Page 5 of The Orc Protector's Secret Baby

I can’t see them either. A thick cloud of fog is above me, blocking everything from sight.

I get a burst of hope, and continue scaling along the cliff, getting closer and closer to my target. Sometimes, I have to use the arrow by sticking it in the wall to sort of swing myself to the next foothold. I hate doing it, terrified that the arrow will snap, but it’s my only choice.

“Wait, I think I see something!”

“Where?”

“Over there, where the fog is thinning. Don’t you see it?”

“No, I see nothing.”

When I glance up, I see that the fog is in fact, thinning. And I’m still several feet away from the outcropping.

“Here, let me try something,” an orc says.

I move to the next foothold, trying to speed up without being sloppy. Just as I’m about to reach for the next chunk of rock, I hear it.

That same, familiar whizzing sound.

An arrow goes flying by me. I turn my face down and away from the direction it came, trying to at least protect my face. The rest of me, I can’t do much about.

More arrows fly by, and they seem to be getting closer and closer to hitting me. When the next round comes, I gasp, clenching my teeth as one of them sinks into my good arm this time.

A ringing sound fills my ears as I fight through the pain. It’s way worse than the first one, and it takes all of my strength not to cry out, but I don’t want them to hear me and confirm that I’m down here.

I hear their voices still, but they’re muffled. When I look above me, the fog is still there.

Tears pour out of my eyes and my arm begins to shake, but I squeeze my eyes shut, begging my body to just do this one last thing for me.

Through sheer willpower, I open my eyes and do what I have to do to make it the last few feet.

As soon as I set foot on the outcropping, I collapse on the ground, closing my eyes. Already, I can feel myself slipping. I’m so tired, and with my injuries, I need this rest so badly.

Tomorrow I can worry about where I’m going to go or how I’m going to survive. I’m sure the orcs will have moved on by then, and probably forgotten about me completely.

After a minute, I open my eyes and look up towards the cliff, where the orcs had been. I don’t hear them anymore.

A grin slowly spreads across my face. It feels foreign, but so damn good. And for a moment, all the pain in my body is irrelevant. My bleak future is irrelevant.

Because I survived.

3

CAGAN

“I’m fucking over this,” I mutter.

The longer I walk through the village, the more I feel my anger reaching a peak that I’ve been trying to avoid. It does me no good to be angry, because anger doesn’t make change happen. If anything, it makes it harder for me to think clearly enough.

But right now, I can’t stop it.

As I walk, I don’t even see the orcs passing me. Their voices are indiscernible, so if anyone speaks to me, I’m unaware.

I don’t really know where I’m going, and I don’t care.

My father has been the same way my entire life. Detached, cold, uncaring. He makes terrible decisions for not just our family, but our clan, as the Chieftain of Swordstone.

“Fucking pathetic,” I mumble to myself, scoffing.