Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen The Deer Said, "Oh~"

Cadderly fell into a deep sleep, not even dreaming, as utter exhaustion overcame his turbulent emotions.And so soundly asleep that the young scholar was even more frightened when Danica's screams shattered his stillness. Cade sat up instantly, seeing a lumbering figure behind Danica.He knew at once that it was Tenek; he prayed that the savage had not been long in the tent. Cadderly tried to rush at his lover, only to find himself grabbed roughly by the wrist and pulled painfully behind him. "If she resists, break the priest's hand," Tenek said.Danica shot Cadderly a look, and stopped struggling.Tenek swung the young woman over his shoulders and walked out, flanked by two orcs.The third monster quickly followed after giving Cadderly a final painful tug on his arm.Cadderly stood up stubbornly behind the orc, but the monster turned and knocked him to the ground.

The whole world became a blur with pain, and there was endless dizziness.Cadderly noticed that Abereth, still sitting at the back of the tent, was struggling violently but in vain.The elf's wrists were bound so tightly around his knees that he couldn't even stand. Growling, almost out of control, Cadderly tried to stand up again, but the Uruk kicked him in the ribs, causing him to collapse again.He looked around, saw his feathered ring, saw a bucket by the side of the room, saw Abereth, but couldn't find any way to save Danica.With Danica taken away and in danger, Cadderly had no way to fight back.

"No!" he yelled, causing the orc to kick him again, "No! No!" Like a madman, Cadderly repeated the word, ignoring the punches and kicks of the angry orc. "No! No! No!" But no matter how stubborn and angry Cadderly was, his words echoed hollowly, a tiny counterattack at best. ※※※ On Tenek's huge shoulders, Danica didn't struggle.She decided to bide her time, waiting for the opportunity for this bronze-skinned man to appear alone.Or at least, hopefully, she'll wait until Tenek is alone with her. She was disgusted by Tenek's apparent intentions, but the thought of those Uruks even being there was utterly intolerable.

Tenek's tent is the third largest in the entire camp, located in the center of the rear half of the camp, and also serves as a warehouse for the enemy's troops.To Danica's great relief, the urc that the blond barbarian was supposed to guard remained outside the tent.Then he made his way through the piles of barrels and boxes to a stack of blankets and furs in the middle of the room. In a corner, an oil lamp shimmers; the air is thick with the smell of meat. Tenek lowered Danica to stand, more gently than the woman had expected.He looked into her almond-shaped eyes, then stroked her golden raspberry hair.

Pretend it, Danica told herself, resisting every instinct in her body. "Untie me," she whispered to her tall captor, "it's better for both of us." Tenek's huge hand slid across Danica's smooth cheek, barely touching her, much to her distaste. But still trembling all over. "Untie me," she whispered again. Tenek gave her a mocking smile.The gentle touch on her face turned into a steely clamp that nearly snapped her jaw in two.Danica wrenched away from him, free for a moment, but then was pulled back, this time the barbarian pulling at a lock of her hair.

"You think I'm stupid—" Danica's knee slams into his groin and he snaps shut.In order to hit the target, she had to jump all over. Tenek's face contorted only once before he pushed Danica back.She managed to keep her balance, and then she kicked the man's stone-hard stomach as he stalked towards her. Tenek's face was murderous, and he didn't seem to notice the kick, but Danica could tell from his slight limp that her first attack had had some effect. Danica aimed for his knee this time, but she had to stop midway, dodging sideways as Tenek slammed a heavy fist into her face.She narrowly stepped aside, but the swift savage's second hand followed even faster, smacking her in the face.

The entire tent seemed to be spinning, and Danica fell to her knees.She knew Tene had her under control and could do whatever he wanted; with her hands tied behind her back, she couldn't stand against such a powerful fighter.Danica tugged at the rope, ignoring the roughness of the rope against her wrist as she struggled ferociously to free herself. After a while, Danica could feel the warm blood running down her hands.Why didn't Tenek continue beating her? Danica looked over her shoulder boldly and saw the giant limping away.The first blow she'd delivered to him with her knee had clearly dispelled his lustful thoughts, at least temporarily.

The barbarian called a huge Uruk into the tent, ordering it to watch Danica, but not to touch her unless she wanted to run away.Tenek, looking intently at Danica, said that if she wanted to run away, the orc would do anything to her. Tenek looked at Danica slyly. "Give me your weapon," he ordered the Uruk.The creature hesitated, putting its hand on its own sword defensively. "Give it to me!" Tenek snarled. "She'll take them out of your hands and kill you with them, don't doubt it." handed over his long dagger. Then the bronze-skinned man was gone, and the orc came carefully and stood beside Danica, his breath shallow and expectant. "Take a break, beauty." It spat the words from its stinking mouth, imagining that the mission might be of some benefit after all.

