“And what do you know of honor…lady.” The last word he spoke with mocking emphasis as he took another step, the toe of his boot now touching the threshold.
“Not another step!” Marian ordered him, again holding up a finger. Gash readied himself. This woman was protecting him, though he knew not why. Should this knight commit the “grave offense” of which the lady spoke, Gash would return the favor.
“I urge you, sir knight,” Marian warned, “do not dishonor yourself.”
The man just smiled a mocking smile at her.
In motions meant to be swift and strong, he moved forward, his hand on the door, ready to squelch the attack of the lithe figure whose shadow he had seen. But he did not know of Gash’s strength, nor of his quickness, nor of Gash himself.
The moment the man’s armored foot landed on the wooden floor, Gash vaulted himself into the door. The simple, wooden structure broke free of its hinges and slammed into the knight’s side with a swiftness and force he had not expected. The man found himself impacting the doorframe with such force that he was knocked clean out of his senses. He and the door then tumbled out of the doorway and onto the stone stair. Gash quickly walked outside, grabbed the stunned knight by his leg, dragged him to the edge of the hill and flung him out into the open air. After spinning uncontrollably and narrowly missing a tree, the knight landed hard on the steep, slick hillside and tumbled out of sight of the cabin.
“Shoran!” Mara said, slapping Gash across the shoulder from behind. “That is how you put a don-ga in his place!”
“Quickly. Back inside. The two of you must leave,” Marian called from the doorway, her tone hurried. She then disappeared inside.
“What? Why?” Mara protested as she and Gash re-entered the cabin. They found Marian kneeling by the bed of straw, clearing away the straw and grasping at something. She then lifted up a section of the floor to reveal a hidden passageway beneath the bedding.
“Never you mind,” Marian said. “Just get you into the passage. You’ll come out on the east side of this hill. Make certain you head north. It will take you away from the knight’s company. I will see to the knight.”
Gash immediately walked over and peered into the passage. A stone staircase led down into a darkened passageway.
“Wait,” Mara continued to protest as she too walked over, “What is the matter? Why does this Sir Knight pose a threat to us? I have not seen this man, but I am not afraid of him. And why should we run? He is the one who has done a wrong, not us. And this man seeks some creatures called orcs. I do not know of them, but it sounds to me as if they are worse monsters than those we faced on the road.”
Marian looked to Gash, not knowing what to say. Gash simply stared back at her, his scowl was unchanged. She wanted desperately to say how sorry she was, but she knew not the words.
“Why do you stare at each other?” Mara asked.
“Never you mind. There isn’t time to explain,” Marian repeated herself, looking back to Mara. “Just get you into the passage and hurry.”
Marian put a hand on Gash’s shoulder and guided him into the passage. Mara continued to protest, but upon seeing Gash enter, ran back over, grabbed her pack, and followed, continuing her objections.
As soon as Mara’s head was clear, Marian dropped the panel closed and proceeded to spread the straw bedding, re-masking the hatch.
V. Capture
“I cannot even see in here,” Mara’s voice echoed in the dark stairwell. “This is prua! Why are we running? Do not tell me you are afraid of that don-ga.”
Gash did not answer, but touched his hands to the walls on either side of them and made his way down the steps. Mara held up her hand to one wall and also made her way. The feeling of the rough stone against her skin sent a shiver down her spine. She pulled her hand back and folded her arms. She was now all the more impatient to get out and she found herself bumping into Gash more than once as a result. Gash merely continued along until they, at last, reached the bottom. He felt the stone beneath his feet give way to soft earth and he quickened his pace. Mara had ceased her grumbling for the moment and was following behind in silence. She hated the cold and the darkness. It surfaced in her mind thoughts of another time when she was in the dark-
She shook her head and redirected her thoughts back to why they were running. Now she felt like a coward.
‘Why should I have to run? I am not what that Sir Knight is hunting. Am I?’
The question stabbed at her mind. She had held her peace at Marian’s biddence for them to hurry, but the look she saw flash between her and Gash told Mara that something was amiss. Now free of the woman’s influence, Mara reasserted herself to learn the truth.
Before she could speak, she found herself again bumping into Gash’s massive body.
“Are you not able to go any faster?” Mara complained, highly agitated.
Her reply was the gray light of the rainy day flooding the previously dark passage as Gash pushed aside a large boulder that had been blocking the end of the passage. She felt her nerves relax at the sight of the natural landscape that once again lay before her. The rain had all but ceased and only the occasional drips could be seen falling from the top of the opening.
As Gash finished pushing aside the rock and moved to step from the passage, Mara remembered her will and called out, halting his steps.
“Du!” she called. “Tell me the truth. Are you an orc?”
Gash turned his head to the left as if considering the question.
“Am I?” Mara asked
At her words, Gash turned around and stared at her. She had pledged herself to his service, an act that showed more honor than of any of his kin. It was a strange act that he did not fully understand, but one that had nonetheless formed in him a deep sense of respect.
Mara’s face was a mix of confusion and determination. Gash knew she deserved an answer. His face seemed to soften, though the scowl remained. His head turned to the side as he spoke with a hint of shame.
