Walking through a forest in the dead of night wasn’t easy, but it was Novius’ turn to walk. Since leaving Bhrunum they’d switch off every couple of hours. Their accumulated tiredness in the body made it hard for their consciousnesses to stay awake for longer than 5 hours. Hitting the fourth hour Novius came upon a small oval-shaped clearing. Deciding he made pretty good progress on his turn he figured he’d take a rest. Finding a single tree towards the left side of the oval, he sat next to it on a half-buried log facing the right side of the clearing. Novius took a deep breath and sighed in relaxation looking at the stars. “Beautiful isn’t it?” Orius said out of nowhere. Surprised by his sudden appearance but not spooked Novius responded, “Yeah it is.” The lack of artificial light in their world allowed the constellations to show crystal clear in the night sky. The moon sat just over the line of trees and was tinted a midnight purple. Stars of varying colors sprinkled the view ranging from red, orange, and yellow to white, blue, and green.

Looking down at the meadow itself Novius asked calmly, “I’m surprised you’re awake, what’s wrong?” Orius didn’t respond right away but instead observed the blue mist that lay just above the grass at shin height, “I figured I’d give you some company.” Flowers poked just above the mist proudly displaying their own vibrant colors unhindered by the blue of the mist like those below. “You still have an hour left to sleep, you sure you’re not going to take it?”

“I’ll be alright, you can take the extra hour if you’d like,” Orius said while resting their hands on the log and leaning back. “Nah, it’ll be nice to talk for a bit, it’s been two days since we’ve been trading off.”

“Yeah, once we’re out of this forest we should be there. Did we eat any food on your shift?” Orius mentioned while staring at the purple moon. Novius let him enjoy it while responding, “No luck. I was hoping you could get some once it’s daytime on yours.” The wind blew causing some leaves to fall off the surrounding trees and drift through the air completing the magical feel of the meadow. “No problem, I’ll take care of it. You feeling any better about that Maxith situation?

“I don’t know, him becoming king and keeping the manhunt out on us is throwing me off,” Novius sounded worried about his friend.

“Well, the soldier did say Maxith issued an order to keep us alive. It's possible his intentions aren’t as negative as the soldiers.”

“That being said the general populace doesn’t feel the same. We can’t go back yet… I don’t think we'll ever be welcome back,” Novius paused and ran his hand through their hair out of frustration, “I don’t know, I think the exhaustion mixed with our shitty situation just has me a bit down.”

“You and me both man. I think some relaxation for us and the body is a little overdue. Once we get the chance to settle for a while we can think it through with a clear head.” A large bunny with antlers hopped into the field and began to eat some of the grass to their right.

Continuing to try and cheer up Novius Orius looked at it and said in their head, ‘Hey, check it out,” while smiling. The emotions of their independent facial expressions were conveyed to each other in their mind as if they could see another person's face making it even without the actual body doing so. Rising from the log Orius entered a crouching position to stalk the jackalope. Using the fog for stealth he unsheathed one of the blades attached to their waist he extended his arm behind them. The swift movement of Orius’ underhand throw brought the creature to attention, freezing it in place momentarily. The sword traveled in a straight line directly toward its target, slamming right into its body.

“Haha, look at that! I didn’t know you could even throw a sword like that!” Novius exclaimed. Orius picked up the creature pulling the blade from its body, “Since they’re short swords you can still throw them, but only in a specific way. Throwing it like a dagger doesn’t work because the weight and center of gravity won’t let it spin properly. Underhand you can rocket the blade in a straight line toward the target accurately with enough practice. This technique is special to short swords because regular swords weigh too much to throw.” He then skinned the animal and started a fire to cook it. Once it was roasted Novius went for a bite but realized Orius should have the pleasure in eating it since he killed it. Orius noticed this and said, “Go ahead and eat it, I’ll take the next meal. Eating always helps cheer people up.”

