1. Hayden

1

HAYDEN

“ S hit!” I shout, almost tripping over a stick. I manage to keep my footing and keep running, kicking my legs faster and faster.

I have good stamina, but even this is a lot for me. My chest is heaving, I’m so out of breath I feel like I could fall to the ground and die right now.

“Keep going,” I whisper to myself. “Just keep going.”

I can hear them behind me, hooting and hollering. They think this is funny, and they always have. This is far from the first time they’ve done this to me, it’s their favorite game to play when they’re bored.

But this time, it’s different.

This time, they have an end goal. And it involves me, bleeding out on the forest floor. I feel sick to my stomach imagining what they would do with my body afterwards.

“You can’t run forever, you infertile bitch!” one of the orcs shouts, cackling.

“Let her try,” another one adds. “It’s more fun that way.”

I know they’d love to see me reach my limit. They want nothing more than to see the look on my face when I realize they’ve finally captured me.

A sob makes its way out of me, because I know in my heart that that moment is coming. And it’s coming today. I’ve gone over it and over it in my head, but there’s just no way out.

Sill, I can’t give up just yet. I can’t give them the satisfaction of breaking me that easily.

And if I’m actually able to get away from them, I’ll never have to return to the Sword Hammer clan. In fact, I won’t be allowed to, even if I wanted that.

They capture and use human women as breeding slaves. It’s been going on for years, and the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve been through have been absolutely brutal. None of us have a choice in the matter, unless we prefer death.

Some have.

They’ve been trying to get me pregnant for a long time now, but today, they finally deemed me infertile. Therefore, I am useless to them. Garbage.

Which is why I’m currently running for my life as they hunt me, seeing me as nothing but a target for them to hit.

I dodge to the left without even looking back, hearing the sound of an arrow whizzing past. That sound is ingrained in my brain, and always will be. The amount of times I’ve heard it… well, it’s probably in the hundreds.

“Look at her little legs going!” An orc laughs, and others join in.

Their little comments only fuel my urge to keep running, fuel my little legs to not stop.

They’ve caught me out here many times before. It’s why I’ve become so accustomed to the sound of that arrow.

After the first few times of getting hit, I made damn sure it wouldn’t happen again. Especially since I was never given any medical help after returning to Sword Hammer’s territory.

Right now, I run away from the border, with no set destination in mind. It doesn’t matter where I end up, just as long as it’s far away from here, where they can’t find me.

A whimper escapes me as my foot slams into the ground particularly hard. I glance down, wincing at the sight of blood trailing down my legs. My body is littered with bruises and cuts, and every single muscle hurts beyond belief.

But I’m used to this. It barely fazes me. In fact, being scared for my life to this extent doesn’t faze me either.

None of this is new. I’ve been treated like this my whole life. Not once have I known what happiness feels like, or peace. There hasn’t been a single night where I felt safe or cared for. I don’t even know what that would look like at this point.

I don’t feel sorry for myself though. Not when every other human woman is going through the exact same thing. I’m not special.

“You’re slowing down!” an orc calls in a singsong tone of voice.

I pant, my skin and muscles burning as I pump my legs faster still. He’s right, I was slowing down. But not intentionally.

My body is screaming for me to stop. It doesn’t want to take me much farther. And somehow, I have to find a way to make it.

Tears stream down my face, no matter how hard I try to hold them back. They’re from frustration, not sadness. Tears of anger.

No human deserves this. Not a single one of us. And yet, we can’t escape it.

All my life, I’ve wondered if there was a place out there where humans live in harmony, with no one torturing them or using them. It’s our weakness, in comparison to the orcs, that makes us an easy target, putting us in this position.

But there has to be a place where we aren’t treated like this. I have to believe that, otherwise what’s the point?

I run to the left, then straight, then to the left again, trying to lose them. At some point, it starts to work. They aren’t behind me anymore, and I can’t hear them.

I make the split-second decision to hide, instead of continuing to run. With my sobs, and my loud footsteps snapping twigs every two seconds, they’ll hear me soon enough and find me. If I hide, maybe I can wait them out and then start running again later.

I duck behind a large tree, crouching in between two bushes that sit at the foot of it. My eyes are wide, and my jaw is clenched as I hold my breath, listening for them.

A moment later, I hear a rustling sound, like people running. It’s followed by a laugh so evil it raises goosebumps on the back of my neck.

“Come out, you useless whore! You can’t hide forever, we’ll find you!”

“I can already smell her,” a different orc says.

“Come on, be a good little girl and come out! If you cooperate, we’ll show you mercy!”

I clasp a hand over my mouth. They sound so close.

This was a horrible idea. I should’ve just kept running. Now there’s no way I’ll be able to outrun them.

I stand up and dart out from between the bushes, taking off again. As soon as I do, I hear their laughs. Their feet on the ground.

One look behind me is enough to give me another burst of energy. The sight of them all barreling towards me, some with arrows trained in my direction, gives me renewed focus.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.

I chant this over and over in my mind, like a mantra. The fire in me grows. I refuse to give those monsters the satisfaction of taking my life. I refuse to let them steal my hope.

This time when I hear the arrow sound, I know there are multiple. I duck down and to the right, before standing back to full height and running straight forward. A second later, I’m forced to tuck and roll along the ground, getting nicked in my attempt to avoid an arrow.

Thankfully, it isn’t a very bad cut. I’m able to spring back to my feet and keep running.

“You smell fucking delicious,” an orc growls close by. “You’re leaving a trail all over these woods.”

I hate the way he says it. Like I’m food, and he can’t wait to eat me.

“Just give up now, sweetheart! It’s pointless!”

“You’re only making this more exciting for us by running!”

I block out the pain, the voices, everything. None of it matters.

I dodge arrows and trees expertly, the feeling of the wind against my face the only thing keeping me calm. I focus on that. The soft feeling of a breeze against my skin, and the way it makes me feel so alive.

I’d give anything to feel that tomorrow.

The trees start to thin, making it easier to run around them, but also easier for the orcs to hit me. I manage not to get hit or even nicked, but it slows me down, the constant dodging and ducking.

Eventually, the trees disappear altogether. I run into a clearing at full speed, but halfway through it I come to a complete halt.

My heart sinks, and I feel my fate being sealed at this moment. Up ahead, there’s a cliff. Which means I now only have two options.

Jump and die, or stay and die.

I look back, watching the group of orcs still running through the trees. This is it. They’ve finally bested me.

My head turns towards the cliff, and I already know what I’m going to do.

“Looks like you’re trapped now!” someone calls.

I glance towards the orcs again, just as an arrow comes towards me. I try to move out of its way, but I’m too late.

I scream, so loud I’m sure animals all across the forest heard me. I look at my arm, seeing the arrow sticking out of it and nearly throwing up. It isn’t the first time, but I’ve never had one so deep before.

The pain is almost too much to bear. Blood is pouring out of my arm at a concerning rate.

The orcs laugh at the sight of me standing here and begin taunting me.

“It’s okay, we’ll go easy on you!” one of them says.

“Yeah, we’ll be quick about it!”

No, you won’t, I think. Because I won’t be giving you that choice.

I turn around and run towards the edge of the cliff. When I reach it, I give them one more look.

“Fuck you, you fucking monsters!” I scream at them.

With that, I fling myself over the edge.