Chapter 3

The short little woman has guts, I’ll give her that. She looked me right in the eye and admitted she was the one who started the fire. There’s a burning need for action inside her that I haven’t felt myself in some time, probably not since I lost my tusk.

“Jar’kel?” she repeats. Tentatively, she reaches out and shakes my offered hand. “I’m Simka.”

“Seem-kah,” I say, trying it out.

“Sih-m-ka,” she corrects me.

I huff. “You’re close to finding the camp, you say? You have a heading?”

“I followed their tracks when they raided the village.” She points off into the snowy mountains, where the tips of the Blue Crags jut up so high they block out the moon. “I don’t have a precise location yet, though. I know which direction they went, but it’s treacherous up there if you don’t have the right equipment. Hell, it’s treacherous even if you do. I’ve tried, but I can’t make it all the way by myself.”

I see. So she’s not as certain as she led me to believe. But at least she’s got an idea of where to look, and that’s better than whatever the city guard have. To them, the wild orcs are like ghosts that descend from the sky when they attack, and then vanish into the mist. No one’s been able to track them through these rocky, unforgiving mountains.

No one except this puny little human in her fur hood and sheepskin gloves.

“Show me,” I say gruffly. If I located the camp, then we’d launch a surprise attack and take care of the problem for good. Then I could return to the desert, where I belong.

At this point, though, I wonder if the ever-present cold in my bones might be permanent, and it will follow me home.

Simka tilts her head. “Why should I show you anything?” she asks. “The city guard didn’t seem so eager to help before. But suddenly you want something from me? Now that I have information?”

I take a step toward her, but she doesn’t back away. She gives me a dirty look, like she’s daring me to pick a fight. I only mean to seem threatening when I lean down close to her, but as I inhale, I get a hearty whiff of her. She smells like pine trees and snow, with just a hint of animal. That hides what’s underneath: something warm, soft, and full of life. Bursting at the seams with vibrance.

“I want to end this fight,” I growl. “I want to find them, so we can be done with all the bullshit and I can go home.”

She blinks. “Go home?”

“Back to where I belong. Somewhere that isn’t this frozen hellscape.” I spit on the ground, as if to show the snow just how I feel about it.

“Huh.” Simka doesn’t seem perturbed by the fact I’m towering over her, shadowing the light of the moon on her face. She rubs her chin. “And you’re willing to act without permission by your superiors?”

I bark out a laugh. “If it’s for the city guard, all will be forgiven.” No one would question how I discovered the camp’s location if I brought it back to the commander. “Now show me. Where did they go?”

The wheels turn in her mind. She’s weighing her options, deciding whether or not to trust me.

“You said you wanted help, and here it is,” I tell her. “We find them, then the city guard jumps them in the middle of the night. And if your sister is still alive, I’ll make sure you get her back.” I hold out my hand. “Sound like a deal?”

Simka narrows her eyes as she studies me. They’re small and dark as the night, but they have a shine in them that tells me she might just accept my offer. She’s a rebel, a free thinker. I can use that.

“Fine.” Simka takes my hand in hers. She has five fingers, but they’re so small they can only wrap around two of my four. We clasp hands and shake. “I’ll give you what I know. But you’re going to need some better equipment.”

She leaves me there as she returns to her house. After some time waiting—while her little mongrel steed gives me the side-eye—Simka returns with a pile of pelts in her arm. She tosses a big one at me. “Put this on. Your blue skin is going to stand out like a sore thumb. Plus, you look like you could use something a little… warmer.”

The damn human isn’t wrong. Despite my pride, I take the fur and find it’s more of a cloak. It wraps around my shoulders and ties under my chin, keeping my arms and back quite warm. It’s small, like she is, but it’s a marked improvement.

“Fine.” I pull the hood up over my head, and immediately the tips of my long ears feel cozy and warm, probably for the first time since I arrived in this awful place. “Lead the way, Simka.”

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