In between bites Novius said to Orius, “Y’know, I was thinking about the other day when we were holding down that soldier. Maybe we should make our voices sound different in our head so we don’t get confused between our different thoughts.” He took another bite while Orius considered it, ‘Yeah I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea,’ Orius deepened his voice into a low rumble, ‘How about this?’ Novius was surprised at the sudden difference, “Geez I know you’re the evil one but I wasn’t expecting that.” Disappointed in how Novius regarded him like this Orius didn’t respond. Breaking the awkward silence Novius continued, “It’ll work I suppose, our head running smoothly is more important than our comfort.”

Orius stood them up but suddenly their knee buckled from under them. Now kneeling on the ground Novius commented, “Looks like the body can’t take much more, hopefully we get there soon.”

“Yeah, go ahead and get some sleep, I’ll try and get us there before you wake.”

“Alright, good luck with the bo-,” Novius’ consciousness reached its limit and faded away before he could finish his words. Now alone Orius forced the body to stand and began walking into the forest as the sun rose above the horizon to his left. Walking idly for three hours he neared the edge of the forest. The thick trees had been blocking the sun and as he exited the dense forestry the light flooded his eyes. This somehow was sensed by Novius, waking him up, ‘Looks like we're here,’ he said. Orius looked around at the grassy plain, searching for the orcs. Looking to the right a row of logs stuck out of the ground vertically forming a well-built wall. They assumed it would be the orc camp and began approaching it. Closer now they could see the logs were sharpened at the top and lookout guards stood on a platform overlooking the entrance from inside.

“Who are you?” A large green orc asked from his post behind the tall fence. Standing in front of the closed gate Orius replied, “I am Novius, I seek rest here at your camp.” The orc looked to his left at another orc on the other side of the gate and spoke to him in a different language. He waved the other orc to go get the chief and looked back to Novius. “You wait for chief,” he said bluntly in his broken English. “That's fine,” Novius said as he sat on the ground and observed the orc's hair. It was black and shaped into a squared mow-hawk. After about two minutes the gates began to open slowly. Novius got to his feet expecting the chief to speak to him alone, instead fifteen warrior orcs poured out between the cracking gate and surrounded them. Raising his hands in the air Novius said, “Woah woah calm down.” An assortment of spears and other weapons were pointed at Novius from all sides to keep him in check. With Novius now secured the chief walked through the gate.

He was different than the other orcs surrounding Novius. Grey in color and slightly smaller statured than the green ones, but still quite large. His canine teeth stuck out like all the other orcs but his were special. His upper jaw canines jutted out as far as his chin and his lower ones reached nose height and curled into a spiral. All four of the teeth had engravings carved into them giving a wild native appearance. “Ekhan utnir mesupaph,” the chief said in another language with a heavy accent. Immediately following up the strange sentence was another in clear English, “Why do you travel to our domain?” Novius noticed a small black orc beside the chief who had spoken the English sentence. ‘He must be the translator,’ Orius analyzed internally.

Novius was thinking of how to respond when one of the green warrior orcs poked him with its spear. He inferred this was meant to serve as a warning to speak now or die. Quickly he spit out, “We only seek to rest at your camp, we don’t plan on interfering with your way of life. If anything we can offer to help you as payment.” The small black orc spoke to the chief translating into their mother tongue. The chief spit out another incoherent sentence and the translator said, “Who is we? There is only one of you, yet you speak as if there are many of you here.” At the same time, a couple of the warrior orcs backed up and began searching the surrounding woods for any hidden foes. “No no, I’m the only one I promise. I misspoke before, I apologize.” Orius again spoke internally to Novius, ‘Good job moron, now they’re suspicious of us. Try to keep in mind we’re still a single person in their view.’

After an exchange with the chief the translator looked back to Novius, “We have no need for your kind here, go find other humans to rely on.”

‘You gotta be kidding me,’ Orius said disappointingly.

‘Why did we even bother coming here?’ Novius spat back.

