We walked into the Orcs' camp later that afternoon, still tied to the wagon. The street – if you can call it that – was nothing but thick mud that the wagon, and us, bogged down in. Thrul whipped the old wolf mercilessly as the wagon rolled more slowly than he cared for.

The village was full of large huts made of thick, tanned animal skins and logs. Some had tusks jutting out from under their thatched roofs.

As we stumbled through the muddy streets, more and more Orcs gawked at us. The hunting party had been home for a while, but we’d slowly dragged up the rear. There were dozens of Orcs watching us as we passed them, some of them making guttural noises in our direction, but most just snarling at us with their huge teeth sticking up past their bottom lips.

They were all green in some shade, some yellower and lighter than others, some the same dark shade of green Rhux was.

The males were all muscular and bulging, with bald heads and scars everywhere. I didn’t see any that were shorter than seven feet tall. They wore leather loin clothes, thankfully, so I didn’t have to see what I assumed were the massive hogs they were hiding down there.

The females were also tall, none shorter than me at six feet, and most even taller than me. They were all very muscular, with every muscle on their bodies clearly defined. They had thick, muscular thighs and wide hips, and ample asses. Some of them had long, red hair, and others had thick black hair that was pulled into thick braids that hung down past their shoulders.

They all had pointy ears and jagged claw-like fingernails.

The females weren’t wearing much. Some of them had leather tops, and thin leather bottoms stretched across their massive muscles just enough to hide their private parts. But most of the females were completely nude. It made me think of what ancient human tribes had probably been like. Clothes were only needed to protect from the cold or during a hunt. They weren’t needed at home. Each female had breasts the size of watermelons. They were all humongous, whether sagging down or firm and perky.

We were led past all of them as they stared at us. As we walked, a group of small orc children began to follow us, laughing and talking in their grunty language. Rhux ignored them. One of them, the oldest, who came up to about my waist, had a stick in his hand. He poked it into my ass.

I jumped and kicked out at him, but he ducked, laughing the whole time. His little band of thugs laughed with him.

I tried to walk backwards through the mud so I could keep my eye on him, but the mud was thick, and I tripped, falling on my ass and getting covered in mud.

I twisted over and got to my knees. The rope that tied me to the wagon was running out of slack; if I didn’t get up, I’d be dragged. Rhux reached down to help me, but the mud was thick.

I’d gotten up on my knees when the kid with the stick saw his opening. He jabbed the stick hard into my ass.

I came off the ground with a yelp, suddenly back on my feet. I spun around to face the little shit, and the rope wrapped around me. He was laughing so hard he was bent over and not paying attention. I kicked him as hard as I could, knocking him face-first into the mud.

His little gang of heathens had laughed when he’d jammed me in the ass with the stick. Now they started laughing at him.

The rope was still wrapped around me, and it pulled tight and dragged me down into the mud again.

I was covered with the thick mud when Rhux finally managed to get me to my feet. The wagon had never stopped rolling.

“Damn kids,” I said, sounding like an eighty-year-old man. I turned and shook a fist at the kid that had got me with the stick. “Fucking asshole,” I yelled. “What’s their problem?” I said to no one in particular.

Rhux sighed. “They’ve never seen a human before. And they’ve been taught all humans are evil.”

“Evil? Am I the one that jammed a stick up somebody’s ass?” I rubbed my butt.

Rhux shook her head. “Keep walking, Jack. We’re almost there.”

The huts got progressively bigger as we trudged further into the village. Up ahead, I could see a hut that was much larger than all the other huts.

It was made out of animal skins like the others, but it stretched wider than any of the others, and I could tell it was deeper as well. Its roof was tiered, with huge elephant tusks sticking out of each tier. There was a large wooden door framed by large tusks as well.

In front of the hut was a crowd of Orcs. In the middle stood three very mean-looking orcs.

Thrul stopped the wagon in front of the hut, untied the rope connecting us to it, then pulled us roughly in front of the three orcs standing in the middle of the crowd.

In the center, with a female on each side of him, was Rhux’s half-brother, Urog. The one who’d captured us. He’d obviously ridden ahead and told mommy dearest what he’d caught.

