We are on the Island of Char. I dont know exactly how we got here, but I think it has something to do with that stick Legolas was carrying." Togo shook his head.

"Hippies. When will they learn?"

"Anyways...I have this hunch that to get home, were gonna need to make it to these caves. If the last battle really was fought there, then there might be enough electronic energy to send us home. We have to stay on our guard though. If I know Legolas, and I dont, then I doubt we are alone on this island." Togo thought for a second, absorbing all this new information.

"One question."

"What?"

"When's lunch?"

******