‘Shut up, it was a better choice than being a fugitive in Bhrunum.’ The warrior orcs loosened up as the translator continued, “Leave and never retur-” Suddenly a screech and a crashing sound was heard back near the gate. Turning to look one of the larger orcs left his position holding Novius at bay and ran over to a very small orc young enough to be a toddler. The child had been watching from the guard stand behind the fence and had climbed up for a better view but fell. The massive orc at the child's side was speaking fast in their language as he clutched onto his child. Taking a better look Novius saw its spine had been snapped and was unable to move its legs anymore. It cried loudly in pain while the presumed father orc began to tear up while the others surrounded them to try and help. The chief began shouting commands at some of them to help in the chaos of disorder. Now forgotten Novius stood there and realized he could help with his renown. Approaching the group by the gate the chief noticed him and swung his staff in Novius’ direction intending on hitting him.

Having jumped back in time to avoid the blow three warriors not immediately assisting in the accident jumped back to attention and held their spears back at Novius. Novius crouched down low and put his arms out to his side, palms facing forward, in a manner to show he was no threat. “I can help… let me help,” Novius said looking at the father orc on his knees holding his child. The small black orc informed the chief who then asked through the translator, “How do you intend to help?” Novius looked at the interpreter knowing his wording and communication was the only thing that could help this child now, “I can fix him, I have a renown… just let me touch the child.”

Translating the message the chief responded in an aggressive tone and spit at the ground near Novius almost hitting him. “We do not allow witchcraft in our village, we can solve our issues without your intervention. Leave now,” the interpreter said bluntly not questioning the chief’s decision at all. Looking back at the father orc Novius noticed it was the one guarding the gate with the mow-hawk from before. Novius turned to face the crying father and child now ignoring the chief and got to his knees just like him, “I know you speak some English, let me help you,” Novius pleaded with the man, “I make him walk again,” he said in broken English while making his fingers walk across the ground.

Glancing over at the chief the father orc sought approval but received nothing but a blank stare watching the situation unfold. He looked at his son crying in pain and made his choice. Outstretching his arms towards Novius, child in hand, he placed his faith in the stranger. Novius slowly raised his hand toward the sobbing child and touched its shoulder. The glowing light reattached his spine and made him whole once again. The crying ceased and the young orc looked up at his father. Removing his hand Novius backed up to let them realize what just happened.

Placing him on the ground the child stood as strong as always and walked as if nothing had happened. Bursting into tears the father orc ran up to his son and grabbed him holding him close. All the other orcs were amazed at the spectacle and began discussing the situation in their language. Rising to his feet the father approached Novius and towered above him with his excessive size. Outstretching its arm he shook Novius’ hand knowing it was a sign of respect for humans. He turned to the chief and spoke fluently in their tongue. The discussion was kept short and the chief turned and left back into the gates after they were finished.

Turning to speak to Novius the father said to him, “For you to enter village you must fight. Only warrior can enter village, is part of… culture.” Pleased at the outcome Novius responded, “Thank you, who will I be fighting?” The massive green man said, “Kuruk,” he then smacked his chest with his left hand and continued, “Me Kuruk. We fight, you rest in village. I no want to fight you but we must… chief make rules.” Orius laughed and responded confidently, “Hahaha, no problem big guy, I was expecting a fight to enter when I came here anyways.”

“Good, chief said I no go easy on you because you help son. He see how I fight, he will know. I hope you are strong… name?”

“Oh right I forgot, I am Novius.” As he said this a group of female orcs walked out of the village carrying ropes and sticks with animal skulls mounted atop. Kuruk asked him, “Where fight? Field or forest?” Novius looked between the two possible battlegrounds and chose the forest, pointing in its direction. Preparation took quite some time and involved applying paint to Kuruk’s body. When entering battle orcs from this clan would apply war paint for the event, each was different and was personalized via their first hunt and personality. Kuruk’s was applied by a smaller black orc that appeared to be his wife. Both of his arms without paint were purposefully scarred with needles as a strange and painful substitute for tattoos. When applying the paint the scarred tribal designs were highlighted in orange making him look like even more of a brute.

