◈ Chapter 98:

“We will fight to be the one to kill you.”

 

Rain considered his options. One option was the shadowy centipede stealthily crawling through the long grass headed toward the older Orc’s ankle. Another was the number of wolf teeth hanging frozen in the air, ready to charge forward and tear into her. Third was Kel standing in the tree line, apparently being ignored by the other Orcs for the moment. Could he communicate he wished for the Orc to fight for him by making the centipedes wrapped around his body move around? It didn't seem likely, or that Kel would even be able to do anything particularly helpful as the Orc had dropped his weapon in the woods in his panic fleeing Rain.

 

His options were... disappointing, he considered them again, hoping he’d missed something the first time around. No such luck. His options just did not seem like particularly good options for the thirty odd Orcs surrounding the clearing, each of them holding a bow of some kind nocked and aimed straight at Lyra and Opal, in fact they seemed like pretty bad options in summary.

 

The offer then?

 

“You want to fight me alone? With no other leveler’s help?” he spoke.

 

“If I win the fight to fight you, yes.” A broad grin spread across the older Orc’s face, a fire in her eyes. “Of course, I will win.”

 

A derisive snort came from one of the other Orc’s and she snapped her head to the side just in time to miss who it had come from.

 

She narrowed her eyes. 

 

“Okay.” said Rain. “I accept.”

 

“You aren't accepting anything, you're only doing as I will. Monsters have no say.”

“Sure.”

 

She gave him a displeased look but lowered her bow and moved to the side. Her foot passed by the centipede in the long grass and she only avoided stepping on it because Rain had it scuttle aside. He tasked it to follow her before turning and striding toward the tree line, the wolf teeth misting behind him and rejoining his mane.

 

“H-hey! Stop! What do you think you are doing?”

 

Rain glanced back at the older Orc. 

 

“I’m going to your camp, isn't that what you wanted?”

 

“Well… yes… You trade your life for these two rather… easily,” she said as she caught up and kept pace at a wary distance, her bow now trained on Rain.

 

“I don't think you will think that when… if we fight.”

 

“Hmm, I hope I don't, a good fight is what makes life worth living.”

 

The rest of the Orcs had begun moving too, keeping Opal and Lyra at the center of a firing ring as they followed after Rain.

 

He passed by a startled Kel still holding the grain bag in two hands as a number of cows were nuzzling at it. Rain spread his claws out of sight and the centipedes wrapped around the Kel’s body shifted, their legs wriggling causing Kel to twitch and nearly drop the bag of grain, having to clamp down on a cry of fright. He gave Rain a stricken look but got nothing but a pair of threatening yellow eyes staring him down in return. 

 

“Kel,” said the older Orc, “ I would like to know why you were helping this monster. A good reason mind, don't make me beat you into the dirt again.”

 

Kel’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, a cow softly nipping at his fingers going completely unnoticed. 

 

“T-Tamriel, I- uh, uhm I uhm uh th-that is-” His eyes darted frantically between Rain and the older Orc named Tamriel, beads of sweat rolling down his face. “I- intended to k-kill it?” He froze up, just waiting for the pincer resting on his spine to close, instantly ending his life. After a moment however, nothing happened, and continued to not happen. He let out a breath of extreme relief. “I c-came across them in the camp, I was paid to help the half-woolie find cattle, I don't know why she wanted them, then we left camp and I saw the, uhm, very large monster and I was going to k-kill it, f-for levels, that is.”

 

“With what weapon?”

 

“What weapon???” whimpered Kel, “I h-had a knife but I appear to have lost it?!” he pushed away the cow now innocently slobbering on his hand and patted at his armour very gently, “No p-pockets see! It was so unexpected that I didn't think to come prepared? Yes, that!”

 

“Hmm. You forget your weapon? No, I think you never had a weapon with you in the first place. Your mind is just too lamb like for an Orc Kel. You are bad for our clan no matter your level.” She loomed over him threateningly, a finger under his chin forcing his head up so that she looked him straight in the eyes. “Perhaps leading cattle is about all you are good for.”

 

Her hand moved to his shoulder and she shoved him aside, sending him stumbling as she moved by.

