I found myself bound and in a cage again, lying down uncomfortably. The creatures that captured me, the ones referred to as orcs by The Voice, looked to be taking me out of a forest and into some plains full of rolling hills. I could hear the sleds scraping on the ground and heavy footsteps, but also something new in the distance. It was quiet at first but quickly grew in intensity. It's getting closer, and it sounds like horses running.
The sound was getting louder with each passing moment. The orcs didn't seem to hear them like I could. Is my hearing better than theirs? With these satellites on top of my head, that wouldn't be surprising.
I remembered what The Voice told me in its letter. After I woke up, I would be free. It looks like I’m still tied up in a cage. So, The Voice has rules about how much it can affect this world. That’s why it sent me in the first place. But how are horses going to help me? What’s going to happen to get me out of this cage and not immediately killed by the orcs?
When the orcs finally reacted to the sound that I was hearing, I saw what I believed to be knights galloping towards me. I stared at them in awe, not because I hoped they were going to save me, but because their armor was completely white. That seems like an odd and slightly impractical choice. Twenty of these mounted knights charged fearlessly towards my captors.
The orcs had almost no time to prepare as the battle began, but the orcs met the knights’ charge with whatever weapons they had on hand. Unfortunately for them, all the knights had long spears. All but three of the orcs received a wound somewhere on their bodies, and four of the orcs didn't get back up from the blows they received.
The knights lost most of their spears in the charge, but that didn't stop them. They drew their swords as they wheeled their horses around to attack the war band again.
The orcs that survived the initial charge met the knights, this time more prepared for a fight.
I could see how seventeen of them had sacked a whole town so easily. The remaining thirteen each killed a horse as they were being charged, but three more orcs were killed in the exchange. I watched as the seven remaining mounted knights dismounted and formed a wall of swords and shields. The group that were forcibly dismounted kept their composure, and many rolled to their feet.
The knights wasted no time in gathering together with each other and fighting defensively. The orcs attacked the knights brutally, with little regard for their own safety. The knights, brilliantly, did not face the attacks directly. They instead dodged them or deflected them so that they would miss.
One orc broke a knight’s weapon as he tried to deflect an attack. The orc’s ax swing collided with the knight’s sword; the sword shattered, and the ax sank into the shoulder of the knight. Destroying the sword was testament enough to its strength, but after it buried the ax a solid foot into the metal armor and chest of the knight, I worried about the knights’ survival.
The orc struggled to dislodge its weapon from the knight’s corpse, leaving himself completely defenseless. The seven knights who had dismounted arrived in time to cut the orc down as they joined the fray. It took several deep attacks to bring it down. Great, so they're hard to kill too. Now that the knights were a full team again, they killed off the orcs systematically, one by one. It looks like the orcs individually are much stronger than the knights. But the knights' tactics and teamwork more than compensate for the deficit.
After all the orcs were dispatched, the knights took a moment to catch their breath. They surveyed the battlefield, and a few of them looked in my direction.
“Captain, it looks like there's a captive.” A single knight pointed in my direction as he looked at another knight with a helmet that had a long plume.
“It's surprising that they took a captive, but by the looks of the number of cages, they were looking for more for breeding stock,” the captain replied.
My heart dropped. I was almost reduced to becoming a baby-making puppet for orcs. The Voice better be sorry about that. Although, if I understood the letter correctly, it did get me out of this mess. But it was still to blame for this from the beginning.
“She looks a little too small to be breeding,” a third voice chimed in.
“She's a beastkin too. What do you want to do, Captain?” the first knight who spoke asked.
Alright, I need to get out of this situation and see if these knights in shiny armor really are just that. “I can hear you from over here.” My voice sounded more like a wheeze. I guess I didn’t realize how dehydrated I was.
The captain didn't waste any time directing his squad. “First off, secure the horses, burn the corpses and collect Dave and Girart. Their families should be able to have a body to lay to rest. You and Jenkins can start by going through the war band’s supplies and plunder. Don’t release the beastkin yet; we don’t know if it’s feral or not.” At least he knows how to keep his head in the game and not get distracted. What was that about being feral? Now I have to prove to them that I'm sane and not going to bite them. Fantastic.
