ONE POINT FIVE (1.5 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 18

Aknon's POV

The first thing that I did was retrieve my weapons and bag, which was the most important thing to me at the moment as the chaos consumed the entire court area. I tried to make sure that Mesh was alright too, but I could barely see him, which was saying something. There were so many orcs I didn't know where to look. They all targeted people who were about half their size, meaning that they were likely humans or half-elves. There weren't many people who looked like gnomes or dwarves here, but they were about the quarter the size of an orc.

I wasn't easily mistaken for any of those creatures, so most orcs stayed out of my way, but I did have to defend myself from some humans who found creative ways to create weapons. I didn't know what people usually carried in their bags, but they were turned into weapons by many members of the public here. I didn't even know if calling it a jury would be appropriate now. It had turned into a very small battlefield.

It took me about ten minutes to make my way back to Mesh, who was using a chair as a shield. When I say chair, I mean a whole bench which had apparently been cut or broken in half somehow. I handed him his axe too, so that he didn't need to rely on using a long stick, which I supposed also came from the bench.

"Mesh's family is smart," Mesh said with a proud grin as he took the axe. "They're protesting rights and protecting us."

I nodded my head, finding it difficult to argue with him whilst being in the middle of the fight. "Yes, I suppose they are." I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with the violence, but it was necessary for what we had to do, meaning our survival. "Where's the exit?"

Mesh shrugged a little. "One way." He pointed back to where I'd come from. "Everyone comes through that way." I think that he meant that his family came through that way, so surely, it's the only way out.

I wasn't convinced, but I didn't really see any welcoming options. There was a door behind where the judge had been sitting, but I didn't know if that just led you further into the prison. I could imagine that the prisoners would love to be involved in something like this, so I didn't really want to give them the chance of having their say. That would cause carnage, alongside having many dangerous people wandering the streets. I couldn't guarantee that the prisoners were like us, and wrongly imprisoned for just existing, or if they had committed serious crimes.

"It's our only chance I guess," I tried to convince myself as I rushed towards it once more, darting between people and using my tail to block others or knock them over. Mesh was trying to keep an eye on his family members, so that they would know where we were going but I was aiming to get to safety first. The jail couldn't be so big that we'd get separated from them after leaving, but I had faith that the big orcs would win the battle against the unprepared humans.

I remembered the way out easily enough, I passed the holding cell, hearing Clay talking to himself, wondering what all the noise was about and hoping that it was because we had been declared guilty. I almost stopped in order to do what I'd wanted to do with him since we first met, but I decided not to waste an illusion spell on him. I still had some sympathy towards him, since he was stuck there for the majority of his life.

We eventually made it outside, which caused me to pause and take a deep breath. I didn't want to linger for long, even though I knew that we had to wait for Mesh's family. I wasn't sure if there was any kind of backup in Kourjit. Personally, I would judge them significantly if they didn't, given the size of the city and location of their jail.

"Are you alright?" I asked Mesh, who seemed dazed, but he had a wide grin covering his features. "That was difficult."

Mesh nodded his head happily. "I'm alright. That was family. Family knew that I was here."

I nodded, only just finding it a little suspicious. "They did, I don't think that it could be a coincidence that they were also here." I turned towards Mesh as we remained walking, trying to get as far as we could away from this place, whilst still benign within earshot of them. "Did you know they were planning that?" I whispered, looking at him with a frown. I usually frowned, but this time it was simply directed at him.

Mesh shook his head quickly. "No, I thought Mesh and Aknon would be trapped in jail for the rest of their lives, or until they were killed off by disease or another prisoner."

I nodded. "Didn't appreciate that visual." I stopped walking and looked back at the door which we left. "There's magical force fields here, or something like that, how come they got through?"

Mesh didn't answer me straight away. "They were invited. There was the orc there at the jury, she was there just like anyone else."

"That's not what I meant." I didn't want him thinking I was asking why she was allowed there. "I meant to say, why did the riot happen now, when there was a half-orc on trial?" I didn't want to say anything about my father, in fear of others listening.

"That's a good question." Mesh didn't have much longer to ponder, as orcs began rushing out of the door, yelling battle cries whilst holding weapons, alongside broken pieces of chairs, in the air. "Family!" Mesh cheered.

The group cheered some more and ran towards us, patting our shoulders and ruffling our hair. I was pushed right and left due to the force each orc used, I wasn't told directly to follow, but Mesh trailed after them. I felt inclined to follow after that, even though I felt the impending anxiety and feelings of not fitting in already settling.

I glanced back at the prison, noticing that some of the prisoners were outside, running around like headless chickens. I was sure they'd heard what was going on and wanted to be part of the action, and I was glad that the orcs were smart enough not to let that happen. Those who were making a fuss were probably the ones which shouldn't be let out.

Yet, I couldn't help but think about the ones who weren't causing a ruckus, the ones who remained quiet and looked at us with a mixture of envy and hope, Maybe they were happy that we didn't join them, or more likely, they were hopeful that we'd help them out.

I sighed and turned back to the front, where orcs were forming small groups. I didn't know where to go or who to talk to, but I knew to stay by Mesh. He was talking to a woman with choppy brown hair and warpaint all over her face. She was very muscular and had a surprisingly deep voice. She sported greyish skin and a wide smile as well, the smile brightening her features as she clapped a hand on his back encouragingly.

"Always happy to help family." She gave an exaggerated nod. "Even friends of family, or honorary members as well. Who is your friend?" Her dark eyes met mine, showing interest and an analytical mind, as though she was already scoping out my weaknesses.

"This is Aknon," Mesh introduced me. He seemed very reserved all of a sudden. Maybe it was because he was shy around other orcs, or perhaps the energy from the others just made it seem as though he was calmer in comparison. "He and I came from the wandering village to look for family."

The woman scrunched her face up. "Heard nasty rumours about that place." Her words made my heart tighten with worry. "I'm Grolen Ark-fire, nice to meet you Aknon." She shook my hand, which felt like it was going to crumble under her hold.

"Likewise," I said with a strained smile. I wanted to be polite, but I was tired and unsure of what was actually happening. "What rumours did you hear about the wandering village?" The words fell from my lips before I even figured out that I wanted the answers. It could make the difference between me staying here and going back, searching endlessly for Sarphi, Prin and Onyx.

"Just a whole bunch of stuff." Grolen shrugged. "Lotsa nasty business happens there, heard the hierarchy is set in stone. They don't really like outsiders."

Mesh frowned. "I lived there for a while." He didn't sound too sure that he agreed with the rumours, but there was a twinge to his voice that I didn't really enjoy. "I didn't quite understand a lot of what went on socially, or power dynamic-ally really. I knew who to go to if I had any issues, but I wasn't really a huge part of the place."

"You stayed at the inn though, right?" I asked quietly. "It might be different if you actually live there, in a building which isn't a temporary thing." I would clutch at any straw to calm my nerves.

"Yes, that's right." Mesh put an arm around my shoulders and began leading me further into the crowd of orcs moving away from the prison, Grolen walking just ahead of us. "For now, let's just get acquainted with the orcs, and then we can ask about Acer."