Moda pushed me out of her room and left me standing there.  I was in the main room of the tent now.  The Chief was still lying in the same position, which was good since he was dead.  The female Orc that had escorted me from the pit was nowhere around.  Also good.  I assumed she was Moda’s servant and wouldn’t rat us out, but if you’ve ever had a high school shop teacher, you know what they say happens when you assume something. 

Either way, I knew I had to hurry.  I snuck to the door of the main room and looked outside.  The street was dark, with only a few torches burning here and there on the doors of a few huts.  No Orcs were around. 

I slipped outside and stuck to the shadows, holding on to the key to Rhux’s chains like a man in a desert would hold on to a bottle of water. 

As I slipped past a tent, I heard a grunting noise and ducked into the blackness behind it, trying not to imagine what would happen if an Orc noticed me walking around instead of being down in the pit with the other slaves. 

I hung back in the dark shadow of the tent, sweat dripping down my face, waiting to see who or what had made the grunting noise and if they’d seen me and were going to grab me and rip my face off. 

As I kneeled in the shadows, trying to make myself as small and unnoticeable as I could, I heard the grunting again, only louder this time.  It wasn’t coming from the road that cut through the tents like I had initially thought, but from inside the tent, I was hiding behind.  And it was getting louder. 

I crept to the front of the tent, the grunting more furious now and being echoed by another Orc voice grunting in unison.  The tent's flap was opened slightly, and flickering light from a torch slid out and into the street.  I pushed my face up to the crack in the leather and peeked in. 

Inside the tent, bathed in the dim light of the torch that hung from the pole in the middle of the room, a female Orc, fat and huge, her tits and belly both sagging and dragging the floor, was on all fours, her ass wide green ass pointed up in the air, while a male Orc, glistening with sweat, rammed himself into her a furious pace. 

Her ass jiggled with every thrust while her heavy tits bounced back and forth.  The male orc was doing most of the grunting while he pummeled her so hard he could probably have broken concrete with that thing.  The female Orc was grunting some, but not as loudly as she could have been if her mouth hadn't been full of another male Orc's foot-long green…

I ducked back behind the tent, not wanting to see anymore, and kept to the emptiness behind the tents rather than the main road cutting through the village.  I followed it until I saw the pit where I’d had my fight with Brag, then cut that way. 

I got close to the pit, being careful to stay behind anything I could find, tents, abandoned barrels, and something that looked like a medieval torture device stationed at the edge of the pit.  I looked around.  Still no Orcs to be seen.  The stands and the platform that had been full of Orcs earlier were now empty. 

Rhux was still chained to the post. 

She was still wearing the leather top and skirt she’d had on, although they were dirty and ripped in places now, and she was on her knees, chained so tightly to the post she couldn’t move, and her head sagged down in a way that told me she was unconscious.  I hoped that’s all it was.  I knew Urog hadn’t killed her, not yet, and not without a show, which would come here in the pit once her father died. But if she were already dead from dehydration or abuse, I’d burn this whole damned village to the ground. 

I looked around one last time and didn’t see any Orcs.  If they saw me, they saw me.  I had to get to her.  I crouched-ran to her, and slid to my knees in the dirt in front of her. 

“Rhux,” I said as I gently lifted her face.  “Rhux, wake up.  We have to go.”  I shook her gently to try and get her to respond.  She made a noise, and her eyelids fluttered for a few seconds before she could finally open them. 

Her face was puffy and swollen from the punches she’d taken, and dried blood ran from her nose to her chin.

“What…are… you.”  Her voice was weak. 

“There’s no time to explain.”  I used the key Moda had given me and stuck it into the lock that held the chains and twisted.  I had a brief moment of panic when the lock didn’t turn right away, but after a second of putting some force on it, the key twisted, and the lock opened.  I pulled the chains free, and with nothing to hold her weight up, Rhux fell into my arms. 

“Damn it.” I threw one of her arms around my shoulder and helped her to her feet.  I would carry her out of her if I had to, but if she could do it on her own, we’d move much faster.  “Come on.  We have to go.” 

“Water,” Rhux said, her voice strained from her exhaustion. 

That was a good idea.  I just had no idea where to get any.  Luckily for us, Orcs don’t specialize in picking up after themselves.  Rhux pointed to several wineskins lying around the stage where Urog and his crew had sat that day. 