While I waited for them to decide what they were going to do with me, ideas ran through my head about what I should do. I guess my first goal should be to sit up straight to at least look civil. It looks like the knights are going to take some time to sort through everything. I tried to worm my way to the sidewall of my cage and use that as leverage to sit up against it. My arms and legs weren’t doing a lot for me since they were bound to my sides and together. I imagine I look like a fish out of water. I really am in deep trouble here. After many careful and numerous small movements, I made it to the side. Now for the hard part: sitting up. I tired myself out just getting here. How much blood did I lose from my head wound? I brought my back all the way to the wall with my legs out in front of me, and I attempted to roll sideways and stop halfway through. If the knights were watching me, I must have entertained them since it took me several tries to get off the ground and even more to get into a true sitting position.
Exhausted and successful, I celebrated with a heavy sigh and laid my head against the metal bars of my cage, enjoying the cool feeling on the back of my head.
While I enjoyed my reverie, I heard footsteps coming closer to me, but I noticed them too late. A voice startled me before I opened my eyes to see who was walking towards me. “That's a good sign. Moving around to sit up.” It sounded like the guy the others were referencing as “Captain.”
I opened my eyes after jumping just a little, but managed to remain sitting. I looked at the source of the voice and saw a human male. His face looked like he rarely smiled and his green eyes were staring down without hiding his scrutiny. “You don’t look good. Are you injured anywhere?” His eyes narrowed on me as he looked to be scanning my whole body. The closer he got, the larger he looked.
“Water,” I got out, but it sounded feeble and strained. The man brought his ear closer to me, and I tried again. “Water, please.” I put everything I had into saying those two words.
He looked at me as if he was considering something. He put a gauntleted hand to his chin, showing how tanned his skin was compared to the white material of his armor. It looked like he was almost through with his idea when he ran his hand through the dark-brown, short hair on his head. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “Dex, canteen!” he shouted, and held out his arm.
Finally, I can get something to drink.
Shortly, another knight who had also taken his helmet off came up. His complexion and hair color were similar to the captain’s, but his hair was slightly longer and he looked boyish. He handed him a teardrop-shaped leather skin with a nozzle on it.
“Thank you. As you were, soldier.” He then turned from the one who’d brought the water skin to me. “I take it you can understand me.” I nodded. “You aren’t going to cause any trouble?” I shook my head. “I'm going to place this next to you and cut your bindings. You are not to leave that cage. You will not touch anyone. Finally, you will not speak to anyone unless they speak to you first. If you try anything I don’t like, I will kill you. You'll behave, won’t you?”
I nodded my head enthusiastically but immediately regretted it as I got dizzy from the rapid motion. I understand that my life's at your discretion. The captain placed the water skin leaning on my leg and pulled a dagger from his belt. He walked behind me, and I heard a small snap, and suddenly my arms were no longer constricted to my torso.
I lifted my arms to unravel the rope and, as soon as I could bend my elbows, I reached up and grabbed the rope and began tearing it off of me. With my arms free, I snatched the waterskin and inspected the nozzle to see how it was sealed. It looked like a piece of leather, but it was perfectly sized. I gave it a tentative pull. It budged, so I took the claws from my thumb and pointer finger and pierced the leather to get a better grip. These claws are surprisingly sharp. I pulled this time with more effort and was rewarded with a satisfying pop.
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My goal was right in front of me and finally accessible.
I put the water skin to my lips and drank a little too quickly. Immediately I started coughing as some of the water entered my windpipe. I got my breathing back under control and went back to drinking.
Before I could finish half of it, the captain grabbed the canteen away from me. I must have looked shocked, because he held out an open hand to me and he started talking. “Don’t drink it all now. This should last us two days as we head back to the city now that our mission to kill these orcs is complete. Please hand me the stopper.” He gave a slight nod to the leather thing still stuck to my pointer-finger claw. I pulled it off and gave it a closer inspection. It was indeed leather, but it was leather wrapped around some type of wood. My claws just pierced wood like it was nothing? I handed him the stopper and then looked at my claws, fascinated at how dangerous they were. Still curious, I took a single claw to the rope binding my legs and hooked it in. I pulled gently, and I severed the rope with almost no effort. That is kinda cool.