He was over eight feet tall and more muscular than any human could ever be. His biceps were as big around as tree trunks. He had black hair pulled back into a braid and two thick teeth sticking up from his lower jaw, rising halfway up his face. He was wearing thick leather fur-lined pants and no shirt. He was wearing a necklace made out of bones and small skulls. He looked like a walking nightmare.

Next to him was a female orc, about a foot tall than me but still much shorter than Urog. She had thick red hair that hung wildly down her shoulders and back. Her long, pointy ears were jutting out and her two canine teeth sticking out were small but sharp looking. Unlike some of the other female orcs I’d seen, she was wearing clothes. Leather and fur barely covered her watermelon-sized breasts, her green cleavage the size of the Grand Canyon. She had on a leather skirt that was tied around her six-pack abs and hung down between her hard green thighs.

“That’s Moda,” Rhux whispered to me. “Urog’s wife.”

On the other side of Urog was another female orc. This one needed no introduction.

Umog. Urog’s mother.

Unlike the beautiful Rhux, who had her mother’s human features, or even Moda, who wasn’t unattractive in a weird sort of way, Umog was downright ugly. She had all the features of the Orcs, big teeth, pointy ears, and pale green skin. But her face looked like it had been carved from stone by a drunk sculptor. Her nose was flat and ran flatly into her upper lip, while her eyes were hooded and narrow. Her forehead was broad and flat, leading into hair that was thick but gray instead of the black or red the other females had, turned from its original color by old age.

She was dressed in leather and fur trimmed with bones and feathers, looking like some kind of weird shaman, but wearing more clothes than any other two females combined, everything covered but her shoulders and arms.

She sneered at Rhux, then spoke to her in the Orcish language.

It was harsh and abrasive, and I knew she wasn’t giving Rhux any compliments.

Rhux listened without interrupting, then said something back I couldn’t understand. Umog’s face twisted up like she’d been slapped, and Urog’s cheek’s started to turn red. Whatever Rhux had told them had pissed them off.

Urog spoke next, jabbing his finger in Rhux’s direction. Then mine. Not good.

Urog barked something in their language, and a big brawny male Orc stomped out of the crowd toward me. With one quick motion, he threw me over his shoulder like I was a rag doll.

“Don’t fight, Jack,” Rhux said. “They’ll kill you if you fight. I’ll try to come for you.”

The big orc was walking away, carrying me. “Try?” I yelled.

Rhux’s shoulder’s sagged. Then as the crowd closed around them, blocking my view, I saw Urog punch her in the face.

#

The big orc carried me to a pit covered with a grate made of bones and threw me in. I’m not exaggerating here either, like maybe he set me down and said, “Here you go, little fella. Have a nice night.” Uh… No.

He carried me to the edge, and while some other green asshole opened the gate, he threw me down in it. I landed hard on the ground, and pain shot through my side and stomach like someone had slammed a wrecking ball into me. I grunted and panted through it, waiting for my breath to return. I was pretty sure I’d just cracked a rib.

The pit was wide and deep, and there were a bunch of filthy guys in it. The guys were human, at least. Most of them were anyway. They were all skinny and dirty and looked like they hadn’t eaten in about five years.

Except for one guy. He was taller than me and more muscular and had green skin but a very human face—another half-breed. The half-breed bared his orc teeth at me.

“Well, this keeps getting better and better,” I said to myself.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” someone said. “He’s just trying to intimidate you.” I looked up to see a filthy, skinny guy coming my way. He sat down next to me on the hard dirt floor.

He stuck out his hand. “Names Grundon. Yours?”

I hesitated. Grundon grinned his broken tooth grin at me.

What the hell could it hurt? I took his hand. “Jack.” We shook. Then I went back to holding my sore ribs.

“You came in with the Chief’s half-breed bitch, right?” Grundon asked.

“Yes. But don’t call her that.”

He held up his hands. “No offense, mate. That’s just what these monsters call her. Picked up a little orcish myself. She’s all the talk. Seems once his father croaks, the big war chief is gonna…” he drew a finger across his throat. “Orcs don’t take kindly to half-breed bastards.

“So I’ve heard,” I said. Hopefully, Rhux would be able to escape. Hopefully, she’d take me with her when she did.

“Just ask old Brag there.” He pointed to the green-skinned man on the other side of the pit. “His da is one of these pricks. And still, he gets thrown down here.”

