A trio of burning bonfires surrounding a fifty-foot diameter circle of sand in the gravely ground. A dozen feet beyond that, steps and raised seating of white ice surrounded the sand, leading to buildings of gleaming blue-black ice with balconies to overlook the circle. The entire structure formed a simple yet well engineered arena that reminded me of the ancient Roman amphitheater of Bosra, Syria, except on a way bigger scale. The arena was larger, the icy stands surrounded the arena completely, and the structures with overlooking balconies were on three sides of the arena, not just one.
Orcs packed the stands and balconies cheering and shouting in their guttural language. Males had the choicest seating in the stands and lower balconies. Their females, apparently undeserving of clothing, were mostly relegated to the upper balconies and windows of the structures. Only a few females were in the better seating; likely specially invited by important males.
There was one female with enough status to have the ‘privilege’ of clothes. Leather thongs covered only the most private areas of her body, though it was her necklace of alternating perfect-blue hauyne and fire agate gemstones on a copper band that most drew our attention. But her clothing, jewelry, and the fact that she stood at the edge of the sandy arena with the orcish leader signified her importance. She stood behind and to the left of the chieftain who, unlike her, was completely naked. In spite of his massive gut, he was as thickly muscled as a bull.
We were split into three groups, and placed around the three bonfires. Tallus, Sheildwall, Kiinna, and I made sure to be in Lanisa’s group and, as the others of our team sat, we gathered around her.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said just loud enough to be heard over the roaring crowd of stinking orcs.
“It’s our only chance to get out of here in one piece,” she said as she started working the toggles of her long coat. “Think of it as aggressive diplomacy.”
“I’m not happy about it, but I get it,” I said. “What I don’t get is why he’s naked.”
“Like I said earlier. He imposed conditions to our match.” Lanisa’s coat fell away revealing her naked form.
“So if you lose…” I started to say, trailing off.
“Then I’m raped here instead of somewhere else,” she finished. “But as long as I’m breathing I’ll keep fighting.” Lanisa gave me a tight smile. “Look at the good side: when I win, I’ll get to kill him.” She sounded confident, but I’d gotten to know her well enough that she couldn’t quite hide the worry in her eyes.
She gave me one last smile of goodbye before stepping into a ring with the massive naked orc.
The Duel
We were forced to sit and watch as Lanisa stood naked in a circle of sand, thousands of orcs cheering and leering from the stands surrounding her. The magnificent elvin Ranger stood easily, head to the side and arms crossed as if bored. If I hadn’t known better, I could have sworn that she wasn’t even aware that she was naked, much less being ogled by a hoard of drooling orcs.
Stepping into the far side of the circle, the naked orc chieftain clenched his hands into fists. He glared at the athletic elf, his eyes burning with both hatred and lust. From the orc’s baleful glower, I could clearly see Lanisa’s future if she lost. Her time in the human Lounge would be a paradise compared to his plans for her.
The orc chieftain raised a fist in the air and barked a few words. The crowd cheered. Then the orc gyrated his hips causing his cock to swing like a pendulum, barking a few more words. The crowd guffawed, pointing at Lanisa and making rude gestures of their own.
Lanisa gave a yawn worthy of Shakespeare, then in her most childlike voice issued her own words to the crowd. She pointed at the chieftain’s manhood and held her hands over her head, palm facing each other. When her hands closed to less than an inch apart, the crowd of orcs roared in riotous laughter. Some laughed so hard they fell out of their icy seats.
The chieftain gave an earthshattering roar and charged the athletic elf. Lanisa easily dodged his clumsy charge, dancing to the side. By the time his head turned to find her, she was at the far side of the sandy arena. She turned her back to him, bent slightly at the hip, and gently slapped her butt while speaking in her child’s voice in their guttural language. Again, the crowd roared in laughter, pointing now at the chieftain and making rude gestures.
