Page 14 of Orc's Little Human
And all of them will notice the human girl who stands at my side, drawing conclusions I'm not ready to face.
"My rules assumed you'd use basic sense about where you took her." The rebuke carries less heat than intended, undermined by my own awareness that Thali's interpretation isn't entirely wrong. "The training grounds during live steel practice doesn't qualify as safe, little sister."
Selene's stare intensifies during our exchange, gray-blue eyes moving between my face and the twisted metal weapons scattered around the practice area. She's trying to understand something, working through connections that clearly disturb her. The hand at her collarbone presses harder, knuckles white with tension as she fights some internal battle I can't begin to decipher.
She knows something about blood-forging. But that's impossible—humans don't have access to ancestral magic.
The thought sends an uncomfortable chill down my spine, raising questions I don't have time to pursue. Whatever secrets she carries beneath that borrowed leather, they're clearly connected to what she just witnessed. The way she watches mefeels different now, charged with recognition that goes beyond simple fear of orc magic.
For a moment, everything else fades. The scattered crowd of warriors, Thali's stubborn defiance, the lingering echoes of violence barely contained—all of it becomes background noise as I focus on the girl who stares at me like I'm a puzzle she desperately needs to solve.
The weakness in my limbs continues to ebb, strength returning faster than it should after such an extensive use of blood-forging. Usually major workings leave me drained for hours, my body struggling to recover from channeling forces that human flesh wasn't designed to contain. This time feels different. Easier. Like the magic flowed through me with unusual efficiency, demanding less sacrifice for greater effect.
Why?
But before I can examine the impossibility further, Thali's voice cuts through my concentration like a blade through silk.
"Korrath?" Her tone carries concern now, amber eyes fixed on my face with the kind of intensity that suggests I've been staring too long. "Are you alright?"
The question snaps me back to immediate reality—the training ground littered with evidence of uncontrolled power, my sister standing in the middle of potential chaos, and the human girl whose secrets might be more dangerous than her obvious vulnerability.
"Get home. Both of you." The command comes out rougher than intended, weighted with frustrations I can't afford to examine. "Now."
Thali's mouth opens like she wants to argue, but something in my expression must convince her that discretion represents the better part of valor. She nods once, then turns to Selene with the kind of gentle authority that makes my chest tighten with pride and terror in equal measure.
"Come on." She tries to sound chipper, but it’s clear she’s unhappy. "We go back now."
Selene nods without taking her eyes off me, fingers finally releasing their desperate grip on whatever lies hidden beneath the leather tunic. But the way she moves suggests the gesture costs her something, like she's forcing herself to let go of a lifeline in stormy waters.
They walk away together, Thali's wild black hair bouncing with each step while Selene moves with the careful grace of someone who's learned to hide weakness in plain sight. I watch until they disappear behind the bone and iron palisades that separate the training grounds from the residential areas, noting how naturally they fall into step beside each other.
My sister's getting attached. That's going to be a problem when?—
I cut off the thought before it can form completely, unwilling to examine the implications of what will eventually happen to a human captive in an orc encampment. Some realities are better left unacknowledged until they become unavoidable.
But as their figures fade into the distance, I find myself thinking less about strategic necessities and more about gray-blue eyes that hold secrets I need to understand. About the way strength returned to my body faster than it should have. About the questions that multiply every time I try to find simple answers.
Behind me, the cleanup continues as warriors work to free weapons from their metal bonds and dismantle the stone barriers I raised in a moment of uncontrolled power. The normal sounds of camp life resume gradually, but the undercurrent of tension remains. Word of what happened here will spread quickly through the encampment, along with speculation about why my magic felt different today.
Let them wonder. I've got bigger problems to solve.
But even as I turn to deal with the immediate aftermath of violence barely contained, part of my attention remains fixed on the path where they disappeared, wondering what secrets hide beneath borrowed leather and why those secrets make my magic burn brighter than it should.
7
SELENE
Thali's small hand tugs at my sleeve, chattering in that mix of orcish and broken human words she's been practicing, but her voice sounds like it's coming from underwater. My fingers won't stop moving against my collarbone, pressing through the rough leather of the borrowed tunic like I can somehow contain what's happening beneath my skin.
The mark burns.
Not the dull ache I've grown accustomed to over the past year, but actual fire racing along the raised edges of the sigil carved into my flesh. The pain spreads outward in pulsing waves, each beat matching the rhythm of my heart as we walk further from the training grounds.
"Selene?" Thali's voice carries concern now, amber eyes searching my face with the kind of perceptiveness that makes her dangerous despite her age. "You look... pale?"
I force my expression into something resembling calm, though sweat beads along my hairline from the effort of not doubling over. The burning intensifies with each step, like whatever's branded into my skin is trying to claw its way out through muscle and bone.
"Just tired." The lie comes easier than it should, wrapped in the kind of hollow smile I perfected during my time in the camps. "Can I... can I rest for a while?"
