Chapter 19

PALOMA

After spending the morning searching one of the storage rooms for sewing supplies and coming up empty-handed, I head outside. And promptly get lost in the maze of tunnels until an orc passes by and I follow him. He scowls at me the entire time, but he doesn’t touch me. Orcs are not the violent species as I’ve been told over and over. It makes me wonder what other lies I’ve been fed.

“Hi, Ossa,” I say when I find her in the cooking area at the base of the mountain. The orcs have an entire area set up for nothing but skinning and tanning animal hides.

She has her hands full skinning a small furry animal I’ve never seen before. This part of Kovos has more mountains and forests as compared to the plains near New Earth.

“Would you like some help?” I ask Ossa even though I’ve never skinned anything in my life besides my knee. I’m hoping she’ll pick up on my willingness to help.

She scowls at me. With that ax swinging from a loop on her belt, it’s hard to not think of her as Lizzy Borden. But I need to have the right attitude if I’m going to get what I need from her. Help finding that damn cart.

Okay, Paloma Marie, get your ass in gear and find a way to connect with this woman, even if she is a grouch.

When I spot a woodpile nearby, I head over and grab a few split logs with one hand while struggling to hold up my ripped tunic with the other.

“Here,” I say, holding out the logs to the woman tending a fire a few feet from Ossa’s workstation. The orc looks up at me, her light green eyes going wide as she realizes the human is talking to her. Without even a nod acknowledging me, she glances at Ossa.

Yep, that confirms it. These women defer to Ossa. She is definitely the woman in charge.

“Yilika lisk, Ossa?”

“Tak,” Ossa replies.

The female orc with light green eyes grabs two of the four logs I’m holding and tosses them onto the fire. As I set the remaining two down for the woman to add as needed, I glance over at Ossa. She narrows those dark green eyes, scrutinizing me in a way that tells me to watch myself, that this is her domain.

Fine with me. I’m not staying.

With the addition of new wood, the fire flares to life. It’s a shame the orcs don’t cook inside the mountain, as those tunnels and Atox’s chambers could use some heat, but aside from minor fissures there isn’t any ventilation inside.

I glance around, looking for something I can do to keep busy while thinking through my escape plan.

Ossa picks up her knife, points at me, and motions toward the tunnels. “Yar, hooman.”

I get it. She doesn’t want me here. Too bad.

“I need thread and needle.” I point to the stitching up the side of my tunic.

When Ossa shoves me away with her elbow, I move to the other side of the table, out of her reach. “I’ll sew it myself, if someone can show me where the sewing supplies are.” I release my top where Atox tore it down the middle.

When she sees the long rent in my tunic and how I have practically no coverage for my more than ample breasts, her eyes widen. “Vekk az hooman flick aus Atox im grak!”

I understood two words in that. Human and Atox. This woman doesn’t like me or the fact that Atox chose me. I wish I had the language to agree with her.

She calls over to my shadow, Evve, and barks out what I can only assume are orders. Evve races off and returns a moment later with a basket full of sewing needles, string, a leather hole punch, and leather cords like those I used to secure my knife at my side.

“Thank you,” I say, accepting the basket with a smile, neither of which changes that sour expression on Ossa’s face. But Evve’s mouth kicks up, revealing cute little tusks that have begun to jut out beyond her lower lip.

When did I start thinking of tusks as cute?

Heat surges through me the moment I recall my post-spanking encounter with Atox. The memory of him pleasuring me will never leave me. I still don’t know if I should remain mad at him for that humiliating spanking, though. If he had truly wanted to hurt me, he would have. He seemed to be trying…

Trying to do what? What is the huge orc trying to do beside get me pregnant?

“I have to get going, Evve.”

I head down to the river where I’ll have privacy and sufficient light to work on my tunic. When I reach the river, I strip, and cut holes along the torn sections of the tunic before sewing the rough edges to prevent further tearing. With one of the leather strips, I lace the top to give my breasts the room they need, but not leave them fully exposed.

As I finish tying off the thread, dark green eyes catch my attention. I yelp and hold the tunic in front of me before realizing my shadow has returned.

“You scared me, Evve,” I say as I slip the tunic over my head, feeling so naked beneath. I miss my panties and bra, but I don’t know Orcan to be able to ask Ossa where she put them.

Evve maintains her distance as I scoop up the sewing materials and head back to the main part of the settlement. The moment I hit the edge of the clearing, I stop. There it is. The cart, newly arrived with a cargo in the back. No wonder I couldn’t find it. I’d assumed Sojek had already returned.

“Hooman,” Ossa calls, full of anger, her hand cupping Sojek beneath his chin. She points to the cuts on Sojek’s face. “Gavo ak grak tiki hooman!” Then she spits on the ground by my feet.

I see the way she looks at Sojek, with the compassion of a mother as she touches the week-old scars on his face. Sojek is her son.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize, hoping she’ll hear the regret in my voice even though she doesn’t understand my words. “I didn’t know Atox would do that.”

The moment I say Atox’s name, she barrels over to me, slaps me across the face, and continues spewing angry words.

