Chapter 90
But not when Orc Keep Strong Together
(Ogo)
A ferocious blizzard may one day kill an orc…
The line between disaster and monster was a blurry one. Why shouldn’t humans call blizzards monsters? Blizzards could kill. With ice instead of teeth, and size instead of limbs, only orcs could survive such a brutal thing!
For days now we traveled in the eye of the blizzard. With how long it raged, there was no sense in thinking about its edge or a world outside of it. Life was one foot in front of the other while keeping the tongue thawed.
We plowed through the land. Would we recognize our destination among the boulders? We couldn’t have passed the golems already. I knocked on snow covered stone rubble when I chanced upon them. Although none had been golems, they could have been.
Then came the whiteout. With speed we had tethered each cart together, and our wrists were slipped into loops in the rope. Onward we plowed through knee high snow. There were ice crystals in our armor that chimed as we trekked.
Visibility was so low that when my knees came up out of the snow, they sometimes surprised me. The wind was like an eternally punching fist. It hit the snow so hard that it made the whiteout milky thick. It was not only harsh like sandpaper, it was deafening. The roll of cart wheels, and the chime of ice crystals and armor had soon become overpowered. It screamed. At times it sounded like the bellow of an orc.
Was that Jix I heard? She must be answering. I had asked her about the legkeds.
“North!” she hollered. “Faster by sea!”
I turned to project at her through white snowfall. “What are they?”
“The head is closer to human than orc, and it’s on legs.”
“Eggs?”
“On legs! Head on legs!”
“Hens on eggs!”
She stepped close so that we were inches away. She pointed at my legs. “Head! Legs! Long legs!”
“Beer?”
“No spears! Legs.”
I filled my chest and projected. “Do they drink beer?”
A blast of wind and snow separated us. I felt the rope go taut. It was impossible to keep my eyes open, so I blindly, blindly plowed forth. The temperature dropped like a difference between day and night.
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I turned to my orcs and put all my strength in my voice. “Chew your tongues!”
As I chewed mine, I heard the ice crack upon it through my skull. I felt the ice break off in flakes. It was going numb and I chewed it to keep it thawed.
My breath plumed out in long thick puffs that were twice my size. I plowed on. The load became heavier. The rope became taut, and with each step forward it was only getting tauter. Something was wrong. I set the handles of my cart down. After removing my wrist from the loop, I followed the rope through the line of orcs and carts. My hands felt orc hands upon the rope. They belonged to Jix and Heg. I startled them.
“How are your spirits?” I shouted.
I leaned into the whiteout until we were eyelashes away. Jix and Heg, huddled together, nodded.
I made my way down the assembly until I startled Uil.
“Spirits?”
Uil must have been shouting back, but it seemed to be that he was only mouthing his words. At least I could understand a nod.
I continued down the line and stopped at orc after orc. All spirits were high. When I arrived between the last carts, there was an absence of orc. I continued, but stopped when my knee struck a boulder—Not a boulder; an orc. Ath was knelt in the snow. I touched him, but he didn’t startle. A headbutt was the only thing that brought him out from his stupor. He lifted his head and looked at me with bloodshot eyes.
“Spirits?”
Ath stared. His mouth twitched, but he mouthed no words.
I shoved a finger between his tusks. “Chew your tongue! Get the blood flowing. It leads straight to the heart!”
Ath stared at me. His eyes ambled between mine.
Ath…
Between icicle and armor plating, I was able to reach my tunic. I tore off a hardcover-stiff shred of my tunic. I wrapped it around Ath’s face and tied it at the back.
“Chew! Keep chewing!”
Ath stared at me. His jaw worked beneath his new mask.
“Thawing?” I said.
Ath nodded.
I crouched so that we were eye level. “I will stay with you until you stand.”
Ath shook his head. He tried to stand but nearly tipped over. I gripped his armor and pulled him back to me.
“I will stay with you until you stand.”
Ath trembled as he attempted to stand again.
“I will stay with you until you thaw.”
Shivering, Ath chewed faster. His eyes became wild. Once again he tried to speak. Meanwhile the tethered ropes wiggled.
I leaned in. “What’s that?”
“Don’t leave me…”
“I will stay with you until you thaw.”
As the tethered ropes wiggled more and more, orcs began to appear beside us. They stood around us, robbing us from the wind. In the pocket of the storm, I could just make out grim faces. My orcs seemed older just then. Those faces…were they my ancestors? Did they sense weakness in Ath? He should be left to die, shouldn’t he? A weak orc is no orc. But no, a hard blink returned me to my senses. Those were not my ancestors. They were my orcs. And even if they sensed a weak link…
…I rubbed my hands and breathed hot into them. I placed my hands on Ath’s cheeks. “I will stay with you until you thaw.”
Jix breathed hot into her hands. She placed her hands on Ath’s shoulders. She mouthed “I will stay with you until you thaw.”
Uil breathed hot into his hands. “I will stay with you until you thaw.”
Orc hands, thick as rising bread dough, alighted upon Ath. “I will stay with you until you thaw.”
“I will stay with you until you thaw.”
“I will stay with you until you thaw.”
Whether brother, sister, I will stay with you until you thaw.