Twisted Fate (Orc Destiny Volume I) (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (11 page)

“You armor, you charge first!” Korx shouted again, binding
him to a duty by pride.

Gnak realized that perhaps Korx was not as dumb as he
seemed, using pride and tradition to his advantage. It was something he would
have to keep in mind if they survived.

With no other options available, he stole a glance towards
Jen as he turned to face the giant. His clan-mates shoved their bound and
gagged prisoners to the ground, issuing them orders before turning to watch his
charge. Ahead of him the giant came to a stop, a cloud of dust trailing it from
around the corner of the pass. With a trumpeting roar that showed its rage
plainly, the giant thrashed its four immense arms, swinging the large club he
had seen days before in one of its massive hands. Gnak pulled his new blades
from his belt and tested the feel of them for only a fraction of a second,
before he leaned forward and charged the giant beast. The giant charged as
well.

Racing ahead, the ground seemingly bouncing beneath him as
the giant came, Gnak could feel the makeshift bindings on his armor begin to
loosen. His breastplate and backplate began to bounce with every stride. His
pauldrons began to shift uncomfortably as well, but it was one of his shin
guards that failed him.

Twisting to one side, the shin guard slipped down from the
inside of his calf, its metal edge catching upon the stone of the chasm’s
floor. Over Gnak went. He knew he would not recover from the trip. All he could
do it try his best to make it look graceful, purposeful, and spare himself
later ridicule.

Tucking his shoulder, he met the stone with a jarring clang
as his ill-fitting armor clattered with him across the stone. Using his
momentum to roll off of his shoulder, he watched as the great club of the giant
passed by him, only inches to spare. The fall had saved his life. Rolling back
to his feet, amazed he had managed to retain both of his blades, he leapt
towards the feet of the rushing giant.

Stabbing one blade into the enormous ankle of the beast as
it passed and holding fast, he was whipped around the creature by momentum and
carried up into the air as it continued in its stride. Holding on for life and
limb, as his weight carried him around the heel of the great creature, he
lashed out with his other blade, all but severing the main tendon at the back
of the beast’s leg. Dismayed, his blade had not been long enough to cut through
the beast’s thick flesh and sever the tendon in entirety. Then down he came
with the foot, and Gnak swung away from it as he smashed bodily to the ground,
his blades coming free of the giant’s flesh.

A great roar erupted from the giant and Gnak watched as the
remaining strands of the creature’s tendon gave way beneath its weight, its
calf muscles visibly snapping up into its leg as blood sprayed out of the
wound. Over the giant went, its ability to remain upright destroyed. Smashing
to the stone floor of the chasm the giant roared, trashing its limbs as a great
cloud of dust rose from the impact.

Scrambling to his feet, Gnak watched as the Orc he now knew
as Burl leapt into the fray, thrusting his spear into the giant neck of the
beast, to little effect. The giant thrashed and kicked, attempting to raise
itself off the ground, while trying to swat the two Orcs now near its face. Rounding
the creature, Gnak lashed out with his blade, slicing through the unprotected
wrist of the giant that it was using in an attempt to rise. The flesh split
open, revealing ligaments and more. The giant roared out in anger. Stabbing the
point of his blade into the open wound, blood sprayed him from head to toe like
a geyser as he punctured the blood vessel within the creature’s wrist, but
still the giant did not relent.

With a movement that was as much crawling as sliding on its
belly, the giant ignored the Orcs and turned its attention to the other beings
in its domain. Gnak watched as the prisoners tried to flee when one of the
giant’s hands shot out towards them, but none of the trio reacted fast enough
to escape. Gnak’s heart dropped in his stomach as he watched the great hand
swing out towards his small human ally. One smack of the hand would crush her
tiny body, and there was nothing he could do but watch. But the blow was never
landed.