"Can you help me stand up?" Danica asked innocently after a while.She figured Tenek would be back before dawn so Dorigen wouldn't know what happened.And she knew it was not long before sunrise. The Uruk reached down, grabbed her by the hair, and roughly pulled her to her feet. "You prefer this?" it growled, bringing its stinking mouth closer to Danica again. Danica nodded, telling herself that she had to act now or never have the chance.She wished she had pulled the rope loose enough, and she prayed she did, because the consequences of failure were too dire for her to even imagine.

The young woman mustered her courage as she recalled all her training at a crucial moment.She fell toward the floor, feigning a fall, and the orc instinctively bent to grab her, but Danica's feet coiled beneath her, and she bounced over the stunned beast.She bent her knees to her chest and swung her bound hands from under her feet.As she fell, she struck at the same time, kicking straight and hard, hitting the Uruk in the jaw. The creature fell back panting.Danica stood again, her hands still bound, but now in front of her.Although the orc was astonished, he was not injured. It rushed back with a howl.Danica kicked him hard in the chest and knee, effectively slowing him down.Then she clasped her hands together and slammed them in the monster's face, once and again.There was a snarl to every movement, and her movements became a blur of shadows, kicking, kicking, hitting, and the Uruk could only raise his arms to shield his face, trying to block the blow.

