Page 3 of Storms & Sacrifice
“We left the city through the west gate and walked two kilometers until we reached that tree.” That’s around one-and-a-quarter miles—my twin brother Michael would be proud at all the math I’ve been doing lately. “Then we turned northwest and have been walking another two kilometers looking for...thatrock formation.”
He points to a pile of mossy boulders coming up on our left. The smooth surfaces tell me they’ve been here a while. The largest of the boulders sticks up from the center, almost making the pile resemble some sortof throne.
“From here it is another kilometer north until we reach a stream with a fallen tree spanning it, and then after a short hike northwest from there, we will be at the camp.” Khazak marches forward confidently ashe speaks.
I nod, glad for the instructions. I’m not actually worried, but if for some reason Idohave to make it back to the city on my own, at least I know how. I try to pay attention to how long it takes us to cover a kilometer at our speed; it’ll mean less math to do in my head later. I keep my eyes peeled for the stream in question, though I figure it will be pretty hard to miss. Unless the direction we’re going is completely wrong, we’ll have to cross it eventually.
I end up spotting the fallen tree before the stream. It would serve as a very useful bridge to cross if the stream wasn’t little more than a trickle. I barely have to jump to get to the other side. When we’re both across, Khazak leans back against the fallen log with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for me to tell him where we need to go next.Easy. We were already walking north, but I look up at the sun’s position justto verify.
“Camp is that way.” I point northwest from ourposition.
“Lead the way.” He pushes himself up.
“Oh, is this my job now?” Despite my words, I start walking in the direction ofthe camp.
“Merely testing your skills,” he defends as he follows.
“Uh-huh. You just wanna stare at my ass.” I’ve gotten a lot more confident in the flirting area (at least with a guy).
I hear a thoughtful hum from behind me but no denial.Yeah, he’s totally looking at my assright now.
We’re only walking for a couple of minutes when I feel Khazak’s hand on my shoulder. “Wait.” He points ahead of us. In the distance, I see a figure walking away from us: a person. An orc. Must be one of the other rangers headed to thecampsite.
Khazak lets out a noise from my left, something between a growl and a bark. It’s not loud, but it does make me jump. It also makes the orc ahead of pause and turn around, returning the noise and throwing an arm up to wave when they see us. They start walking back to meet us halfway.
“You didn’t just say something, right? That wasn’t a word?”Otherwise, learning this language is going to be even more complicated thanI thought.
“No,” he chuckles. “Justa signal.”
Once we get closer, I recognize the orc. Not just from the station, but...shit he’s one of the orcs I fought in the ruins. The one who was slightly burned before I feinted his attack and uh, kicked him. He’s a little shorter than Khazak, and a little chubbier, with medium length brown hair and a beard but no mustache. His left tusk is gold, either plated or replaced, and his arms are covered in tattoos,waymore than the crest on Khazak’s chest or the bands on his upper arms, probably more than I’ve seen on any other orc so far.Shit, what was his name?Ranger... Bighands. Nope, that’s not it. Widefingers? No, wait it’s— “Deepfist!”
Both orcs turn to look at me for my suddenoutburst.
“That is my name.” The ranger in question leans in and leers at me, winking. “Maybe one day I can show you exactlywhythey callme that.”
“I—I—” I stammer, the implication of his words making my body flush immediately. Khazak had mentioned something about fists in passing the other day, and my morbid curiosity made me press him for the details of what exactly “fisting” was.
“Wow, Deputy Rockfang was not joking. Itiseasy to rile him up.” Deepfist pulls back, a smirk onhis face.
“If you are quite done,” Khazak chides, but there’s no irritation in his words.Probably just mad he didn’t think of it himself first.
We resume walking toward the camp in silence. Comfortable for them but awkward for me.
“I’m still really sorry about the day in the temple ruins!” I blurt out after another minute or two.
Deepfist tilts his head at my second outburst. “No need to worry, kid. You are practically one of us now.” He smiles. “Besides, I was mostly over that once I saw you give the captain just as much trouble in the arena. Not bad fora human.”
“You were at the arena, too?” I really shouldn’t be surprised by that anymore.
“Pretty much every ranger not on duty was there,” he states like I should already know. “And the rest of the force was told the story inverygraphic detail.”
“...Great.” You’d think after working with them for two weeks, I wouldn’t still get embarrassed learning someone was a witness to myverypublic fucking, but here I am, feeling too warm in my clothes. Going forward, maybe I should just assume anyone new I meet has already seen or heard about me having sex.
“Hey, I said I was impressed. Most of us were.”At least they’re not dicks about it.“Callme Arik.”
“...Thanks Arik.” Khazak gives my shoulder a squeeze as we walk. I’m looking ahead for signs of the camp, but all I see is more forest. Did I send us in the wrong direction? No, Deepfist was going this way too. Where the hell are we?
I jump back when a few yards ahead of us an orc justappearsout of nowhere. Both orcs I’m walking with pause, but it’s more because of my reaction than the orc who apparently knows how to teleport. She’s dressed like a ranger, so I know she’s no danger, butfuck. The new orc waves at us as she passes, giving me a funny look but walking past as if nothing strange hashappened.