Just as it seemed all hope was lost, the giant’s arm crashed
to the ground, sliding to a stop just feet away from the Orc’s prisoners. Turning,
he watched as Korx thrust his hand deep into the oozing eye of the giant,
twisting his arm this way and that, as if searching for something. Grinning,
the Orc pulled his arm free, dragging his spear out from the wound. As the
giant twitched in its death throes, the prisoners moved away from its hands to
avoid being killed by the dead giant. Korx strutted around the dead giant,
obviously pleased with himself.

Though it was Gnak who had brought the giant down, it was
Korx who would be heralded as its slayer. He was beginning to see a trend in Orc
logic that made him uncomfortable. Even so, he had bigger things, even than
dead giants, to worry about.

No sooner was the giant slain, than both of his clan-mates
moved to collect their prisoners. Moving to do the same, Gnak willed his mind
to think, but could not find a solution. There was no way to talk his way out. There
was no way of simply letting her go. Not yet, anyway. If the other Orcs
realized that she was
not
his prisoner, his chances for making a change
for his people would be lost, Jen would be killed, and so too would he. He had
to keep her from talking. She was smart. She would understand.

Rushing to Jen, he snatched her up, clasping a hand over her
mouth. Turning to hide their faces, he shouted at her in a menacing tone,
trying to convey his true emotions upon his face.

“You human no talk. You talk, you die. You walk only.” Growling,
he snatched two leather belts from the ground and lashed her arms with one, and
used the other around her face as a makeshift gag. Though she was obviously not
comfortable with the change, her eyes showed that she understood the
predicament and trusted in him to find a solution. Tightening up the temporary
lashings upon his armor, he quickly shouldered the bags of supplies and human
wealth, pushing Jen out in front of him, one hand on her shoulder to guide her.

“Stupid humans,” Gnak grunted to no one in particular. “No
can walk in dark.”

“I have
human
, you have tiny girl,” Burl said,
laughing at his insult.

“You have human warrior. Good sacrifice,” Gnak agreed. “And
Korx have big brute of troll. His better than you.”

He watched as his words elicited an approving grunt from
Korx, the three of them leading their prisoners side by side, before he
continued.

“Me catch tiny girl. It talk to human god. Belong to human
god. Does human magic,” he stated, puffing his chest out.

Both of his fellow Orcs made effort to put more space
between themselves and the small human girl, but neither voiced a reply to his
words. Magic was not known to the Orcs. It was not trusted. Gnak would use it
to his advantage. Already his plan was working, and he had just begun. Thinking
ahead, he knew he could use magic as an excuse for Jen’s escape while the other
Orcs slept. He could then go after her to
recapture
her once more and
take her home instead. Then things would be back on track. He just needed to
wait for the opportunity. With Catunga coming to an end, however, he could not
wait long.

He knew not if one of the Orcs would try and kill him, and
claim Jen for their own. He also did not know if they would simply kill her, in
order to make their captures look more enticing. He dared not attack them for
Jen’s sake, but could not flee them either without appearing a coward. Again it
was Orc logic that made him a prisoner to his situation. With no other option,
all he could do was be vigilant. On he guided Jen through the winding mountain
pass, steering her clear of obstacles with one hand on her shoulder and the
other on the handle of one of his new blades. Just in case he needed it.

It was slow going with the prisoners, and as such was late
morning when they reached the other side of the mountains. They had passed the
other two giant corpses less than an hour ago, and now they stood overlooking
the desert that stretched on to the horizon. Had it been only the Orcs, they
could have ran and made it home by nightfall, but with the prisoners they would
need to rest and travel slowly. It would take at least two nights of travel,
resting during the day.

“For us bring good sacrifice, humans need rest,” Gnak
stated, eyeing their surroundings, his peers simply looking at him for
explanation.

All around them lay the picked-through carcasses of what
just more than a week before had been goblins. Flies buzzed everywhere, their
sounds filling the air as if the whole world pulsed with it. Each piece of
ruined flesh was covered in a roiling layer of maggots, and the stench pervaded
everything. Though all three Orcs fought to maintain their resolve, both humans
vomited. The troll seemed not to note the smell.

“See humans,” Gnak pointed. “They weak. Need rest.”