The onslaught stopped abruptly, and then the orc, just as Danica expected, went on the offensive.The creature lunged awkwardly at her, but only caught air, as Danica took a quick step back.Before the monster could regain its balance, Danica struck.She sprinted straight for the Uruk's shoulder, somersaulting, letting her rope wrap around the monster's thick neck. The orc bent back under this fierce pull; if it was a human neck, it would have been broken under this fierce pull.Danica quickly learned that she couldn't keep pulling so tight until the thick-skinned, muscular monster died.The orc, already recovering, grabbed Danica by the wrist, tugging and releasing the noose around its neck. Danica finds her chances are slipping.She scanned the orc, but found no weapons.She looked around the room, but nothing resembling a stick or knife appeared.In desperation she thought of a plan.She suddenly changed the strength in her hand, allowing herself to follow the pull of the orc and turn to face the monster.Predictably, the orc began to spin his body to shake her off. Danica followed its hulking spin, gave it a yank, and fell back, twisting, flipping the Uruk onto her.Danica swooped down with it, guiding its fall, and slammed its head into a vat of water.The monster was halfway inside the barrel, and Danica jumped on top of it, catching a foot between its knotted feet and catching it as hard as she could. The monster was much stronger than she was, but Danica wielded strength that the orc couldn't comprehend.She tucked her legs tightly inside the rim of the bucket, then clamped her hands around the sides like a vise for better support.The orc's hand reached up to the side of the bucket and tugged, but Danica stuck securely there, using her tight feet as a point of support to keep her from being pulled out of place. The monster's forceful twist hit her several times, leaving her bruised, but she reminded herself it wouldn't last long. Still, to the tired and battered woman, the orc's frantic struggle to keep its head out of the water seemed to last for what seemed like hours.A knee knocked her nose bleeding.The other kicked hard across the side of her head, making Danica wonder if her ear had been ripped off. Then, it all ended abruptly.Almost taken aback, Danica continued to hold her position for a moment, just in case.Thinking that Tenek might be back soon, she climbed down from the barrel.She was drenched, with tears in her eyes and blood streaming from her nose.She observed which side of the tent would be a better escape, and then rushed over, biting the rope tied around her hands with her mouth. ※※※ An orc rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked towards the east, hoping that the dawn would come soon and end this tedious task of standing guard.To the south it looked, where a field of tall grass was sparsely dotted with trees. Before the light of dawn had fully begun to shine, the orc heard a murmur in the distance and saw two stag antlers moving among the grass.At first, the creature raised his spear, thinking a feast of wild game was on the way.But it blinked and rubbed its eyes again, wondering how a deer with such large horns could be so small that it could be covered by grass less than three feet high. The two antlers continued to slide forward, still some distance away.They approached the trunk of a twisted apple tree, and the orc blinked again as the two antlers parted and passed over the obstacle. "Morakro!" the orc called to the leader of the guards, the orc.The huge, hideous Uruk, warming its warty toes over the campfire, cast a nonchalant glance at the sentry before turning his head away. "Morakoro!" the orc yelled again, this time more insistently.The orc reluctantly stood up and walked over, not even bothering to put his tattered boots on. "There are deer," the orc explained when the Uruk arrived, and pointed to the approaching antlers, which were not so far away now. "Deer?" asked Moragro, scratching its massive head. "Bah, you idiot," the Uruk said after a moment, "what kind of deer says 'ohhh'?" They had their answer in just a second, and Ivan's great ax and Pikel's trunk club hit them. ※※※ Danica crawled slowly through the bushes at the edge of the camp, and as she approached the captive's tent, warning calls began to sound.At first she thought it was Tenek who had spotted the dead Ukrainian, but then she heard "Ooh!" over the commotion, followed by heavy banging, and the wailing of a wounded ogre. "How is that possible?" Danica wondered, but there was no time to figure things out right now.She got up and ran the rest of the way, slipping cautiously into the side of the loosely tied hide tent.She stopped halfway, then scrambled to the side, hiding behind a pile of old crates, as Tenek and an orc rushed in through the tent entrance. "Take that human to Dorigen!" the barbarian ordered, pointing at Cadderly.Tenek drew Abereth's well-made sword from his belt, and smiled evilly, "I'll deal with the elves." Seeing that Cadderly was being taken away, Danica's first instinct was to slip back outside, skirt the tent, and help him.But she has to resist the urge, because Tenek's horrific attempts on Abereth are all too obvious.The barbarian took a big step toward the elf, but before it was too late, Danica was between them. "Run!" she heard Alberez say behind her. "I accept my fate, don't die for me." Tenek's surprised expression disappeared in an instant, and a mocking smile appeared on his face. "The orc is dead?" he asked, looking unconcerned.He nodded his handsome head, as if not surprised at all. Danica's expression didn't soften at all, nor did she change her defensive crouching position.Tenek turned his sword on her. "I'm afraid that is a great loss," he said slyly. "My dear lady, I could have given you great pleasure." "I'm not your lady!" Danica snarled, and she kicked him in the chest, sending him back a step. "What a loss," the barbarian said again, panting a little, but otherwise unaffected.He pulled a small net from his belt and wrapped it around his free hand. Danica circled carefully, knowing that if her kicked foot got caught in the net, the consequences would be disastrous.She looked for gaps and weaknesses, but found none.The gigantic barbarian held the