Page 12 of X'nath

The females, meanwhile, were still half-asleep, their exhaustion weighing them down. We couldn’t afford any delays. Greag, as usual, was barking orders, urging them to gather their things. He didn’t have the patience for unnecessary pauses, not with the journey back to the mountain ahead of us.

“Move, females. We don’t have all day,” Greag growled, his tone sharp as he directed the group, making sure they were ready. His words were blunt, but that was Greag—pragmatic, to the point.

A few of the younger ones glanced nervously at him, but none dared to argue. They were smart enough to know that the sooner we left, the sooner they’d be out of the open and away from whatever dangers lurked in the waters and skies.

I caught Karg watching them, the slightest smirk on his face as he idly checked his own weapons. He wanted to act like he had everything under control, but we all knew how he reacted on the trip here. It was annoying, but I couldn’t afford to let it distract me.

“Ready?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. Every one of us could feel it—the weight of the unknown.

“Ready,” Greag muttered, tossing a final glance at the women, ensuring they were on their feet.

We began the journey, moving quickly and quietly, each of us taking extra care to avoid drawing attention. The women, still exhausted from the night, stumbled along behind us, their steps slower, more hesitant. We had to be especially careful with them in tow. They couldn’t protect themselves, and if anything wentwrong, we would be forced to take the brunt of it. The weight of that responsibility settled heavily on my shoulders.

Every step felt heavier than the last. The closer we got to the swamp’s edge, the more that nagging sense of unease gnawed at the back of my mind. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched, or worse—followed. The swamp was vast and full of dangers, but it wasn’t just the land we needed to worry about. There was more to this trip than I cared to admit, and every instinct told me that we weren’t done with it yet.

I glanced back at the women, noting how each one moved like a shadow of their former selves, too weary to notice the dangers around them. The youngest still clung to the idea that we were their saviors, but I knew better. They were a liability, and that weighed on all of us.

7

The Swamps of Despair

GRACIE

Each step through the swamp was another drag of time, the damp air sticking to my skin like a second layer. I kept my eyes forward, mostly, though I snuck a glance over my shoulder now and then. The orcs were still there, surrounding us, larger than life and just as terrifying as they had been the day before.

Though I still didn’t trust them, out here, in the vastness of this swamp, the unknown seemed far worse than the orcs. They were, at least, something familiar. Something that could be dealt with. The other dangers—those creatures we had seen the night before in the skies, the vast empty stretch of water, the unending swamps that stretched out before us now—those were far worse.

Still, I kept my distance. I kept my thoughts to myself. They may not have been human, but they were males, and males who had their own interests in mind. We were nothing but a prize to them, and I was smart enough to know it.

I glanced at the younger women trailing behind us, some stumbling slightly, exhaustion clear on their faces. A few of them still held onto that naïve hope that the orcs were here to help us—still clinging to the idea of safety. A few had even tried to speak with them, but the language barrier made it clear they weren’t going to get far.

The orcs, while mostly gruff when they were not bantering in their language, had been picking up on human English faster than I’d expected. They had understood more of our words than I initially thought, and their responses had been sharper. The younger ones, especially X’nath, seemed to grasp the language with alarming speed. It was unsettling to watch as they exchanged glances, a few broken words, a joke here and there. It was as if they were picking apart our language like a puzzle—piecing together the basics faster than I anticipated.

It made me wonder: had they been watching us this whole time, waiting for the right moment? How did they come to be around humans when I have yet to see any since we had washed up ashore?

A laugh sounded behind me, this time from Gorruk, I think his name was. He was one of the older orcs, his beard streaked with silver and his face weathered by years of fighting. He had hardly spoken to us, but when he did, it was always with a low rumble that made his words seem more like growls. Now, though, he was giving one of the younger women a good-natured grin.

“You don’t look like much of a fighter,” he said, his voice carrying a bit of a teasing tone. “Tell me, female—have you ever even held a blade?”

The woman he spoke to was a younger girl, one of the naive ones, who blushed at his attention. She nervously ran a hand through her hair, looking over at the others for reassurance. “I… I never had to,” she stammered.

The orc’s grin widened, his eyes gleaming with something that could have been amusement, but there was a darkundertone to it. "Perhaps, but in times like these, you’d be wise to learn quickly.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. Every time I looked up, X’nath's gaze was fixed on me, unashamed and unblinking. His attention never wavered, his eyes never leaving me. That cocky grin of his seemed to grow wider with each passing moment, and I felt a twinge of discomfort. He was flirting—there was no mistaking it. But I hadn’t given him any reason to believe I was the least bit interested, yet there he was, as if he was certain that he could win me over with nothing more than his presence.

I forced myself to focus on the path ahead, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling that crawled beneath my skin. I couldn't afford distractions—not with the swamp still ahead and the uncertainty of what we were walking into. There was no time for second-guessing. I had to keep my wits about me, and not let this arrogant orc throw me off balance.

“You know,” he said, his voice smooth like oil, cutting through the silence. “If you stopped worrying so much, you might actually enjoy the journey. I’m a good guide, Gracie. I’ll keep you safe.”

I didn’t look at him as I spoke, my tone sharp but controlled. “I don’t need your protection.”

His laugh was soft but full of arrogance, as though he found the whole situation amusing. "Oh, I know you don’t," he replied, his voice laced with teasing. "But it never hurts to have someone watching your back."

I could feel his eyes on me, even without looking. That smirk on his face was impossible to ignore, and I wondered how long he would keep this act up before he realized I wasn’t some fool to be charmed.

I kept my pace steady, but inside, my irritation was building. This was not the time for games.

We pressed on, the thick swamp air heavy with humidity as the men used their blades to slice through the dense undergrowth. The sounds of chopping and slicing echoed around us, blending with the steady rhythm of our footsteps. They moved methodically, as if they’d done this a thousand times before, every swing of their axes and knives deliberate and efficient.

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