Another roar came from the chieftain, this time directed at the crowd. They went quiet, but the whispers, pointing, and quiet snickers at his expense continued. His malevolent gaze turned back to the torturer of his existence. Slowly, he stalked toward the woman who’d verbally castrated him before his people.
Lanisa watched the massive orc carefully as he advanced, his hands closing and opening in anticipation. He was less than three feet away when his hands flashed out with a speed unexpected of a creature so large. They closed on thin air; Lanisa having sprung past just in time. She drove a couple fists and a knee into the chieftain’s bulging midsection on her way under his grasping hands.
The chieftain smiled as he turned to face the woman and mocked her by patting his expansive belly. They circled each other then, the small elf and massive orc eyeing one another while separated by only a few feet. He feinted toward her several times, Lanisa moving only enough to stay out of reach.
The orc gave a sudden lunge, his huge hands clapping together. Lanisa dropped just in time to keep her head from being crushed by his massive palms, the sound of his clapping hands like thunder in the arena.
But the clap was itself a feint. As the woman dropped, the chieftain’s foot shot out and connected hard with Lanisa’s stomach. A cheer went up from the crowd as the woman gasped, her eyes wide in shock and agony. Somehow she managed to keep her feet, but the force of the impact staggered Lanisa backwards over the twelve foot distance to the stands.
I screamed in frustration as I watched her audience take a few seconds to paw at her before tossing her back into the ring. The chieftain wore a superior smile as she staggered into him. A hard back hand to her cheek spun the elf in two complete circles to land face down in the sand.
The chieftain roared and shook his fists in victory, slowly rotating his body to so the entire crowd could see the triumph on his face. As he turned to regard the athletic elf, she was crawling feebly away in the sand. He strolled forward and drew another roar from the crowd as he drove a fist into her back. Breath exploded from the woman and her crawling limbs failed. She collapsed into a shuddering heap.
I tried to jump to my feet, do something to help Lanisa. But I barely got half way up before one of our orcish guards bashed the hilt of his weapon into my face. I collapsed onto the hard ground, blood gushing into my mouth. All I could do was watch as the beast in the ring gazed down at Lanisa’s rump.
It reached down and grabbed her hips, lifting them into the air and propping her knees underneath. The crowd roared loud enough that it seemed the ice would shatter and bury us all as it stepped behind her raised buttocks, gazing down at its prize. I hoped, even prayed, that the ice would actually shatter and bury us all before it could achieve its evil intent.
I, like everyone, was so focused on what was about to happen that the sudden blur of movement took us all by surprise. The arena went quiet enough to hear a pin drop as Lanisa’s legs whipped back and hooked around one of the giant orc’s legs. She gave a twist, and the massive beast toppled onto its face with her legs still locked tight around his.
Gasps of surprise rippled through the onlookers as Lanisa twisted and wrenched her body, putting pressure on the beast’s knee and drawing agonized groans of pain from the chieftain. As strong as the young woman was, though, the beast’s knee was just too thick and strong for her to break. So she slid down his leg to his ankle. Lanisa locked her legs tight around that ankle and gave her body a massive twist. The sound of the joint cracking was like a gunshot in an arena that was almost dead silent.
Wheezing, Lanisa got to her feet. The crowd was grumbling now, although we captives were all cheering. Lanisa cast
us a glance, the slightest hint of hope on her face. I was lost in the beauty of her face when a movement caught my eye.
With the elf’s back to her, the orc female that wore the jewelry and clothing charged into the ring. Somehow, the orc managed to get her hands on a club which was raised to strike.
“DOWN!” I shrieked, pointing at the charging creature. My assistance bought me another hilt strike to the head from an orc guard.
Just as the club was about to strike, Lanisa spun out of the way. The female creature put so much power into its swing that the club sent grains of sand flying into the air.
Lanisa charged in, but the female orc was just quick enough to bring the butt of the club hard into the elf’s inner thigh. It gave a scream of victory and whipped the club back toward the elf. Her leg temporarily weakened, Lanisa dropped and rolled past the creature, barely dodging the club.
