Page 10 of Orc's Forbidden Claim

“I am here on orders of my Queen,” I say, growling at the end. “I am to help.”

“Help?” he barks, and the others turn, watching with wary eyes.

“Yes. To help. What happened?”

“Show him,” the broken horned one says.

He steps to the side, and I walk past him, through the group of lizards standing to either side. Feeling their hard stares as I pass and their muttered threats that are barely under their breath at all.

I walk into the room that their lineup leads me to. My eyes take in the ceiling first. The large hole that has been cut out. It opens onto a tunnel. I take a step towards the hole to inspect further then a glint on the floor catches my attention.

I turn and move to inspect. Dropping to my knees I gently gather it up into my hands, holding it up and letting it dangle. It glistens in the firelight. A broken chain with a green stone wrapped in thin wire on the end. It’s Saylor’s necklace. Then one that I had given her.

Gripping the necklace tight, I look up at the hole in the ceiling and roar.

7

SAYLOR

My eyes are too heavy to open, and my head is throbbing so bad it’s making me nauseous. Awareness comes slowly but I truly wish it hadn’t. My wrists are numb and so are my legs. I try to move but I can’t. Someone growls and I instinctively jerk away in fear, but I bump against something soft.

Guttural voices, harsh and sharp, bark. I recognize it as the Urr’ki language though I don’t speak it. I know a few words that Khiara has taught me but not enough to follow what is happening.

I try to force my eyes open, but it feels as if they’re crusted shut. When the seal breaks at last it hurts, and I whimper. There’s a single lantern, partially hooded, that is casting a dim light. It’s too dark to see well enough to make them out, but there are hulking shapes close to hand. They’re not standing upright. I twist my head around trying to get my bearings. Seeing Wrenlee’s bound form behind me, my stomach drops. She is what I bumped into.

“Wren,” I gasp.

She doesn’t respond. I stare for a long time waiting to see her breathe. When her chest rises at last tears of relief fall from my eyes. The grunting sounds come closer and one of my captors grabs my shoulder jerking me over and putting his face right in mine.

“Quiet,” he says in Zmaj.

His breath is awful, blasting across my face and smelling of rotten meat. He has dark, beady eyes, and his teeth are a discolored yellow. One of his tusks is broken at the halfway point.

I don’t speak but do nod. He grunts and moves away. We seem to be in a low tunnel, really low because he’s crawling, not moving upright. I resume looking around. There are four Urr’ki that I can see. There might be more because it’s impossible to see all around. I’m bound at wrists and knees by thick rope and my entire body either hurts or has that numb tingling sensation that hurts in a different way.

Khiara will find us. I know it. And Sek’su. Wren is here, Sek’su isn’t going to sit by doing nothing.

As if she knows I’m thinking of her I hear Wren stirring awake. I try to roll over, but my body isn’t working the way it should. Halfway through trying to flip myself to face her, my head explodes. I become acutely aware of a goose egg on the back of my skull when it presses hard against the stone.

“Ah!” I cry out in both surprise and pain.

“Say?” Wren asks.

“Hush!” one of our captors barks as he throws himself on top of me.

He’s so big and heavy that it feels as if I’m being crushed by his weight. He slaps his hand over my mouth. He’s an inch from my face with his rancid breath and evil eyes. He growls, low in his throat and I’m very aware of something digging into my side where his crotch presses into me.

“Mmm…mmm,” I try to speak but the hand keeps the words from coming out.

“Let her go!” Wren yells.

He backhands her. The strike is loud and makes me hurt just hearing it. Wren yelps as she rolls over and hits against the wall of the tunnel we’re in.

“Hush,” he barks. “Quiet. No noise.”

He turns his head from Wren's back to me. His eyes bore into mine. Cold chills spread through my limbs. His eyes are empty. Dead. I’ve never seen anything like it. His eyes narrow and he presses his hand harder against my mouth until it hurts. I can’t speak so I do the only thing I can, which is to try to nod but even that makes his grip hurt more.

He huffs, assaulting my senses again with his fetid breath. My stomach churns, bile rising in my throat, as my nostrils burn. Finally, he removes his hand and crawls back to the others. They resume arguing. At least it sounds like arguing.

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