by Gregory Loui
“Wow, look at the time,” said Debbie. “Five AM already?”
Gulping, Gore blinked and looked out the window. The sun had risen, beams of crimson light glaring through the city skyline and smog. The ghosts writhing in the smog retreated into the shadows.
“You all right?” asked Debbie as she rose and walked to Fin, wrapping him in a tight hug. “We need to repay you for anything? Maybe clean up this place?”
“Nah, I’ll get to it,” scoffed Fin.
“You sure? This looks like such a nice place. A shame we got blood all over it. How much does it cost you to rent?”
At the mention of rent, Gore blinked again as the forgotten truth smacked her in the face.
“Ah, Blight…” Gore muttered, the color draining from her eyes, jolting to her feet, running for the door. “Blight. Blight. Blight…”
“What is it?” asked Debbie, leaving Fin to sprint after Gore.
“We didn’t get any prize money.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
What to do?
“Wait, what?” asked Debbie as Gore barged out Fin’s apartment and reached to tear the tarp off the Magnum Orcus. Debbie grabbed Gore’s wrist before she could. “Why did you need the prize money?”
“To pay my jagding rent,” spat Gore, slapping Debbie’s hand away. Then she pulled out her keys and tore off the tarp. Her eyes opened. “Oh Blight…”
“Language,” hissed Debbie though she grimaced and nodded in agreement.
Tears verging at the edge of her vision, Gore sunk to her knees. She ran her fingers over the Magnum Orcus’s chassis. Countless scars and dents and burn marks covered the grey metal. It looked as though a Gold Gryphon had picked the Magnum Orcus up and dropped it halfway down a mountain. Gore had just managed to finish tuning the damned car.
Blight, Gore shook her head, eyes turning black, crying over an inanimate object. A mass of cold steel. She chuckled through the sharp wad clogging her throat, “Jagd off.”
“Hey!”
“Yeah, sis,” laughed Bones from the side of a passing tow truck. Leaning out of the window, he took off his headphones to cackle, “Watch your language, bitch!”
“Wait, what?” gasped Gore and Debbie as one. They glanced at one another then at Bones as he hopped out and stumbled onto the street.
Then Gore slapped her forehead and muttered, “Where the Blight did you steal a jagding tow truck? That’s not something you can just take on a whim…”
“Oh no. What are you talking about, dear sister? When have I ever stolen something?” asked Bones, rubbing his hands together.
Gore just gave him a look.
Rolling his eyes and leaning on the Magnum Orcus, Bones jerked his thumb into the tow truck and coughed, “Well, disregarding the propensity of those with fluid assets begging for their liberation…” Gore raised an eyebrow. What drug had Bones taken this time? “I didn’t steal this truck. I got someone willing to take the Magnum Orcus back to your place so we can patch it up. Gore and Debbie, meet aunt Iron Tusk. Or as we say in traditional Orcish…”
Bones commenced a minute long dance, stomping the concrete as he slapped his thighs, chest and tusks. At the end of the strange dance, Gore’s brother raised his fists into the air with a thundering war cry.
Rubbing her temples, Gore sighed, “You’re joking. Right?”
“No. He is not,” rumbled a voice from within the truck.
Bones cackled, “Ah. Aunt Iron Tusk, meet my little sister and her girlfriend.”
“Hey! She’s not my girlfriend,” snarled Gore, striding forward as Debbie turned bright pink.
“Sure… still, you should meet our aunt,” murmured Bones. He stepped aside as the driver lumbered out of the truck. Gore whistled, all of a sudden minuscule before the massive orc. “She’s a cool gal so don’t jagd this shit up. Plus, she is kind of our ride home. And before you ask, no. She is not Momma G.”
“Nice to meet you, irāmutu,” rumbled the orc matron as she swept Gore into a minotaur hug. Silver hair surrounded Gore, weathered and scarred flesh pressing against Gore’s cheek, muscles rippling under the dark-green skin. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of my sister’s ilk. Ah… You’ve grown so big.”
“Ah,” managed Gore through a clogged throat and tears filling her black eyes. Blight, what was happening?
“Oh dear. Um… Aunt Iron Tusk, I think you’re choking her,” muttered Bones, peeking around Gore. “Yup~ You’re choking her. Hm… that’s a nice shade of turquoise.”
