Braxton POV

Silas and Rosewyn returning from their recon mission was like a cold shower over me. I held Emera in my arms, and I could feel myself pushing and being more with her. When we were alone, I felt like we existed outside of time. Silas reprimanded me later for catching me in a state of undress with Emera near me. He said he understood that I was in the heat of the moment, but it was reckless all the same. Silas thinks I shouldn’t commit to Emera when her future is so uncertain. I am worried that Emera feels the same way. Will she end it before we even have a relationship to speak of?

For three days, I have had to put my growing feelings aside, preparing for a raid on this slaver outpost. The building was as big as a small town made out of logs of the trees around us. There weren’t many windows to see into the building, but they kept the bulk of the slaves in a barn. The people of N’ila were sleeping on the muddy dirt floor of the barn. Over a hundred men were guarding the place. Most of them seemed uninvested in the job, which meant they were probably mercenaries. I hate to think why they stay in a place like this, but I have to remind myself that it will all come to an end soon.

This time I was less sure of the intel. We were missing 175 people from N’ila, but I am not convinced that all those people were at this outpost. We were a team of four against a hundred men protecting their ‘merchandise’ as I have heard their boss say. Commander Victor Kelly was the man in charge of the outpost, and he was a strategist from the way he set up patrols and placed his guards. He must have a military connection somewhere in the Kingdom of Solis. How was King Travis Ian of Solis allowing all of this? I know the biggest industry in the kingdom of Solis was the black market of slaves, but how could he let it go this far?

We had infiltrated the outpost from underground thanks to Rosewyn. I decided to use Rosewyn’s stealth skills to our advantage. It’s her job to free the slaves, so we stood a fighting chance against the hundred men. She was sneaking into the outpost’s barn right this moment under the cover of night. Emera was taking out their scouts on the top of the building while Silas was preparing to set the main building on fire. Rosewyn had dug escape tunnels that went underneath all parts of the outpost over the last two days. My job was to handle Commander Victor Kelly before he rallied and organized his men after the chaos Silas was creating.

Stealth is not a skill orcs possess. Try as I might, my prey always hears me coming when hunting. Luckily, this raid didn’t require stealth. It just required a weapon and confidence. Today, I chose my long sword to take on this foe. All I needed was to capture him because troops from Kanna and Desfyra would be here in the morning to arrest Kelly’s men for kidnapping and forced slavery. I couldn't wait to watch my foe see his destruction. I watched Commander Kelly sitting at his desk drinking from a flask. He was just like the man who murdered my mother in front of me.

Shit-colored eyes that lacked empathy and a sick grin that enjoyed watching his men play with a slave woman. My rage was building at his kind of entertainment. “His blood should paint the walls of this hell hole before it burns to the ground.”

The scene unfolding in the Commander’s office flings me into action. I burst through the wooden walls like a bull. Wood scraps fly everywhere as I thrust my sword into the stunned men holding the slave woman. The men fall from my sword to the floor painting the wood a solid red. I look at the naked, blonde woman in front of me and recognize her as the librarian from N’ila. “Ms. Yifa?” I whispered. The woman backed away and burst into tears.

“Who the hell are you?” Commander Kelly yelled from behind his desk.

I pull off my cloak and throw it at the woman. Whirling back around, I face the human with shit brown eyes as he snaps his fire whip at me. Did this guy think he could intimidate an orc this way? “You are stupid if you believe a flaming piece of leather is going to scare me?”

The commander laughed. “Not at all. You are an orc warrior from the wars from undeniable passion to kill me.”

“Who said I would kill you?” I grunted.

“Your rage will make that decision for you, but not to worry orc warrior, I have set enough traps to keep you busy after I heard how you took down the caravan last week.” Commander Kelly gave me a smug look.

“I guess the runaway got to you before I made it here,” My voice was laced with disgust.

“Indeed,” he grinned. “That was a mistake on your part, orc warrior. You won’t rescue all the slaves from N’ila since I sold a chunk of them shortly after the runaway arrived.”

I didn’t have time to react to what he said as snapped his whip at me. Orcs aren’t nimble, which made it harder to dodge as he snapped the whip at me over and over in his office. I caught his whip on my blade and yanked, hoping to free the whip from his hands. The whip slid off my blade like a greased pig. What the hell was up with this thing? We played a game of cat and mouse until he managed to wrap his whip around my leg. The flames seared into my flesh, causing me to lose balance.

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“Oh, do I get to tame the little orc warrior?” He teased. “You wouldn’t be the first orc to fall to my power. Do you know a Demi Black? The younger brother of the famous Marta Black who serves on the Gleaca Council. He was once an orc warrior under General Braxton Stonewell. Now, little Demi is a toy that I kick about-”

I charged him. We wrestled about the room, knocking things over in our wake. Punches, bruises, scratches, and burns littered both of us. I was stronger, but the commander used my size against me in this room. He flicked me with the flaming whip over and over as he cackled. He kept spouting about how he was smarter than me.

“Shut the hell up!” This guy was right. I am going to kill him because my rage is taking over.