 

Kel looked more relieved that he remained alive than anything, barely glancing in the Tamriel’s direction as he checked himself over to make sure he hadn't been bitten.

 

A low growled “Good.” from above made him look up however. Rain met his eyes momentarily before moving past. The centipedes shivered and he hurried to catch up, clearly understanding the unsaid command.

 

The cattle fled from Rain as he passed by, their moos and squeals filtering between the trees as they moved around him like a shoal of fish around a shark.

 

Behind him came the circle of hunter Orcs with a very unhappy Lyra and Opal at the core, helpless to do anything but walk for fear of being turned into living, or rather dead, pincushions.

 

They made for a much more tense and uncomfortable parade back to the camp, each time Rain paused or spoke some of the Orc’s pointing arrows at Lyra and Opal would twitch and stir, their arrows shifting in his direction momentarily. It wasn’t hard to tell that they very much wanted to kill him.

 

It didn't take overly long for them to arrive back at the camp and this time they did more than just attract glances, in fact it seemed like most of the clan swarmed around them, a near nine foot tall wolf monster apparently drawing more than a little interest. The Hunter Orc’s had to shove a number of particularly eager levelers back who were pulling blades and eyeing Rain.

 

Once they’d made a fair way in Tamriel led Rain to a large cage made of criss crossing heavy iron bars, solid and incredibly heavy.

 

“We put our strong leveler captives in here, wild monsters rarely, not often that this situation comes up.”

 

She produced a key and Rain carefully ducked inside the cramped space, sitting uncomfortably cross-legged on the ground.

 

The Orcs were already starting to push and shove at each other in their eagerness to get at Rain and several fist fights had broken out. One Orc was bashed over the head with a club and the fighting spread further. It took Tamriel wading in to stop things from completely unravelling.

 

“Calm your shit you miserable fucks! Listen to me! Listen! This monster-”

 

“It’s a slave you got Tammy?” 

 

“-No, or at least not technically. It… cares for the Goblin and the Half-woolie, yes, I know, seems unlikely, but it is what’s keeping it in place and doing what we want, doing what we want meaning we don't need to kill it as soon as it tries something. Now, you want the levels? You want to kill this monster?”

 

The crowd roared their bloodlust, a deafening sound that rattled the iron of Rain’s cage.

 

“Then WIN.”

 

She turned and slugged the nearest Orc in the face, breaking her nose and sending her crashing to the ground unconscious.  

 

Chaos exploded on every side of Rain’s cage, a wild brawl, furious gleeful fighting, the sound of fists striking flesh and cries of alarm as Orc’s went flying through the air. One unfortunate Orc had their face repeatedly smashed against Rain’s cage and he watched blankly as the Orc’s tusk snapped off and landed in his lap.

 

He picked it up and flicked it into the crowd unnoticed. No one was even looking in his direction, too busy kicking the snot out of the nearest Orc within arms reach. He was left alone to observe, which was why he noticed that not all of the Orc’s were fighting, in fact many of the Orc’s seemed more interested in watching than fighting, and many more were elsewhere in the camp.

 

“Hmm.”

 

He spied Kel gingerly stepping between two fist fights, desperately trying to avoid being struck across his centipede infested armour.

 

“Kel.” he growled.

 

The Orc failed to notice he was so focused on surviving.

 

Displeased Rain twitched his claws and the Orc let out a shriek as the centipedes spiralled around his limbs. Kel’s eyes darted to Rain’s cage, clearly pleading for him to stop.

 

Rain lifted his paw and beckoned the Orc over. 

 

Kel didn't dawdle, he quick-walked through the brawl as best he could, swiftly reaching Rain’s cage he paused beside it, pretending to look on at the brawl while being near enough to overhear.

 

“Why aren’t you fighting too? Why aren’t all the Orc’s fighting?” Rain gravelled.

 

“Isn't it obvious? Low levelers don't stand a chance so they sit big things like this out until they’ve leveled up. It’s too easy to die, a high leveler’s backswing can snap a low leveler’s neck without them even noticing.”

 

“And you?”

 

Kel looked uncomfortable. “I will fight. I’m just... preparing… and- and you put these things in my armour so I c-can’t really!”

