I slowly approached the cage that held the male faerie prisoner. I had no idea who had trapped him, but I wanted to get him free before they came back. He had a laceration across his forehead that greatly concerned me, and his green skin was a sickly olive color instead of the emerald that faeries were known for. It broke my heart to see that one of his wings hung at an unnatural angle, indicating that it was broken. He had to be in immense pain.

His eyes were roving in his head and it was obvious that he was close to going into shock. His skittishness worried me. I didn’t want him to try to run and potentially harm himself. The forest here was dense and dangerous, but he wouldn’t know that. He was from a forest himself, but far to the south. These were the North Woods, and they were filled with beasts that would easily catch and eat him. The only reason I felt safe walking these woods was because of Grath. His size made him a formidable opponent to the beasts from the area. But for the faerie and I, it wouldn’t be safe to go wandering. 

I glanced back at Grath. He was keeping his distance but had a watchful eye over me. I knew he didn’t like that I had to be the one to approach the faerie, but there was no way I was going to let him get close to someone who was this terrified. I thought back to when I had first met Grath and couldn’t help but smile. The massive orc had scared me shitless, but I had correctly assessed him as being far less dangerous than the dire tiger that had been stalking me. I had made the mistake of thinking a human could take on the North Woods by herself, and I only had Grath to thank for surviving. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” I told the faerie in a soft voice, “We aren’t going to hurt you. But these woods are dangerous, so you can’t run when I let you out, okay? I’m going to help you, I swear it.” 

His eyes locked on Grath over my shoulder and I could practically hear his thoughts. If we had no intentions of hurting him, why was the massive orc behind me wearing battle gear? I didn’t have time to explain that Grath always wore battle gear. Instead I said simply, “I promise you, he’s with me. He’s the only reason I’m still alive.”

Grath huffed at my words. The fact that I was so susceptible to death in the North Woods was a constant source of stress for him. I knew even with my back turned that he was probably pinching the bridge of his nose this very second. If it were up to him, we wouldn’t risk wasting time and having the faerie’s kidnappers find us, we just would have grabbed the faerie and run. Luckily for the faerie, I had a softer touch. 

I grabbed the leather pouch that I always kept on my belt and opened it to assess what tool I would need. I examined the lock on the cage and was happy to find that it was a rudimentary human one. Whoever kidnapped the faerie must not have magic, which was a good sign. If it had been elves, we probably wouldn’t have any hope of rescuing him and getting out of here alive. I chose a small needle-like tool and stuck it into the lock’s keyhole. The faerie eyed me suspiciously, but he at least appeared to have calmed down a bit. I suspected that the idea of getting out of the cage appealed to him quite a lot. Faeries usually spent most of their time flying, which was probably why his kidnappers had broken his wing. 

With a few quick clicks, the lock snapped open. I put my tool away and slowly opened the cage door, still afraid that he would try to make a run for it. Luckily Grath would probably be able to catch him before he got very far, but having to be chased down by Grath would only make it even more difficult for him to believe that we really were here to help. 

“Please don’t run,” I murmured before walking into the cage. He pressed his body up against the other side, as if he was terrified of what I was going to do to him. I took that as a clue to stop just inside the door. I didn’t want to crowd him. I took a moment to assess his injuries. Aside from the broken wing and the wound on his head, he was missing one of his fingers on his right hand at the bottom knuckle. Luckily it looked like it had healed, but the sight of it was chilling. Whoever had put him in this cage had tortured him. 

“Careful, Di,” Grath growled from behind me, “He’s stronger than he looks.” 

I rolled my eyes; Grath was always certain that I was going to be killed right in front of him. I supposed it was related to the fact that we’d met when I was moments away from being mauled to death, but that didn’t stop it from being annoying. I was stronger than he realized. Maybe not as strong as an orc, but definitely stronger than the average human. I had spent most of my life traveling on my own, so learning to fight had been a necessity. 

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“I’m just going to clean that wound on your head,” I said quietly, walking very slowly so he could see my intentions. 

To his credit, the faerie stayed still while I approached him. Once I was a few feet away, I stopped to take my pack off of my back and put it on the ground. I kneeled down in front of the faerie and opened my pack wide so he could see that I didn’t have any weapons in it, only some bandages and pain potions. I’d learned early on that traveling with Grath made any weaponry pointless. He was far more dangerous than any sword or knife, and I would rather save the space for healing items and food. 

I wordlessly handed a pain potion to the faerie, still kneeling in front of him so that I appeared as non-threatening as possible. He took the potion from me, but looked at it suspiciously, turning it this way and that to examine.