I looked at the big guy who was still giving me the evil eye. “That sucks.”

Grundon raised his eyebrows up and down several times and asked me, “How’d you end up with her? If you don’t mind me asking? Get a little piece of green pussy, did ya?”

I did mind him asking. “Why are we locked up down here?” I wanted to change the subject.

Grundon shook his head at my stupidity. “You’re a slave now, mate. We all are. The orcs work us in their pits digging for minerals and shit. That or…” He looked me up and down. “It’s the pit one way or the other. The digging pit or the fighting pit. You… As big as you are. I guess they’ll put you in the fighting pit with Brag tomorrow. Give 'em some sport to watch.”

What the fuck? This place was really starting to suck.

“The fighting pit?”

Grundon shook his head a little too eagerly for me. “Oh yeah. They been waiting on a big boy like you to fight with Brag. They’re gonna enjoy you two going at it.”

“Then what?” I asked, trying to stifle the pain in my ribs by pressing on it.

Grundon shrugged. “Then what, nothing. Whichever one of you lives gets to come back here. Not much of a reward, but better than dying, right?”

“Whichever one of us lives?” Now really, what the fuck? Were we supposed to fight to the death? For sport? I laid my head back on the dirt wall. I had to get out of here.

Grundon shrugged. “Thought you knew. Thought everyone knew.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“I didn’t,” I said. But I did now.

“It’s all speculation on my part anyway,” Grundon said. “They might just make you work the digging pit with us. You’re not that big.” He bit at a fingernail so dirty it was black. “But you did come in with the chief’s bastard daughter, who they all hate. So they’ll probably make you fight so that Brag can kill you.”

Great. Death by association.

There was a noise above us, and I looked up to see a skinny orc holding a bucket above us. He dumped it out into the pit.

Blood and bits and pieces of meat bounced on the ground, and I saw what looked like thick sausages.

“Dinner time,” Grundon said, scooping up some of the meat before others could get to it. He handed me a glob of it.

“What is it?” I asked. I was so hungry I could eat pretty much anything.

“The guts from their hunt,” Grundon said.

I looked at the little sausage in my hand, which, on closer inspection, was really a piece of something’s intestine.

I wanted to puke, but I had nothing in me.

“Eat it,” Grundon said. “It’s the only thing you’ll get tonight.”

I was starving. Something was better than nothing, right?

I closed my eyes and chewed.

#

The Orcs dumped more slop into the pit for breakfast. I’d slept fitfully the night before, curled up in the dirt and mud, the other men snoring around me.

After breakfast, more disgusting guts from the kills which had been stacked on the wagon we’d walked behind were thrown in. I forced myself to eat. The Orcs took the men from the pit and led them away. They left Brag and me behind.

On the way out, Grundon flashed that broken tooth grin at me. “Nice knowing you, kid. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

Nice vote of confidence there. So we’d have to fight.

For me, it was punishment for being associated with Rhux. It would be a slight workout for Brag. And entertainment for the Orcs. Great.

Brag sat across the pit, staring at me and smirking. I flipped him off. Maybe he’d come beat me up now and not in front of all those monsters. He just sat there.

My stomach clenched, either from hunger, a reaction to eating dead animal guts, or fear of being killed. Maybe all three. Would we really have to do this? Fuck! I needed a way out of here. The gate out of the pit was too high to reach without the Orcs dropping in something to climb up on, and the sides of the pit were smooth dirt.

I spent the day either sitting, trying to conserve my energy, or pacing around to keep my legs warm. I was going to need to move a lot.

Brag was huge. Close to seven feet tall. And he outweighed me by at least eighty pounds. Eighty pounds of solid muscle.

The guy was going to pound me.

But maybe I could stick and move some. Use his size to my advantage. I had good cardio. If I could keep him moving and tire him out, I might have a chance.

If he was as fast as Rhux, though, I’d lose. Which meant he’d kill me.

Maybe Grundon was wrong. Maybe we wouldn’t have to fight after all.

But Grundon wasn’t wrong. The Orcs came for us in the late afternoon.

Three big male Orcs lowered a rope ladder down for us. Brag climbed out without hesitation.

I stared up at the rope. One way or the other, it was my only way out. I climbed up.