Sneaking her right arm out, Gore punched her brother in the face. Then she squirmed out of Iron Tusk’s grasp. Unable to tear her gaze away from her new-found aunt, Gore grabbed her own head, cradling her skull as it throbbed.
Blight, what was happening?
“What? When? Why? How?” gasped Gore, unable to believe her own eyes. The blood of her blood stood before her. After Gore had cut off branches or seen them wither and burn, finding another washed away Gore’s thoughts with emotions, good and bad.
“One question at a time, irāmutu,” murmured Iron Tusk as she ambled over to the back of the tow truck and grabbed a hook. Then she tugged out a length of chain, which she wrapped around the back of the Magnum Orcus. “I am still not used to this strange gujab. I only crossed the border a few months ago.”
“Legally or illegally?” asked Gore, eyes turning back to gold as Iron Tusk wrapped the iron chain around the truck. The iron scraped against the chassis, sending shivers down Gore’s spine. “Wait, watch the chassis. I don’t want you to scratch the paint job.”
“The mahi peita?” asked Iron Tusk before she snorted.
“What’s so funny?” demanded Gore, stepping towards the old orc.
Iron Tusk raised an eyebrow then her black gaze fell and she shook her head. “Nothing. Just… you should not worry about this zau staz, irāmutu. It is broken. I doubt it will last another race. If you do as your brother has suggested and enter the next race, you will need to get a new car.”
Iron Tusk’s word pierced Gore’s heart. Her car… the last legacy that her mother had left Gore had broke? Running her gaze over the Magnum Orcus’s torn chassis, Gore cursed. Iron Tusk was right. After all the work, after all the car, she had put into the damned thing…
Gore growled, “Blight…”
“I am sorry, irāmutu. But I would not put any vain hopes in this zau staz,” murmured Iron Tusk, putting her hand on Gore’s shoulder.
The fires sparked back to life within Gore as she slapped Iron Tusk’s hand aside. She snarled, “I don’t care. I’ll rebuild the whole Blighted car if I have to.”
“That’s the spirit, sis,” laughed Bones as he crept up from behind and slapped Gore on the shoulder. “We’ll need that spirit for the Toretto Trials!”
Then, the fires flaring as her eyes flashed red, Gore rounded on Bones and hissed, “Wait, what the jagd, Bones? I never said anything about entering the races again. We almost died last night! And didn’t get any cash out of it either!”
Gore’s finger jabbed into Bones’s shirt, sending Bones sprawling backwards on the pavement. As he cried out, a few windows above flickered to life. Gore glanced up. Halfling and dwarven eyes glared down at her. Gore bared her teeth, miming biting motions at the prying peeps. The eyes fell back into the safety of their house.
“Ahem,” coughed Iron Tusk, grabbing Gore’s ear as she reached down to pick up Bones. The old orc dragged both siblings to the tow truck. Gore yelped but could not resist. “We can have this conversation somewhere more private. For now, you two will sit with one another. Do not kill each other or I will break your skulls.”
“Won’t that end with the same result either way?” asked Debbie as Iron Tusk shoved Gore and Bones into the tow truck, popping up beside the old orc.
Iron Tusk blinked, glancing at Gore then at Debbie. She raised an eyebrow, asking, “Is she with you?”
“Yeah… unfortunately,” muttered Gore as she tried to scoot away from Bones. She had just eno
ugh space in the back seat of the truck so she didn’t have to touch the bastard.
“Then you will act as a buffer between these two pōrangi,” growled Iron Tusk, lifting Debbie into the truck as well and planting her in between Gore and Bones.
“Blight…” Now there was not enough space. Not even to breath.
Iron Tusk then jumped into the driver seat and turned on the clockwork mechanism, lifting the Magnum Orcus onto the bed of the tow truck.
“You all buckled in?” asked Iron Tusk, glancing behind her.
A veritable slideshow of emotions greeted her. Gore, her eyes burning red with rage, arms crossed as she tried to control herself. Debbie, still as chipper as ever despite being squeezed between two orcs, seemed to beam out like the sun. And last and certainly least, Bones took a deep breath from his pipe and settled back into a blissful haze.
