Page 23 of Orc's Pride
She blinks a few times at firmness in my tone, startled by my disregard. It’s the opposite of how I feel, however, giving her the advantage of knowing that is the last thing I want to do.
I cross over to the other side of the house and grab her by the arm again, forcing her back over to the door.
“Let go of me!”
Ignoring her, my hand finds the door handle, swinging it open and shoving her back outside all in a swift motion that happens too fast for her to react to, other than stumbling backwards.
I keep her upright, not letting her slip out of my grip and do something stupid like run through the base trying to escape. Not only would any orc spotting her stop to question her, butif any of my troop finds out that she’s away from my direction supervision, they’ll more than likely haul her down to the prison.
Speaking of which… I needed to go visit there today and check in. Now that I’m in charge of overseeing Dana, I’ll need to take her with me.
Hope she likes prisons.
“You’re coming with me.”
“W-What?” Her fingers dig into my hand, trying to pry it off of her as I pull her down the steps and onto the walkway leading through the base.
It’s a battered path that’s definitely seen better days. No one here has time to properly landscape and make the place look livable. As such, we’re a little more of a rustic setting than something more established like the North and Southern bases which are much bigger and have more orc-power.
Nonetheless, this place still functions like a well-oiled machine.
As we walk, Dana’s feet drag against the ground. If I wasn’t so annoyed with her attitude, I’d find it funny. To think, a mere human as small as her was trying to break free from me without considering just how much power that would take, it’s a bit charming to say the least.
She’s certainly much more of a warrior than I thought she was when she’d been dragged from the woods by Gor.
Orcs clear the pathway as we go, all but jumping out of the way when they see me. My brisk pace means business, along with the human woman I’m dragging behind me kicking and yelling.
Towards the outer reaches of the base is where the prison lays. It comes into view only a few minutes later, tall and imposing with walls that stretch up twenty feet high. Sharp wired lines are strung up along the outside of it, discouraging anyone from trying to break in or out.
Typically, there aren’t many people we keep captive—I’m usually of the mindset to slaughter and be done with it. However, since the dark elves had emboldened themselves with thinking they could get as close to our base as they did before attacking us, I wanted to question them on it.
If there is some plan in the works to storm the base, even if it’s by a small rebellion, I want to know about it. There’s nothing worse than being under prepared when it comes to facing off against magic users. They never played fair in the first place, so we needed any advantage we could get.
The two guards at the front of the prison straighten when they see me. Large weapons are clutched tight in their hands, drawn up to keep them both at the ready.
They nod firmly to me, stepping aside as I move past them. I know they must be curious as to why I’m dragging Dana here, but they remain silent even with their curious gazes latching onto her the moment she comes into view.
“Where are you taking me?” She hisses at me.
The prison is dark once we step inside. My night vision is handy in these types of situations, but I can tell how uncomfortable it makes Dana by the way she stiffens.
“Relax.” I tell her, pulling her along.
We head down the steps into the deeper chambers. Along the wall, there are torches that are lit down here, giving the hallway an eerie feel. Dana keeps close to me, her body practically pressing up against my arm as I head down another long hallway.
I’m not sure why the thought of her body pressed up against mine has my head spinning, but I choose to ignore it for the sake of keeping myself sane.
Cells line up on either side once we clear the hallway and reach the chamber. All of them are empty with the two on the end having their doors open. An excellent sign that the darkelves are already getting worked on. Hopefully by now, Gor will have extracted some information from them.
There is a smaller chamber that is located at the back of the cell block, a metal door separating the two parts of the prison from each other. My knuckles wrap against it twice, a signal for the orcs on the other side.
It swings open a few moments later, Gor’s face appearing before me.
“Did you find anything?” I ask while pulling Dana in behind me.
He swings the door closed. “We’re still working on them.”
I focus in on the two dark elves getting worked over by our butcher—a fearsome orc who’s skills with tenderizing all kinds of meat are unmatched. While a little unconventional, he certainly knows how to get the job done without completely obliterating our captives.