With her arm around my shoulder, we stumbled over, and I grabbed one that was about half full.  Rhux sank to her knees without my support, and I sank to my knees next to her and pulled the cork. 

She drank fast and greedily.  Watching her made me realize I hadn’t had much to drink or eat either for the last day or so.  I grabbed another skin and gulped down whatever was in it, something that tasted like some very berry Koolaid shit you might leave sitting out on your nightstand for a week, then one night you’re just too lazy to get something else, so you just drink it and instantly regret it.   

The drink made my head swim a little, and I resisted the urge to drink more just because it was wet and I was thirsty.  This was not the time to get plastered on whatever alcoholic beverage the Orcs drank.  I could picture Rhux and I ending the most ridiculous escape attempt in history by passing out and waking up surrounded by pissed-off Orcs.

While the very berry shit was too strong for me, it looked like it perked Rhux up quite a bit.  She stopped drinking to catch her breath, wiped her mouth then gulped down what was left in the skin. 

When it was gone, she looked up at me and nodded.  “How’d you get out of the pit?” 

I shrugged and took her hand, and pulled her to her feet.  She was a lot less shaky now.  “Long story.  If we live, I might tell you.  But for now, can we just get the fuck out of here.”  She seemed to be standing on her own, so I pulled her by the hand in the direction I thought would lead us out of the village the fastest. 

Rhux planted her feet and said, “I can’t go.” 

My mouth fell open.  “You can’t fucking go?  Are you fucking kidding me?  This is no time for jokes.”  I tugged on her hand again, but she didn’t budge. 

“Not yet,” she said.  “I have to see my father.”

My face must have revealed what I was thinking, which was pretty much He’s dead, and we will be too, if we don’t get the fuck out of here.  We’ve avoided being killed so far, but mainly because the Orcs are stupid and not because we are that smart.  Now let’s fucking go!

Rhux squeezed my hand.  “I have to.  Then we’ll go.  Come on.” 

She wasn’t joking.  She scooped up another skin of wine, crouched into the shadows, and started toward the big hut where her father’s body was. 

I stood in the slivery moonlight of both moons overhead and shook my head.  Add this to the list of dumb crap that I shouldn’t do.  I followed Rhux. 

We worked our way back toward the big tent, dodging through the darkness like burglars on the way to a B&E in the same neighborhood we’d just hit one house already.  Rhux took heavy gulps of the wine as we went. 

When we were close, she crouched behind a tent, the darkness of its shadow swallowing us up.  I could see her face was turned toward me in the dark. 

“Why’d you come for me?” she said. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.  I was shocked by the question.  Even with the way things had started between us, Rhux was my friend now.  I thought so, anyway.  Maybe she didn’t, but I did. “Of course, I came.  I really wanted to have sex with you again.  And what better way to make that happen than by saving you from certain death.” 

She smiled.  “I knew that was the only reason.  But it’s not always guaranteed that if you save someone, they have sex with you.” 

“It is in my world.  All the good stories end that way.  It’s kinda like an unwritten rule.  And you can’t break it.” 

Her smile got bigger, cracking the dried blood on her face.   “Thanks for saving me, Jack.” 

My face suddenly felt hot enough to fry an egg on.  I’m not sure why I opened up to her, but I couldn’t help myself.  “You’re my friend, and I couldn’t leave you like that.” 

Now she was blushing. “I was supposed to save you,” she said.  “I’m the badass warrior.” 

“Well, sometimes the badass warrior is chained to a post, and the damsel in distress has to do what he has to do to rescue her.”  

She looked confused.  “Jack, what did you do to get the key to those chains?”

That was private information I wasn’t willing to share.  Mostly because I didn’t want Rhux to be pissed at me.  “Let’s just say I did a good deed, and I was rewarded.” 

“Your reward was the key?”

I nodded. 

“Tell me,” Rhux said. 

I shook my head.  “You’re going to be mad at me.” 

She whispered harshly, “You’re right. I am.  But not for any of the reasons you think I will be.  You fucked Moda, didn’t you?”

My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water gasping for air.

“Oh fuck!” Rhux whispered.  “Has anyone ever told you that you are the biggest idiot in the world?” 

