Page 12 of Steel & Thunder
“Is it irritating your skin or making it difficult to breathe?” He rolls his eyes and turns back to pull things off shelves.
“I guess not?” Kinda wish this thing would choke me.
“Then you will be fine until we get your replacement.” He places a few jars—spices or some kind of pickled vegetables—on the counter, turning away from me to open a large stone chest. I look down. Other than the collar, I’m still wearing his tunic and my boots.
And my hands are free.
I look back up at the orc as he stares down into the contents of the chest, deciding on what to do with whatever is inside. I look behind me to the front door. The front door that he did not lock after we came in.
I think you see what I’m getting at here.
Very quietly, I inch my way to the door, my eyes locked onto Ironstorm’s form. He’s bent down into the chest now, the sounds of whatever he’s got in there scraping together as he moves it around. Once my hand is on the doorknob, I turn it ever so slowly, until...
*click*
Chapter Four
Ironstorm’s form freezes at the sound of the open lock clicking, and I don’t wait to see what comes next. I throw the door open and bolt outside. The arena and jail are to the left, so I go right, taking off with all the speed I can muster. First thing to do is get far away from here and find someplace to hide. And hopefully a pair of pants.
I start looking for an alley or back street I can turn down. There’s a crossroad coming up ahead, but taking that seems too obvious. But if I can get behind or even on top of some of these buildings... Oh shit, is that a cart coming down the road? A big one with two huge black horses in front. Maybe I can jump on the back of it.
They’re moving fast. Really fast. I’m not sure I can make that jump. Why are they moving so fast in the middle of a city? I hear someone yelling in the distance as they barrel through the intersection without so much as slowing down. They could kill someone driving like that.
I know Ironstorm has to be right behind me, so I have to move quickly. I start looking for alternate exits or even something I might be able to slow him down with, anything to put some extra distance between us while I make my escape. That’s when I notice something in the road. Someone: a small green child tottering around, playing with a doll. And that cart is heading straight toward them.
Dammit.
I’m closer than the cart is, but those horses are way faster than I am. The kid isn’t even looking up. Where the hell are their parents? Aaarrrggghhh.
I put every last ounce of energy I have into my run. I’ve gotten faster in the last two months, but this is cutting it close. I shout a “hey!” to get them to move, but then the kid—a little girl it looks like—just starts staring at me instead, still not moving. I look up at the cart, but I can’t even see the driver, the horses’ reins being held from the inside.
Why did I even bother getting up today?
I dive at the little girl, who picks that exact moment to finally notice the horses about to trample her. I wrap my arms around her when we make contact, clutching her tightly to my chest. My ass hits the ground first as we roll, the thunderous stomps of the horses just missing us. We tumble a few times before I slam into a stone fence with my arm and side. Oww, that’s gonna bruise.
I peek an eye open, having shut them tightly during the tuck-and-roll. The sight I’m greeted with is that of a slightly frightened and very confused orc child looking back at me. Phew. Afraid and confused is still alive. With her hair in pigtails, she kind of reminds me of my little sister. Then comes more shouting, and I see a panicked looking woman over the kid’s shoulder coming toward us from inside the fence.
She immediately reaches down and scoops up her child, holding her tightly while planting kisses all over the kid’s face and hair, muttering continuously. I hope she saw the cart and doesn’t think I just tackled her kid for no reason. I’m about to stand up and dust myself off when I hear the plodding of a familiar pair of boots as Ironstorm’s shadow falls over me. Fucking kid.
I pick myself up from the ground, but before I have the chance to say anything, the woman pulls me into a very strong hug. I can’t really breathe, but at least I know she saw the cart. She’s still saying things I can’t understand, but I assume they’re something along the lines of “Thank you for saving my child.” I hear the captain behind me chiming in on his own, and they continue to talk after she releases me, saying one last thing before taking her child back inside. The smile I’m wearing is cut short when the shadow behind me looms over me once more.
I turn hesitantly, positive that what awaits me is a very pissed off orc. But no, when I actually venture to raise my head enough to look him in the eye, he seems fairly calm. He’s giving me a look that is somewhere between confusion and consideration, the one he had on when he first held me to the ground in the arena. He doesn’t say anything, just takes me by the arm, firmly but not enough to hurt. I don’t argue, and we start the walk back to his home together.
The front door is open when we approach, and he pushes me inside. Keys are pulled out of the drawer to my left, and he grabs the discarded set of cuffs from the kitchen before turning us down the hallway to the bedroom. He pushes me to the bed, and I grab a seat with a sigh while he just...stares at me.
“Why did you do that?” He breaks the silence, his tone softer than I’m expecting for that question.
“Well don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but becoming an orc’s slave wasn’t exactly on my bucket list,” I deadpan.
“Not that.” He shakes his head. “The little girl.”
“What do you mean?” Is that what’s bothering him? “I wasn’t gonna let her get run over.”
“You could have,” he points out for some reason. “You were escaping. If anything, she slowed you down. You could have even used the accident to—”
“Woah!” I jump up from the bed, actually offended. “What the hell? I wasn’t going to let a child get trampled to death.”
“No, you were not.” He’s smiling now for some reason. “Still, you could have been hurt. You only barely missed those horses, and I saw how hard you hit the ground afterward. How could you possibly have known you would make a jump like that?”