“Ah…” murmured Bones as the tow truck rumbled to life and took off down the roads to the Narrows. “This is gonna be great.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I got it
“Huh, you handle several tons of steel well,” murmured Gore after an hour of driving, interrupting the broadcaster as the voice reported another incident involving a orc and his girlfriend’s son. Just another day in Tao Ein. “No bad at all.”
“It is in our gijak, irāmutu. I can see it in your eyes. The road rage. The breath of freedom from sitting behind a wheel. Hehehe… just like your whaea,” murmured Iron Tusk. Gore glanced up from Debbie’s scryer — currently displaying funny drake videos— to look into the old orc’s eyes. Faded grey like petrified dragon bones.
“What do you remember about her?” asked Gore before she could stop herself.
“She was a demon unlike any other. Such a temper… It seemed sometimes like the old gods of war had been reborn in your mother’s flesh, some spark of their fire lingering in her eyes,” murmured Iron Tusk, her eyes burning black as she glanced at the rearview mirror at Gore. Her jaw clenching even as her heart begged for more, Gore glared back.“You look just like her. And it seems, from your brother’s account at least, that you’ve inherited something of her frum. Hehehe…”
Gore ignored yet another jab at her and instead asked, “Why didn’t you come with her when she crossed the desert?”
“That’s… it’s complicated. I had many compelling reasons to stay.” Iron Tusk shifted her gaze to the small figures lining her dashboard. Gore blinked. Some resembled children dolls. Others not so much. “Many reasons…”
“Wait! Watch out for the drake!” cried out Debbie, nearly jumping out of her seat to point at the small lizard crossing the street.
Iron Tusk rolled her eyes and sped up.
The drake’s scream bit into Gore’s ears as the damned vermin jumped to the side of the road. Gore shouted at the drake’s retreating tail, “Get off the road, vermin!”
Iron Tusk chuckled, “Ah… that might make for a good… what do you call it? A thing that speaks for another thing even if they do not quite match?”
“A metaphor?” offered Bones through hazed eyes. Gore glared at the drug addict. What sort of drugs was he taking?
Iron nodded.“Yes! A metaphor! Ah. So—”
“I get it,” interjected Gore before the old orc could bore her with a cliche platitude. “We’re on the road and we’re on a high speed car hurtling to the future. So we can’t keep looking back. We need to leave all that crap behind where it belongs. That about right?”
“Right, irāmutu. The past is important, however. It is just we cannot remain in the past forever. We must attend to the future, to the road in front of us,” rumbled Iron Tusk. The old orc turned around to lock eyes with Gore and Bones. Both siblings gulped. “So… Both of you. Talk. Now.”
Gore glanced over Debbie’s head at her older brother. Tracing her wyvern bone earring, she growled defiance.
What right did this woman have to come into their lives after a decade of absence and start bossing them around like they were her children? What right did anyone have to come into Gore’s life and tell her what to do? She was doing perfectly fine until Bones walked into her apartment. Damn them all.
But a cool touch pulled Gore back into reality. She blinked and turned to the side, looking down to meet Debbie’s big eyes. Gore blushed.
Jagding Blight, Gore cursed herself. But she couldn’t fight her own heart. Gore sighed, “Fine. I’ll talk. Debbie, could you please first ask Bones what he means by entering the Toretto Trials? Then kindly go tell him to go jagd himself with an iron dildo.”
“Um…” muttered Debbie. “Word for word?”
Gore nodded.
“Okay…” Debbie turned to Bones and said, “Bones—”
“Debbie, would you kindly— urgh. E-e-excuse me,” coughed Bones, clutching his chest. Then he burped. Gore sighed and slapped her forehead. “Now… could you tell Gore that we were technically the last ones standing in the Roomenya Drift? And that Asshole saw us escape before the cops swept in and freed the girls? Therefore we can join the preliminaries for the Grand Prix. They’re in a few weeks. So…”
“What?” gasped Gore, forgetting herself for a split second. Then she slapped her mouth shut and composed herself. “Debbie, could you kindly… you know what, jagd this shit. I’m gonna actually act like an adult. Bones, what the jagd? Why are you still Blight-bent on entering the Grand Prix? This last race nearly killed us!”
“Nearly. Nearly being the operative word here,” muttered Bones as he popped a few pills into his mouth. Gore’s claws twitched at his bravado.
