I headed in the opposite direction from the tracks, but Larve stayed behind.

"What happened?" I asked, glancing back at her.

She looked between the tracks and the direction of the village, her expression shifting.

"Noooooooo."

I mouthed. I knew where this was headed. Larve was kind—every kid was kind, but she… she was extra kind.

“Are monsters going to hurt those villagers?”

It was good that she felt bad for those assholes as it showed that she was compassionate and I felt proud but they didn’t deserve me risking my sweet ass to save them.

“Ah, hell no. We are not doing this. Come on, let’s go.”

She stomped her foot on the ground. That was the first time she’d done that. No, she wasn’t even a teenager!

“They were jerks anyway.”

I sighed. She crossed her arms. Damn it. Where did she even learn that?

“I hope you realize I’m doing this just for you. Not for them, not for myself.”

I ran full speed with her on my back. The sun was setting. We could be far away from there and already found a place to sleep.

“Thank you.”

Grrrr! I was such an idiot. I could have just thrown her over my shoulder and gotten the hell out of there. But no, I had to save those jackasses because she wanted to. I had to learn how to say no to her.

Before I could see the village, I noticed smoke rising into the air. I stopped. The said smoke was so thick and black that it could be noticed even in darkness. This much smoke can’t be produced by just stoves, the houses must be burning down.

“Do not ever come out of there, do you understand? Under no circumstances, for nobody.”

I dropped her down behind thick, thorny bushes. She should be fine there.

“Be safe.”

Shit, now she looked sad. Did I complain too much? I pulled my hood up, though it didn’t block my vision. I unsheathed my sword and readied my shield. As I got closer, the screams became audible, and I was extra glad I’d left her behind. The heat from the burning houses hit my face and my throat burned with smoke.

(You are walking in shadows. Your presence will be harder to detect.)

One of the women who had thrown stones at us was on the ground, mostly naked. A huge creature towered over her. His skin was brown with green spots, bulging muscles rippling beneath. I couldn’t see his face since his back was turned to me. I slowly approached and thrust my sword through his neck. His skin and flesh were tough; if I hadn’t put all my strength into that strike, I wouldn’t have pierced his neck. Even with a blade embedded in his throat, he tried to fight back, gurgling as blood filled his mouth. I managed to wrestle him to the ground and pulled my sword free, severing his head completely.

I looked down at the terrified woman.

“How many are there?”

Instead of answering, she made whimpering noises and raised her hands defensively. Useless. This was going to be harder than I thought. Those creatures—were they orcs?—were tough, and with houses ablaze around us, I had to go in and out of Shadow Melt mode. Stealth was not an option. The first orc I killed had some armor covering it and a heavy metal sword beside it. My sneak attack had succeeded only because he was preoccupied with raping the woman. Given their strength and toughness, fair fighting was going to be a bitch.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“As if it was ever easy.”

Those creatures—were they orcs?—were tough, and with houses ablaze around us, I had to go in and out of Shadow Melt mode. Still, I crouched down and moved forward.

Going deeper into the village, I encountered my first orc on his feet. He had two tusks jutting from his lower jaw and a nearly flat nose. He glanced at my sword and swung the mace he carried, his eyes shining bright with excitement. I dodged just in time as he crashed down where I had stood.

“Three to four hits.”

Even with armor and a shield, blocking that kind of blunt impact would leave my arm numb in three to four hits. Cold sweat trickled down my back.

“I see. It’s one of those battles.”

My sword slashed across his wrist. The good thing was that their stamina wasn’t great. After swinging that heavy mace wildly for a short burst, the orc in front of me looked tired and out of breath. That was good, except you know, I had to fight at least 3 more and I’d be exhausted myself!

“Rorgh!”

The orc, frustrated with my dodging, charged at me with its full weight. I sidestepped, slashing at him as he crashed into one of the burning houses. The structure, already on the brink of collapse, crumbled and trapped the orc beneath it. Before I could catch my breath and frown due to the smell of burning flesh, two more orcs appeared.

“Damn.”

You’d think those villagers would have put up some resistance as they had with us, but these orcs didn’t even seem tired! I barely dodged a sword strike when a mace swung at me, sending me flying through the air. I landed hard, rolling to evade more strikes, and managed to make a small cut on one of the orc's ankles as I got to my feet, blocking several more strikes with my shield. My left hand throbbed with pain. My shield and armor weren’t able to fully absorb blunt impact.

“Grh!”

I growled through clenched teeth as a strike cut into my right shoulder. In retaliation, I stabbed him in the wrist, twisting the blade until he dropped its weapon. I spun, blocking the other orc’s strike while gathering momentum for my next attack, and cut down the defenseless one. My shoulder bled freely, urging me to finish this quickly.

The last orc, furious and wild, lunged at me, likely enraged over his fallen brethren. He wrestled me to the ground, and both of us lost our weapons in the struggle. He rained blows on my face, each strike like a hammer. Each strike drilled my head into the soft dirt while his bulk kept my right arm pinned down.

Giving up on defending against his punches with one arm, I reached for one of the daggers hidden in my coat with my left hand and stabbed it in the eye. It roared in pain, trying to pull the knife out. I used that moment to shake him off and rolled to the side, closer to his weapon. Seizing his weapon, I swung and killed the orc instantly.

“Grh!”

My vision blurred with tears from the blow I’d taken to my nose. Blood streamed from my face and shoulder, staining my coat red.

“One, two, three, four. Is that all—Motherfucker!”

An arrow pierced the area between my right shoulder and chest. I turned to see where it had come from. An orc bigger than the others stood there, holding a bow. He wore a wolf hide with two heads? Did I lose enough blood to mess with my vision? He pulled another arrow from its quiver, getting ready to shoot me again.

“Fuck off!”