Page 88 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

The sky was so dark it felt like night. She had no idea how Govek was able to see. She clung about his neck, chest pressed into his so she could not tell the difference between her hammering heart and his. The booming sound of trees falling made her bones quake.

“What is going on?” she screamed over the roaring of the wind and the crashing limbs. One landed directly in front of them, making her shriek, and Govek leaped over it without pause. For a moment, all she could do was stare in awe at the destruction. The forest bending to the sudden storm’s mighty force.

“It’s just there!” Govek bellowed, and she craned her neck to see that the cave was close already. Damn, he was fast.

And shelter was right there.

Chaos surrounded them. Closing in. And in the distance, between the barren trees and whipping leaves she saw?—

Trees buckled and were ripped from the ground. Shrubs were stripped bare of their leaves in an instant. The leaves swirled, careening in upward circles so fast they were blurs of red and yellow.

“T-tornado?” Miranda gasped, hardly able to breathe. The air was thick with grime now. The wind was too fast, and her lungs felt as if they were going to burst.

“Fucking Fades wrath!” Govek snarled as they burst into the cave. Darkness surrounded them, and through the doorway, she could see the swirling destruction closing in, coming nearer.

“Govek, we have to—” Miranda screamed, only to have the sound cut short by a massive crack. A shattering quake. The wind spiraled around them, snuffing out the fire and sending embers flying through the air.

Govek dropped her to the ground and jerked toward the opening of the cave, clearly about to try to bar it shut with the boulder, only to freeze, eyes going wide.

Miranda looked too, barely making out the mouth of the cave now that there was so much ash and dust in the air. The sparks had all gone out, and the darkness swallowed her up.

Another crack had her eyes straining to see what was going on. Where the next threat was.

She found it in an instant.

The front wall of the cave was breaking apart.

From the entry, jagged cracks were forming, splintering like lightning through the cliff side. The rock rumbled and groaned, buckling under the force, spraying more dust into the raging air.

It was going to come down.

They would be crushed.

“We have to get out of here!” Miranda screamed at the top of her lungs and the sound was almost swallowed up. The roaring of the wind was so powerful. Her eyes streamed from the soot, her throat burned, and her tongue tasted of grime.

“We’re going to be buried alive!” Miranda gripped Govek’s arm, giving him a shake. He wasn’t moving. Wasn’t even looking at the exit. They had to run now, or they wouldn’t make it.

The first rocks began to fall, booming against the howling wind.

Govek gripped her, forcing her against his chest and curled around to protect her, dragging her deeper into the cave.

Deeper into the darkness.

No! No! She couldn’t!

She couldn’t go back into the dark.

They would be buried alive.

Just like she had been on Earth.

“Let me go!” she wailed, but she could barely hear herself over the shattering of rock.

“Miranda!” Govek roared, managing to get her attention. He pushed her back against the cave wall and she broke into coughing sobs. He pressed his palms against it, right next to her head, caging her in.

A glow surrounded her, and she gasped. Craning her neck, she found that the cave wall had lit up, creating bright white patterns and geometric shapes.

Deliberate carvings.

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