elven longsword as if it had been made for him.When he faced the young woman and began to circle, the overall balance was almost impeccable. Danica ran forward, seemed to kick up, but then dropped to the ground suddenly, her legs sweeping towards Tenek's ankles.The savage escaped with one foot, but the other was hit by Danica's whirling leg, sending him staggering.He quickly regained his balance and rushed forward. While shaking the net to prevent her kick from getting close, he wanted to chop the woman who was leaning. However, Danica wasn't stupid enough to continue her attack.Before Tenek cut the first sword, she had already stepped back and regained her balance. "I am better than you," said the barbarian defiantly. "I have better weapons and technology. You have no chance of survival." Danica had a little difficulty objecting that what the giant said was not true.She had kicked him solidly several times, but he hardly flinched at all.She saw him wielding the sword with ease, and already felt his steely hold. Just then he charged straight at her like a wicked wind, thrusting and slashing, deftly swinging his net around the swinging sword. Danica dodges and dives, deflecting a jab, slashing her arm while doing so, but narrowly escapes unscathed. "Run!" Aberez yelled, struggling in vain within the tight bonds.He rolled and kicked and tugged at his arms until they bled, but the stubborn ropes just wouldn't let go of their grip. Danica was thankful that Tenek kept chasing her, because the barbarian could easily kill Abereth with a single turn before she could get close enough to intervene. "I'll kill him after I knock you down," Tenek explained, as if reading her mind. "After he watched me get you!" Abereth's growl brought another smile to the brutal barbarian's lips. Tenek charged forward again, but Danica was ready.She raised one foot as if to kick directly at her attacker, but instead kicked to one side, severing the central pillar of the huge tent.The canopy fell on them, blocking Tenek's attack. The savage kept leaping, trying to lift the fallen tent before Danica charged at him, but the young woman was nowhere to be seen. "A chase worth it!" roared Tenek, refusing to be threatened, "and a prize worth capturing." He stalked, pushing the tent aside as he went. Danica could easily have slipped out of the collapsed tent, but doing so would have left Abereth helpless.The savage was unafraid, and feeling that she had no chance of winning, the savage made no secret of his location.Desperate to gain some advantage in making this one-sided battle, Danica decides to use this against him. ※※※ "You hit that!" Ivan yelled, pointing at a fleeing orc. Pikel stepped out from behind a tree, right in front of the orc.The dwarf grasped the tapering end of the stick with both hands, and with one sweep, hit the poor creature's uparm, trying to fend off it, and then hit its head so hard that its bony neck The son broke off at the sound. "Ooh!" the happy dwarf screamed to his brother. "Behind you!" Ivan replied, and Pikel turned, this time flattening an orc's head between the club he was swinging and the tree trunk.The orc's skull shattered with a sickening sound. Shouting warnings to his brother did nothing to slow Ivan's own ferocious attacks.Standing on the back of the felled ogre, he slashed at the orcs and orcs surrounding him.The ogre was still alive, and every time it groaned or moved, Ivan kicked the monster hard on the back of its fat head as a warning. Sheer malice took the place of skill as the dwarf kept several monsters at bay with a deadly slash of his mighty axe.An orc managed to get past the ogre behind Ivan, hitting him hard on the back of the head. Ivan gave it a mocking grin, and sent it flying with the axe, halfway through the creature's ribs. ※※※ Tenek stopped jumping and shouting and walked slowly, carefully moving the fallen roof away from him. "I'm not a cowardly warrior in civilized land," he said calmly, "I'm Kura-Weinser!" He felt a movement on the other side, something moving under the collapsed tent, and he took a small step in that direction.He held up one hand to keep the roof from sagging, and bent as low as he could. He saw Danica's feet a few feet away, beneath the sagging hide tent.It's game over, Tenek decides, because he knows the fight outside needs him. "I know your tricks!" he cried, and he threw back the canopy and rushed in Danica's direction, sword held in front of him.Tenek knew that the range of his long arms would give the woman no chance to dodge or resist. But unbeknownst to the confident Tenek, Danica grabbed the lower half of the broken central pillar, becoming a crude spear longer than his sword. Tenek's eyes widened in disbelief as he saw himself impaled by the weapon Danica had set up. "Part of my trick, maybe," the woman said coldly, feeling absolutely no guilt over the man's death.She drove the post deeper, turning it. Abereth's sword dropped from Tenek's outstretched hand; the net hung loosely from the other.He dropped to his knees, and Danica let go of her hands. The spear propped Tenek up, keeping him in a kneeling position, and the top of the tent fell on him—a suitable shroud. Danica didn't hesitate.Poor Alberez, sitting blind behind the collapsed tent, will have to wait.The young woman gets her bearings and climbs all the way to the clearing outside. The light of dawn was fully shining, and it was morning.Orcs and orcs scattered in confusion, roaring, save for the one fighting the Stoneshouldered brothers.The two brothers now stood back to back on top of the felled ogre.Cadderly was on the other side, still being dragged by the orcs. Danica ran after her lover, then stopped urgently as the magician suddenly appeared from next door to Tenek's tent.Dorigen made a few movements, reaching out with a hand holding something Danica couldn't identify, and said the activation spell. Danica's gut reaction allowed her to dive between two trees just in time for the magician's lightning to explode.The explosion split a small tree, then bounced back into another, searing it all the way over the head of the prostrate woman.Danica immediately jumped up and ran away, but soon, Dorigen's second spell struck again. Sticky threads filled the air and fell around Danica, and