Page 27 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

God, she was going to lose her dang mind.

He said nothing, and after a quick walk in growing darkness, they had returned to the clearing where they’d left his leather bag.

The orc—Govek, his name was Govek—peeled her off his arm slowly. She clenched her teeth to keep from arguing. Yes, he was a stranger. Yes, he was inhuman. Yes, he had enough muscles to potentially crush her into dust in one hit.But dang, she did not want him to leave her here. She’d rather take her chances with him than be left all alone.

She’d already lost everything else.

She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to think about it.

The huge puddle she’d made while healing him was a few feet away and she trembled at the memory of her panic. The trembling quickly turned to shivers in the fading sunlight. Her eyes fixed on Govek as he searched his pack. Was he going to leave?

He pulled two small black stones from the pack and left her next to it. Gathering rocks into a circle in one of the dryer spots. He filled his little rock fort with damp leaves and wood. Then he struck the black stones against each other, the crack echoing into the night and showering sparks. His pile burst into flames like bacon on a barbecue.

She settled down in front of the fire, marveling. All her experiences had come from making bonfires in the summer at the group home. She remembered the staff needing to add more logs and sticks multiple times before a roaring blaze like this one was going.

Govek threw a few more damp logs on the fire, showering sparks into the night. Her gaze followed them as they rose high and dimmed away in the blackened sky, replaced by stars twinkling above the tree canopy. The scent of smoke was oddly comforting. After all she’d been through on Earth, she would have thought soot and ash were the last things she’d want to smell.

But there was something different about this wood smoke. Something... cleaner.

It wasn’t laced with chemicals. She hugged her knees. Memories of Earth spiraling. Walking to work. Car exhaust. Processed soup for lunch. Cutting up artificially grown apples for the kids’ snacks.Sticky little toddler hands.

Don’t think about it. Don’t think.

She heard a knife slicing through flesh, and it pulled her from her memory. The scent of fish.

Miranda forced her eyes open again and concentrated on the orc as he gutted the trout with practiced efficiency. He seemed to be using his fingers for the task. Where was the knife? She hadn’t found one in is pack but maybe that was what cut her?

He’d almost died. And she would have been the last one left alive again.

Her stomach rolled, and she forced a few deep breaths, willing the panic to ebb. He was fine now.

His distance was respectful, but she wished he would come closer, wished he would talk more, wished he would help distract her from the pressing weight gripping her chest, threatening to smother her.

“You don’t have to cook those if you don’t want to. I’ve always liked sushi.”

Govek glanced up from his task, but still said nothing.

“Well,” Miranda amended. “I guess I usually ate the precooked stuff. Real raw fish was so expensive. Like, a hundred and fifty dollars for one roll. I never had that kind of money. But I think the inexpensive stuff was just as good.”

Miranda paused her jabbering as Govek finished cleaning the fish and brought them back to his makeshift spear. Skewering them evenly before setting them over the fire.

“I hope this lives up to your expectations,” he said.

“I’m sure it will. I’m hungry enough that I would eat anything. Er... sorry, that came out wrong. I’m sure your fish will be wonderful. I’m super grateful you’re making them. Thank you. Really.”

His furrowed brow softened, and he gave a nod.

“How are you feeling?” Miranda asked.

“I am fully healed,” he replied, turning the fish over the fire.

“By water magic,” she breathed.

“Yes.”

She glanced down at the minor cut on her hand she’d gotten when searching through his things. “It only works on you?”

“The spring is of the Fades. It was an ancient gift from them to the sentinels of the Surface.”

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