“He hunts me,” the half-orc stated. “I am a half-blood according to their kind and a half-blood of the humans. He will take me for a full-blood of the orcs.”
Gash looked back to Mara to see her response which he had no doubt would be one of shock and rejection. He received something quite different.
“Well…”she replied, her tone displaying how little that meant to her, “so…that still does not explain why we are running instead of putting that don-ga in his place.”
“He spoke truth,” Gash replied. “Orcs are monsters.”
“So what? You are not. At least not that I have seen.”
“He speaks truth. I will not kill him.”
Mara again looked confused.
“Who said anything about killing him? I just do not want to run.”
Gash stared at her. Her words did not make sense to him. They bent back upon themselves and Gash could not figure on what to make of them. He too desired not to run. But in his mind, staying meant fighting, and fighting meant killing. He would not kill a man unjustly. He would not kill Gurak in such a manner; he would not do it to someone else. Besides that, there was the lady of the cabin to consider. She had protected him. He would not put her in further danger.
“You stay if you wish,” He finally answered her. “I cannot.”
Without another word, he turned, walked out of the cave and out of sight. Mara’s mouth dropped open in shock.
‘How can he say such things!? Has he no respect for the oath of a lifedebt!? What kind of honorless, ungrateful-‘
Her temper boiled over and she shouted after him.
“Fine! You do not want to talk to me? Go it on your own! I do not need your companionship! I do not need to be in service to you! I end my lifedebt, you hear? I end it!”
Mara received no response but the dripping of water from the empty doorway. Enraged, she screamed and kicked dirt at the unresponsive opening. She proceeded to pace around the small passageway, all the while grumbling exclamati
ons in her native tongue.
“Grua!” she spouted, crossing her arms as she continued to pace. “I can not end it. It is a lifedebt. I can not end a lifedebt.”
She again cried out and kicked more dirt. She nearly wished at times like these that she was not still bound by the laws of her tribe. But that would mean-
She shook her head, chasing the thought from her mind. No, she would not dishonor her tribe. She had to follow through with what she swore upon them. Closing her eyes, she breathed out her frustration in a hard breath through her nose and then looked to the empty doorway. I had better get going before he gets too far ahead. Slinging on her pack, she made a dash for the opening.
**************
Gash carefully made his way across the hill. His hand reached out and gripped the needle-filled trees wherever he could. The ground was soaked from the rainfall, as were the many plants that covered the hillside. Regardless, he did his best to move quickly without slipping.
As he walked, he thought on Marian’s kindness towards him and from whence it had come, given his blood. His mind went back to the words she and the stick girl had exchanged in the cabin.
“Forgive me…I’m sorry.”
The words echoed like resounding voices in his mind. He could not rid himself of them, though in all truth, he was not trying very hard. He made a promise to himself that if he ever saw either of them again, he would have to ask them what they meant.
His mind was so preoccupied as he crossed over to the northern slope, he did not even see the men sneaking up and surrounding him until a male voice split the chilled air and struck Gash’s nerves like a hammer.
“Halt! Stay where you are, Orc.”
Gash instantly turned, almost losing his footing in the process. He stood surrounded by four men dressed in black. Their armor consisted only of a breastplate each. They all possessed black hair and scruffy beards of varying lengths and thicknesses. In their hands were what looked to Gash like complicated bows laid side-ways onto short planks of wood, arrows already set and aimed squarely at Gash’s scowled brow.
“Turn around,” one of them ordered him.
Gash slowly turned and faced the opposite direction.
“Walk,” the same man ordered him.
Gash began walking, again making careful steps and reaching to trees for support as he walked. The men did the same, keeping their crossbows aimed at their prisoner. They slowly made their way across the hillside in brief silence, a silence that was suddenly shattered by a shout as Mara’s lithe body slammed shoulder-first into one of the men. The man’s crossbow fired as she collided, the bolt glancing off the breastplate of the man on Gash’s left. All eyes turned to the two figures that were now tumbling uncontrollably down the hill. Gash seized the opportunity by reaching out to the nearest man and gripping the bottom of his breastplate. With a mighty heave, Gash threw the man into his companion and the two went tumbling down the hillside. Gash then turned to the only one still standing and found him trembling, barely able to keep his crossbow lifted. Gash merely had to take a step towards him and the man dropped his weapon and fled.
Gash then looked to the first two figures that were now halfway down the hillside. Seeing one of them to be Mara, he hurried after them.
While the man rolled uncontrollably, Mara skillfully pushed off the ground with her hands, twisted her body, and managed to tumble to her feet, at last sliding to a stop. Seeing the man continuing to tumble towards her, Mara waited for right moment, then leapt again at the man and landed hard upon his chest. The impact stopped his movement dead and he gave a shout at the impact. His face cringed in agony. His body writhed and his throat let out grunts of pain.
“Worthless don-ga!” Mara shouted as she reached back and drew a dagger from behind, her other hand around his neck. “What do you say of orcs now?”
The man had stopped his writhing and now stared hard at Mara as he breathed heavy through clenched teeth.
“Nothing to say?” Mara said, holding the knife in a reverse grip above her head.