The Orcs pushed us in the back to get us moving, and two followed behind as one led the way. They spoke to Brag in their language. I had no idea what they were saying, but it seemed like it was a mixture of taunting him and some pointing at me. I figured they were telling him he better not lose to a human, or what little regard they had for him would be gone—no telling what they’d do to him if he lost.

I didn’t want to think about what they’d do to me if I won.

Were we really going to do this? Fight to the death. These fucking barbaric animals.

I had to find Rhux, and we had to get out of here.

They led us to a big open area surrounded by crudely built wooden bleachers. The bleachers were filled with massive Orcs. If they weren’t sitting, they were standing, yelling and grunting and sneering at us. Most of them had what looked like horns that they were drinking out of.

Great. We were the entertainment for whatever they were celebrating.

In front was a raised platform, and on it sat Umog, Urog, and Moda, along with a few other Orcs that seemed to be fully clothed and less tribalistic than the general crowd. They were drinking too. It looked like they were all celebrating something. They were celebrating Urog becoming chief, I imagined.

I looked around for Rhux. My heart sank when I spotted her. She was next to the platform that the Orc leaders were sitting on.

She was chained to a post by her hands and feet. Her face was puffy and swollen, and her cheeks and lips were split open in several places. The big punch I’d seen Urog give her hadn’t been the last. The bastard.

The Orcs that had led us from the pit pushed us out into the middle of the arena.

Urog and Umog looked only at Brag, never lowering themselves to glance my way. They spoke to him, and he smiled. A cheer went up from the crowd. I guess we all knew who they wanted to win.

Urog stood from his chair and spoke to the crowd in the Orcs’ language. Then everyone started laughing. Not at him, of course, but at me.

I could feel the anger building in my bones. Fuck these assholes.

I stared defiantly at Urog, hoping he’d get the message I was vibing his way. Fuck you, big boy. If I were eight feet tall, too, I’d stomp your ass.

He sneered at me.

Then Moda, his wife, stood from her chair, her red hair flowing around her shoulders. She wasn’t nearly as ugly as some of the other female Orcs, and had a sense of civility about her. She spoke to the crowd in Orcish. Urog stared at her in disbelief, then curled his lip in anger.

Another cheer went up from the crowd, and there was excited activity as the Orcs started to pass things back and forth.

Brag grunted next to me. “The war chief’s wife has bet on you, human.” He turned to look at me. “She is the only one stupid enough to do so.”

Even I wasn’t that stupid.

Urog stomped forward and yelled something, and a big orc brought forward two ugly-looking maces with sharp edges and threw them at our feet.

Urog raised his hands and spoke to the crowd. All the Orcs cheered in excitement.

“You mind at least telling me what’s about to happen here?” I said to Brag.

He shrugged. “We battle. To the death.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.”

Brag reached down and picked up a mace. I quickly did the same or tried to. The mace was huge, a hulking monster that must have weighed fifty pounds. I lifted it with two hands, but I couldn’t swing it. I stepped sideways, straining to lift the mace, to put some distance between Brag and I just in case he got any ideas of starting, and ending, the fight quickly when I wasn’t ready.

Urog yelled some more, and Brag turned to face me. I turned to face him.

Urog yelled one word, which I assumed translated into “Fight!”

Brag came fast, swinging his mace wide and hard toward my head. He wasn’t anywhere near as fast as Rhux had been, but it was still fast. I barely got my mace up, just in time to block the blow.

The momentum of his swing, along with the weight of the mace I was holding, caused the blow to almost knock the mace out of my hands. I stumbled in the dust, recovered quickly, and got both my hands on the handle of my mace in an effort to control it.

Brag swung again, then again, harder and harder each time. I blocked as fast as I could. But even with two hands holding the mace was hard. If one of his blows landed, it would cave my head in. At least, I hoped it would. If Brag was going to kill me, I hoped he did it with one blow and that he didn’t hit me hard enough to incapacitate me but not so hard that I was still conscious. I didn’t want to be waiting on his final blow and have to think about how I’d failed everyone. Lucas, Sarah Beth, Harper, Martha, my parents, Rhux, and even Charlie.

But until then, I had to fight.

I brought my mace up and met Brag’s as he was swinging wildly at me, the force of the blows stinging my hands over and over and over until they felt numb, and I wasn’t sure I could hold on anymore.

