Page 36 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

“Th-thank you for saving me,” she whispered, trying to fight the rolling in her stomach. Govek held her firmly against his chest and walked carefully through the forest. His eyes were dark and brooding as they ventured deeper into the unknown.

She would die if he abandoned her now, and she suspected, after what had just happened, after what a bumbling, panicky idiot she’d been, he was very close to doing just that.

“I swear I won’t...” Won’t what? Be a burden? She already was.

She’d only traveled in Earth’s apocalyptic nightmare for a few days, and she’d almost died. She had absolutely no skills to help him. None.

Her chin trembled. Earth was gone, and she had no idea what to do now.

“Stop.”

The harsh growl dried her tears before they could fall. Something about the low rumble of Govek’s tone was so soothing it made her forget how desperate things were and drowned out the horrors that kept lurking in the back of her mind.

She didn’t want him to leave her.

The silence between them continued for a few long minutes while Govek carried her. His frame was warm, but tense. The chattering of birds and the whistling of the wind brought little comfort.

Earth had lots of birds before the war had gotten really bad.

And this world was at war, too.

How could she be dropped out of one cataclysm only to land in another? Was she doomed to watch multiple worlds be ravaged by carnage and strife? Was she paying some universal price for the atrocities humanity had committed on Earth?

“Stop, woman.”

She was ripped out of Govek’s warmth and plunked down on hard stone so quickly it jarred her out of her madness. Her eyes strained to find Govek ripping her fingers away from the wound on her palm. It was twice as big as it had been originally. Blood dripped down her wrist.

His angry mutters somehow calmed her. He was brutal and irritable, but the harsh emotions helped stabilize her.

He pulled a vial from the pack and poured it over the cut. It felt icy cold, but she kept her hand limp as he worked. The wound closed in an instant, leaving only a thin red line. Her mouth popped open. “Was that magic? That was magic, wasn’t it? Wow! That’s amazing! It’s really gone. I thought that magic didn’t work on humans.”

“The spring doesn’t, but orcs have their own tinctures that do.” He arranged things inside his bag. “I have only a few.”

Guilt gnawed at her. “Thank you. You didn’t have to waste it on me.”

“Just don’t do it again.”

She wanted to ask why he cared so much, but was afraid of the answer. Afraid that pointing it out would make him realize hedidn’thave a reason to be nice to her.

“Here.” He held out the water pouch and didn’t force her to slow down this time. Granted, she was a lot less frantic, working stiff gulps down her parched throat. Her tongue no longer felt like sandpaper, but her teeth were still a little gritty.

She looked up toward the bright, cloudless sky. Her breath fogged as she asked, “You said this world was called Faeda?”

“Yes,” he said, taking the pouch from her grip.

“It’s perfect.” She looked down again, to the wet ground and the rotting leaves. “What was that animal called? The one that attacked us?”

“Saber cat.”

She nodded, gulping. “I’m sorry it died.”

“It had the blight,” Govek said harshly, but his words comforted her, nonetheless. “It needed to be culled.”

“What is the blight?”

“An illness wrought by the Fades. The cat would have succumbed to its affliction eventually.”

Miranda kept her eyes lowered, fixed them on those odd, spiral leaves, thinking over the events which were much less of a blur now that her adrenaline had ebbed. “But it wouldn’t have suffered if I hadn’t run. You wouldn’t have had to grab its tail like that and...”

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