“No,” I said defensively.  “They just got me a t-shirt with it on it once.  I’m sorry if you’re mad at me.” 

She held up her hand to stop me from talking.  “I don’t care who you fuck, Jack.  But you know why she fucked you, right?” 

“Because I’m extremely handsome.” 

Rhux rolled her eyes and said, “No, dummy.  She fucked you so she could have your human scent all over her and torment Urog with it.  Her mother is the Chief of the northern tribes, and they’d wipe this place off the map if Urog touched Moda.  She loves to torment him.”  Rhux shook her head.  “Now, we really need to hurry.  She’s probably let him smell you all over her by now, and he’ll be stomping around in a rage any second.” 

And here I thought we’d had something special.  “Well, all the more reason for us to get the fuck out of here.  Now.”

Rhux looked around the side of the tent we were crouching behind to make sure no one was coming.  “After.  Now let’s go, lover boy.” 

I followed her through the rows of tents as we made our way to the big tent.  Going back to the crime scene was pretty dumb, but I didn’t want to leave Rhux alone.  I had actually believed Moda when she’d said Urog was too drunk to worry about, but now I wasn’t so sure.  Rhux would just need to hurry up and see her father’s dead body so we could go. 

We crept up to the tent's front door, and Rhux peered in.  The coast must have been cleared because she disappeared inside.  I followed behind her, worried Urog would come barging through from Moda’s room, pointing at me and yelling something in Orcish that, even without translation, I’d know meant, “There’s the human that fucked my wife!  Now I’m going to fuck you, human!  In the human ASS!”

There was no one inside, and Rhux was already standing next to her father’s body.  She took one of his hands in hers, his green skin covered with spots and turning yellow.  

I jumped when the old Chief opened his eyes and turned his head towards her. 

Rhux gave me an annoyed look, then turned back to her father.  Guess he wasn’t dead after all, which was the only reason Urog hadn’t killed Rhux yet.  The Chief’s big teeth were yellow and cracked, and his beard was white but still thick and bushy.  Even lying down, you could see he was as big as Urog, and I knew he’d been a force to reckon with back in his day. 

Rhux whispered something to him in their language, and his yellow eyes locked onto hers.  They held each other’s gaze while they held hands.  Then the Chief said something to Rhux. 

He was speaking their language, and of course, I couldn’t understand it, but somehow I got the idea of what he was saying.  His voice was barely above a whisper and cracked a few times while he told Rhux he was sorry for being such a shitty parent and probably that he should have honored her mother more by taking better care of Rhux.  I assumed he threw in there that he shouldn’t have let Urog beat the shit out of her since he reached up to her face and tried to brush some of the dried blood off.  

She wiped away a tear as it ran down her cheek, then she leaned over and kissed the old Orc’s forehead.  She squeezed his hand with both of hers, knowing this was the last time she’d ever see her father again. 

The old Chief said something else, and Rhux looked surprised as he fumbled to grab something that had been tucked in beside him.  Rhux helped him and came out with her sword.  She looked so relieved I thought she might cry more.  I know seeing her armed made me want to weep with joy.

Rhux gave her father one last look, then squeezed his hand one last time before pulling me out of the tent and back into the night.  I was surprised by how fast it had all happened, but I was relieved we were finally on our way out of there. 

I tried to keep up with Rhux as we cut through the alleys between the tents and huts.  She’d gained a lot of her strength back but was still shaky.  She darted and cut through until we reached a wall made of trees that had been sharpened to points that rose twice my height.  There was no way we could climb over it. 

“The gate,” Rhux whispered, pulling me along behind her. 

I could see an opening in the fence ahead, and Rhux pulled me to the ground when she saw that it was guarded by an Orc who was watching in the other direction.  She held a finger to her mouth to let me know to keep quiet as if I might suddenly burst out into song without that reminder. 

She peered around the tent we were crouched behind and looked, then ducked back down.  “The gate is guarded.  But he’s looking the other way.  I can sneak behind him and kill him.” 

“There’s got to be another way out, right?” I said. 

“He won’t see us.  He’s not alert to anything.  He’s probably not even paying attention.” 