With the sticks in position and the ropes tying off the barrier of the arena, they prepped for battle. Orcs surrounded the area ready to observe what they expected to be a completely one-sided massacre. Kuruk stood at nine feet tall and weighed an astounding 600 pounds of pure muscle. He was considered the best combatant in their village and the biggest of all the orcs. This compared to Novius’ comparatively small frame made it look like a joke.

The area for the fight was around fifty feet by fifty feet, including a good amount of trees in the arena to make it interesting. Standing at the far corners from each other Kuruk wielded a spear tailored to his size. On the opposite end of the weapon from the tip was a metal ball fixed to it for counterweight. The thickness of the long handle would make it impossible to wield for a human without abnormally large hands. Orius kept his blades sheathed with a plan in mind scanning the area. The chief raised his staff and slammed it into a bronze gong signaling the start of battle.

Kuruk ran forward, the ground shaking beneath his steps. Orius also advanced while Novius observed from behind their eyes. Suddenly Kuruk stopped and thrust his spear forward, catching Orius by surprise. The distance between them was still great but Kuruk’s size paired with a weapon already crafted to maximize distance made for a huge gap closer. Orius ducked below the spear just in time, barely making the cut. Novius was impressed by this and continued to watch when all of a sudden their knees gave out from under them and slammed their face into the ground causing them to do a front flip, landing on his ass. Panicked by this Novius rolled them to the side as Kuruk attempted to stomp on them.

Orius' consciousness had fallen asleep and left Novius alone in the fight. Keeping his distance Novius jumped back to the other side of the arena and did what he could to make Kuruk lose sight of him temporarily. Novius climbed a tree to buy some time and maintain the distance between them but passed out on the way up. On the ground, Orius woke up looking at the leaves with sunlight trickling through. A massive foot crashed into his side sending electrical impulses of pain shocking through his body, reminding him of the situation they were in. Now flying through the air and slamming into a tree he spit up blood, a few ribs had just been broken. The physical strain on the body had caught up to them, leaving each consciousness with minimal time to be awake.

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

Orius got to his feet and used his renown to fix the broken ribs but the strain from doing so sent him back into slumber. Their body rag dolled back to the ground and Novius woke up, still not completely understanding what was going on. He picked his head up from the dirt to see Kuruk readying his spear for a throw. Novius threw himself to the side avoiding the huge weapon which instead hit the tree behind him. Scrambling back to his feet he ran away from Kuruk who was approaching the weapon. He grabbed the spear and put his foot on the tree pulling the weapon from its stuck position. Now left with no support and its trunk cut in half the tree toppled over displaying the strength behind Kuruk's oversized body.

Watching this Novius muttered, "You gotta be kidding m-" to which he then abruptly passed out and Orius once again regained control. Prepared this time he sprung into action immediately, dashing towards Kuruk using the dust from the knocked-down tree as cover. With Kuruk only able to make out a shadow of Orius he sent out another thrust of his spear, missing by a few feet. Now close to Kuruk Orius slid between his legs and jumped to his feet firing off a powerful roundhouse kick into the back of his knee. This sent Kuruk crashing down onto his knee, letting Orius jump onto his back. Taking advantage of this Orius put Kuruk into a rear naked choke attempting to impede the blood flow to his brain, knocking him out.

Wrapping his arm around Kuruk's neck Orius could feel the thickness and pure muscle of the monster. This stopped him from preventing as much blood flow as you normally could with this choke and gave Kuruk more time to act. Dropping his spear it clanged to the ground, he reached his thick hands to his neck to try and peel Orius' constricting arms away but couldn't get any leverage, the hold was too tight. Reaching for the man on his back now he stretched as far as he could but his oversized muscles limited his flexibility, making it impossible to grab Orius. Kuruk's vision began to fade and darken, he was seconds away from passing out. Hoping to finish this before he clocked out again Orius squeezed tight making his face go red with effort. This effort used up enough energy to send him unconscious again, making his body go limp momentarily. Kuruk's vision brightened back up and Orius began to slide down his back as Novius woke up.