“Still! We only survived thanks to sheer jagding luck and not much else,” Gore spat as Iron Tusk pulled onto the freeway and into Tao Ein’s famous congestion. A crescendo of horns filled the air.
“You still need to pay your rent, don’t you?” asked Bones, eyes rolling back into his head for a brief moment. He snored. The rage growing within her, Gore snarled, reaching over Debbie to slap the fool. Her brother cursed and jerked back awake. “Right?”
“Yeah. I still have to but I can find a different job. Maybe one that doesn’t involve almost dying every time I want some spending money. I don’t know.”
“Gore…”
“No. Don’t you dare try to pull this crap on me. I already made the mistake of letting you into my life once. Now, I’m in this situation.” Her blood pounding against her head, Gore unbuckled her seat belt. “Actually, jagd this. Jagd you. I can walk home.”
“Wait! On the freeway? By the Forge Master, sit down, Gore!”cursed Debbie, grabbing onto Gore’s arm and holding tight. The dwarf’s strength surprised Gore as Debbie yanked Gore back into her seat. What the?
“Let go,” snarled Gore. She raised a fist. Then her reflection glared at her from within Debbie’s trembling eyes.
Blight… Gore blinked and fell back into her seat. She cradled her head in her hands, mumbling, “Shit, sorry, Debbie. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine. I’m a pretty scary person,” laughed Debbie as she pat Gore on the head. “Look, I know family’s complicated but you guys need to work together if you guys want to make it out of this.”
Iron Tuck nodded and joined the conversation. “Well said, dwarf… Gore, Your brother owes a lot of bad people a lot of money. And by extension you do as well. I would offer you some money but I am almost flat out as well.”
“I don’t suppose you could ask for a loan or something?” asked Debbie, turning to Gore.
“With my credit and student debt? Ha!” laughed Gore, shaking her head as the road of her future narrowed until only the Magnum Orcus could fit. “And I don’t think all the banks in Tao Ein can pay for my idiot brother’s debts.”
Bones raised an eyebrow. Gore shook her head.
“Besides… it is not the orc way to beg for money. We pay in blood or iron for anything we desire,” growled Iron Tusk. A part of Gore buried deep within her soul agreed with the old orc. Gore smiled at the coming challenge before she shook her head. “It is unfortunate but
the only options for you both to pay off your debts is winning the Grand Prix or robbing a bank. And I would rather not rob a bank again.”
“Again?” asked Debbie.
“Do not ask, dwarf,” growled Iron Tusk before turning back to the two siblings. “You will need to repair the Magnum Orcus. That should not take long. However, you must prepare yourselves for the Toretto Trials, they will not be as easy as that backwater race you just won.”
“Easy?”
“Some of the best racers in the world will come to enter the Grand Prix. You must ascend to a higher tier of racing, if you want to survive,” growled Iron Tusk, jabbing a hand back at the Magnum Orcus. “That means training and upgrades.”
She could still turn back, Gore realized as she blocked out Bones’s ensuing chatter, staring into the Magnum Orcus’s supercharger. She frowned, eyes shifted black. Despite how Iron Tusk had framed Gore’s predicament, despite Bones’s constant nudging to push her down their path, she could still try to find a job to pay her rent. It might be tough, might even be impossible but Gore could find another way. She could still cut her brother out of her life and try to live like a normal person. Not an orc.
But that was not her way.
The fire still lingered in her fingers.
Gore sighed, “Fine. I have upgrade blueprints lying around in my garage. But I’m gonna need some new materials to make them. A lot of steel, plus glint circuits.”
“I could probably scavenge some stuff from the junkyards around Tao Ein,” muttered Bones as he lit another pipe of Blight bug. He opened the window and blew out. “Ah… Aunt Iron Tusk can probably help me out there. Right?”
“Hehehe… sure,” rumbled Iron Tusk, glancing around to lock eyes with Gore and Debbie. “And what about you two arokas?”
Shrugging, itching to get back to work on the Magnum Orcus, Gore glanced at Debbie. Gore frowned. A star glimmered in the dwarf’s eyes.
“How about we go to Elvenheim? Grab some stuff from the engineering department? I have a few cousins working as lab technicians in there. I’m sure they’d be willing to let you use the replicators, or we could try and requisition some of the scraps,” offered Debbie.