My face feels like it’s burning as a rough hand runs across my face as I’m smacked awake. Did they knock me out? How long did they beat me? Another rough slap. I don’t open my eyes yet. I’m trying to remember what happened. I was outside fighting, beat a few Orcs. Reinforcements came from inside, someone in a car pulled up. They dragged me inside. There it is, they started beating me. Wanted to know who I worked for. I didn’t answer. I guess they really did knock me out. They’re going to pay for that, it’s personal now. A third hard slap.

“If you slap me like that again, I’m going to cut you open and force you to jump rope with your intestines until you die,” I open my eyes and stare at the Orc in front of me.

He must be the boss of their operation. Bad fitting suit and tie, he’s sticking with a mafia vibe, even if his underlings look more like a gang. The nasty kinked dreadlocks bound together with twine and some disgusting smelling products that orcs have taken to wearing cover his head. At first, I thought his forehead was covered in sweat, but it seems to be whatever product is in his head leaking out. He’s one of the few Orcs I’ve seen who still has the large underbite and massive teeth. Long lost their evolutionary purpose, most Orcs aren’t born with them anymore. Lots of Orcs still get them implanted, their way of distinguishing themselves from the Goblins even more. His look like he opted for gold and jewel incrusted implants. I can’t wait until I get the chance to knock them right out of his head.

“You must not know who you’re talking to,” he wrings his hands.

“I don’t give a fuck who I’m talking to, just don’t slap me again,” I notice all of my gear spread out neatly on a table behind him. Is this some kind of interrogation?

“I’m a nice guy, so I won’t slap you again if you tell me who you’re working for.”

“I’m a free agent,” a term I recently learned from watching sports.

“Don’t try to be a tough guy, you’re lucky we didn’t kill you.”

“Well thank you for your kindness,” they’re not used to hostages. They’ve ziptied my hands together in front of me. That move is going to cost him his life.

“Now, who do you work for?”

“I told you, I work for myself. Does anything get through that thick skull of yours?”

This time he goes for a closed fist punch, to the top of my head. I told him to keep his hands to himself. I lift myself from the chair and look up into his eyes. He doesn’t back down. Good, it’ll be a fight. I lift my knee directly into his groin. I’m not above going for the fleshy bits; fighting honorable doesn’t mean shit if you lose. While he recoils, I raise my arms over my head and slam them down, snapping the zipties. Now we’ve got a fair fight.

He rushes in trying to take me down. I sidestep and slam his head into the wall. I’m pissed off now. I don’t give him a moment to escape. I pound the back of his head punch after punch. My knuckles feel the pain of his hard skull, but I’m sure he’s feeling as much pain as I am right now. There’s some blood becoming visible, but I keep going until I’m sure he’s out. I hear footsteps outside the door and rush to the other side of the room. I kick the door closed on another Orcs arm. He snatches it back and I lock the door; it won’t do much good but it’ll buy me a whole thirty seconds maybe.

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I grab my things from the table, looks like I’m taking a hostage to get out of here. I grab my knife and lift the boss groggily to his feet. Knife to his neck I head out the room to several pissed off Orcs, but when they see the knife they calm down. Orcs never leave anyone behind if they can get out, another form of that outdated thing called honor.

“I’m gonna kill you,” one Orc yells, being held back by his friends.

“Go get Gnoth,” the boss mumbles and a few take off.

The rest remain still as I make my way into the main lobby. I’m stopped when I come face to face with what can’t be anything other than Gnoth. I just let the boss go, because I can’t win this fight with a hostage. Gnoth has to be a full blooded Orc. I had heard rumors about Orcs still breeding some for war in the event that they could rise to power again. I thought they were rumors, but clearly not. Gnoth has to be at least eight feet tall and four hundred pounds of muscle. His teeth aren’t implants and he has tusks at the top and bottom. He’s even dragged a warhammer across the ground for this fight. I’ve never seen a warhammer like that anywhere beyond history books. The one he’s dragging has to be a few hundred pounds and Gnoth just happens to be standing between me and the door.

I make the first move, it’s key to winning this. I rush towards the left side of the room, then change directions and try to slide between his legs. He grabs me and tosses me back to the other side of the room. I pull myself off the floor. I’m just going to have to find another way. I’ve got one sunlight grenade left. I could try that but I’m not sure when I can afford more, or even where to get them in the city. Bullets are plentiful in the city, but I don’t even know if bullets could penetrate. I guess I just have to try cutting him down to size.

My planning is cut short as he starts to move towards me dragging the hammer. He lifts it into the air crumbling a portion of the ceiling as he reaches the peak of his swing. This gives me a chance. I dive at his foot and make some rapid slashes at the back of the tree trunks he calls ankles before he can kick me off and send me flying to make a hole in another wall. He’s cut and bleeding but it doesn’t look like it did any good. He’s started swinging his hammer side to side, slow but powerful. I manage to dive out of the way as he creates a massive hole straight through the wall where the Jason sized hole used to be.

We continue the song and dance. I dodge a deathblow, I stab at his Achilles again trying to bring him to the ground. Then I get flung across the room. I swear I’ve cut through his tendon at this point and he’s still moving. The inbred giant either doesn’t feel pain or know that it’s a warning sign. This time around I peak and I’m scraping the bone at this point, yet he’s still moving. My lucky break comes when he goes to swing the hammer again. His leg finally gives out under the weight. I take the opportunity to climb his shoulders. I start to stab at his eyes and ears. Any fleshy parts my knife can easily penetrate. He doesn’t even scream in pain. I can only feel relief when he finally falls to the ground.

I don’t have time to catch my breath as other Orcs start to close in. I don’t have enough stamina, strength or magic to fight all these Orcs. I don’t have enough for one more Orc. I pull my guns and start shooting. Bullets start to penetrate, and there are no screams of pain, instead ancient war crimes fill the air. Gnoth starts to rise and takes out two Orcs in his blindness, I use the chaos to start chasing after the boss Orc. He’s heading for the back door where they brought me in. Probably trying to get to his car, but I won’t let him.