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A wooden slatted wagon lumbers through the portal, which seems to expand to encompass it before resuming its normal size again.
Blood.
It sprays in an arc across the forest floor, shocking me into docility.
Doug shoves me away from the disturbance then surges into the fray.
An orc goes down.
So does a warrior bondservant.
“MAMA!”
Melody’s cry rouses me, and I hurry to her side, drawing her small body against mine as the ring of clashing swords rents the air.
Another orc goes down.
Growls, savage and full of rage, set me trembling with fear.
A fairy woman with beautiful red-gold hair a shade darker than Melody’s has a blade pressed against her throat.
“Halt or I will slit the fairy’s throat!” the orc holding her barks.
Melody trembles in my arms.
A human alpha—a warrior—stands in the middle of a circle, bloody sword in hand. Around him are the fallen bodies of human bondservants and orcs. One… three… no, five.My racing heart steadies a little as I see Doug standing to one side, and he appears to be whole.
A dozen more orcs form a circle, weapons trained on the alpha who stands, chest heaving and armor sliced through in numerous places, his face bruised and a little bloody. His eyes locked with the fairy held at knifepoint before he growls and tosses the sword to the floor.
“Don’t hurt Mama!”
A shudder ripples through Melody’s young body as the mass converges on the alpha. I pull Melody’s face into me, shielding her eyes with my hand as they beat him to the ground.
I don’t know what just happened or what any of it means. I convince myself the fairy cannot be Melody’s mother, but there is the possibility that she might be.
Bard’s face is a mask of consternation as he turns to me and shakes his head once.
The fairy and her warrior are tossed into the slatted wagon, and then we are all moving again, marching into the forest and the unknown.
ChapterFour
Jasmine
We march, greater now in number than were in the two ships of orcs which left Krug, for many bondservants of varying ranks joined us at Bleakness wearing the same harsh iron collar that I do. There are also bondservants of higher ranking, whose attitude and demeanor remind me of Trent. I recognize their type for what they are: the worst form of scum who would betray their fellow humans to curry favor with the orcs.
There are times when I think I’m coming to understand the Blighten, but today is not one of them. They are more than a race of orcs. Although the orcs hold much of the power, there are layers inside this society in which humans can thrive.
I hate that I play a part in their obsession with conquest and I fear for the unwitting role forced upon Melody, who has retreated into quietness as she is carried in Doug’s arms.
Yet, there is good among the Blighten in the form of orcs like Doug and bondservants like Penny… who I had not seen since I arrived at Krug but I am reunited with her today. It is a small positive and one I cling to.
“I thought I saw you when that business was going on with the fairy and her mate,” she says, having dropped back from the cart she was following to speak to me, and gives me a quick hug. “How have you been? I heard about what happened with Doug at Krug and how he was nearly hung. Is it true he killed Trent?”
I nod and tell her about what happened.
Her lips form a line. “It is the same everywhere. There are two among the human bondservants with me that’ve been promised freedom, and they are nothing but thugs and bullies, eager to impress upon the orc masters that they are well integrated with the Blighten cause. Rig is a thick-necked bald bastard who is always quick to use his fist or club. Dolan, his companion, is missing a couple of teeth courtesy of the fairy’s alpha mate. Both will be out for blood and to remind us of our place after that alpha got the better of them.”
“Back to your place in the line, human,” an orc calls out.
