Silence. Pure, uninterrupted silence. Mina crouched on the branch of a large, long-dead tree as she surveyed the camp of orcs before her. Torches were lit but there were no sentries posted at the gates, none of the creatures moving around inside as there normally would have been.

It wasn’t the only strange thing about this night, or what she’d been observing. The camp was almost sterile. The huts and tents lined up in perfect lines. She counted the symbols of at least five different tribes.

She chewed on her bottom lip. Nothing about this place was normal. Her fingers tapped against her thigh.

A shadow moved on her periphery and she turned her head slightly. There. They did have sentries posted, they were just blended into the shadows cast by the ramshackle wall.

They were using the environment to their advantage and not just standing in plain sight.

Mina shifted her weight slightly, the branch creaking. She froze, her eyes tracking to the orcs she’d briefly seen before.

Gone.

Fuck. Where did they go? Her eyes searched the shadows of the wall, trying to find them again.

Decaying leaves crunched beneath her perch. She held her breath when a quick glance down revealed two of the huge creatures directly beneath her.

The top of the tallest orc’s head was mere inches below her branch. A decision needed to be made, and fast.

Every fiber of her being wanted to slide the dagger from its sheath on her thigh and drop down onto the demon, kill it and its companion. Then what? She hadn’t expected there to be so many orcs here.

She had every confidence in her abilities to kill them all, but wasn’t sure if it would be worth the cost. She would more than likely end up injured, and where would that leave her?

“Grok muk shad krush. Krog ox.” The larger orc cuffed the smaller one on the back of its head before it turned and headed back to the shadows of the wall and all but disappeared.

The big one hadn’t believed the other had heard something. Good. She was still relatively safe.

The smaller one procrastinated a moment longer, looking around before heading back itself, muttering obscenities under its breath.

She had to make a decision now. Leave and regroup, or take the chance of injury and burn them all now.

Every fiber of her being screamed at her to kill them, to hell with the consequences of it, every fiber but her head.

The smart thing would be to leave, to find help and alert those in nearby villages of the danger. She didn’t usually do that, but usually the orcs were acting normal and not like an organized army.

Mina should have killed the two sentries when they’d been under the branch. The likelihood that she’d be able to get out of the tree and traverse the vast expanse of dead trees and brush without being seen were not good.

She chewed on her bottom lip. A decision needed to be made soon; the sun would rise in the next few hours. If she was still here there was no way she wouldn’t be discovered. There were likely to be over a hundred orcs with so many tribes in one place. She was good, she would be able to survive an assault, but she wasn’t willing to bet her odds on coming out of it uninjured.

She slid off of the branch and slowly lowered herself to the ground. There was still a foot between herself and the dead, decaying leaves. She took a deep breath and let go.

Something snapped as her weight hit it and the dry leaves scattered. She froze, swearing under her breath.

The orcs gruff voices called out and heavy footsteps began to make their way in her direction.

Fuck.

Well, choice made for her. She spun towards the wall, butterflies of fire flickered to life and surrounded her, awaiting her command and setting the leaves nearest them aflame.

The fire quickly spread out from her, and died just as quickly as it raced forward, devouring the fuel in its wake. It took no time for it to reach the orc sentries that were making their way towards her.

Normal fire wouldn’t have climbed up bare legs and latched onto the patched cloth that covered the muscular, green bodies of the creatures. Normal fire wouldn’t have burned brighter, turning from a dull red to a bright, clear crimson in an instant.

The two orcs screamed in pain, ripping at clothes to tear the flames away from them. It was far too late for that.

Mina’s mouth turned up into a cruel smile as their agony danced across her ears and carressed her skin.

Suffer. Feel an inkling of the pain your kind caused me.

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She strode forward, past the two charred corpses as they dropped to the ground.

Butterflies raced forward with a sharp flick of her wrist, they landed on the wall. The dry, rotted wood stood little chance against her flames.

Shouts sounded from inside, more of the disgusting, crass language the orcs spoke. Her lips curled into a snarl.

She didn’t sneak in. She didn’t hide. The flames parted as she moved through them and into the central clearing of the camp. Orcs flowed from tents and surrounded her.

She laughed, the grin on her face growing wider. More butterflies surrounded her. The air began to shimmer and her dark red hair floated lightly around her head.

Butterflies shot away from her, settling on the orcs nearest her. The screams didn’t last long.

“Ghakthrag!” A voice cut through the clamor. Mina’s eyes darted around, searching for the voice that had called her Firestarter. It hadn’t had the same cadence as a typical orc.