Seeing the advantageous position Orius had gotten him into Novius attempted to grab Kuruk's shoulder as he slipped down, but it was too late. Novius plopped to the ground and Kuruk got back to his feet grabbing his spear as he went. Rolling backward Novius created some distance while Kuruk raised his spear to the side appearing to go for a swinging motion. Novius saw this and knew where his hands were positioned on the shaft it wouldn't reach him. Bringing the spear across Kuruk lightened his grip last second letting the shaft slide through his hands until he gripped the ball counterweight on the heel of the spear. This extended the spear's reach massively and put Novius right into harms way, throwing him off.

Kuruk’s inexperience fighting humans made him forget to compensate for the unusual height difference between the two and was swinging at head level of Novius. This made it easy for Novius to simply crouch under the attack while Kuruk followed through with the swing and spun around bringing it back again and again. The settling dust bellowed up once more due to the tornado movement by Kuruk. Novius lay on the floor unsure of what to do when the spear hit a tree stopping Kuruk in his tracks. Novius got to his feet and crouch ran to a nearby tree and climbed it while Kuruk removed his spear from the solid bark.

Making his way through the branches he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder which Novius associated with the body getting ready to switch again. Stopping at a sturdy limb to sit and rest he looked down at the battlefield to see a confused Kuruk scouring the area, "You no hide from me! I find you!" He took a few steps back and readied his shoulder for a charge, 'What the hell is he doing?' Novius thought to himself. Breaking away at incredible speed Kuruk charged at a tree and smashed into it bursting the trunk into a million pieces. Unsupported, the top of the tree spun out of control, leaning its way towards the tree Novius was concealed in. "Oh come on!" Novius said in frustration before it crashed into his hiding spot sending leaves, branches, and Novius himself falling through the air.

Panicking in free fall Novius grabbed a branch, but gravity had other plans for him. He was torn from his grasp and continued to fall until he face planted right into another thick jagged limb. The falling tree found its resting spot leaning against Novius’ tree, forming a triangle shape with the ground. While Kuruk recovered from the charge below Novius fought off the body's urge to force him back into sleep while bleeding from a broken nose. Determined to leave Orius in a more advantageous position he shimmied his way across the sturdy branch above Kuruk's head and lowered himself into a hanging pull-up position. No longer capable of holding on he slipped into his micro sleep and his grasp loosened sending him into free fall.

Orius' sprung awake last second before landing right onto Kuruk's shoulders, legs around his neck. Shocked by Orius' sudden appearance Kuruk raised his hand to grab him before he got a chance to choke him again. Not understanding Martial arts this was a big blunder on Kuruk's behalf. Orius swung down, under Kuruk's armpit while keeping his right leg still wrapped around his neck. Bringing his left leg in front of Kuruk Orius locked his legs together and began pulling his shin into Kuruk's neck while hanging off of his arm. Collapsing to the ground Kuruk struggled to reach Orius with his right arm while Orius squeezed Kuruk's left arm and head together, trying to pop it like a pimple. Maintaining the triangle choke Orius grunted, "Go to sleep... argh... just go to sleep."

Kuruk began to fade and his strength weakened when the villagers watching began to chant. Orius couldn't understand their language but could tell it was encouragement towards Kuruk. Having heard this Kuruk cracked open a false tooth concealed within his mouth. A powdered drug mixed with his spit and sent Kuruk into a frenzy. His eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth began foaming with effort as all his muscles tightened, attempting to force his way out of the submission. Orius didn't let up and squeezed harder and finally, Kuruk went limp and passed out.