There was no way I was going to beat this guy. He was going to bash my head in, and it would be all over. I’d be dead, then they’d kill Rhux, and no one would save Lucas and Sarah Beth. I hoped Charlie wouldn’t come. I hoped he wouldn’t bring my parents, or the police, or anyone. Or maybe he’d bring the whole damned world, and with our guns and bombs, we’d blow this place to smithereens.

None of that would be good. I had to survive. I had to get through this and get out of here. I had to get Rhux out of here.

But how? I ducked a blow from Brag that would have split my head like an overripe watermelon, pivoted, remembering what Rhux taught me, then swung my mace as hard as I could at him. It had no speed on it because it was so heavy, and he swung his head to the side, easily dodging it. This mace was too heavy. It was too heavy for me. It was made for an Orc.

Brag swung again, still slow. Maybe even a little slower.

He was tiring. Not much, but it was there. He might have been a seven-foot-tall monster, but he was no Urog or any of the other Orcs. He was half-human, and his human side was slowing him down. I was all human, and it was going to cost me my life.

But not if…

Brag swung hard. As hard as he could. I jumped back.

There it was. There was my chance. The oldest trick in the book. Brag was half-human, and he’d been cooped up in that pit for who knew how long. He was out of shape. As out of shape as a seven-foot-tall hulk with bulging muscles and zero percent body fat could be, which wasn’t much, but still, he was fading.

Now I just had to egg him on.

I threw down my mace, and there was a roar of disapproval from the crowd.

“Which one of these ugly ass trolls is your mother, Brag.”

He growled and came at me fast. He swung, and I jumped back. He swung again, and again, and again.

Our feet were kicking up dust all around us, and I could hear the crowd getting restless. They didn’t like my strategy of running away. The Orcs started to move closer, giving us less room. The circle began to shrink toward the side where the Orc leaders sat.

I had to speed this up and not die in the process.

“Man, I couldn’t imagine fucking one of these ugly bitches. Maybe your dad was blind, deaf, and couldn’t smell.”

Brag roared at me and swung from the right. I was too slow this time, feeling pretty winded myself, and his mace crashed into my upper arm.

The blow took me off my feet, and my bicep felt like it had been ripped open, and then my arm went numb from the shoulder down. I hit the ground, and dust and dirt filled my eyes, mouth, and nose.

I had no idea where Brag was or where his next blow was coming from, so I rolled in the dirt, trying to get out of the way. I needn’t have worried. After a few rolls, I blew the dust from my mouth and wiped my eyes. Brag was circling the crowd with his arms curled, showing off. The Orcs were both cheering and sneering at him.

I rose to one knee, and he locked in on me again. My arm felt dead, and blood dripped down from a gash in my shoulder. I didn’t think it was broken, but as numb as it was, it was useless.

I waited as Brag stomped toward me, grabbing up a handful of dirt with my still-working hand. I had to tire this brute out quickly, or I was dead.

Brag came in fast with his mace lifted high, and I threw the dirt in his face. Some of the Orcs cheered my dirty move as Brag tried to brush the dust out of his eyes.

It was my chance. I followed the dirt in and grabbed Brag’s arm to keep him from hitting me with the mace, then rammed my knee into his nuts as hard as I could.

He grunted, gasped, dropped the mace, and clutched both hands to his balls.

I grabbed the back of his head and pulled down as I drove my knee into his face. It was a hard blow, and I thought it might put him out, but to my surprise, it didn’t.

He came up with nothing but a slight trickle of blood from his nose instead of his face being smashed in like I thought it would be. He grabbed his mace again and snarled at me, clearly angry I’d gotten a couple of good blows in.

This wasn’t going to be good.

Brag swung another blow with the mace, which I ducked again, but he wasn’t as stupid as he looked. He followed that up with a left hook I never saw coming.

He fist hit my face like a truck, and a burst of white exploded in my eyes, and my ears rang so loud it was like a bell was butt-fucking my brain. I didn’t know what was happing until the ground came up and punched me in the side of the head, too.

I was down. I had to get up. My whole head felt like it was being squeezed. Through the crowd, I could see Rhux. She was on her knees, still chained to the post, watching us, shouting at us, her mouth moving, but no sound coming out.

