The canopy of the ancient evergreens towering above was so thick that none of the starlight shone upon them. “We’ll finally greet him the way he deserves,” said Bogdi.

Manu nodded along with the encouraging words, but now that they were close to reaching Rogoz and his base he was beginning to worry. Not exactly getting cold feet, but wondering if it would really go down as well as he had hoped. Can this lot really bring down that orc? he wondered, glancing behind him at the men.

“What?” said Bogdi, noticing his darting eyes. “You feeling alright, boss?”

“It’s all good,” said Manu. He took the reins of his horse and gently spurred it forwards over the snowbank.

Bogdi led the way, approximating his surroundings as best he could. In the time that they had been at the camp, he had scouted out to Rogoz one more time by himself, and had left some markings here and there to guide him. Manu hoped that he knew what he was doing. If not…

“Esmi’s still riding with that woman,” said Bogdi. “I can’t say I like her all that much.”

Manu gave him a look. “Why not? It’s good for her to have a female role model.”

He sniffed. “Have you seen that one’s eyes? She’s a stone cold killer. Not a bit of warmth in her, of a womanly nature or otherwise. Not sure that’s much of a role model.”

“In the world that we live in, that might be the best type of role model. Esmeralda has the misfortune of being not just a woman, but a gypsy as well.”

“I wouldn’t call that a misfortune…”

“What would you know about it?” Though Manu’s head remained focused forwards, the tone seemed accusatory. “You aren’t either.”

His companion went quiet. Manu knew he had gone a little too far, and the worst part about it was that it felt good to talk down to others like this in moments of crisis. For whatever ungodly reason, it made him feel empowered and in control, infusing him with the confidence boost he needed.

They soon dismounted and tied up their horses. The others followed suit. Danil stayed back with the horses, along with Esmi, while the party got their arms ready and moved forward.

The moment the timber walls of Rogoz’ encampment loomed in sight, Manu could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He could already see the rogue’s ugly old face, but this time it was grinning even more malevolently. Fallen into my trap, have you? he was saying.

Manu stopped and everyone stopped with him. Bogdi clutched the dagger in his hand and raised his eyebrows. “Boss?”

“You said you’ve got this?”

Bogdi nodded. “Yup. I’ve got this. There’s nobody out there usually from what I could see. And if there is, I’ll see them before I drop down.”

Everyone stayed back as Bogdi skulked ahead, his body moving with an odd grace and elegance for a man his size, almost bouncing across the snow under dim moonlight filtering through the crooked canopy. He went to one of the evergreens overlooking the encampment, climbed it quickly, then chose one of the sturdier branches to hang from, then moved down till he found a good place to let go. When he disappeared from view, Manu’s heart stopped.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“He knows what he’s doing, your man?” asked Shukiva.

“He does.” Let’s hope so, at least.

“If an orc is really there, then not getting in would be the least of my worries,” said Arasin glibly.

It did not take long until the gate parted. Bogdi slipped a hand through the opening and waved them all over. Clutching his rifle, Manu stood up and led the others in a mad rush, ready to aim it and shoot. I know I’m hardly the type of man you favor, gods, but be with me tonight, and I’ll make it worth your while.

The interior of the encampment looked much simpler than he had imagined. There was a only one structure, just as Bogdi described, more like a hovel than the stately house he thought they would find. Suddenly, he began to worry if perhaps Rogoz was not as well off as he led on. Who knows, perhaps he had screwed Manu to pay a debt of his own. In which case, there would be a strong chance Manu wouldn’t be walking out of here alive. These fellows hadn’t followed him all this way to go home empty-handed.

Bogdi licked his lips and grinned. “Now’s the big moment.”

“So it seems…”

The makeshift door of the hovel opened before anyone else got to say anything. Out of it emerged the orc Manu had seen so many times, except now it was confused, clearly disturbed by the foreign presence. The red eyes surveyed them all as the bestial face snarled and smelled the air, still undecided on whether or not this was a threat it was allowed to kill. Manu raised the rifle and targeted its head. People said rifles could be completely ineffective against their hard hides, but how hard could it really be? And how hard was that skull?

More men were exiting from the hovel now, familiar faces from their meetings at the abandoned dock—among them, Rogoz.

“What the fuck is this,” he said, rubbing one eye energetically. Did Rogoz just wake up? He spotted Manu when his vision cleared, which caused a sputter of laughter. “Gypsy, is that you? What blasted hell are you doing here?”

“A friendly visit. Though I was hoping I could get my gold back.”

“What gold is that?”

“For the orb that you knew wouldn’t be any good.”

Rogoz smirked. “A deal’s a deal, you know that. There’s no take backs afterwards. Besides, you know the value of such objects. This is the price we pay for dealing with artifacts and such. If someone came to reclaim it, you can’t blame that on me. You should’ve parted it with it while you could. Now lower those weapons and leave before you get my orc companion here to show you how much worse your life can get.”

One of Rogoz’ men came out of the hovel carrying and long and curved black blade which he reluctantly handed over to the orc. Even he’s afraid of it, thought Manu.

Rogoz saw their decisive stances and clicked his tongue from under his heavy mustache. “Don’t do this,” he warned, his smoky breath drifting out into the icy night air. “If I unleash this creature, there won’t be saving any of you. Walk away from this, my gypsy friend. Walk away a little older, a little wiser, and with your full life still in front of you.”

Still looking down the rifle, Manu pointed it right at the orc. “Try to hit its eyes,” he told the others, doing his best to sound calm. A fucking orc. By Emilia, we’ve gotta kill a fucking orc. Saying they would do it was one thing. Actually seeing it before him and having to go through with it was another.

Rogoz saw that they were not intent on standing down and took a rushed step forward. “Don’t be fucking stupid! Put your rifles down. They won’t even work on him! Put them down, you stupid bloody bastards!”

Manu was starting to get the feeling that the old rogue did not feel as confident in his ability to control the orc as he let on. So, there’s a chance we might all die, is there? That’s fine by me.

He struck a couple of times in vain, then finally got the slow match of the rifle lit. At the sight of it, Rogoz sprinted towards them in panic. “Put that out!! Put that out, you fucking imbecile!”

But it was too late. Manu pulled the trigger and the gunpower ignited, sending the musket balls lodged inside the barrel of the rifle hurling forwards.

It struck the orc not in the face, but in its neck. For a split second, it seemed confused. Then, the glaring red eyes widened fiercely, and with a bestial snarl and its black sword raised, it launched itself forward.

It was done following orders, or caring for whatever the commands were. In the heat of the moment, Manu thought he could hear Rogoz yelling at it to stop, to no effect.

We’re all going to die, thought Manu as he watched it speed up towards him. Deep horror spread across Rogoz’s face. We’re all going to die.

And with his blood going cold, Manu took a step back, reloaded, smirked, and got ready to fire again. “Kill this fucking monstrosity! Kill it!”