His point made, his clan-mates nodded their approval and
they sought suitable ground to rest. It took little time for them to find an
outcropping of stone along the mountain’s face where they could shelter out of
the sun. It did not provide any real protection, but back in a land they knew,
the Orcs feared little. Except for Gnak.

While he led Jen up to the outcropping Korx had discovered,
he sought out the easiest route for her to escape. Putting some resistance on
her shoulder, he slowed her, letting the others put some distance between them.

“Hear my words. When time, I make free. You go back through mountains.
You hide. I come take home,” he whispered, to a responding nod.

Good, then the plan was made. Climbing the rise to the
temporary camp site, Gnak sat Jen away from the other human and troll, and made
a big show of binding her to a tree. There she was safe, out of the sun, and
she had plenty of room to stretch out and rest if she could allow herself to. Removing
the two bags he carried, he pulled open the supplies and rummaged around inside
the pack. Pulling out what he now knew as bread and cheese, he began to prepare
her a sandwich, another word he had learned, layering in a piece of the dried
meat as well. She would need her energy. Handing her the meal, he sat the
remainder of the water skin at her feet, to drink as she felt was necessary. Without
a word he rose, and turned to find his fellow Orcs staring at him.

“Young humans dumb, no can feed self.”

Kank seemed to accept the explanation, turning back to
securing his own human and kicked it twice for good measure. Not Korx, though. He
seemed distrustful, and watched both Gnak and Jen like a cornered predator. Gnak
knew Jen would not be safe with his rival alone and had no plans for resting
himself. If he took the first watch, and the other Orcs went to sleep, he could
free her and set his plan in motion.

“I watch first, you sleep,” Gnak told his fellows.

“I watch first too,” Korx replied.

Gnak gnashed his teeth, his jaw clenched to keep from
cursing. Again Korx had thwarted him. It made sense, if considering both
Catunga and Orc tradition, if two were awake, one could not kill the one that
was sleeping as the other would see it as a cowardly action. Eliminating their
rivals had to be done in a proud way. This prevented any of them from killing
each other in this instance, as no two among them would work as allies. Or
would they? Korx and Burl had been together. Had they met in the pass by chance
as he had come to join them? The question made him even more paranoid. Not that
it mattered. Now that he would never be alone with Jen, he had no chance of setting
her free.

Settling down upon the ground he peered off into the
distance, his anger raging within him. There had to be a way to fix it. There
had to be a way to set her free. The only way he could see to do it was to kill
Korx and then Burl. But without the ability to kill both of them at the same
time, there was no way of knowing how things would turn out. If one was
attacked, the other might kill Jen if they suspected something. Again he was
forced to wait, hoping for an opportunity to arise.

Just after midday, Korx kicked the snoring Burl and the two
exchanged places. Even so, every time anything moved Korx’s eyes popped open,
looking around suspiciously. Gnak knew his opportunity would not come this day.
At least Jen appeared to get some rest. Hour after hour the day passed and
without the opportunity he sought, he rose as night began to fall and woke Jen,
allowing her to round the tree to relieve herself before giving her yet another
meal. He ate a scrap of the meat himself and, taking up his bags when she was
finished, he untied her from the tree as his fellows gathered their sacrifices
as well.

The entire night went exactly as Gnak expected. They walked
all through the night without so much as a single spoken word. They eyed each other
suspiciously, none trusting the others, the whole situation filled with
unbelievable tension. It was late in the night that Gnak realized that this
night was the whole of his life. Every day was like this. Orcs lived trusting
no one. Sure, they had clans, that were more for security from outsiders than
anything else, but their society was so skewed that there was no real joy in
it.

It was a strange realization. He knew that pride and honor
were good qualities. But it was now that he finally realized that Orcs dwelt on
them so much that they had twisted them into traits that made their lives
pointless. There was more to life than honor and pride. It had taken a small
human girl to show him this. A small human girl who was relying upon him to get
her home. The same girl who walked before him, seemingly with no fear for
herself. Could she have that much faith in him already?