by Logan Jacobs
I took a moment to think about the answer.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I finally sighed. “With you guys, I knew most of you had trained as warriors for years before, and even the ones who hadn’t, like Talise, were strong and knew the basics. But these women come from a society of peace. Sure, they’ve learned to hunt, but … ”
“Hunting an animal is different than killing another person,” Mira finished my sentence for me.
“Yep.” I nodded.
I’d realized this truth the first time I’d killed an orc. It hadn’t stopped me by any stretch of the imagination, but despite all of my practice hunting, both on the island and back on Earth, nothing had prepared me for what it would feel like to stare down another sentient being and know that as soon as I let my arrow fly, that being’s life would be over. A nasty, horrible life, sure, but a life nonetheless.
“I believe they can do it,” Mira informed me as she looked back out over the village. “They want their home back. And I know more than anyone how that sort of desperation can change a person.”
I looked over at the warrior as she reminisced on the sad past, and I saw the sorrow in her eyes. No matter how good her life had gotten since, I knew there were still days she missed those she lost, and I couldn’t blame her.
“Well, I trust your judgment more than anyone,” I informed her as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “And if you say they can do this, then I believe it.”
I pressed a soft kiss to her jade green hair, and Mira tilted her head just a bit and leaned into my touch.
We might have been outnumbered and outgunned by the orcs and their wargs, but we were going to kick the bastards off the island, just as I’d done back home.
Failure wasn’t an option.
Chapter Thirteen
Two hours later, the entire village had gathered outside the cooking tent, and we sat down at the long table as food was passed around.
I listened as the women chatted excitedly around me for a few minutes. Nima spoke of the bullseye she’d made on the vine bridge earlier that day, Sarayah announced proudly how quickly she’d been able to scale the tree in the center of the village, and the others gushed and laughed about how their skills had improved.
The deer women were fast, and they had terrific aim. If they’d been stronger, and we’d had more time, I would have taught them something about sword fighting or knives, but neither of those things were a possibility right now.
So, my mind spun as I tried to figure out what we could use in addition to the bows and arrows.
In a face-to-face battle with the orcs, long range weapons wouldn’t be enough, and between the orcs and the wargs, we were massively outnumbered. If they got too close to any of the women, or surrounded them, that would be it.
There had to be another way, though, and I’d come up with it just as we’d gathered for dinner. The only problem now was that I had to get the village women on board with my plan.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” I called out as Mira slapped a thick piece of tarrel meat down on her plate.
The conversations instantly halted, and all of the women looked up at me, with their eyes completely alert.
“Thanks.” I smiled at them, and I took a moment to look over each one of their faces before I spoke. “Today was a great day. With Netta, Theora, and Jemma’s help, Yin and Kola were rescued from the invaders and are here with us, safe.”
There was applause and smiles as the women all looked at Yin and Kola, and Netta hugged them both from her spot in the middle.
“Unfortunately, though, we ran into a little orc sized hiccup while on our rescue mission,” I continued. “And, because of that, I have reason to believe the orcs will put their plan into play sooner than we thought.”
A worried murmur ran through the crowd, but Ainsley put a hand up for silence, and the women quickly complied.
“Look, I know we’re not exactly ready for a big battle,” I went on as I studied the gathered women. “I’ve seen your bow skills, and while they’re fantastic, I don’t think all fifty-two of us will be able to take the orcs down alone. Which is why I think it would be a good idea to set up traps to catch them in.”
I waited. I fully expected for there to be some sort of instant protest, or maybe a million questions thrown my way, but instead the women just looked back at me silently as they waited for me to finish.
It struck me, just for a brief second, how much of an improvement that was compared to when I’d first spoken to the village. They trusted me completely now.
And I planned to use this to my advantage.
“My plan is to take the orcs out in smaller numbers first,” I explained, “so that the final numbers will be more manageable. It’s also time to go back to the barrels and dump the oil into the sea.”
Again, there was silence, but then Theora spoke.
“I volunteer for the first trap.” The brunette looked at me with brown eyes completely full of trust, and she slowly smiled.
“Thank you, Theora.” I nodded to her. “My idea is to use one woman at a time to catch the eyes of the wargs, and then lure them back to a specific meeting place, where a group of us will be waiting to take them out. I don’t want to force this on anyone, because I know there’s the chance the wargs will catch you, or worse, so this mission will be on a strictly volunteer basis … ”
I let my words hang in the air, and I was actually a little nervous as I waited to see if anyone wanted to volunteer for what was sure to be a terrifying plan.
I knew there was the distinct possibility the wargs might catch the women, or that the women might accidentally go to an area where there were multiple wargs and not be able to get away. But in the last few weeks, I’d noticed the women were faster and stronger than they had been when I’d first arrived, and I hoped this meant they’d be able to outrun the wargs now.
So, I looked around the circle of women as I waited to see if any, besides Theora, would volunteer. For a long minute, not one raised their hand, and I was sure that was it. No one would be willing to volunteer, and then I’d have to figure out some other, probably far less elegant, way to take out the orcs. It might have to be just Mira, Ainsley, Jemma, Theora, and I on missions to take them down.
