Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 4: Nothing in Life is Permanent

They were far outside of the village when Lohke spoke to her again. He'd led her across town to where his dire wolf was waiting, an animal many of the orcs chose for mounts, and mounted up with his band of eight orcs. Then they left the village behind. She was surprised he'd placed her on his own mount, sitting precariously in front of him on the back of the massive beast. This was new for her, she'd never been allowed anything like this.

"Where is your home, little human?" He was using the human tongue again. He spoke it surprisingly well. Probably better than she did.

She tilted her head to look up at him, "My home?"

He dipped his head. "Where were you taken from?"

Home. The one place that haunted her memories, with visions of a night so horrific she trembled at just the thought of it. Her heart had belonged to that place until the day the orcs came, then she only thought of it with that same resounding terror.

Yet she had no idea where that nightmare was, or how to reach it.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" He frowned and she shook her head. He clacked his teeth together thoughtfully for a second before he said, "You don't know where you were taken from or you don't have a home?"

"I was taken from home, but I don't know where it is."

"Which kingdom—"

"Lohke." Cold Hammer interrupted, voice sharp. He was on a black wolf next to them, his eyes narrowed. "You're asking the wrong questions." He switched from the human tongue and said in orc, "She has been listening to everything we say, she speaks orc. Isn't that right, human?" She didn't know how he knew, but he seemed completely confident in his assessment.

Lohke frowned a moment, considering those words before he looked down at her again. In orc, he asked, "How long have you been enslaved?"

In orc, she answered, "Fourteen years...I think."

They both cursed and Lohke said, "You would have been a child then."

"She speaks orc better than the human tongue." Cold Hammer stated. "It is no wonder she doesn't know where her home is, if it even still stands."

Lohke sighed, "Fourteen years, Cold Hammer, how in the Underworld did this happen? How did no one ever catch this or stop it?"

"Bloodfang clan has always defied you. We do not travel this way often, nor do our supporters. What do we do with her?"

"She is human, we take her back to humans."

"With her slave collar still on? I don't think so. Take it off."

Lohke looked down at her again but she said, "It doesn't come off."

"You're not a slave anymore."

"No, I mean...I kept removing it so Nukbrik made it permanent."

Lohke snorted, "Nothing in life is permanent." His massive hand reached for her and panic jumped into her throat and she bolted sideways. There was nowhere to go but the ground, but she was entirely unprepared, completely unused to being mounted up on anything, and she fell. The orc called out something as he reached for her, partially catching her before he tumbled off the direwolf with her.

He almost crushed her and she curled into a ball instinctively and the others were on the ground in an instant, spears ready, but she didn't attack. Her heart was still in her throat as she peeked out at them from under her arms. Lohke was motioning for them to put their weapons down as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"I didn't bring you with me to hurt you, you don't have to fear me."

She blinked and slowly moved her arms and looked around. The only one still mounted was Cold Hammer and he looked amused as he said, "Fourteen years with Bloodfang? It's no wonder she's waiting on an attack."

"Come on, stand, I won't hurt you." Lohke said again and everyone slowly started mounting again. The white dire wolf she'd just been riding on walked closer, sniffing curiously before it pushed her foot with it's snout. "Huh." Lohke frowned and she sat up cautiously. It nudged her foot again and she climbed to her feet before it pressed it's head into her. She smiled and stroked the soft fur behind it's ears and looked up to a dozen orcs staring at her with wide eyes.

Her face flushed and she ducked behind the animal's head a little. Cold Hammer shifted on his own mount and said, "Let's get moving again, shall we?"

"The collar first. Come here." He motioned to her and the direwolf nudged her towards him and she walked to him hesitantly. She felt him rotating the collar around her neck, moving it before he pushed her hair aside and pried at it again. When he cursed, she knew he'd found the scar on the back of her neck. Cold Hammer leaned closer, looking from astride his wolf, and one of the other warriors cursed, too. "What in the underworld is that?"

"Human, what is this?"

"Metal collar, no clasps, you do the reasoning." She muttered. Sarcasm like that got her in trouble more often than not, but they didn't say anything about it.

"They welded it onto your neck?"

She laughed without mirth, "Don't sound so surprised."

"I'm surprised it didn't kill you."

"They dribbled hot, liquid iron onto the iron collar to seal it shut. As I said, it's not removable."

"Why would they do that?" A warrior muttered.

"Hate." Cold Hammer said simply.

Lohke grumbled, "There is a lack of compassion in both our races. Anyone without a heart can accomplish this torture. Orc, human, elf, dwarf, it does not matter." She ducked away from Lohke and moved her hair back over her scar. They should see her back. They'd shit bricks if they saw what Nukbrik had done to her back over the course of the years for her disobedience.

"Guess I never made a good slave. I still tried to find other ways to take it off after he welded it on." She jerked her head around at the abrupt laughter and found not just one, but all eight orcs laughing.

"For a human," Cold Hammer said, "you have spirit."

Lohke smiled thoughtfully and then said, "What do they call you?"

"Nukbrik has always called me Garonessa." They visibly cringed and Lohke shut his eyes a long moment while Cold Hammer stared at her intently.

It was a long minute of silence before Lohke said, "Do you remember your human name?"

Erinne. She hadn't been called that in so long and somehow it felt strange to tell the orcs to call her by it. It felt strange to even be called by her name. She was a child the last time she'd actually used that name, the last time someone had called her by it. Inside, she was Erinne, it was her sacred inner self she'd kept safe for as long as she could. Revealing it seemed like a mistake, like she might give away the person she'd tried to preserve inside of herself.

So instead of telling them her name, she said, "Call me whatever you like. Human works fine by me."

***Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! There will be a new chapter posted every Monday! Stay tuned for more Rise of the Warrior of Everfen***