“It’s for your pain,” I explained, “It won’t get rid of it entirely but it will help dull it.” 

He took the cork off and sniffed it, then downed the whole potion in one go. I took it as a good sign that he had chosen to trust me. Now I would just have to convince him to trust Grath as well, which might be a bit more difficult. Growing up human, I had been mostly shielded from the complicated relationships of the other species that populated our land. Many of them thought of humans as inferior and unworthy of being a part of their political systems, which actually worked in our favor. We had developed our own systems of government and most humans lived to the west, where the weather supported our crops. 

Unwilling to settle for living with my abusive step-father and sickly mother, I had set out on my own to explore the world when I was only fifteen. I’d been alone for five years when Grath found me, and now the two of us had been traveling together for three more. We were kindred spirits, both never willing to settle down, instead choosing to live out our days exploring and making our own way. I wondered if this faerie would choose to join us in our travels. I found myself hoping that he would. 

It took only a few moments for the potion to work and I could see the relief in the faerie’s face as his pain eased. I pulled a clean cloth from my pack and wet it with water, then stood up slowly so that he wouldn’t jump away and hurt his injured wing. He was a few inches taller than me so I had to reach up to clean the wound on his forehead. It was an angry looking gash, but thankfully didn’t show any signs of infection. There was blood crusted down the side of his face, so I started at his chin and worked my cloth up to the wound, stopping to wash it off with water before dabbing at the wound itself. He closed his eyes as I worked and his entire frame sagged against the side of the cage. I suspected that he was too exhausted to keep his guard up any longer.

“Tell me if this hurts,” I murmured. 

“It feels… good,” he rasped, his voice sounding like dry leaves. I was relieved to hear him speak, I had begun to wonder if something had been done to him that kept him from talking. 

“I’m Dianara,” I said, encouraged by his response, “And that’s Grath. What’s your name?” 

He opened his eyes to look at me and I was struck by how dark they were. He had lovely eyes. 

“I’m Anil.” 

I took the fact that he was willing to tell us his name as a good sign. Maybe he was starting to trust me. 

“Di, we need to get going,” Grath grumbled behind me. Anil flinched at the sound of Grath’s voice. Instinctively, I reached out and touched his shoulder softly with my hand, trying to provide some bit of comfort. At my touch, he cowered slightly and moved so that I was fully between him and Grath. As much as I wanted to argue with Grath, I knew he was right. We’d happened upon Anil at least twenty minutes prior, and it seemed unlikely that his kidnappers had gone far. 

“Anil, can you walk?” I asked, hoping that Grath wouldn’t be forced to carry him. He might be starting to trust me, but I could tell by the way he was hiding from Grath that it would take a long time before he would feel comfortable with him. Anil nodded his response to my question. Once I finished cleaning his wound, I put away my supplies and settled my pack comfortably on my back. 

I turned to Grath, trying to communicate to him with my facial expression that Asil was terrified of him. Grath had the kindest, gentlest spirit of anyone that I had ever met, but nobody would ever believe that just by looking at him, and it wasn’t just because he was wearing a full leather and steel battle suit. All orcs were big, but Grath was larger than most. He was as wide as three human men, with massive arms that looked like they could easily crush trees. He had a long scar from his forehead to his chin that just barely missed his left eye. As with all orcs, two curved horns sat atop his head. His facial features were wider and flatter than a human’s, but I had always found him to be quite handsome. From the moment we’d first met, I’d known that Grath was my soulmate. It had taken him a bit longer to accept it; he’d been heartbroken before and was terrified that I would leave him as soon as I got the chance. 

I reached my arm around Anil’s back to help steady him so that we could walk out of the cage. As soon as we were out, Grath rushed forward and Anil screamed, falling to the ground and covering his face. Grath gasped and stopped a few feet away from us, he hadn’t expected to provoke such a reaction. I hadn’t been as good at silently communicating as I had thought. 

I immediately dropped to my knees next to Anil and began making soothing noises. “It’s okay, he’s with me! He will protect you just like he protects me.” 

Anil whimpered and kept his arms firmly over his head. It sickened me to think how many times he must have been hurt to be this fearful. Whoever had locked him in that cage deserved a slow and painful death. 

Grath backed slowly away, his eyes wide and concern written all over his face. He cared first and foremost about my safety, but he couldn’t stand to see anyone be hurt. I looked between Grath and Anil, trying to figure out how we could get Anil to safety without further traumatizing him, when suddenly a branch snapped from somewhere to the left of the clearing. Grath’s head snapped over, his nostrils wide as he sniffed the air. He turned back to me, panic on his face. The kidnappers were back.