Aruna. The Queen of the Orcs

Chapter 12

Before descending, we looked into the distance. Only a person with poor eyesight could miss the many moving dark dots on the horizon, but fortunately my eyesight in this world was one hundred per cent.

- A herd of bison, nibbling on the grass, moving slowly... hmm, about three days before they reach this part of the valley, - Rayla estimated. - So... now...

The woman took a long thin rope from her shoulder bag, made a large loop and tied it around one of the large boulders, then threw the other end down.

- It's strong, don't worry, it's soaked in resin and it'll do us good, you'll see. I borrowed it from Inge for a few days.

I didn't even think about it. I just hugged Rayla:

- What would I do without you, Mum, - I told her quietly, and the woman smiled and just nodded:

- Let's go.

It took us a long time to get down into the valley between the two parts of the Great Forest. Mum literally stopped and listened at every step. The slope was steep, frighteningly steep, but much safer than any place I'd seen before. And the rope Rayla had thoughtfully brought with her was a great help.

Everything had to come to an end, and we were almost at the end of our journey, with only a few meters to go. My body was aching from the strain and I wanted to hurry and put an end to this torture.

Mum took a step forward, as did I, probably in a hurry to get down, and I think she was in too much of a hurry: a pebble flew out from under her moccasin, the woman screamed, flapped her arms like a bird, let go of the rope for some reason... and plunged down... and I plunged down. I caught up with her, grabbed Rayla around the waist, twisted incredibly, clenched my teeth in effort, and flew backwards. The fall was short, but the impact with the ground was unpleasant and painful. To make matters worse, a large Orc woman fell on top of me, sparks flying from her eyes. My mind was literally blown out and the back of my head exploded with terrible pain.

- My dearest daughter... - my mother's voice came to me as if from afar.

- Aruna! - Rayla looked into my face, tears streaming down her olive cheeks, - I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Why did you rush to catch me? - and again: - Oh, I'm sorry!

- Mum, - I moaned, - I'm fine, it's just my back and the back of my head. Are you all right? Are you all right?

- Wait, I have a tincture of carilla with me, here, take it, drink it. As much as you can. I'm fine, what can possibly happen to me? You shouldn't have grabbed me, it's not high up here, nothing would have happened! - She spoke frantically, obviously still worried about me.

The woman helped me to sit down, unfastened a shabby water pitcher from her belt, held it to my lips and I immediately took a big gulp of the foul, warm water with a strange, unpleasant aroma added to it.

- Sit here in the shade, you must wait for the tincture to take effect, - the woman said, - and when it does, we'll go to the settlement, to Vita.

- No, - I protested with a stubborn chin. - First the case, then everything else. The bones are intact and that's good.

Rayla stared at my face and nodded slowly, not wanting to argue with me.

I sat with my back against the cool stone, the cold easing the pain in my body, and after a dozen minutes the throbbing in my neck was barely perceptible. I'm relieved.

- I'll get away with a bruise, - I smiled, trying to reassure my mother, who was staring at me with wide, worried eyes.

- OK, Mum, we have to go, - I added as I stood up. I swayed a little as I stood up, but I managed to grab hold of a rock. - Let's hurry, we've lost so much time.