Page 3 of Steel & Thunder
“Nope, it’s a whole-ass city.” Nate shrugs.
“Pretty impressive, actually,” Corrine adds.
“Where are Adam and Liss?” I look around the cell, realizing they aren’t with us. We’re in a small cell with no furniture to speak of, the three of us sitting on the ground. The walls are all made of solid stone except one. Instead, it has a set of metal bars with a door.
“After you went down, Adam and Liss kept fighting,” Corrine explains. “They… got pretty banged up. The guards said they were taking them to a healer.”
“Yeah, right,” Nate scoffs.
“Fuck.” For once, I agree with Nate. We need to get out of here and find them—now. “What about you guys? Are you okay? Can you cast something and get us outta here? And what did they do with all our stuff?” Not just my sword, but my armor and pack are gone too.
“Not at the moment.” Corrine frowns and holds up her shackled wrists.
“Anti-magic bracers.” Nate shows me his matching pair. “Neither of us can cast anything as long as these are on.”
“Shit.” How the hell are we going to get out of here? I’m the only one whose hands are free. “What do we do? What happens now?”
“They said someone would be back to talk to us.” Corrine frowns again. “But that was over an hour ago.”
“We’re never getting out of here.” Nate slumps down.
Like hell we aren’t. I stand up and dust myself off. My clothes are in surprisingly good condition considering our situation. I wouldn’t have expected our captors to be gentle with my unconscious body. I’m missing my leather armor though, and Corrine and Nate don’t have their robes, just the shirt and pants they wear underneath. I think it’s safe to assume they took all our weapons and other belongings. First thing to do is to find out what they intend to do with us.
I stand and walk to the cell bars, too close together to stick more than an arm out. We’re outside, and the sun is behind us, our cell casting a shadow into the empty cell opposite us. I can’t see anything else, though I do hear the telltale sounds of people in the distance, so it seems we are in a city. Then I hear heavy footsteps not far from us.
“Hello?” I call out, hoping it’s one of the guards.
“What are you doing?” Nate questions behind me.
“Finding out what’s going on.” I hold my face near the bars and shout again. “Hello? Is someone there?”
Sure enough, the footsteps get louder, and I almost jump back in surprise when someone with vibrant green skin comes into view. Right. Orcs. He’s a big guy too, with a shaved head, full beard, and a pair of tusks that go nearly up to his nose. I straighten up, feeling dwarfed by his size. The two of us just stare at each other for a minute before I finally have to break the silence.
“Where are our friends?” I don’t hide the resentment in my voice.
“Healer.” The orc narrows his eyes when he answers me.
“When will they be back?” The orc only shrugs in response. Real helpful, this guy. “Fine, do you know how long you’re planning on keeping us in this—” I stop and gesture at the cell around me. “—wonderful place?”
“Sorry,” the orc responds flatly. “Other cells being fixed.”
I roll my eyes at the bad joke. Either this guy doesn’t want to say much or isn’t smart enough to know how. Common isn’t his first language. “Is there someone else I can talk to, buddy?”
The orc sighs, looking annoyed before stomping off. Hopefully to get someone capable of saying words with more than two syllables. I hear what sounds like a door, so he must have gone inside.
“Well, that was helpful,” Nate mocks.
I ignore him, verbally at least, turning around to lean against the bars and flip him off. I’m doing more than you are, dick. It’s about ten minutes before I hear the door again followed by more footsteps. Expecting to see my new friend, I’m surprised by the sight of a different orc. He’s not as tall and certainly not as muscular, the skinniest orc I’ve seen so far. His skin tone is a little darker than I’ve seen so far, and he’s got short, slicked back, dark red hair and no beard. He’s also wearing clothes way nicer than I would have expected for anyone around these parts, the kind you’d see on stuck up rich people back home.
“It is good to see you are awake, Mister…” He speaks Common a lot better than I would have expected too, but the way he’s precise with his pronunciation tells me it’s still not his first language. Does he have an accent? He’s waiting for me to finish for him.
“David.”
“David…?”
“Just David.” No reason this guy needs to know my full name.
“I see. Mr. David.” He adjusts his glasses before his dark green eyes settle on me. “I am terribly sorry for the delay; we do not get many situations of this nature, and it took me longer to prepare than I expected. I am Naruk Redwish, and I will be acting as your legal advocate. In a few days, once your companions are healed, the five of you will be brought before a member of the tribal council for a hearing on your crimes. Given the circumstances and evidence against you, I am going to recommend presenting a signed an admission of guilt, then we—”