The chanting halted as the crowd witnessed their champion lay limp while Orius go to his feet victorious. Without celebrating or even showing a glimpse of happiness Orius walked to Kuruk's legs and raised them in the air. This helped gravity to bring back the blood flow and wake Kuruk back up. Opening his eyes Kuruk was confused, he sat up and looked around at the village orcs watching in surprise. He looked up at Orius who was now offering his hand to help him up. As Kuruk reached out to grab his hand Orius passed out again. Having pushed the body to its limit Novius didn’t wake up either, leaving their body face-planted on the grassy forest floor.

Darkness spiraled around in circles making it impossible to see, the smell of iron filled the damp air, and the sound of chaos could be heard. People screaming, crying, suffering, and hurting. Swords clanked together sending sparks dancing in the pit of empty nothingness. Platinum coins splashed into pools of blood while maniacal laughter could be heard in the safe distance. They stood in place unable to act, incapable of doing. The water comes rushing. Crouching down they covered their ears but their hands were as thin as paper. Louder now. Rocking back and forth hearing the madness unfold around them they screamed but it came out as just a whisper. Rushing rushing rushing water. “Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it!” Faster faster faster the water runs never stopping… only growing. “The wave is huge when will it crash?” It only piles higher… grows louder, it fills your head as the tsunami comes and stops for no one. Ever so near the sound reached its peak filling their head with the boom of rushing water. Breaking the whisper they yelled, “NO MORE!” The sound halted as a bright flash of light cleansed all that was not clean. Finally, everything was pure. Removing their hands from their ears they enjoyed the peace. The pure clean space of infinite nothing comforted them compared to the dense chaos of before. Just as fast it returned, it all greyed and the water could be heard in the distance. Darken darken darken, noise noise noise, so much sound with nothing to see… SCREAM. Children cry while parents run to comfort only to disintegrate to bone and dust. The child grows old but never stops crying, no one is there, who will comfort, how will it get better? “Never never never never!” It only lasts so long, when can we stop it all? “Never never never never!” Stop the noise PLEASE! Louder louder louder it comes, filling your ears, bursting out it begins to leak, “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” THE WAVE IT CRASHES, sucking you up all you can hear is the madness of the water, rush rush rush rush rush rush rush rush rush. They breathed in but they were still being pulled under under under. Water filled their lungs and

Sitting up from their sleep they coughed up water that filled their lungs. A surprised female orc jumped backward away from the bed, water cup still in hand. Finishing their coughing fit Orius and Novius looked around to see they were in a sort of tent. Recovering from the scare the orc woman ran outside without saying a word. Spooked by the dream Novius asked, “Did you have that dream too?” To which Orius responded casually, “Yes.” Before Novius could ask anything more Kuruk entered the tent with another, short, orc dressed drastically different than any of the others.

Bones from different small animals draped over his black skin creating a drastic contrast. He walked and carried himself with jittery mannerisms making him goofy but creepy at the same time. Kuruk spoke, stealing their eyes away from the strange orc, “Friend! Finally awake! How feel? I bring doctor for help.” A sudden large wave of pain washed over their brain forcing them to facepalm and grimace, “Hey Kuruk, I'm doing alright, just have a killer headache.” Without hesitation Kuruk spoke to the shaman in their native tongue, clueing him in on Novius’ migraine. He signaled for Kuruk to leave the tent to give him quiet, “No worry Novius, doctor good, he make feel better,” Kuruk said cheerfully as he left the tent and closed the flap.

Grabbing the makeshift pipe in his mouth the shaman took one last exaggerated pull before exhaling the smoke out. As he continued to push the thick smog out it continued to pour out until it filled the whole room in a grey atmosphere. Novius coughed from the strong aroma and his eyes began to water. This concealed the tent in darkness and as he finished his exhale the shaman began to twitch rapidly while standing in place. Novius’ muscles lost control and relaxed unwillingly from underneath him. Now lying limp on the bed his tears dried up and left his eyes red but no longer watering. The aggressive twitching of the orc caused his decorative bones to jingle in song creating a mildly disturbing tune. Then it stopped, the shaman’s movements were now smooth and he walked up to their bed. Orius was uncomfortable with the new situation and began to struggle to move but the body wouldn’t respond.

