“No, wait! What’s happening?”
“A fire. Kinna is taking care of it.”
“A fire? Are you serious?”
She did the exact opposite of what he’d told her. She hurried after him, and then closed the door.
“I have to check on Abby.”
He looked at her worriedly, but then nodded.
“Be careful.”
“She’s just across the street.” Well, across the street and a few blocks down. A ten-minute walk. Half that if she ran. “You’ll find me there.”
“All right.” He kissed her, and they parted.
Uthar followed Lonar to where the apartment building was burning in the distance. Beth could see the flames rising toward the sky. She wondered how the fire had started. She walked toward Abby’s place, and orcs passed her by in a hurry, some of them carrying buckets of water. But no one was truly scared. They’d heard that the mage was there, and she could put out the fire with her magic alone. Still, the flames could spread to the nearby buildings. They had to do everything they could to stop that from happening.
She passed the diner. No one was there, and the lights were off. She looked down the street, squinting her eyes, but the lamps in this part of the town weren’t working. In her rush to catch up with Uthar, she’d left her phone in their room. The torch would’ve helped a lot, but alas, she would just have to slow down so she wouldn’t trip on anything. She wrapped the robe tighter around her body, regretting that she hadn’t taken the time to put on some real clothes. Underneath, she only wore a pair of shorts and an old T-shirt. But it didn’t matter. A few more minutes, and she would reach Abby’s building.
She heard footsteps coming from the alley to her left, She stopped and listened, then looked down the alley to see who it was. It must’ve been one of the orcs who’d just heard about the fire and was rushing to help. She frowned when she couldn’t see anyone, and moved on. She only managed two steps before someone grabbed her from behind, quickly covering her mouth. Their hand was big and rough, and she couldn’t bite it. Her own hands went to wrap around the thick wrist. She pulled and scratched, but her attacker was too strong.
An orc. A male orc.
Her mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening. Why would any of Uthar’s orcs grab her in the night?
She kicked and grunted, but it was useless. The orc pulled her into the alley. Another orc appeared from the darkness, and she saw he was wearing long robes and the colorful chain mages wore. He whispered something and made a gesture in the air, and Beth felt a pressure between her eyes. They fluttered closed, and no matter how hard she fought to stay awake and conscious, it was in vain. The mage’s magic was strong. Just as she slumped in the attacker’s arms, she thought,“Morok”. Of course. None of Uthar’s orcs would’ve done something like this to her. They loved her. And the mage... The mage was male.
Darkness. Outside, and inside her mind. Beth couldn’t fight it.
* * *
“What do we do with her? Do we take her with us?”
“No. The captain said to leave her.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere far from the town, so she won’t make it back too soon.”
Beth knew the orcs were talking about her. She was starting to come to her senses. She felt fur underneath her fingertips. Her face was pressed to something hard and moving. And covered in fur. A krag. They’d literally draped her over a krag’s back, like a sack of potatoes. She kept her eyes closed and refrained from groaning in pain. If they noticed she’d woken up and was listening to them, it would only end badly for her.
At least she wasn’t being kidnapped. Not that being left alone in the wilderness was any better. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why Morok the Unhinged would come up with such a chaotic plan. It made no sense. As the krag carried her further and the orcs exchanged a few more cryptic words, she tried to see the situation from all angles. So, they’d grabbed her, put her to sleep, and now they were dragging her away from the horde. But not taking her with them. What was the point of that? If they wanted to piss off Uthar by doing this to her, it was surely going to work. But it wasn’t a plan that would cause any real damage. To her, or to him.
Because Beth could spend a night in the mountains. She was certain she could even find her way back if she tried. It wasn’t the worst fate she could face. And when Uthar found her, he was going to rain fire and brimstone on Morok’s horde.
It made no sense. No matter how she looked at it, it made absolutely no sense.
“Here,” one of them said. And Beth tried not to move or even breathe as they pulled her down and carried her to a formation of rocks. “This should do it.”
“The captain is waiting. Let’s go.”
Beth waited a few more minutes. Just in case. When she couldn’t hear them anymore, she opened her eyes and looked around. The moon was high, and the sky was peppered with stars. They offered plenty of light for her to see. But there was nothing but rocks and dust. And suddenly, she was afraid of critters and wild animals. She hadn’t thought about that.
She pushed herself to her feet, grunting at the pain in her joints. It really didn’t help that she was the heaviest she’d ever been. And she was growing, still. The fact that she was wearing sandals and was wrapped in a thin robe didn’t help, either.
“Fuck. What do I do?”