Orc Savage: A Monster Romance

Chapter 1

Kian

Our journey to Swallow Island isn’t pleasant. For me, anyway. My brother, on the other hand, is looking forward to our parlay with the Ravenhawk clan.

     My brother has always been a fool. I love him, but he is a fool.

     “They’re traitors!” I insist. I have been repeating myself for the last hour, and I will continue to do so until Uli sees sense.

     “You cannot live like this!” I can tell that my brother is finally starting to lose his patience with me. “You have to see the goodness in others! You cannot always assume the worst!”

     We continue arguing until the boat we are in bumps up against the shore of Swallow Island.

     The chieftain of the Ravenhawk clan, Uluruk, is there to meet us with several guards.

     I immediately begin to examine our surroundings. This is just a habit I have cultivated over the years. It is always good to have an escape route planned at all times.

     Why does he have so many guards? This isn’t a good sign.

     The closer we get to the meeting place, the more I realize that my brother truly is an idiot. No one in their right mind would trust an orc like Uluruk. I keep my hand on the knife that is carefully sheathed in the leather belt that hangs loosely around my hips.

     I hope they give me a reason to use it, I think to myself with dark glee.

     I keep my attention focused on the guards and our surroundings while Uli and Uluruk have their discussion.

     I interject once or twice, explosively, just to reinforce to my brother that this is a bad idea.

     Uluruk watches our exchange, and I don’t miss the way his face is stretched into a grim smile.

     But Uli doesn’t listen to me.

     He never does. This is why you’re here, remember? To make sure that he doesn’t suffer too much from the stupid decisions that he makes.

     My thoughts are as grim as the smile on Uluruk’s face. And that is when he offers us the wine.

     He knows exactly what he is doing. All orcs love wine.

     I can’t reject the wine. I can’t be too disrespectful, because if Uli actually manages to pull off this renegotiation then it will actually be good for both camps.

     The wine is a beautiful blend, light and sweet.

     And poisonous.

     I feel the effects of it almost immediately.

     I can hear my heart thudding unevenly in my ears, and I can feel it tripping along in my chest. My mouth is dry, and the hand holding the glass cannot hold it up for much longer. I hold onto the table with my free hand, but only for a second, as I drop the glass and slump to the floor.

     From the corner of my eye, I watch as my brother and the guards we brought with us fall to the ground too.

     They poisoned all of us! Uli, you fucking idiot!

     But for some reason, I don’t feel very righteous about being right about this renegotiation.

     Because I am quite sure that Uluruk’s plan is to kill my brother and take over as chieftain of the Risen Ash clan.

     There isn’t much to be happy about.

     The only person who can get us out of this safely now is me.

     I didn’t spend most of my life building immunity to most poisons for no reason.

     I can’t believe our father’s paranoia about being poisoned is actually going to pay off, I think to myself as I force myself to crawl forward.

     Uluruk and his guards have left the room, and it seems that I am the only one able to fight off the effects of the poison. By the time I am standing, leaning against the wall, sweat is pouring off me like heavy rains falling from the sky.

     My mouth is still dry, and I know the poison has done some damage because my vision is hazy and blurry.

     There is a ringing in my ears, a ringing that silences the sound of my heartbeat. A frantic moment goes by while I wonder if my heart is still beating.

     No time to wonder if you’re dying. Get going!

     If I am dying, I’m going to kill a few of Uluruk’s guards on my way out.

     I pull my knife, gifted to me by my father, out of its sheath as I continue to walk unsteadily to the door of the makeshift shack we’re in. The more I walk, the more I sweat, and I know that that, out of everything that has happened, is a good thing.

     Because more and more of the poison is excreted with every droplet of sweat that rolls off me.

     I cannot help but feel victorious when I finally make it to the door of our meeting room.

     Uli is still unconscious, and I just have to hope that he’ll survive and make it back to the Risen Ash clan as its chieftain.

     I’ll come back for him after I’ve dealt with Uluruk. I’ll beat him into submission. After getting the antidote to the poison.

     They didn’t expect me to survive. When I walk through the door and round a corner, every one of the orcs there looks at me with wide-eyed surprise.

     Behind them, I can see the waters that brought us here when I look out of the door that leads outside. The fresh, salty air blows in wildly, and I feel more of the poison clear my system as I inhale the sharp, bright air.

     You are still weak, I tell myself as I hold the knife in my hand and advance on the orcs.

     “Where is Uluruk?” I growl the words.

     Two of the orcs look at one another, and I watch as they exchange something shiny.

     “You win,” one of the orcs says and shakes his head sagely.

     “You were a fool to bet against him,” the other orc replies. “How could you think that poison would defeat Kian, the Undefeated Gladiator?”

     I almost roll my eyes at the conversation.

     “Where is Uluruk?” I ask again and continue to stagger toward them. “I want to rip his guts out!”

     “You won’t be doing any such thing,” one of the other orcs – there are four of them – says, as if speaking to a naughty child.

     When I look down at the knife in my hand, I realize that my grip on the knife is failing and my hand is shaking.

   “Our chieftain,” a one-eyed orc speaks and shrugs almost apologetically. “Said we can do what we want with you. We have Uli, and we don’t need anyone else.”

     All the orcs rise at once. I blink twice, but my hazy vision hasn’t cleared completely. I tighten my grip on the knife as they advance on me one by one.

     “You shouldn’t do this,” the one-eyed orc says. “You should just give up. We won’t kill you slowly. We’ll make it quick. Trust us, we don’t want to torture a great orc like you.”

     “Yes,” one of the other orcs, the one closest to me, chimes in. “You’re Kian the Undefeated Gladiator. We want to treat you with respect. Just give up.”

     I laugh then, loudly, raucously, and unafraid.

     I might die here today, but there is no way on Earth that I am giving up. I will not go quietly into the darkness of death. I am determined to take out as many of these orcs as I can.

     Uluruk will have to struggle to rebuild his forces.

     The first orc that comes at me is one of the younger ones. I might be half blind and still weak, but fighting is in my blood, and there are buckets of blood on my hands to prove this.

     Fighting is a second language to me. Something I can do without thinking.

     The orc slams his fist into my stomach, and I stagger backward, but I keep a hand around his arm and force myself forward while the knife in my other hand goes into his stomach.

     He gasps in surprise.

     Blood spurts from him. I know that it is only adrenaline, but I feel my strength return with every drop of blood that spills from him. I kick out at him, and my foot finds his groin. I twist the knife in his gut.

     But I am not lucky for long. Because two of the orcs come at me, and while I stab them in several places, they’re all glancing wounds.

     They punch and beat me, twisting my arms away from my body. My father’s knife falls to the ground with a clatter as they punch me in the face. I know that my face must be broken by the time they’re finished with me.

     I sink to the floor again as they walk away.

     They clearly think they have won.

     I crawl towards the knife, which is about a foot away, as quietly as I can.

If I kill two more of them, I can die happily.