Amber eyes went wide as she spun and spotted the largest orc she’d ever seen. It stood a head over the rest of the orcs, and it had their respect. They moved out of their way as it came closer.

It stood on the edge of the clearing, in front of the orcs, but still a good distance from her.

“Ghakthrag, mak thrak-urz mok tar nox?” It set a huge great ax on the ground in front of it.

Mina narrowed her eyes on it. The weapon wasn’t orcish. The craftsmanship was far too good for that. The edge of the weapon gleamed with deadly light.

“I show my face where I please,” she spat.

“Grok mak throktar krugat gul tor goth.” It lifted the great ax, muscles flexing beneath the weight and it charged.

The ground rumbled beneath its charge as it shouted at the other orcs to not interfere.

She dove out of the wave as it brought the ax down, a small crater forming where it impacted.

A sharp dagger with a black blade appeared in Mina’s hand and she spun around its back, burying it into the unprotected spinal column of the giant creature and butterflies erupted from the wound; they covered it and it didn’t even time to scream.

She pulled the dagger from its back, bits of blade chipping off, and slid it back into the sheath.

None of the other orcs moved forward, their eyes glued to the black mass that had been—what she assumed—their leader.

The butterflies converged on her, hovering breaths from Mina’s skin. She turned, surveying the rest of the beasts. They drew back, muttering amongst themselves.

The fear in the air tasted divine.

The mass took a step back and then another. She narrowed her eyes and a wall of flame rose around the clearing. They weren’t going anywhere.

The butterflies flew out and into the orcs, lighting those they touched on fire. Some had the presence of mind to dodge, but not enough to realize that charging at her wasn’t a good idea. The swarm of flaming insects swirled faster and merged together so that individual forms could no longer be seen in the fiery tornado.

Mina smiled and raised her arms, no sweat beading on her skin despite the intensity of the heat that surrounded her completely.

Every orc that drew near her dropped to its knees and opened its mouth to scream, but unable to as the heat stripped away its breath and set its lungs aflame.

Her eyes widened as a large stone hurdled through her flames. She jumped out of the way, the fire moving with her.

Too late.

The rock impacted with her shoulder, throwing her backward and slamming her against the pole of one of the tents. A cry of pain ripped from her throat.

She stood, her legs and body trembling. Her arm refused to move, and every slight bump sent agony racing along her arm and down her spine.

Half of the butterflies disappeared and her hair dropped to her shoulders. She clenched her jaw and scanned around her. The big orc from before, the one who’s spine she’d severed stood in front of the other orcs and grinned at her. Bits of charred, burned flesh hung from its body.

“Grok nar zuk mak thrugak. Ogg krutnok mak,” it said.

Mina’s blood froze and she narrowed her eyes. Like hell she would be a good breeder. She wasn’t going back. She raised her good arm and shouted, butterflies pouring from her and heading straight for the large orc.

They never reached it though, a deluge of water poured from overhead, snuffing out her powers without so much as a thought.

Shit. One of them had a water Spirit.

This was a bad idea. This was a really bad idea. She should have just killed those sentries and called it good and left. Why had she thought that taking this huge fucking camp on by herself was a good idea?

She shook her head. She could beat herself up about it later. Now was not the time, not if she wanted to survive this encounter, or get out of it without being in chains.

One of the orcs beside the leader darted towards her. The big one grabbed it by the neck and slammed it into the ground with a snarl. “Shog thrak. Kroth lat.”

Mina narrowed her eyes. Like hell she belonged to that thing. Never. Again.

More butterflies manifested around her, glowing brighter. They flowed towards the large orc, but another cascade of water snuffed them out, leaving puffs of steam where the butterflies had been.

The leader strode towards her, its long legs quickly eating the distance between them. It backhanded her, sending her back into the tent pole she’d hit previously, breaking the wood and the canvas started to sag.

It grabbed her by the hair and dragged her up, her legs dangling in the air as it brought her eye-level with it.

“Glok, zog thrak, Ghakthrag. Grok lat.”

It wanted her to keep fighting, it liked it. Her skin crawled. Every part of her being screamed at her to fight, to take her obsidian dagger and stab it into his elbow.

Dread filled her as her eyes scanned its body. All of the burned skin had healed, and it was as though she’d never burned it in the first place. A healing Spirit? The fucker had a healing Spirit?

She spat in its face, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Like hell she’d be taken, she’d make it so that it was too dangerous to keep her alive if she couldn’t get out of this.

The orc laughed and then slammed her, face first, into the ground.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Mina’s vision began to blur and dim, the taste of blood filled her mouth and crimson obscured her vision until the darkness completely took it over.