But then, one by one, the women raised their hands. It started with Netta, and then Yin and Kola, and then Sarayah, and then each and every woman lifted her hand in the air and looked at me with such determined ferocity it brought a grin to my face.
“They are following the Dragon King,” Mira murmured into my ear.
I glanced over at Ainsley, who also had her hand in the air, and her top lip trembled as she held back tears of pride at the strong women who surrounded her. Not long ago, they’d wanted to run and hide, and now they were ready to put their lives on the line to get their home back.
“Good.” I nodded. “Well, thank you, ladies. Does anyone have any thoughts?”
“They like darker hair,” Jemma piped up, and she pursed her lips in deep thought before she glanced around the table. “You all know it to be true. I volunteer to be the first trap. I believe I can outrun them.”
I thought back to the first day I’d met her. She’d been fast as hell then, but now she was well fed and had weeks of training under her belt.
I wasn’t the least bit worried about Jemma.
“Okay, so Jemma will be our first bait,” I announced, and that was that.
We spent the rest of the dinner going over plans and separating into groups of five. In the end, there were ten groups total, excluding the two young girls who were not allowed to be bait or traps.
Our plan was simple, yet difficult at the same time. Each group would track down a warg from up in the trees, and then the bait would follow him for another half mile or so before she dropped down and made herself known.
And then it was on. The chase would begin, and the bait woman would lead the warg back to the group, who’d have arrows ready to take out the monster as
soon as possible.
Without the wargs, the orcs would be at a massive disadvantage. There were very few orcs on the island, less than thirty, by my count, which meant they relied completely on their monster pets to protect them and capture the women. With the wargs gone, we’d have easy access to the barrels of oil, and once all that was finished, it would be time for the final battle.
I just hoped we’d managed to finish them off before their ship full of backup landed on the island. I had no idea how many orcs would be on that ship.
“We will send out the women to the orc camp tomorrow,” I announced when all the planning was finished. “Jemma, do you remember how to get there?”
“I do.” She nodded firmly.
“Perfect,” I said. “Convene with your teams and come up with a plan and a meeting space. Good luck, everyone.”
With that, we all split off into our ten different groups, and Mira and I separated so there would be two groups that were just a little stronger than the rest.
Finally, I turned to look at the faces of the women in my own group: Ainsley, Jemma, Theora, and Sarayah.
“Ben, I feel I owe you an apology,” Sarayah said once they were standing near me. Her brown eyes gazed down at the floor by my feet, and I could tell she was too nervous to make eye contact.
“What for?” I frowned, but I wanted to see her beautiful face, so I slowly reached a hand under her chin and tilted her face up to mine.
Sarayah glanced up at me, and her soft brown eyes were full of deep remorse. Then the brunette drew one pink lip into her mouth as she fought back the tears, which was surprising. In addition to Ainsley, Sarayah had proven to be one of the strongest women here, even if she didn’t quite see eye to eye with me at all times.
Finally, she drew in a shaky breath and tucked her chin into my touch. It became suddenly obvious that she craved it, and if the situation hadn’t been quite so intense, I would have found it ironic. The fact that this woman who I’d thought disliked me seemed to have the exact opposite feelings was surprising, to say the least.
“The way I acted toward you before,” Sarayah finally breathed out. “I stood against you when I should not have. I should have been standing with you the entire time. With all of you.”
At that, Sarayah glanced back to Ainsley, Theora, and Jemma, who watched on in silence, and I got the very distinct feeling that this was not a woman who apologized often, if ever.
“No apologies necessary.” I shook my head. “You were just doing what you thought was best for your people. And I was a stranger. I don’t blame you.”
A bright smile suddenly lit up her face at my acceptance, like she’d thought I was going to be a total asshole and refuse her apology.
“Thank you, Dragon King,” Sarayah said, and I was surprised at the way she used my title.
“No problem.” I shrugged. “Life’s a learning curve. Now, let’s get to planning, shall we?”
“Ben, your plan is rather genius,” Ainsley said with a smile. “I believe Jemma should draw our wargs out toward the beach, where we can easily dump the bodies in the water.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of over dealing with warg carcasses myself,” I chuckled. “So, we draw them out to the beach where we first met you?”
I turned my head to look at Jemma, and she smiled as she remembered the day we’d met.
“Perfect,” the auburn-haired woman replied.
“Alright, then let’s get some shut eye, everyone,” I said. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
With that, we all dispersed to our tents and went to bed.
The next morning, there was a flurry of activity in the village as soon as the sun rose. Women gathered bows and arrows as they prepared themselves for our attack, but as much as the energy was nervous, it was also electric with excitement, and I recognized that kind of excitement as it flowed from person to person.
It was the belly tingling, smile bringing excitement of trying something new. It seemed like these women might be born killers after all, and all it took was a little nudge to pull it out of them.