My face is on fire, worse than my ass had been from Atox’s hand. Her anger leaves a heaviness in my heart. It seems as if I can do nothing right.

Ossa’s still yelling at me, even as Sojek speaks calmly to her. He holds her back from striking me again. I can see it in his eyes. He doesn’t blame me, not like Ossa.

My anger boils to the top at once. “It’s not my fault. I don’t control Atox. No one does. I don’t want to be here. I never asked to be here, and as soon as I can figure out how to leave, I will, so stay the fuck away from me!”

Ossa backs up, stunned and speechless. It had to have been my tone, because Atox told me only his warriors have language chips. Either way, it’s time to make my exit, before she remembers she has dozens of orcs nearby to back her up.

That’s when the ground shakes. An earthquake? Dirt kicks into the air, forming giant dust clouds too quick for me to fathom what’s happening. The pounding of hooves against the ground rip through the area seconds before the first yengas emerge. The Kovos version of wild boars with foot-long horns stampede into the clearing. Yengas are nasty creatures that will impale anyone in their path. And they run in herds, like now!

Screams from orcs running in all directions fill the area, adding to an already confusing situation. My instincts kick in and I climb a nearby tree that’s wide with deep roots and likely to survive the stampede. The lower branches spiral out like rungs of a ladder, making the climb easy. I just have to get high enough to avoid the yengas’ horns.

Most of the orcs make it to the tunnel while the guard there uses his broadsword to turn several of the charging yengas. If one of those yengas makes it into the tunnels, it will kill everyone in its path.

“Evve!” Ossa shouts above the thunderous hooves. The fear in her voice shakes me and immediately I start looking for the little girl.

I have a fairly good vantage point from my tree, but I don’t see Evve in the crowd of orcs running to the tunnels. Then I remember she’d followed me into the woods earlier but never emerged. As I venture onto a branch to see deeper into the woods, the branch creaks beneath my weight.

As I’m about to back up, I spot the little girl. Evve’s crouching at the base of a tree too small to protect her. I’ve seen areas decimated by a yenga stampede. They leave very little standing in their wake, full-grown trees included. If the hoard turns, she’ll be crushed to death.

“Evve!” I shout and point in her direction, but none of the orcs can hear me over the thunderous pounding of hooves.

To my horror, the hoard begins to turn with the natural curve of the mountain.

Heart racing with fear, I scramble down the tree and run for Evve.

I glance over my shoulder. A dozen or more yengas have turned and are heading straight toward us.

With all my energy, I run toward the cowering little girl. Her eyes, wide with fear, don’t move from the yengas. I’m not sure she even sees me.

“Evve!” I yell, hoping she’ll run toward me, but she’s frozen in fear.

My heart’s pumping hard and I’ve all but tuned out the sound of the yengas as I snag Evve by her tunic and hoist her against my chest. Her little arms wrap around my neck super tight, her fear adding to my own.

The sound of yengas snorting suddenly fill my ears. They’re close!

Branches whip at Evve’s back and my arms, but I don’t register the sting as I race through the trees.

Evve’s deathly quiet. She’s in shock.

There’s no way I can outrun the deadly beasts, but I cannot fail this little girl.

My eyes scan for a tree with low branches that we can climb. I’m breathing heavily, not sure I have the energy to run much farther. Not a single tree here with low branches!

The river…

Yengas can’t swim.

Snorting echoes through the trees from all angles. Dear God… They’re surrounding us!

“Yar, yar, yar!” Evve shouts, her voice filled with terror.

Keep running!

The water!

My lungs are ready to burst as I race down the hill, all while praying I don’t lose my footing. If I fall, we’ll be trampled to death.

The ground finally levels out, but there’s no river here. I’m lost.

Evve points west. “Avi naka. Avi naka.”

She knows the area. I don’t. I run where she indicates.

Trees and boulders, but no river!

Plan B. Find a small crevice for Evve to squeeze between the boulders. Then, pray yengas aren’t like mountain goats as I climb the jagged rocks.

While looking for a deep crevice for her to squeeze into, I spot the most glorious sight. A lake with crystal blue water waiting to save us.

“Lo!” Evve shouts as she squirms to escape my arms.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m a good swimmer. I won’t let you drown.”

As we reach the water’s edge, the snort of a yenga makes me turn.

Not one. Five.

Five sets of horns lower.

The yengas charge and I toss Evve into the water and dive in after her, quickly grabbing her arm and pulling her up with me as I surface.

“Racanna, racanna, Paloma! Nay yar ok tam,” she cries out the moment she spits out water.

“You’re fine, sweetie.” I try to catch my breath all while wading water and keeping an eye on the yengas that stopped at the shore.

The beasts snort and paw at the ground. One dips its head and points his very long horn at us. As agitated as the beasts are, they don’t venture into the water.

I take a deep breath, relieved. More yengas arrive by the shore. Several drink at the water’s edge as I bob in the water with a squirming Evve in my arms.

Evve tears free of my grip and bobs in front of me. She can swim! Then she starts swimming toward the shore. Toward the yengas!

“No, Evve!”

That’s when something grabs my leg and pulls me under the water…