At the bedside the shaman reached for a belt of herbs tied around his waist, singling out a specific one near his right thigh. Rolling the plant in his hands he looked at their face to observe the struggle Orius was exhibiting. He shushed him while continuing to prepare the herb and keeping eye contact when suddenly the shaman noticed something. Putting the herb down on the bed he leaned in close to their face. This made Orius halt his panic momentarily as the shaman stared into their eyes. Novius blinked as the smoke made his eyes burn and the shaman quickly moved his hand towards their face, forcing their eyelids open with his nails.

‘What the fuck is he doing!’ Orius said internally.

Novius replied nervously, ‘I don’t know, what should we do?’

Even more curious now the shaman made a perplexed face and let go of their eyes. Snagging a leaf from a herb off the back of his waist he placed it in their mouth, “Swallooaaahhh.”

‘The hell did he just say?’ Orius said weirded out.

‘I think he means for us to swallow it.’

‘No no no, don’t swallow whatever this creep put in our mouth.’ Not listening to Orius Novius swallowed the leaf as the shaman watched their eyes intently. ‘I don’t think it did anything anyways,’ Novius said to Orius. ‘That’s not the point!’ Orius began, ‘We shouldn’t have swallowed it either way!’ His voice echoed inside his empty head as he waited for a response from Novius but none was there. ‘Hello?’ Orius called out for Novius with no response. The shaman now looked satisfied at their eyes seeing the left turn blue while the right was grey, “Naaaht normel humaaan!” This halted Orius in his tracks, ‘Does he know? Where the hell is Novius?’ Orius tried opening his mouth to speak but only drool seeped out, ‘What did you do to him!’ Orius shouted inside trying to force the words out of his mouth. The orc jumped back and clapped his hands together joyfully and laughed, “HehehHahahHAHA, seperrratee… but steeeel togethhher!” The effects of the drug quickly wore off and the eye colors meshed back together once again forming its normal dull grey. Internally the barrier separating the two lifted, bringing relief to the two as they noticed each other’s presence again.

‘Orius! Are you ok?’ Novius asked worried.

‘Yeah I'm alright, what was that? Did you hear what he said?’ Orius replied.

‘You think he knows?’

‘I doubt it, seems he only knows we’re different.’

Calming down from his excitement the shaman grabbed the first herb from the bed and finished prepping it. Squeezing the chlorophyll from the leaf into a cup he made them drink it, forcing it down their throat. “Hehhaahe, no mooore hurrrt.” Moments later their headache subsided with no additional side effects like the previous herb. Done with his work the shaman flung open the tent flap, sucking the smoke outside almost instantly. With the smog gone Novius sucked in a deep breath regaining control of their body. The redness in their eyes disappeared as fast as the smoke leaving them brand new as before. Orius shot up planning on questioning the shaman but as he walked outside he was nowhere in sight. Kuruk, who wasn’t far, came running over, “Novius! Feel better? Shaman work good, he live here long time now, help us when sick.” Running his left hand through his hair Orius answered, “Yeah, he’s a bit odd though.”

Walking side by side through the village Novius looked around at the large triangular tent structures they used as buildings. Green and black orcs walked by varying in size but were all much larger than humans. Orcs live off the land and are self-sufficient in every aspect, never requiring outside intervention. Creatures were hunted, eaten, and used for crafting, down to the bone. The tents were skins stretched, dried, and painted. Most weapons were large bones like femurs with blades strapped to them. Skulls were cracked open and smoothed out for use as a bowl, claws were used as cutlery. Kuruk explained how their tribe had a deal with the Kadince people that neither would interfere with the other as they would mutually benefit from such. Kadince would lose some useable land but the orcs would keep the dangerous creature population in check. Orcs hunted large creatures as a right of passage in their culture. With the approach of winter, they were preparing for a special hunt made yearly which involved killing a very large creature. As they approached a smaller special-looking tent with steam coming from its peak Kuruk told Novius, “Chief thinks you should join hunt. He say you’re skilled, me agree. Come… we speak to him.” Opening the small tents flap mist poured out and Novius could feel the heat coming from inside, “Woah woah, I don’t know about more of that smoke stuff Kuruk.”

