Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
The group kept their word and filled the truck with fuel when the small tanker arrived in the early morning hours.
Gathred grips his forehead, drawing a sharp breath through his tusks.
“What is it?” I ask, concerned as I press my hand to his cheek. “Another headache?”
To my surprise, he shakes his head. “Not like the others, this…” His eyes snap open. “Fuck. No. It doesn’t make sense. It can’t be. Why would Argoth do such a thing?”
“What? Talk to me.”
“He… The Lakktra clan, I think…” He shakes his head like it’s too painful. “They’re the ones in my visions. I think they are my clan. My family.”
My mouth drops open. It explains so much, the whites of his eyes, the fact he doesn’t seem like the others in the Hzarka. “That’s why you have no memories of the Hzarka before your head wound?”
He nods. “Argoth... He told me he was my uncle, but it was a lie.”
I stare at him, then at Katya. The thought of being ripped away from my family, of not even being told who they are. It’s an unimaginable cruelty.
“We must go,” Gathred rumbles next to me, and I know he’s right. This has been a respite, a moment of peace as we head into the unknown storm ahead of us.
“What if they’ve forgotten me?” Gathred hesitates as we stand on the edge of the Lakktra clan territory, the boundary marked with the old symbol I remember from my father’s ledger.
I hate seeing Gathred unsure like this. His confidence is usually so high that any vulnerability seems too much. But I put my hand on his arm and look deep into his eyes.
“No way,” I tell him.
“They left without me. The Hzarka took me in. Maybe—”
“No,” I repeat, shaking my head. “Gathred, you’re pretty unforgettable. Let’s just go in there and speak with them, OK?”
Katya slips her hand into his. “We’ll be with you.”
I nod, smiling at her. “Right. Any bullshit and we’re there to back you up.”
Katya snorts a laugh. “Bullshit…”
“Don’t let Dad ever hear you say that word, you hear me?”
She nods, still grinning, and Gathred lifts her into his arms, then slips his massive arm around my shoulders, and together we take the step onto the Lakktra territory.
But we’ve only gone a few hundred yards before a voice calls out from behind. A gruff, deep orc voice.
“That’s far enough. Put your hands up and turn around.”
Gathred growls. “You don’t tell us what to do. I am—”
“I don’t care who you are. You’re trespassing…” As Gathred turns, and we see the other orc standing off in the trees, he falls silent, his red eyes shining out in the gray dusk. The spear falls from his hand as his jaw drops open and he stares for a moment, then mutters, “Gathred. How?”
Gathred hesitates, a little rumbling noise coming from his chest. Then he speaks, uncertain but strong. “Tigor?”
The other orc nods slowly.
“Are we family?” Gathred asks, and Tigor’s eyes narrow as he steps toward us, his spear forgotten.
“We’re brothers. You don’t remember?”
“I…lost my memory.” Gathred turns his head and points to the dent in his skull, then indicates me and Katya. “This is my mate, Aleena. And her sister, Katya.”
Tigor looks from one of us to the other, shaking his head. “Your mate… We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Hi,” I say, starting to feel more comfortable with the situation.
“Well, brother…” Tigor grins, then slaps a hand hard against Gathred’s shoulder. “It is good to see you. You will all come with me. Gathra missed you. We all miss you.”
“Gathra…my…my mother?”
Tigor nods with a grin. “You were named after her. First son, as is tradition. This way.”
He turns around, walking away and picking up his spear, and we follow on behind.
When we get to a kind of orc village, with huts and makeshift shelters, even I notice the stares from all around as orcs whisper to each other as we pass. I hear Gathred’s name spoken in low voices. And then Tigor calls out.
“Gathra. Athaan. Oran, Mol!” He turns and grins to Gathred, his tusks cutting into his top lip as he chuckles, then raises his voice again. “Come quick, we’re under attack!”
There are a few laughs from those that have already seen us. Then a young orc female roars as she runs out of a hut on the other side of a large fire pit. She raises herself up to full height, then stops short and does a sort of double take.
And her mouth drops wide, just as two male orcs come from either side, brandishing weapons. “Why you all sitting around? You heard Tigor! To arms!”
Tigor is full on creasing up with laughter at this point, and even Gathred, nervous as he must be about meeting his family for what must feel like the first time in his life, is starting to laugh. All around us there are snickers and laughs, and the orc that shouted at them all narrows his eyes as he stares at Tigor.