My knee was on his chest while his whip was holding back my blade as it coiled around my right arm. He had the nerve to laugh underneath my weight. Flames were searing my skin from the whip as I tried to free my arm from his whip. I should just break his face with my free hand. One good punch would end this.

“You’re going to end this aren’t you, Braxton?” Commander Kelly chuckled.

“How did you know?” I spat on him.

“Demi talked about you a lot at the beginning. Every scar you earned through battle. Every life you saved by killing humans. He thought you might hate humans after the wars, but I knew better, Braxton. You hate anything that causes pain because you have known only pain, and I wanted to see this harsh warrior in action if I was going to have to die anyway. This way I will have a glorious death by a savage general. It’s perfect.” Commander Victor Kelly seemed a lot older than I had thought when I saw him from the window. He just kept running his mouth like many elders do when they think they know better. “I do hope you enjoy my parting gifts to your party, General.”

Suddenly, an explosion erupted from the direction of the barn. “Shit!”

Commander Kelly gave me a toothy grin that made my insides scream. “Better hurry, General. The slaves of N’ila are dying.”

Faces of my friends from N’ila and memories of Yuli making herself at home with the people there flashed through my mind. Emera, Rosewyn, and Silas were out there in the chaos. This had to end quickly. I glanced behind me to ensure Ms. Yifa was gone. She was nowhere to be found. I was in the clear to beat this man to a bloody pulp, but I felt dissatisfied at the thought of killing this man so easily. He didn’t deserve an easy death.

Freeing myself from his whip, I used my sword to damage his muscles. He dropped the whip to the floor, which I snatched up to tie him up. This man would not die today. I had bigger fish to fry than a washed-up commander, trying to have a ‘glorious’ death. I left the office through the entrance that I created in the wall. The whole outpost was up in flames. I saw wisps of Silas’ magic through the smoke, and I could hear Emera’s voice from above.

What I didn’t expect to see was another dirt tower where the barn used to be. It stood tall above the treeline. I imagine the Kanna troops were well on their way to investigate. The stupid commander kept cackling as I dragged him along behind me. We headed into the smoke toward the former barn. The buildings were glowing from the blaze consuming them. Would everyone make it out of this mess in one piece?

Rosewyn is on the edge of her dirt tower. It was larger than the last one as it stood high in the sky. I rushed toward the tower with my baggage dragging behind me. Once I reached the foot of the tower, I heard the walls of the barn beginning to crack. Wood splintered as the walls collapsed, unleashing a flood of water. There was no escaping the tidal wave that crashed upon my captive and me. The water was trapped against the wall of another building as it followed through the outpost. Pressure on my chest was trying to force the air out of my lungs. It took all my strength to hold the commander in place, so he didn’t wash away with the water.

The water receded quickly, allowing me to breathe again. My ears were ringing, and my head pounded from the lack of air. I panted, trying to control my breath. My vision felt a bit spotty, but I could tell the water had killed the blazing fire. Smoky steam filled the space of the outpost. I think I could hear Rosewyn’s voice shouting at me from her tower. I needed to find Emera and Silas since Rosewyn and whoever she rescued were safe. The commander was busy coughing up water next to me, meaning I would need to wait a few minutes before I could move. I forced myself to take a step forward only to fall in the mud at my feet.

“Braxton!” A sweet voice called out.

My muscles felt weak from fighting back against the tidal wave. I managed to push myself with the help of familiar warm hands. “Emera,” I muttered, still dazed by the smoke and water.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Emera scolded me. “Who runs into a raging fire? Idiots that’s who!”

She had a point. I did run toward the burning buildings, but I wanted to help everyone. “But Rosewyn-”

The ground shook beneath me as I heard rocks smash together somewhere near us. I couldn’t make myself look up from the mud until Emera pulled my face to look at her. “Come, brute. I know you can stand.”

How would she know that? I just withstood a tidal wave and protected my prisoner. Wasn’t that enough? “I don’t have the strength.”

“Sure, you do, General.” A male voice cheered me on. It seemed so familiar to me. “Only someone like you could lead a rescue through chaos, General Braxton.” His voice sounded so familiar that I made myself get up in the slick mud.

A battered, green-skinned, thin orc helped Emera steady me. His hair was long and white, and I only knew one orc warrior with hair like that. “Demi Black, is that you?”

He gave me a small smile at my recognition of him. “Yes, general. I am here.”

“How?” I asked as they leaned me back against the wall that I had previously been trapped against.

“It’s a long story, General,” Demi Black answered.

Looking at Demi Black, I could tell he was forcing himself to smile. His eyes kept darting toward the man that I had tied up in a whip. There was fear in his eyes. Commander Kelly had broken something inside Demi that may take a long time to heal. I hadn’t even known my comrade had been captured by these disgusting scum of humans. This whole mess was bigger than just the people of N’ila. Just how many people from Desfyra have been taken and sold into slavery? If the Kingdom of Solis was backing these slavers, Queen Amory wouldn’t stand for it. This could force a war between humans and elves. King Travis Ian of Solis wouldn’t be that stupid, right?