“Hahaha,” Kuruk chuckled, “This not like shaman smoke. Follow.” Inside was a circular pit with hot stones in the middle with the chief sitting alone on the ground with his eyes closed. Novius and Kuruk joined him, forming a circle around the stone pit. Kuruk grabbed a bone spoon and scooped water from a large skull bowl, pouring it on the stones creating steam. Kuruk then explained how orcs enjoy saunas as it aids in the recovery of muscle and sweats out toxins from the body. As such it is tradition in their culture to hold important meetings in such rooms.

The chief then opened his eyes and looked at Novius before speaking in their language. Kuruk also looked to Novius and translated the best he could, “Two warrior injured last hunt. Ambush by cyclops while returning to village. Need help for winter hunt. You strong human… rare, join hunt, earn clan respect.” While Novius thought for a second Orius quickly asked, "What will we be hunting?" Kuruk translated and the chief answered on his own, "Cyclops." This aroused excitement in Orius. Novius displayed his worry, "Are you capable of killing one? I mean it just hurt two of your men." Kuruk replied without keying in the chief, "We kill cyclops fine, was unprepared for ambush-," the chief interrupted Kuruk understanding what they were discussing. Kuruk questioned the chief's words while Novius and Orius sat there and waited. Kuruk turned back to them and continued, "Cyclops is used for special meal in culture, this not first time we hunt it..." Kuruk put on an uneasy face and continued, "Chief say you get meal as reward too."

Orius was even more thrilled now, 'Let's do it!' he said to Novius internally.

'I don't know... what if something goes wrong?' he argued.

'Oh c'mon! It'll be a fun kill, then we can eat an orc delicacy.'

'I don't think we should, we're lucky enough to have been accepted into their tribe... let's not mess it up by interfering with a sacred hunting ritual.'

"Ok, I'll help," Orius spat out before Novius could stop him.

'Dude!' Novius rebutted, 'Kuruk is like three times our size, of course he can hunt them just fine!'

Orius didn't care what argument Novius came up with, 'I'm not letting you puss out of this, last I remember I knocked out Kuruk while he was trying to kill us.' The chief looked pleased to see a positive answer along with an excited look on their face from Orius. Kuruk then explained the details of when and where they would be heading and led the conversation to something more casual for all three of them. After several minutes of discussing hunting, orc culture, working out, and some personal stories they all left the sauna room for a wash and bed. Being designated the tent he woke up in as his own Novius and Orius lay in bed still awake while everyone else slipped into the sweet embrace of rest. "Whatd'ya think it'll be?" Orius asked Novius.

'Huh?' Novius questioned.

"The dish. It's gotta be good if they're willing to routinely hunt a Cyclops for it."

'Well yeah, I'm sure it is.., probably just something simple.'

Orius wasn't letting Novius' lack of enthusiasm bring him down, "Maybe it's like ham or a stew made from tender muscles!"

"How about ribs?" Novius added now enjoying Orius' optimistic curiosity.

"Oooo that would be awesome! Just imagine man, us with a massive rib all to ourselves with the meat falling off the bone."

"What if it's seared fatty thigh meat steak served with a cyclops bone marrow soup boiled with rib meat cubes inside,"

"Now we're talking!" Orius happily responded. Both of them went back and forth deep into the night discussing the possibilities and enjoying each other's company until they too embraced the solace of sleep.