Page 85 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

Miranda swallowed hard.

Govek looked away. “The disconnect between our races only becomes greater with every passing season. Because humans reject the role the Fades have given, nature itself is rejected. It causes the blight that you saw on the saber cat. It causes the plants to wither. Harvests are less plentiful. Winter comes on too soon and stays too long.”

His bitter tone sent a spiral of dread down Miranda’s spine. “What are you going to do?”

“There is nothing sentinels can do. The members of the Waking Order are the ones who do not see that the rejection of their purpose is the cause of our world’s demise. In order to end the blight, they must end the war. At the very least, they must cease the slaughter of sentinel kind and allow us to return to the task of maintaining Faeda in peace.” He looked back into her eyes, the resignation heavy in his face. “But I do not see that happening fast enough. It may already be too late. I often wonder if the Fades must wake to make this world whole again.”

A dark thought crossed Miranda’s mind. “But... what if the sylph’s were right? What if the Fades aren’t on this planet anymore?”

What if they had gone to Earth? Put humans on her planet too?

And humans destroyed Earth, just a little faster than they were destroying Faeda.

She shook her head. The Fades might not even be real.

Glancing up into Govek’s face had her instantly regretting her words. He looked stricken and defeated. Pale and shaky. Throat tight, teeth tucked high.

She reached up to stroke at his firm jaw, forcing it down again.

He took a deep breath, relaxing. “It is unlikely that the Fades abandoned us, otherwise how would communion still work? Besides, sylph seers often divined elaborate, impossible things that hold no true bearing on our world.”

“Seers? Like people who can see the future?” she asked as he began to walk again, pulling her along quickly. She tried to ignore how dark the sky was becoming. An icy breeze was starting up.

“That is one of their gifts, yes.” Govek’s warm hand was firm and bracing as she kept the brisk pace. “A few seers are born to every generation of each sentinel race. They can communicate directly with the Fades and the Fades tell them of the future, warn them of calamities so that they can advise our leaders.”

“I see.” She was out of breath already.

“The orcs have many seers. They work directly under our overlord, our overarching leader, whose keep is located at the far other end of our world. Very few seers ever come to this side of the mountains. The only one I know of works under my cousin, Warlord Karthoc.”

“I... see,” Miranda said, wondering where exactly he was going with this.

“He... may be able to divine why you were brought to our world.”

She lost her battle with maintaining pace and forced him to stop so she could search his face. “Really? He could really tell me that?”

Govek nodded. “The seer knows many things. His knowledge comes directly from the Fades themselves. And I believe... I believe they brought you here for a reason.”

“For a reason? What reason?” Her stomach twisted painfully.

“You’ve shed more light on your kind in this one conversation than I have learned in an entire lifetime, Miranda,” Govek said slowly.

She lost all her breath. “You... you think I can do something to mend things between your race and the humans? You think I could stop the war?” This was inconceivable. It was all she could do to fight the war going on in her mind.

“No, Miranda,” Govek said swiftly. “You are but a single being. I only meant that if there was a purpose for you being brought to our world, perhaps the seer in my cousin’s clan could divine it.”

Miranda let this sink in for a long moment as they continued onward. She watched the muscles in Govek’s back contract in a sure rhythm, felt the stinging chill from the ever-growing wind. The growing dim as the clouds grew thicker pulled her thoughts inward, reflecting.

She had not been able to save Earth, hadn’t even been given the chance to try.

But... what if she could try to save this one? What if she could save Faeda? At least in some small way. Even the thought was overwhelming, threatening to suck her down into the murky depths where reality was distorted by hope.

“Miranda?”

Govek’s sharp tone dragged her out of her thoughts, and she managed to gain back her composure. “I’m fine, just... thinking. About the seer. What else could he tell me?”

“The seer’s power is immeasurable. If the Fades will it, he will know.”

She sucked a breath in through her teeth. “How far do we have to travel to reach him?”

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