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Clearly, several of my internal organs are damaged, and I must be bleeding internally too.
And that, along with an obviously damaged or broken rib cage, means that I am in dire straits.
You did your best,Uli’s voice says again in my head.
I listen as the orcs walk back over to me.
“Have you given up yet, Kian? You’re about to be defeated. We told you, we didn’t want to do it like this. You just have to give up.”
I know what they want. They want me to say the words. They want me to admit to giving up.
I shake my head.
Let them kill me as brutally as they want. I will never admit to giving up.This time, the voice in my head is mine, though it is quickly followed by Uli’s voice.
You’ve always been a stubborn bastard,he says in my head, and his voice is affectionate.
They start with the beatings again. And I can safely say that this is the worst pain I have ever felt.
I lay there, taking the beating, listening to their laughter and the sound of the sea as it becomes wilder.
It must be close to nighttime. Soon the tide will recede, revealing more and more of Swallow Island.
They’ll probably throw my dead body into the ocean. They won’t bother with the proper funeral rites.
Why should they? Would you?
The beatings stop after a while. And then they leave to remove the dead body of the orc I killed when I still had the strength to stand.
I must fall asleep because the pain leaves me briefly, and when I open my eyes again, the shack is dark and quiet. I listen carefully. I don’t hear any of them anywhere.
Maybe now is the time. Maybe you can’t kill all of them, but maybe you can escape. You can only have one or the other.
I am not strong enough for this, but I pull myself onto my knees regardless of how I feel. I can only see out of one eye, and my arms shake with the effort to hold my body up.
I make it out of the door of the shack and immediately prick my arms on some sharp-thorned plants. I want to howl and roar with pain, but I move forward, crawling further and further away from the shack.
It is when I come to a small tree stump that I try to stand.
I am not sure how I am going to get off this island, but I have to try. I just need to get away from the Ravenhawk clan and get back to my own people.
But how? This is impossible! How the fuck are you going to get away from here?
I spit a lump of blood from my mouth and stagger toward the edge of the island.
And that is when I see them. There are about six or seven orcs headed this way. Directly toward me.
And this time, they are carrying weapons.
They corner me close to the water and spit in my face, kicking me and laughing.
“You really are amazing, Kian! You may be defeated, but you lasted so long underneath our assaults! Your name will go down in the Ravenhawk clan’s history! The orc that it took the longest to kill!”
They all laugh raucously before they begin to use their weapons on me.
“You’re going to regret this!” I warn them. “And you’re not going to get away with this. And you’re not going to get what you want from us!”
The orc closest to me grins wickedly. There is a frightening spark in his eyes.