“Now, will you answer my question? Are you hurt anywhere?” Straightening his posture, the captain stood at his full height.
“My head, I think. It hurts a lot,” I replied in a still-raspy voice.
He didn’t ask another question, but walked around to my back. Before I could turn to look at him, he grabbed my shoulder to hold me still. His one hand not only covered my shoulder, but part of my bicep as well. Then I felt something touch the back of my head and pain shot through me. I flinched at the touch as I yelled.
“Do you remember getting hit in the back of the head?”
Didn’t he see the blood in my hair as he cut my ropes? I wondered, but said, “No.”
The pain was manageable until he poked it again, making the agony resurge with a vengeance. My head throbbed with the pain pulsing from the wound.
“How old are you?” The captain walked into my view again.
“I don’t know.” My voice was still weak, but it was getting easier for me to talk.
The confusion showed on his otherwise stoic face. “What village are you from?”
“I don’t know.” Great, I think I can tell where this is going.
“Do you have a name?” He was almost pleading now.
“I don’t know.” Yeah, I was right. What’s next, is he going to see if I know anything? Has he figured out that I have no memory?
With a heavy sigh, the captain opened the cage and reached in to lift me out.
The feeling of being carried was disconcerting. The knight placed one hand under each of my arms and picked me up without hesitation. He then set me down on the ground, and my legs, still too weak to hold me, gave out. I slumped to the ground on my hands and knees. He took a knee and put his hand on my shoulder. It surprised me that I didn’t fall completely to the ground with how weak my body felt.
“My name is Allen, by the way. How long did the orcs keep you in that cage?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“I don’t know.” My new catchphrase. “A day, I think.”
He stood up, and the next thing I heard was the loud screeching of a woman. “You let it out of the cage? How do you know it isn’t feral? We should kill it before it becomes dangerous.” A knight slightly smaller than the rest came running up to us, drawing her sword. Her voice was high, and it sounded like she was running towards an emergency.
Her hair was short, but her face was obviously quite beautiful. Her ears were visible through her hair. They were longer than any human ears I had ever seen.
Her captain stood between her and me, halting her charge. “She's not feral; in fact, she has no memories. She's also extremely weak from her imprisonment. You're going to give her food and take care of her. I'll take her to Nora at the orphanage when we return to the capital."
“It's a beastkin. It will be nothing more than a wild animal once it grows up.” She has something against me, or, more precisely, my kind. It's good to know that there's racism in this world and that I'll be the target of some of it. “That thing will never contribute to the kingdom. It will only cause problems. We should just dispose of it and save everyone the trouble of dealing with it once it can defend itself. Nobody will miss it.” Her voice grated on me.
“Avollea, enough!” the captain shouted at the racist woman. “I don’t care what happened to you in the past involving beastkin, but you will not kill this innocent child.”
“What makes you think any beastkin is innocent?” The woman referred to as Avollea continued the shouting match.
“That's the type of thinking that leads to wars where nobody wins, wars full of senseless bloodshed. You will treat this child as if it were one of your own.” I think the captain might be a little angry. He never gave the woman a chance for a rebuttal. “Your insubordination has tested my limits before, but you will not cross this line. You will care for this child because your life depends on it. If she dies, I will charge you with treason and you will be executed. Have I made myself clear?”
“You can’t do that.” Her screams hit a new high. Her voice started to break. I couldn't tell if it was from anger or sadness. “You're abusing your power.”
“I can and I will.” The captain balled his fists, squeezing the waterskin in one hand. “You took an oath to join my company. Defend this kingdom and all its inhabitants. We found this child within the kingdom’s borders. We are a full day away from the capital. She is a citizen, whether she remembers it or not. You will not murder any of this kingdom’s citizens. That's why it is treason to kill her.” I think this man has a hero complex to go through this much to save my hide. Not that I'm not grateful. I'm not interested in dying again.
“I'll remember this.” She sounded livid.
“You better.” With those two words, I think the captain finally won the argument.
