Page 7 of Storms & Sacrifice
The rest of the night is quiet. After eating, the orcs hang around the fire and swap stories from their weeks. Glasha has her sword out, applying oil to it slowly as she listens to Arik talk about a barfight he broke up two nights ago. I join the two of them, happy to prove to Khazak I know how to take care of my equipment. I see Khazak disappear with Wu’dag into his tent for a minute at one point, but then he’s back out and sitting next to me by the campfire. After a couple of hours of this, everyone heads into the tents to sleep except Khazak and me, ready for the first roundof watch.
“It’s kinda nice being able to do this with someone else,” I speak low, not wanting to disturb anyone sleeping. The only noises are the crackling of the wood in the campfire and the chirping of the crickets in the forest. We can relax a little more now than when we were on patrol. Me and my friends would do the same thing when on the road, but with five of us, we always had to do it alone. We also didn’t have any magical illusions to help hide us.
“It is.” Khazak smiles as he adds another log to the first to keep it going. “Having you here all week with me willbe nice.”
“And will make Arik jealous,” I joke.
“Can you blame him?” Khazak walks over to where I’m sitting, standing in front of me. He gently takes a hold of my chin, stroking his thumb over my lip. “I certainly do not plan to keep my hands off of you.”
My breath hitches a little as the words pass through me, heating something familiar in my stomach. I’m nearly eye level with his crotch, and I can already see a familiar lump starting to form. I look up at his eyes, heavywith lust.
Then a cough rings out from one of the tents, and I remember we’re not actually alone. I stumble back from his hold, falling off the back of the log with a thud. When I look up, I see Khazak with one hand over his mouth, struggling to hold in his laughter. He reaches out with the other to help me up, clearing his throat when he’s finished and mumbling an apology.
After that a display of nerves, he doesn’t try to make another move, and two hours later, we wake up Arik for his watch shift. The orc bids us goodnight as we crawl into our own tent, Khazak first. We undress, though not fully nude like we would at home—never know when you might have to get up at a moment’s notice—and Khazak slides into the bedroll, holding it open for me to follow. I curl into his side, resting my head on his shoulder. Since we didn’t pack a second pillow, he can bemy pillow.
“Sleep well, David.” Khazak turns his head to kiss the top of mine. “We have a busy daytomorrow.”
I nuzzle against him, too tired to reply, the sounds of the crickets in the night air already putting meto sleep.
Chapter 2
Idream again about flying over the ocean.This time is different, though. The storm in the sky is raging, the wind howling as lighting cracks around me. The waters below are anything but calm, waves reaching high into the air before they come crashing down. Between the surge and the storm, it’s taking all I have to stay in the air, looking in every direction for signs of clearer skies.
I wake to the sounds of birds chirping, the remnants of my dream slipping away.Haven’t had one of those in over a week.The morning air is cool, and it makes me pull one of my legs back under the bedroll. Khazak is spooned up behind me, his arm under the pillow we’re sharing. No matter how we fall asleep, we always seem to end up in some other position by morning.
I stretch myself out, making sure to press back against his warm body. I feel a familiar lump against my lower back, one that I’m matching in front. And if we weren’t only a few feet away from a bunch ofothersleeping orcs, I might be tempted to do something about it. As it is, I shimmy my way out of the bedroll, reaching for my pants so I can step outside and pee. I hear a slight grumble from Khazak as I close the tent flapbehind me.
There’s a light layer of fog blanketing the forest, the sun still low on the horizon. Glasha is sitting by the campfire, the last one to take watch, which means she’s also the first one up. She waves a hand at me as she tosses another log on the fire, which has gotten low over the course of the night. I wave back as I sleepily stumble beyond the camp’s boundary, looking for a nice tree to stand behind. By the time I’m finished and stepping back into the tent, I’m greeted by the sight of a bleary-eyed Khazak stretching hisown limbs.
“Good morning.” He smiles up at mesleepily.
“Morning.” I crawl back into the warm bedroll. “Ready for our first full day on patrol?”
“Someone is eager.” He sits up, stretchingonce more.
He climbs out, pulling on a clean set of clothes, though not his full uniform. I also finish getting dressed, pulling on a clean shirt and my shoes before we leave the tent together. Glasha is still the only one up, and I’m not sure what time it is or how long she’s been at it. When Khazak finishes his own morning stuff and the two of us join her by the fire, I notice Wu’dag reentering the camp from the north, a covered basket hanging from one hand. Poking out from underneath the cloth covering is a familiar purple flower, and I’m only just realizing the orc is wearing gloves as he heads over to us.
“Good morning, Captain. Just finished clearing the flower patch.” He lifts the basketslightly.
“Good morning and thank you, Shaman Bonespirit.” Khazak gives a small bow of his head fromhis seat.
“You brought it back to the camp?” I figured he was just gonna use his magic to wither the plant or even burn it.
“Given that it’s springing up a lot this year, I thought it would be smart to keep the antidote on hand in case of any accidents,” he tells us before pointing over at his tent. “I’ll be brewing that this morning, so please do not enter my tent until I give the all clear.”
“Understood, shaman.” Khazak turns to Glasha. “How long until the others are due up?”
“Forty minutes or so,” the orc woman answers.
“Perfect.” Then he turns to me. “Are you any good with a bow?”
“I’m alright.” I shrug. I was a decent shot on the archery range.
“Have you ever been hunting?” he asks ashe stands.
“No, not really. Why?” I stand as well, following him back toour tent.
“Because we are on breakfast duty.” He grins and grabs his bow.
