Page 9 of Orc's Pride

Surprisingly, there isn’t anyone but me and the cloaked figure with the body of the man they’d hit at their feet.

When they turn to me, I freeze in place.

They’re much smaller than I’d originally observed. In their hand is a short knife that is tilted down at the earth. It makes me wary, but they aren’t pointing it at me yet. At their feet is a shovel with the metal part of it pointing in the opposite direction, as if it had been tossed away.

I wet my chapped lips. “Who are you?”

They shake their head at me. “Go.”

Female? That surprises me more. What is a woman doing out here in the middle of the forest? Wandering far enough to come upon us and have the tools to take him out?

Pulling myself up onto my feet, I shove down the questions that are boiling to the surface. There’s no time to stop and chit-chat. If this woman is indeed giving me a headstart on whatever is coming to claim me, I need to take it.

“I’ll take care of this,” She tells me, waving her hand. “Go. Be careful.”

For some reason, those words touch me. She has no idea who I am and yet she rescued me and wished me fair well. Whoever this woman is, she’s someone I will never forget.

Without another word, I turn and sprint away from her and the man still lying motionless at her feet. There is no part of me that feels sorry for him. If he’d come to fetch me and bring me back to the dark elves, then I wished nothing but misery for him.

To betray your own kind like that for beings that couldn’t give two shits whether we lived or died by their hands wasdisgusting. I have no respect for humans who sympathize with monsters.

The pain in my leg makes it hard to run fast or for very long. Within a few minutes, I’m already winded and limping severely while trying to keep myself upright. As long as I keep moving, I’ll stay ahead. My only hope is that I’m not easily tracked.

Dark elves, while still magic users, had a harder time using it to track people. I don’t know what it is about that kind of magic, but for some reason, it takes a lot out of them when they use those particular spells.

For once, I have the advantage.

I don’t know these woods, but I know how not to be found.

Up ahead, I see lights peeking through the tree line. Squinting at it, I realize that it isn’t the sun coming through but something else that’s more artificial.

A camp?

Leaning against a tree, I stop to let myself relax for a moment. A camp either meant traveling bandits or orcs. Both of which made me wary. While I work for an orc myself, I hardly trusted anyone other than him. I’m far away from Malik’s settlement, so I know for a fact this isn’t his.

Who then?

Trailing through the trees quietly, I come to the edge of where the light touches the forest. The camp is in the middle of a small clearing, crunched together in the tight space. From the smell of the cooking and how large the tents seem to be, I can tell there are orcs in there.

Should I approach?

Orcs, while generally unbothered by humans, didn’t take too kindly to intruders. Even if we share a mutual enemy, that doesn’t mean that they will be friendly towards me. If anything, they’ll take one look at my injured self and throw me back outinto the wilderness for the other predators to have their fun with.

I test my leg again, feeling the shooting pain rocket up my leg.

Damn. If only I had a way to sneak in and steal some supplies from them. Even if it only lasted me the night.

“What’s this?” A voice called from behind me.

A hand fists in my hair, hauling me back from the camp’s edge. I scream, my feet leaving the ground and an arm coming around to crush me against a thick chest.

Orc. Fuck!

“A spy? You know what we do to those, girl?”

I don’t have the chance to yell at him.

Before I know it, he’s dragging me into the camp.