The creature turned its head to find Lanisa, just in time for its face to receive the elf’s flying knee. Launched from several feet away, the creature staggered to the side and dropped to its knees from the impact. Blood flowed from its shattered nose and its eyes were glassy as it waved unsteadily on those knees.
Lanisa approached carefully, both to give her aching thigh as much time as possible to recover and because the creature was still holding that four-inch-wide and two-foot-long club. It shook its head, trying to clear the cobwebs and swung the club almost blindly in the elf’s direction as it desperately tried to regain its thoughts. As Lanisa circled, the creature climbed shakily to its feet and continued its wild swings.
The elf moved closer, just close enough that the wind of the passing club gently whipped locks of her hair. Once it was beyond her, Lanisa flashed forward launching a knee into the creature’s chest. As it staggered back, the elf grabbed the leather thong that acted as its chest covering and planted her feet. Using its own momentum and building up centrifugal force with her own muscles, the elf sent the creature reeling into the crowd of onlookers. Lanisa looked at the leather thong still in her grasp while the crowd roared its approval at the now topless orc.
When the creature was thrown back into the ring, Lanisa was waiting. As the club swung at her head, she used the leather thong to wrap the beast’s wrist while stepping past. The elf gave a twist and club went flying as the creature’s momentum was suddenly shifted in the opposite direction. Lanisa bent, back to back with the creature, and forced it into a high arc over her athletic elf body. I could swear I actually felt the impact through the ground as the creature slammed face first into the sand and bounced onto its back.
With a great leap, Lanisa was in the air and twisting her body as she flew over the orc female. Legs folded so that the point of one knee would carry her entire bodyweight, she landed that knee just below the female’s diaphragm and blasted the air from its lungs. Lanisa finished by driving her fist hard into the creature’s jaw causing its eyes to roll back into its head. The athletic elf crawled to her feet and stepped back as the unconscious female lay wheezing on its back.
Lanisa caught a movement from the corner of her eye, and spun. The creature’s club had landed near the orc chieftain who’d managed to get to its feet and limp close enough to strike. The elf danced away and watched the orc warily. The beast was moving surprisingly well considering it had an ankle that was twisted entirely the wrong way. Lanisa on the other hand, was slowing from pain and fatigue.
The beast circled the elf, grinning in spite of its limp. It pointed the club at the elf and spoke its guttural, grunting language to the crowd. It accentuated its point by wrapping its fingers around the shaft of the club and thrusting the club back and forth inside its clenched hand. The crowd went wild with laugher and gestured rudely to Lanisa. Slowly, the beast approached the elf. She panted and crouched, ready to bolt at any second.
He was much more careful and clever this time, cutting off all her attempts to side step. When her foot stepped outside the sandy ring, the orcish guards pushed her violently back in. Right into the beast’s waiting arms.
The chieftain wrapped her up in a great bear hug, squeezing the breath out of her. It twisted its lower half, balancing on its good leg and crossed the other over to protect its manhood. Her legs flailed against his body, but only struck indestructible muscle. I screamed wildly and tried to leap to my feet as the creature squeezed and shook Lanisa violently. My captors seized me to ensure I’d only be a helpless observer as the woman slowly went limp and the creature’s manhood slowly rose.
When it dropped Lanisa onto her back, she was gasping for air and it was fully erect. It kicked her legs apart and dropped to its knees between hers. The roar of triumph from it was echoed by the savage host watching. It dropped its hands next to her head and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.
With her last reserve of strength, Lanisa brought her arms around the orc. One snaked around its neck, the other around its arm holding the club. Her hips shot up and legs wrapped around the beast’s midsection. She’d locked onto its body in such a way that it couldn’t do her any serious damage. Its lower half couldn’t line up with hers, and its club couldn’t generate any real power.