they clung to trees and bushes and everything in a thick web.Danica scrambled around, using her speed and agility to stay one step ahead of the forming trap. She escaped the trap of the tangle, although a little off her original path, and Dorigen was not far away.She heard a flapping of wings, but saw nothing.Suddenly, Druzil appeared before her eyes, and the imp's barbed tail flew towards her shoulder. The wound was shallow, just a scrape, but a sudden numbness and burning sensation from Danica's shoulder let her know that the imp had in fact poisoned her.She slumped against a tree, and Druzil hovered in front of her, smiling evilly and wagging its tail as if it wanted to stab her again. ※※※ Cadderly was heartened to see Ivan and Pikel come unexpectedly to help him.But this cheer died quickly, for he found that the two dwarves had no chance of stopping the orc from taking him to Dorigen.The creature did not loosen its grip on Cadderly's arm at all, though it was more focused on its fellow fighters than the prisoner. "Only by myself," Cadderly whispered through gritted teeth.When the orc let go of his grip for a moment, he saw it as his chance to escape. But before Cadderly could muster up the courage to act, the opportunity was missed.He heard an explosion nearby, and saw Dorigen perform some kind of lightning-like witchcraft, but he couldn't tell what her target was. As they approached the campfire, another opportunity presented itself, and this time, Cadderly put himself to the test.He staggered, then fell at the orc's feet, groaning and feigning injury.When the startled creature reached out to him, he swung his feet between its feet, hooked the orc from behind its knees, and curled up with all his might.The surprised orc stumbled forward, past him.It might not be a pretty approach, but it works—especially when the campfire is burning a few feet away.Sparks flew everywhere as the orc crashed into the embers.It screamed and jumped up, flapping frantically at the sparks that caught its clothes. Cadderly struggled to his feet, and dove toward the creature's back, knocking it back into the flames again.This time the orc jumped up and ran away from the other side, completely ignoring the young scholar. "Well done, boy!" Cadderly heard Ivan yell, and he turned just in time to see the dwarf slash his head so hard that it nearly split an Uruk in half.Cadderly was quite proud of his deception, but even if he succeeded in that move, he was stuck in the middle of the battle, defenseless, with his hands tied behind his back!He sprinted to the quietest side, ducking for cover behind a drinking trough. ※※※ Danica directed her thoughts inward, anthropomorphizing the poison, a little thing biting her shoulder.Her muscles became her tools, contracting, constricting, and in turn driving the uninvited aggressor back toward the wound. Poison is tenacious, gnawing and burning, but Danica also has a firm will far beyond that of ordinary humans.With complex movements of her muscles, she pushed the poison aside, then let it retreat an inch.Thinking of the wound as a door, she acted without flinching, finally driving the demon out. When she opened her eyes, waves of dizziness hit her.She saw Druzil again, still wagging that deadly tail, but with a much less confident expression than at first.Danica followed the imp's surprised gaze over her shoulder and saw the black fluid dripping down her arm from her wound. Druzil's tail whizzed back, then thrust forward quickly, but Danica's attack was even faster, a straight punch that sent the hovering imp flipping back on its head and on its feet. Danica tried to give chase, but had to lean against a tree to keep from falling.She saw the magician scoop up the stunned imp and start another spell, and this time held out her clenched fist towards the monk, an onyx ring clearly visible. Danica pushed herself forward, ignoring the dizziness and focusing on getting closer to Dorigen. Dorigen abruptly changed her plan and uttered a few quick spells instead.A blue flash appeared before the magician, and she and Druzil walked in, then disappeared. ※※※ The remaining six orcs had no intention of continuing to fight the two vicious dwarves.They fled at the same time, with Ivan and Pikel on their heels.As soon as the monsters left the clearing, they ran towards the tree, guessing that the armored dwarves would be less able to climb. Ivan and Pikel stopped in front of the tree trunk.Pikel hopped around, trying to grab hold of a branch and pull himself up.Yiwen had other ideas in his mind.He leaned the huge ax between his feet, spat into both hands, and picked up the weapon and stalked toward the tree trunk. "Ooh!" growled Pikel, the druid-to-be, shaking his head as he spread his short arms before the precious tree trunk. "What? You got knocked out?" Ivan yelled. "There's a big fucking orc over there, bro. Big damn big!" "Ooh." Pikel's tone was uncompromising. After a while the discussion was over, as Cadderly saw a blue light appear in the distance, and Dorigen stepped out of it and began chanting incantations towards the camp. "Watch out for the magician!" cried the young scholar.Pikel only had time to say "Huh?" before the spell worked, engulfing the tree, and the dwarves, in a ball of fire. Cadderly jumped out from behind the drinking trough and charged at them. Pikel was the first to emerge after the devastation, his clothes and face blackened with smoke, and his beard scorched and cocked in all directions.Ivan appeared behind him, almost as messy as he was.Worse than them are those strong beasts, who were scorched alive on the trees that had not even left a leaf. "Bang!" said the druid-minded dwarf.Ivan collapsed face down in the dirt. Cadderly ran towards him, but Pikel stopped the young scholar, holding out a hand, pointing to the large tent at the back of the camp, and to Danica, who was stumbling out from the undergrowth. Cadderly ran to her while Pikel tended to his brother. Danica's face seemed too pale, too delicate, and Cadderly almost yelled angrily.Danica assured him she was fine—or would be fine soon—but then she fell into his arms, almost unconscious. The young scholar was full of guilt and wondered why he should go to hell and drag her into this situation, a war.