Page 14 of The Fall of the Orc

“So it’s that bad, is it?” Gerrard’s empty voice asked, not wanting to know, but needing to know, all the same. “What Slagvor would do to you, if he smelled me on you?”

A distant part of him was again sifting through his own likely fate, if his treason was discovered by the likes of Livermore — the destruction of his livelihood, his accomplishments, maybe even his freedom, or his life. But he still couldn’t seem to find this kind of fear in it, not like this, not like that look in the orc’s eyes.

“It is not so much what Slagvor would do tome,” the orc replied, his big shoulder jerking. “It is what he — and his orcs — would do toyoufirst, whilst making me watch this.”

Oh. A cold shiver slithered up Gerrard’s back — yeah, there it was — and his hand clutched in vain for the sword that was no longer at his side. While Bassey’s ominous tale from earlier twisted in his belly, echoed in his ears.The general at the time ordered them killed, for their own sakes…

“But Slagvor did not scent you upon me,” the orc continued, harder now. “He did not, and he will not. I will wield all my power to make sure of this, human. And henceforth” — his jaw flexed in his cheek — “for as long as I am able, I shall seek to keep my Bautul kin well away from here. I shall be sure it is only me who scouts near here, so that no other orcs shall catch scent of you. Ach?”

Oh. Gerrard was already nodding, exhaling, with something almost like gratitude — but wait. Wait. Hadn’t he said…

“What do you mean, other Bautul might scent me while they’re scouting?” he asked, and his heart was suddenly thundering, echoing in his ears. “I thought you said — you said they needed to be close to smell your scent on me, right? Close enough to touch? So I just need to play up my ‘injuries’, and stay out of any skirmishes until we’re done here?”

He winced at the unmistakable panic in his voice, and he could see the orc wincing too, his hand rubbing at his grim face. “I… I thought this to be truth,” he replied, slower now. “This is how it would have been, if you were an orc, or even a woman. But I did not foresee how… deep my scent would go, upon you. It is as if you were… steeped in it. As if you kept my seed safe inside you, until your very flesh drank and swallowed it whole, and grew fatter upon it.”

Gerrard’s throat spasmed, his cursed hand now dropping brief but betraying to his waist, to where it again — again! — felt rounded. Swollen. Even more than yesterday. Because damn him, he really had gone and… kept that seed there yesterday, hadn’t he? He’d slept all night with it still inside him, and he’d only gone to clean himself up this morning — but by then, it had already been mostly… deflated.Swallowed, into hisflesh.Permanently. And fuck his stupidity, fuck his life, he was a fucking reckless mess, and now this great bastard had gone and —

“So you thought it would be a good idea to do itagain?” he demanded. “To make me reek even stronger of you, no doubt? Without even fucking mentioning this to me first? What the hell, orc!”

The orc grimaced, his big hand still roughly rubbing at his face. “I did not… plan to take you again, when I came to you this night,” he replied heavily. “I wished only to tend to you, and be sure you were well. But you wished for my rough handling, and my hard ploughing, so…”

Gerrard’s mouth was hanging open, the furious humiliation burning in his cheeks, prickling behind his eyes. “You lying, condescending bastard,” he hissed. “You only told me you wanted a rematch! And I didn’t tell you I wantedshit allfrom you, let alone —”

He finished with a frantic wave of his hand between them, as a sound much like a roar barked from his throat. While in return, the orc’s heavy brows furrowed, a hard little curl lifting his lip.

“Ach, do not deny this to me, human,” the orc hissed, flat and curt. “I can scent you. I can see you, and taste you. You did not wish for kindness or tending from me. You wished for me to overpower you, and take all I wished from you, so you can tell yourself you should never hunger for an orc! You again” — his voice hardened, deepened — “wished for your own blame, and your own guilt, to fall uponme!”

It almost felt like the orc had struck at Gerrard again, punched that huge fist into his undefended, seed-swollen belly, and he had to gasp for air as he fought for some kind of response. This arrogant prick was wrong, he was so, so wrong, and Gerrard wanted to shout at him, wanted to throw all this rapidly rising despair back at his damned distracting face, still shimmering silver in the moonlight —

“Yeah, well, maybe I also just wanted a rematch,” he finally replied, his voice strangely small, as he dropped his gaze to the creek, and began to move his cold, leaden feet through it, toward his sword, his clothes, his safety. “And I fuckingwon, even ifyoudidn’t want to admit that, either. And maybe if you’d have just let me have my win, I’d have felt differently about it, yeah? Maybe” — he jerked a shrug — “maybe I’d have felt like you saw me as… an equal. Not just an enemy to defeat.”

He couldn’t seem to meet the orc’s eyes now, even as he went to push past him in the water, heading for the bank. But wait, the bastard was in front of him, blocking him, yet again. And when Gerrard shot him a brief, baleful glare, the orc was shaking his head, his eyes squeezed shut, his expression almost… pained.

“Ach, human, I follow,” the orc said, rushed and thin. “But — Bautul do not — lose. Not to humans. We shoulddiefirst.”

Gerrard blinked at him, once — and then a hard, bitter laugh choked from his throat. “Oh, right then,” he drawled. “So what, next time I need to kill you with my stick first? Try to drive it into your heart, maybe, or gouge your eyes out? That’s the only way I get to win, is it? And then I get to take your dead body as my victory prize?”

The orc’s face was still contorted with pain, his head shaking, but his eyes had blinked open again, holding heavy on Gerrard’s own. “If you take myalivebody thus, human,” he hissed back, “webothdie. Ach?”

Gerrard swallowed, fought down yet more unwilling comprehension, more twisting despair in his chest. “Right,” he said thickly. “Right, then. So” — he squared his shoulders — “that’s it, then, yeah? We’re agreed?”

There was an instant’s silence from the orc, and Gerrard couldn’t look at him anymore, couldn’t fight through the mess of misery in his gut. This had been so stupid, reckless, pointless all around — and there was no good end. No good way out, for either of them. None.

“So we’re done here, orc,” he said, over the clutch in his throat. “I won’t be seeing you again. Good luck, and goodbye.”

13

Gerrard truly meant it this time. Meant to leave this cursed confounding orc behind forever, and never set eyes upon him again.

Until a deep noise rumbled from the orc, and he lurched to stand close before Gerrard in the water. “How is this?” he hissed, far sharper than before. “What isdonebetween us, human?”

Gerrard twitched and glowered up at the orc’s hard face, as an incredulous laugh escaped from his throat. “What’s done?” he demanded. “Everything is done, orc! Everything! We’re enemies. We’re on the opposite sides of a war. This is risking both our livelihoods, and ourlives. It’s risking setting a demented orcdespoton our heels, so he can maim and torture us for laughs! It’s stupid, and — andreckless! Like you said!”

The orc grimaced, opened his mouth, but Gerrard’s own mouth was still spouting off, rash and breathless. “And on top of that,” he gasped, “you just told me you didn’t evenwantwhat I just gave you back there! And maybe I don’t want —rematches— with someone who can’t even admit I won, let alone someone who won’t let me be in charge now and then! So what is even the damned point?”

He held the orc’s eyes, his teeth gritted, his chin raised and defiant. And he didn’t move when the orc came another step toward him, his gaze shifting, unreadable on Gerrard’s face…

And then those big clawed hands suddenly reached for him, and clutched him close. That shaggy head ducking into his neck, as the orc hauled in a slow, dragging breath, the sound far too loud in Gerrard’s ear.

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