The sun had risen just over the far side of the island and cast a lovely yellow glow over everything. Within the hour, we were all ready. Mira and I had our bows as well as our sea glass swords, and the beautiful little knife Nerissa had seen me off with was tucked into my belt.
The group of us stood on the platform before we headed out to separate.
“Well … ” Jemma turned toward me with a bright smile.
Under that, though, I could see an awful lot of fear. The beautiful woman wanted to remain strong, but she knew what kind of terror the wargs would bring if they caught her before we got to them.
I felt the knife against my hip, and I pulled it from its little sheath.
“Here,” I said as I handed the blade to her. “In case one of them gets to you. Just stab them as hard as you can. Aim for the heart. Or the organs.”
Jemma nodded and studied the dagger for a long moment before she met my eyes.
“Thank you, Ben,” she whispered.
“Don’t thank me until this is all over,” I said seriously as I pulled the woman’s thin frame against my chest and kissed the top of her head. Then I drank in the soft floral scent that wafted up from her hair and committed it to memory.
No one had a single clue what this day might bring, and as much as I might want to, I couldn’t protect every one of these women. If we wanted to take down the wargs and the orcs, this needed to happen.
I just really hoped no one got captured or killed in the process.
I glanced at the ten women who had bravely volunteered as bait. Netta, Jemma, and eight other women stood at the top of the ladder and looked at us one last time before they descended and headed toward the orc camp.
“Alright, everyone,” I said when the last woman’s horns had disappeared from view. “To your meeting places. Let’s kill some wargs today.”
Mira stepped up and put a warm hand on my shoulder.
“Do you think they’re ready?” I murmured to her, quiet enough that no one else would be able to hear.
Mira looked up at me, and there was pride in her beautiful gold eyes.
“With you and I as their teachers?” she chuckled. “Absolutely.”
Theora, Ainsley, Sarayah, and I traveled through the woods and to the edge of the beach, exactly where Mira and I had first met Jemma.
The barrels of oil could be seen along the sand, and I knew there were others buried deeper in the forest that would fuel the blaze as it got going.
But for now, we had one task.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Theora murmured as she gazed at the soft, golden sand.
Suddenly, a tiny crab scuttled past us. It was a bright red color, with an orange spot in the middle of its back that looked like the shape of a heart. I watched it crawl across the sand, and every once in a while, it would dig through the sand until it came up with a bug of some sort, which it would then promptly devour.
Nature was dangerous.
Just as I watched the crab dig for a fifth time, a scream and a rustle sounded in the forest behind us.
Show time.
The four of us were instantly on high alert. Ainsley and Theora spread out across the sand, with bows at the ready. Sarayah stood next to me, and she also nocked an arrow as we stared into the dark depths. The sun only illuminated the forest for about ten feet, and beyond that, it was pitch black to our eyes.
As we all stood there and held our breaths, the rustling grew louder, accompanied by Jemma’s shout.
“You can’t catch me, you ugly toads! You stupid fuckers! Haha!”
“What a shit talker,” I snickered under my breath.
“She’s having some fun with those beasts,” Ainsley chuckled as well.
No one else had a chance to respond, though, because that was the moment Jemma burst into the light with a wild look in her eyes, exactly as she had on the day we first met.
Except, this time,
the emotion in her gaze wasn’t terror.
It was excitement.
“Hi, Ben!” she yelled as she barreled toward us.
The auburn-haired woman moved even faster than the fycans did. Her long muscular legs pumped one after the other like car engine pistons, and they road runnered her out of the forest and onto the soft sand of the beach.
I took a step back, sword at the ready, while I waited for the wargs.
I could hear them coming. Their clumsy footsteps broke branches and crushed leaves, and they shouted as they drew closer.
They were pissed.
“Get back here, you bitch!” one beast howled.
“I got five of them,” Jemma panted as she reached us, and she took cover behind Theora and Ainsley just as the five wargs emerged from the forest.
The wolf-monsters seethed as they ran, and spit bubbles formed in the corners of their maws as they lumbered forward with a mean, deadly glare in their soulless eyes.
Until they saw us, that was.
Then the wargs stopped short, and I watched as shock, annoyance, and anger crossed over their faces.
“Who the hell are you?” the one in front demanded.
Right before an arrow shot straight through the center of his skull.
“Good shot!” I hollered to whichever woman had let the arrow fly.
But that started the fight.
The moment the lead warg’s body thumped to the sand with his eyes wide open, his companions started to rage and panic.
The wolf-men leapt forward and snarled with their claws outstretched, and they looked ready to grab or slash depending on who they came close to.
I fully expected for the women’s arrows to just take them out, but that didn’t happen. Sarayah let fly an arrow, which would have buried itself into the heart of one of the wargs, only he dodged it.
I’m talking, full on stop, drop, and roll kind of dodge.
The warg hit the ground, and I realized that what I thought would be an easy catch and kill might take a little more fighting than I expected.
So, I raised my sword above my head and took a running leap at the warg who’d hit the ground. He’d managed to roll himself away from the group and the deadly arrows, which actually might have been impressive if I’d stopped to think about it at all.