The orc chieftain roared in frustration, its manhood already mostly flaccid again. Lanisa’s response was to clamp her jaws down on its ear. The roar of pain was deafening, and laughter ripped through the orcish crowd.
Its free hand wrenched at her rending jaws trying to pry her mouth open. When that didn’t work it put the knuckles from the hand holding its club against her ribs and pushed. As soon as the elf felt the pressure she released with her upper body and wrapped her arms around the hand holding the club. She locked on, pinning both hand and weapon in place. Her body gave a sudden and savage twist. The club was then in her hands, not his.
Legs still wrapped around the orc’s midsection and its eyes focused on her in shock, she swung with all the strength she had left in her weakened body. There was a loud, thick crack as only a skull can make as the hard wood connected with its temple. It rolled sideways onto its back, the tight grasp of her legs around its midsection bringing her along with it. Now she was on top.
Lanisa scrambled over to kneel at the side of the orc’s head and pulled the beast’s head over one of her legs. With its head back, she took the club in both hands and jammed it in the orc chieftain’s mouth. The crowd was silent as they watched the young, small elf girl ram a club down the throat of their massive and powerful male leader.
The elf was obviously extremely fatigued, but she still pulled herself onto her hands and knees. Lanisa crawled until she was over the beast, her stomach over its head and her head over its chest. As the orc’s hands clawed weakly at the club wedged in its mouth, her one good leg extended back then rocketed forward. Her knee connected with the butt of the club driving it deeper into the beast’s throat. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop as her knee drove into the club three more times. The chieftain still feebly clawed at the club that was jammed half its length down the beast’s throat as the young woman climbed tiredly to her feet.
Lanisa circled the suffocating beast, bare chest heaving in exhaustion, and gasped out in the guttural orcish language of the crowd. She finished between the legs of the twitching orc, looking down at the beast. She had one more guttural thing to say to it, watching its eyes carefully, before she drove her foot down onto its crotch. The woman ground her heel mercilessly on its manhood for several seconds before filling the arena with her own victory scream. The chieftain was dead.
The Culmination
There were only three times in my life where I cried. I’m not too ashamed to admit that seeing Lanisa safe and victorious was one of those times. So much terror, so much uncertainty, so much desperate hoping… all culminated in a far better outcome than I could ever have hoped. Seeing Lanisa victorious broke the wall of emotions I’d been holding inside.
The orcs didn’t try to stop us as our group rushed forward to Lanisa, I in the lead. As I wrapped her long coat around her, I could fe
el her body shaking uncontrollably. I didn’t know if it was the cold or exhaustion, but her eyes were dull. We gathered protectively around her as the army of monstrous orcs in the stands around us stood.
They advanced slowly, growling in their ugly language. Those that had weapons readied them, and those that didn’t still outnumbered us almost 100 to 1. The orc in black armor that had taken us prisoner snarled nastily as it advanced toward me. Its weapon was drawn and tongue hanging out in anticipation of the kill.
There was no escape, and we had no defenses. The only exit was that single tunnel that led through to heart of their city, and it was crawling with the stinking monsters. Back to back and fists raised, we stared daggers we didn’t have at the advancing horde. If we were to die, we’d make them bleed heavily first.
The orcs were close enough that we could smell their breath when a howling cry raised from one of the balconies. Every head turned to see the orc shaman waiving his ceremonial staff. Its guttural voice was high pitched and almost shrieking as it gestured so wildly at us with the staff that the wood was actually striking other orcs on the balcony near it. The orcish officer that took us prisoner roared back, its guttural language incomprehensible to me, but the anger was clear.
The shaman leapt from the balcony and landed on the upper section of the stands, its screeching not missing a beat. It seemed to have some sort of immunity to the slickness of ice as it bounded down the stands, sometimes skipping a dozen steps in its haste. The crowd of orcs parted reverently as it charged toward the orc officer. It stopped less than a yard from the armored orc, screeching at the top of its voice. The officer growled back, shaking its hand at the shaman.
A New World Page 22