Or I just couldn’t hear her. All the Orcs were raging, screaming with bloodlust, their noise just a roar in my ears. Finally, I saw Rhux’s mouth form the words, “Get up!”

My brain snapped back into place, and I rolled as hard and as fast as I could. There was a hard thud beside me, and I saw Brag’s mace plant itself into the ground in the exact spot my head had just been.

Brag was standing over me, looking confused as to why my head wasn’t mush beneath his weapon.

I kicked hard and swept his legs out from under him, and he went down. Then I was up, throwing punches as I jumped on top of him, hoping to knock him out.

I didn’t.

I rammed my fist into his face, but every time it felt like my wrists were going to break and the trickle of blood coming out of his nose stayed a trickle. I could feel that my mouth and nose were busted, and blood was pouring down my chin from his blow to my face.

He was trying to ward off my blows but finally realized his best course of action was to punch me in the face.

It was like a load of bricks slammed into my temple.

For a second, it was like I had no control over my body.

Brag kicked me off of him, and I rolled in the dirt, then he was on me, trying to punch me but making the mistake of not jumping on top of me. I guess he’d never seen an MMA match. He should have gone for the mount and pounded me into oblivion.

Instead, he stood to the side. He kicked me in the ribs a few times. Then stood over me. Thinking he was almost victorious. He looked around for his mace. If he got to it, I was done for. I tried to shake the fuzz out of my brain. Do something. Do something. Do something. I told myself. This is it.

His crotch was exposed, and I threw a punch so hard between his legs that I was surprised it didn’t go through him. He fell to his ass.

I was on him then, working my way to his back, locking my forearm under his chin and grabbing the back of his head, putting him in a chokehold.

The Orcs around us raged and roared, encouraging Brag to do something, anything. I squeezed like my life depended on it because it did. I had him, and if I let him go, he’d kill me.

Brag tried to stand. I squeezed as hard as I could. He got up on one knee with me riding him like a six-year-old kid would ride his dad during a playful wrestling match. I squeezed harder. As hard as I could. Then I started to knee him in the back. Anything to get him to fall down.

He pushed up to get on his feet.

With my weight, his stamina depleted, and the now lack of oxygen coming from the choke, he couldn’t do it. His eyes fluttered, and then his whole body sagged. I held on tight for a few more seconds, making sure he was out.

When I was sure he was completely out, I let him go, hoping I hadn’t killed him but not caring that much if I had.

I stumbled to my feet, blood running down my arm and dripping all over my hand. My face felt like it was on fire, and my head felt like someone had parked a car on top of it. The front of my shirt was covered in blood. Only adrenaline had gotten me through to the end.

The circle of Orcs was making a lot of noise, yelling, grunting, and snarling at me.

I looked over at Rhux, who held her head up proudly and nodded at me.

Urog stood from his chair, and the Orcs quieted down. He looked at Rhux and said something in Orcish to her.

To me, Rhux said, “Urog wants you to kill Brag now. The fight is not over.”

I stared at Urog. He pointed at me, then Brag, then one of the maces on the ground.

I stumbled over to the mace and tried to pick it up. I couldn’t. Not with just one working arm. So I dragged it over to where Brag was lying in the dirt. Rhux was staring at me in disbelief.

I stood over Brag and saw his chest rise and fall. He’d have a hell of a headache when he woke up. I had a hell of a headache now, but it was better than being dead.

I kept my hand on the handle of the mace, then pointed to Brag and looked at Urog. “This what you want,” I shouted. “I’m supposed to kill him?”

Rhux translated for me.

Urog nodded.

I stared into his black eyes.

“Fuck you,” I said. I pushed the handle of the mace away. Brag didn’t deserve to die. I just hoped he wouldn’t kill me when he woke up.

Urog roared. He angrily gestured at me while he screamed at Rhux. Rhux just smiled and shook her head at him. She was telling him the same thing. Fuck you.

The crowd of Orcs all snarled and growled and shouted. They were angry to be denied their blood. But I wasn’t going to give it to them.

From his platform, Urog angrily pointed at me while he shouted something. Umog shook her head in disgust. Clearly, things were not going the way they had been supposed to. I was glad I was alive but happy that I had stuck it to them for Rhux’s sake.

Moda smiled at me as two big Orcs dragged me away to the pit and threw me in.