I knew my hearing was better than normal, but these ears, the size of satellites on my head, did their job too well. Before all the shouting began, my head was already pounding from a certain person poking a wound on the back of my head. The first shouts weren’t too bad, but when they kept going and increasing in volume, all I could do was cover my ears with my hands and curl up in the fetal position. My head felt like knives were stabbing it repeatedly. I was feeling nauseous from the pain. Once the yelling was over, the pain slowly subsided.
“Get up.” It sounded like Avollea. “Get up. I may have to keep you alive, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you.” Her foot nudged me out of the painful state I was in. I looked at her face and saw that everything was blurry. It seemed like tears had fallen down my face from all the pain. “Stop crying and do something useful. Help us set up camp.”
“I can’t stand up.” My voice had recovered mostly at this point. Wow, not only do I sound just like you expect a little girl to sound, but I also sound pitiful. “I'm too hungry and weak.”
“Ugh, here. Once you finish that, start building a fire with the wood from these cages.” A piece of jerky the size of my fist fell from her hands and onto the ground in front of me. She really doesn’t like me.
I quickly grabbed the dried meat and brushed off the dirt with my filthy hands. Yeah, that was a wasted effort. Still, I took a bite out of the provided food like it was my last meal. Wordlessly, I chewed the dried meat and savored the flavor. I don’t think I've ever had any jerky taste this good before in my previous life. If I’m completely honest, I don’t think anything has ever tasted this good. The piece of meat she gave me was gone in seconds.
There was an unfortunate side effect of eating the jerky; it awakened my hunger. I might have been starving before they released me. I felt livelier once I had food in my belly.
“More?” I looked at her with pleading eyes. “Can I have another one?”
“Absolutely not.” The look she gave me made it sound like I was asking for her firstborn child. “You need to work for your food. Get to making a fire over there.” She sounded angry, but wasn’t screaming her words this time. She then pointed to the pile of orc corpses.
There's one problem that's preventing me from doing that. “I don’t know how to make a fire,” I told her honestly.
Her jaw dropped. “Can you cook?” I shook my head. “Do you know how to take care of a horse?” Again, I shook my head. “Can you clean a sword?” I don’t think I could do it properly. Once more, I shook my head. “What can you do?” Desperation was evident on her face.
I thought of all the things I could do. Nothing was relevant to the situation in this medieval world I found myself in. “I don’t know.” I said it again. Even I'm getting tired of saying those three words.
“I knew you were going to be useless. Just take those cages and drag them to Drue and do whatever he asks you to.” She pointed to a knight stacking the orc corpses.
I attempted to stand up, succeeded, and found that my body was much more responsive than earlier. Although that bar was set quite low. I still felt weak, but I walked over to the cages and saw they were still on the sleigh. I grabbed the cord that I assumed was used to pull the sleigh and prepared myself to pull a huge amount of weight, given the six large cages of wood and metal. I pushed with everything I had. Suddenly my arms were outstretched, and the ground was moving towards me. My arms didn’t catch me as I hurled to the dirt. The impact was jarring and reminded me of how much pain I was still in.
I slowly recovered from my face-plant and felt there was a lot of slack on the cord that I was using to pull the sleigh, which was right behind my feet. Did I just move this sleigh like it was nearly weightless? I'm in the body of a young child, and I can move something much larger than me. How is that possible? How strong would I be if I was at a hundred percent?
“What are you waiting for? Those cages aren’t going to move themselves,” Avollea shouted.
Why is she yelling again? Snapping out of my confusion and picking myself off the ground, I stood up once again.
This time I prepared not to use my arms but only to use my legs. Leaning forward and bracing myself for the inevitable resistance, I pushed off with one foot. There was resistance, but not even close to the amount I was expecting. I almost stumbled again, but I was able to catch myself by bringing my trailing leg up in front of me. These new feet are going to take some getting used to. There was little surface area contacting the ground when I stepped. I shortened my stride, leaned forward less, put one foot in front of the other and pulled the devices of my imprisonment to my destination. My guess is that they plan on using the wood from these cages to start a fire to burn the corpses, as Captain Allen ordered. Also, this is much easier than I would have ever guessed. Eventually, I made it to the knight referred to as Drue, who was looking at me with admiration.