 

Rain gazed at him then moved his head to Opal and Lyra. The two girls were standing at the edge of the fight, only a few of the thirty who had been guarding them remaining close and clearly unhappy about it judging by the way they watched the others fight, unhappy but apparently lacking the confidence to join. Weak, they were weak. That meant they could still escape this yet. He narrowed his eyes. Most important was that the Orc’s didn't yet know about Lyra’s abilities, it would only take a moment where Lyra did not have an arrow aimed directly at her chest and…

 

He turned back to the unhappy Kel.

 

“Get them out, distract the guards.”

 

“I- I can't…”

 

“Get them out or you will die right here right now. No one will notice or care in this chaos.”

 

The Orc looked miserable but found that he couldn't stop himself from turning, walking toward the three guards, the promise of centipede induced death heavy on his back, guiding him forward.

 

He approached, the three archers clearly distracted by the brawl. It only took a moment. He pretended to pass by then tripped, stumbling forward, arms flailing. He full body crashed into the first hunter with a cry, they hadn't seen him coming and they toppled like a felled tree straight into the Orc to their side. This gave an opening for Kel’s armoured hand to chop down on the remaining Orc’s bow, striking the arrow from their fingers and sending it tumbling to the ground.

 

Lyra’s hand darted out and grabbed hold of a confused Opal and they both instantly vanished into thin air. They were free, it was done. 

 

Rain grinned fiercely and reached out above, roughly shoving his digits between the criss crossing bars. With a snarl he flexed, arms straining, biceps bulging, and with a screech of tearing iron he ripped the cage entirely in two. Rivets spat and fired across the crowd as the crash of creased and mangled iron falling to either side filled the air.

 

He rose, black mist pouring from his fur, a pack of wolf fangs forming, eager to kill.

 

He measured the distance needed to escape as he leaned forward about to tear away. Kill that Orc in front, dive between that fight, slash through that Orc, ignore that very fat Orc reaching for something invisible… what?

 

He froze mid step as the fat Orc’s hand came down on something and then closed tight. A struggling Lyra and Opal appeared out of thin air. Where they had been holding hands an enormous meaty fist now wrapped around both their held hands, trapping them as good as any manacles.

 

“Cute trick. Too bad fer you I gots an itchy feeling in mih balls that lets me know when a tricky fuckers doing mischief. I knew youse two were trouble from the start, figures you’d be doing summin’ deviant with that wolf fing.”

 

“Uhm.” said Lyra looking in dismay at the green hand gripping her.

 

Opal drew her rapier and promptly stabbed Rugnor in the groin. “Get sounded asshole!”

 

The expected scream of pain didn't follow however, the rapier hitting some kind of armour beneath the Orc’s clothing, the Orc only looking down at her with a wide snaggle toothed grin. 

 

“I didn't get ter be the best by taking chances, I-

 

“I win!”

 

He blinked and then quickly twisted around, roughly dragging the girls with him. 

 

Tamriel stood tall upon a pile of groaning Orcs, her lip bloody but glee in her eyes. Around the pile were only collapsed Orcs or those crawling away.

 

A look of outrage crossed Rugnor’s face.

 

“You ain’t won shit you daft bitch, I aven’t even fought yer yet!”

 

Tamriel looked down at Rugnor, taking in the girls and then the Orc.

 

“You left the brawl. When I looked around for someone to challenge me you were not there, no one was, I stood alone. I win the right to kill the monster.”

 

Rugnor took a step forward, dragging the girls with him, seemingly having forgotten they were even there.

 

“We stop when we stop, if not these things would go on until we starve or die of old age. You stopped, I won. It’s how we do things because you pushed for this way of things yourself Rugnor.”

 

Rugnor’s lip lifted in a disgusted sneer, but after a moment he let out a sigh of resignation.

 

“Youse a crooked bitch, but I can’t blame it all on youse.” He glared down at Lyra and opal. “Fine. Les’ get this over with.”

 

The Orc’s gathered themselves from their mass beating, tending to their many many bruises and broken and fractured bones.

 

Rain eyed Tamriel who gave him a satisfied smirk. She then turned, beckoning him to follow. 

 

After a moment he unhappily followed.