“Captain,” Lonar the Beast patted Uthar on the back. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, my friend.” Uthar patted him back.
“I believe...” He looked around the table. “We all believe that it is time for you to change your tattoos. You are our captain. You are the captain this horde wants and deserves.”
Uthar searched for Kinna’s gaze. The mage nodded at him.
“It is time. We all agree. Let’s make it official.”
Beth was a little confused. She knew that when an orc changed his rank, he had to have his old tattoos erased, so he could get the new ones. But she had no idea how that worked. Her curiosity was piqued.
They all stood up from the table and pushed their chairs away. No one was interested in dinner anymore. It was a little unfortunate that the food would get cold, but no one felt like eating. There was something important that needed to be done now, and they would celebrate later. Truly celebrate their captain and his pregnant mate.
Kinna the Mage walked to the door and stopped to wait for Uthar and Beth to join her. The crowd parted to let them pass. Lonar followed them, and then Kinna stepped outside. The sun had set, and the moon was peeking from behind the houses and trees. They all followed the mage to her home. They gathered in her backyard, in a circle, while Kinna disappeared into the house to bring all that was needed for the ritual.
Lonar disappeared for a few minutes, too, and when he returned, he had wood and matches, and with the help of two orcs, he started a fire. The orcs sat on the grass, kneeling or cross-legged, and Beth looked for a good spot to sit as well. She shyly approached Gorya and the female orcs she was sitting with, and they smiled at her and made room for her next to them.
Beth was nervous. She could see in Uthar’s eyes that he was nervous, too. He was silent and solemn, and the creases on his forehead were back. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, and tell him that he was doing great, but she doubted he would appreciate her affection now, when he had to be strong and show that he was, indeed, the captain the horde needed. She didn’t want to embarrass him. She was weak, he was not. It was entirely possible that it was all in her head, and Uthar wasn’t scared in the least, and this was just her projecting her own feelings on him.
Kinna returned carrying a chair and a bowl filled with water. Beth thought she must’ve been missing something, because that couldn’t be it.
“Isn’t she going to use potions, or...?” She asked Gorya.
The female orc shook her head. “This is a simple ritual. The simplest there is. She is going to use magic, but she doesn’t need any tools. Mages are supposed to be able to perform this ritual at any time, and in any place. On the field of battle, if necessary. All they need is water, the earth underneath their soles, the air we all breathe, fire,” she pointed at the bonfire, “And the magic in her veins.”
Something didn’t click. Beth couldn’t imagine someone removing and then drawing a whole new tattoo with no tools at all. No ink, either.
The first thing that Kinna did was to dip a cloth into the water and then run it over Uthar’s current tattoos. She was washing him, but in a symbolic way. She did that for a few minutes, while he sat silent and unmoving in the chair she’d brought for him. He sat with his back straight and his hands on his knees. His eyes were open, his brows furrowed, and he was looking straight ahead, at nothing in particular.
Beth was almost tempted to say that he was changed. She’d never seen him like this. So focused, so reverent.
The mage started chanting softly as she moved her hands over the tattoo around his neck. As she did so, Beth saw that Uthar’s expression changed. From focused and collected, he looked like he was in pain. His brows furrowed further, and his jaw clenched. Kinna continued to chant – an ethereal song that was hard to believe it was in the harsh language of the orcs. In the light of the bonfire, Beth saw that Uthar’s skin started sizzling. The black ink vanished, inch by painful inch, and what was left behind was raw, sensitive skin. Light green and almost bleeding. No, not almost. It was bleeding, as Beth saw a drop of blood make its way along Uthar’s collarbone.
She covered her eyes with her hands, then rubbed at her face and her temples, trying to calm herself down. Kinna didn’t even allow Uthar a break. She went on, and now the captain was grunting softly, struggling to remain silent and unmoving. Beth pressed her hands to her chest.
“Why does it have to be painful?” She asked the female orcs. “Can’t Kinna just give him something?”
Gorya shook her head. “No. This is the way it’s done. Pain is nothing to us.” She pointed at the tattoos on her face, which indicated she was a grunt. “I was proud when I got mine. I was one of the first females to join Goran’s horde, and the mage back then gave me my tattoos.”
“What happened to her?”
“Him. He died in battle. Kinna came after. She’s still young, but she is talented.”
Uthar grunted, and Beth found that the sounds of pain he made, as small and subtle as they were, made her sick to her stomach. Not eating before this had been a good idea. She noticed some of the orcs were staring at her, and she realized that she had to act like a proper captain’s mate, not like a scared little girl. She straightened her back and forced herself to watch.
The mage moved to the tattoos around his wrists, then to the one around his waist, and finally, the ones around his ankles. For those, she knelt on the ground, and her hands hovered inches from his feet.
When it was finally over, Uthar let out a long breath. Kinna dipped the cloth in water once more and washed the abused skin. When the cloth passed over it, Beth saw the wounds healing instantly. Uthar was breathing easier, and she sighed in relief, too. The first part of the ritual was over. She had no doubts that the second part was going to be just as painful.
On her feet, Kinna flicked her wrist in the direction of the bonfire. A flame separated itself from it and floated in the air toward the mage. Beth watched in rapture. Kinna had done magic before. She’d made water and soap fly through the air and hit her in the face. But this was different. It had a solemn quality to it. In the dark, the flame flickered brightly. Then Kinna made a sudden gesture, and the flame lunged at the ground before Uthar’s feet. It burned for a few seconds, then sizzled and died. Kinna knelt once more, chanting as she pressed her palms to the freshly burned soil. When she stood back up, her hands were covered in ash.
“A captain is bound to the place where he takes on his new duties,” Gorya explained.
“Oh.” So that was why there was no need for ink. Or at least, ink as Beth understood the term.
The chant had changed. It was louder now, and the horde joined in. Kinna’s voice rang clear over their heads, while they murmured softly. Beth wondered if they expected her to join in, but she couldn’t speak orc language, and mispronouncing words she didn’t understand seemed like a good way of offending them and their culture. So, she pressed her lips together, though the chant was catchy, and she soon found she was swaying slowly to its rhythm.
The mage moved behind Uthar. As a captain, the first tattoo he needed was the one on his back. She didn’t press her dirty hands to his skin. She hovered, just like before, and Beth knew the process had started when Uthar took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Her heart started beating faster. It was obvious that getting an orc tattoo was more painful than removing one. And a captain’s tattoos were the most expansive ones.