Right about then, I heard a roar that sounded like it was made by an Orc who’d just found out the prisoner he had been planning on killing in front of everyone was no longer tied to the post she’d been tied to.  Or one who’d just gotten a whiff of his Orc wife’s coochie and did not like what he had smelled.  At all. 

Either way, we needed to blow this joint before Urog caught us and ripped us apart. 

There was a commotion behind us, and the Orc watching the gate turned our way.  We ducked deeper into the shadows, but now he was looking in our direction.  Five Orcs came running up the street and fanned out across the gate while they shouted back and forth between themselves.  Now there were six of them watching the gate.

“So much for sneaking out,” I said.  “Sounds like Urog realized you were gone.” 

“Or he got smelled your cock juice on Moda,” Rhux grinned. 

She was going to hold this over me for as long as we lived, which probably wouldn’t be that long. “Either way, what the fuck do we do now?” 

Rhux peeked around to look at the Orc’s guarding the gate again.  “I don’t know.  But we need a distraction, something to keep Urog busy and get those guards away from the gate.” 

I had no idea how we were going to do that.  I glanced around, looking for anything that might be useful, like maybe a tank or a battalion of Special Forces soldiers.  I didn’t see anything we could use.  All I saw were huts and tents, and way down the street was the pit where the Orcs kept their human slaves. 

I shook Rhux.  “The captives,” I whispered. 

She shook her head in a way that said What the fuck are you talking about?

I pointed down the street.  “The human prisoners.  We could release them!  Then we could…I don’t know… Set some shit on fire!” 

Rhux clearly didn’t like my plan, but our only other option was to rush the gate and kill the Orcs, which would have been impossible on a good day since, between the two of us, we had the combined fighting skills of a person and a half.  But since Rhux was still wobbly, and I was pretty sore from fighting Brag, rushing out there now would be more like showing up to our own funerals.

Even in the dark, I could tell her wheels were turning, a plan formulating.  Rhux said, “They won’t be enough.  But I know what will be.  And we’ll need the prisoners to create a distraction.”

“So we’re gonna need a distraction for our distraction.”  I’d never been in a situation where I needed a distraction to escape, much less a double distraction.  “What if one of the distractions doesn’t work?”

“Then we’re dead. Now let’s go.”      

I followed her back between the huts, crouching and waiting when Orcs passed. The whole village started to become livelier as Urog roared and yelled out of sight.  

We got to the pit, which, unfortunately, was being guarded by two big Orcs.  “How do we get them out?” I asked as we crouched down in the darkness behind a hut. 

“We need a distraction,” Rhux said.  “Something to keep those Orcs busy.” 

I didn’t wanna be a buzzkill, but I had to point out the obvious.  “So, we need a distraction so that we can cause our distraction so that we can create another distraction so that we can escape?” 

Without saying anything, Rhux shoved me out of the shadows and into full view of the two Orcs guarding the pit.  I stood there stunned.  I turned to dive back into the shadows and punch Rhux in the face, but it was too late.  She was gone, and the Orcs were staring right at me. They looked surprised for a second, and then both looked into the pit like I had somehow magically teleported out of it.

They stepped toward me, both grunting furiously in their language, pointing at the pit and demanding I get back in.  One of them took a key from a loop on his leather belt, leaned down, and unlocked the grate that led down into the pit while the other grabbed me by the back of the neck, ready to throw me in.

Then a sword burst through the chest of the Orc holding me, right next to my face, covered in his dark green blood.  There was a look of shock on the big Orcs face as the sword retreated in the direction it had come, back through his body.  His hand went limp on my neck, and he sagged to his knees. 

I heard the other Orc start to shout something, but Rhux’s sword cut his throat before the words could leave his throat.  He clutched at the wound, thick green blood spurting between his fingers as Rhux shoved the sword through his gut.  She pulled the blade free as he fell and wiped it off on the Orc’s body. 

“Can you tell me next time you’re going to use me as a distraction,” I said. 

“No,” Rhux said.  “It’ll ruin the surprise, and you should have seen your face.  You wouldn’t have sold it if you’d known it was coming.  Now hurry.” 

The pit gate was open, and I grabbed the rope the Orcs used to get the prisoners out, thick with knots tied in it for climbing, and lowered it down into the pit.  “Come on,” I said to all the faces looking up at me.  “We’re getting out of here.”