Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ATOX IM GRAK

S omething feels off about the market, and I can't figure out what. My hand goes to a knife across my chest, settling me. I've let myself become soft of late. Forbidding my warriors from fighting, ensuring they do nothing to risk the treaty, weakens them. Weakens me.

Meeting with the human leaders in their sector gives me the opportunity for good intel on the enemy, but leaves me eager to return to my mountain, where the air is fresh and I'm surrounded by my people. Worthy beings.

Two human males sneer at me as I pass. These vekking humans stink. The filthy creatures only use water to drink and sustain their crops. If they knew to bathe with it, they wouldn't smell as badly as they do. In theory.

I prefer to be anywhere other than Pen'Kesh, but as grak, the leader of all orcs, namely those who survived the Undoing and fled to Kovos, I will do whatever is necessary for our survival including lowering myself by negotiating with humans.

Negotiations. I spit on the ground. The human word tastes wretched in my mouth. Meeting with them wastes my time, but I'm so vekking close to reaching an agreement.

My people need females. That means I must maintain a truce with the other settlements.

More or less.

Once we have enough females, then our position on Kovos will change. That does not mean I'll allow anyone to take advantage of me before we secure the females we need.

If anyone pushes me, I will not push back. I'll use my sword to color the ground with their blood.

As I walk through Pen'Kesh, observing any changes since my last time here, I realize I have not seen Ryko nearly all afternoon. Just after we left the humans' section of the market where they sell produce and clothing, neither of which we need since we hunt and construct our own clothes, he excused himself from my side. He said he wanted to explore the bantaran section.

I doubt that. Ryko does not explore. He acts with purpose. But I do not coddle my warriors like a female raising younglings. My warriors determine their own destiny.

Though it's possible he seeks a new knife. While orcs fashion excellent knives, we have only one swordsmith among our people on Kovos. And no natural materials for him to fashion. That leaves us dependent on the bantarans for new swords. Or worse, the vints for raw material. Despite their talent with technology, bantarans are pitiful hunters, which gives us leverage for trading with them. They insert the language chips that I and my warriors use to communicate with—and spy on—the other species here.

Speaking of pitiful, I have yet to spot my nephew. Sojek had one duty today. Deliver the fovid meat to the bantarans, then gather my and Ryko's gorjas and wait by the market's main gate. From here, I can see the main gate, but no Sojek, cart, or gorjas.

And no Ryko. What the vekk is he doing?

My warriors are getting lax. The responsibility is mine, but the punishment will be theirs .

I head to the bantarans' tents, pitying whichever of my people I locate first, because he will receive the brunt of my increasingly bad mood.

Running one hand along my arm, I scoop off some of the mud and rub it on my cheeks, nose, and chin. The muck stinks, but not as much as the beings I pass. The human quarter is overrun with people from all species today.

A murmur pierces the usual muffled conversations in the market, instantly placing me on guard. Then I hear shouts, yelling, and a sound I know all too well. Fists striking flesh.

Curses fill the air as a body crashes into a table in the human's market. Round purple ogaki fruit spills onto the ground, rolling in all directions as the ring of people widens.

"String up the filthy orc!" a male hollers.

Sojek! If anything happens to him, my sister will kill me. Never mind that I am the grak of our people, she will slit my throat in my sleep if I let anyone harm her son.

Orcs fear little in life. An orc female protecting her younglings... That is more dangerous than sleeping in a pit of hungry kuvaks.

When the crush of the gathering crowd slows me, I draw my sword and shout, "Move!"

Like rodents, humans, bantarans, and moxxels scatter in all directions. Now, nothing stands between me and the fight.

To my relief, it is not Sojek getting pummeled, but Ryko.

Two vints hold my warrior's arms while a third strikes him over and over in his abdomen and face. A fourth stands guard.

Unlike humans, vints are good fighters, but not as skilled as orcs. One-on-one, Ryko could defeat any vint, even without his sword and knives. Two-against one would not require me to enter the fight, but four to one gains my attention.

As I charge at the vints, I don't think about which to slaughter first or how Ryko came to be in this situation. No, my vekking thoughts turn to the female I saw earlier. A female with short dark hair and enough flesh to grip while fucking her from behind.

I'd considered taking the one I'd seen Ryko following, the one he had the courage and foolishness to declare his after I'd ordered him to stay away from the humans. That female, did not stir me. Not like the one with short hair. The one who repeatedly speaks back to the human males. Far from submissive, that one, but I will break her of her defiance. And I will enjoy every minute, especially while sinking into her sweet flesh.

The fourth vint has circled to my back, trapping me between him and the males hammering Ryko. Vekk. I've let my mind wander, giving the vint an advantage.

It's time I show the vints their position on Kovos is about to change.

I sheathe my sword, as I cannot end the vints without injuring Ryko or nearby humans in such a tight space. Despite my displeasure with Ryko, I do not care to lose a skilled warrior or risk my treaty with the humans.

Which is why I ignore the vint behind me and throw myself into the three vints attacking Ryko.

The full brunt of my attack drives the larger vint into a table, giving Ryko the opening he needs to break free. My warrior scurries to his feet, able and eager to fight.

The first vint that swings his barbed tail at me regrets it as I grip the tail in one hand and thrust my knife deep through sinew, muscle, and bone with the other. His wail drives the crowd of humans back. Good. More room to fight.

With my full weight, I press my knee into the downed vint's back, pull up his head, and slit his throat from ear to ear. Three left. Much better.

When I unintentionally bare my tusks, I realize I'm enjoying myself. It's been too long since I've indulged in a good fight.

But I must be strategic. Every move has consequences on this strange new world .

I consider letting Ryko finish the fight, but I need to learn who started it. If it was Ryko, I'll follow the humans' suggestion and string him up, but not by his neck. I'll leave him hanging by his feet over a fly-infested dung pile until he learns not to disobey me.

Ryko grabs hold of the male who'd been punching him in the face and rams him into a concrete wall. The two remaining vints separate, one targeting Ryko and the other me.

Now, the fun begins.

"Asvi!" I yell to my warrior as I toss a knife in the air. Not that he needs it, but it is my duty as grak to ensure my warriors do not enter battle naked. Clothing is irrelevant. Weapons are our life, our blood.

Ryko flashes his tusks as he snatches the knife from the air and lodges it in the vint's abdomen. A wound such as that is survivable if the vint finds a healer soon. I'm not sure why Ryko didn't go for the kill, but that is a question for later.

The vint who had the run-in with the wall drags himself to his feet.

A grak must lead by example. And there is no better place than the middle of the market of Pen'Kesh to demonstrate my skills as a fair and wise leader, so all the species here can better understand us.

I decide to help the dazed vint learn from his mistakes. I slam him against that wall again. Several times. This is to ensure I have his attention.

"Why did you attack my warrior?" I ask as his head rolls from side to side.

"He insulted Hap."

"Which one is Hap?"

"Dead, back on the trail. Your warrior killed him and Tam."

Six to one, then. My respect for Ryko increases. "Who started the fight? "

"Your warrior. We found the warrior and a female in the woods."

Female? I strictly forbade our females from traveling beyond our settlement's borders, especially to Pen'Kesh. We have so few orc females to lose even one.

I shake the vint. "What female?" I ask, but then I lock eyes with Ryko.

The warrior swallows. Hard.

Krike. I don't know what he's done, but I sense I'm going to have to kill him before this day ends.