She then felt a large hand cover hers and looked up to see Gash standing there. After a moment, he removed his hand and moved past Mara and the injured man. Mara looked back to her captive.
“Be glad this orc is not fond of killing fools,” she told him.
She then removed her hand from his neck and punched him dead in the face. The man gave a shout of pain and covered his nose with his hands as Mara moved off of him and followed after Gash.
“I would not have killed him,” she told him quietly as she caught up with him.
Gash merely stared at her as they walked.
“What?” she asked.
He then looked to the dagger she held in her hand.
“This?” Mara said, holding up the dagger. “I took it from some bo-til that tried to rob me.”
Gash did not respond but merely continued to stare as she again placed the dagger beneath her belt behind her. Mara furrowed her brow at him.
“I had forgotten it was there. Besides, I did not trust Marian because I did not know her. Why did you?”
Before Gash could respond, the sound of a loud horn came from behind them. They both looked to see the man Mara had ambushed on the ground holding a horn to his lips. The other two that had gone tumbling had recovered and gotten to their feet several yards away, their attentions drawn to the sound of the horn.
“We must go,” Gash stated.
Mara jumped, startled at hearing his voice. Gash then turned and headed in the direction of some thicker trees. Mara began to follow but stopped as her mind suddenly remembered.
“Bula,” she exclaimed.
Gash stopped and looked back to her.
She looked at Gash, a slight look of panic upon her face.
“I have to go back.”
Gash turned to face her as if to challenge the sanity of her statement.
“I can not leave it,” she said as she half-turned, moving back towards the hillside. “Just wait for me. I will be short.”
She then made a mad dash for the hillside. Gash watched her a moment before he heard the trot of hooves in the distance. Looking to the opposite side of the hill from the men, he saw in the distance a black figure on a horse riding towards him. He quickly turned and ducked into a thick patch of trees and there watched the scene before him as he waited for Mara to return.
The mounted figure was dressed in black, full-plate armor. As he rode up, Gash saw something gripped in his left hand. A moment later the knight turned the bend and Gash’s heart sank. The rope the rider held in his hand was at the other end wrapped around the wrists of the lady of the cabin who struggled to keep up with the horseman that led her.
Gash watched with rising anger as the injured man, with the aid of his comrades, struggled to stand up and meet the rider.
“How fare you, men?” the rider asked.
“We’ll heal, sir,” one of them replied.
“What happened?”
“We caught an orc…or something that looked an awful lot like one heading north along the hillside.” The man cringed at a sudden pain. Another picked up the report.
“We thought he was alone, so we surrounded him and took him captive. We were moving him back to the encampment when we were ambushed by a young girl. The orc…thing got the upper-hand. We didn’t see what happened to Trelg. The girl headed back towards the cabin to retrieve something. The orc headed off into the forest.”
The rider looked in Gash’s direction. Gash held still behind the curtain of pine needles as he had done many times hunting for game on the plains. His green skin helped to blend him with his environment. He watched through a small gap in the needles as the rider stared endlessly at his position. Gash was unsure whether the man could see him or not. Still, he held his ground, not moving beyond what little breath he needed.
Marian stood with her head bowed. Her long hair hid her face. Gash could see that she breathed heavily, no doubt trying to rest from the forced march.
The rider’s hands gripped tightly the reigns of his horse as well as the rope that held his prisoner. His face held a hard look. Gash could see upon it the look of a man as determined as he. He would not give up easily. If Gash wished to free the Marian, he would have to wait for the right moment and move quickly. He had no doubt the rider was on guard after the incident in the cabin. If the circumstances were right, however, it would be a simple task to dismount him. He was close and Gash’s feet could be swift when needed.
Gash silently and slowly began to tense his muscles as a predator preparing to pounce its prey. His hands tightened into fists, his leg muscles tensed, bracing his feet against the soft, wet ground. He was ready. He just needed to wait.
“You say you were ambushed by a girl,” the rider finally asked, not shifting his gaze. “What did she look like?”
As the men began to recall the memory and give a reply, Gash saw the rider look away and reach to the hidden side of his horse. Gash vaulted from his place behind the trees, pine needles stabbing and slapping at his thick hide. It would only be a moment before he was engaged. But the man reacted faster and deadlier than he had expected. Almost instantly, the rider came back up with another of those strange bows, aiming it directly at Gash’s head before the half-orc could make the distance. Gash halted in mid-stride and slid to halt before him. The man smiled at Gash who merely returned the man’s look with a deep scowl.
“I thought that might lure you out,” he said. “You are far too predictable, orc.”
Gash merely glared at him.
“Where are the rest of your scum-bred kin?” he asked him.
Gash did not answer. His eyes looked to Marian who now held on her face a look that conveyed shock and sorrow of the situation he was in.
“You fancy the woman, orc?” the rider asked him, drawing his eyes back to him. The man’s smile had faded and a look of controlled anger came upon his face.
“I’ll bet you do,” he said in hard tones.
“Stop it,” Marian suddenly cut through, turning to look at the knight. “Can’t you see that he isn’t an orc? Or has your bitterness made you so blind that all you see is green?”
Half-Orc Redemption Page 8