**[Aiden, Day 5]**

Aiden’s free hand reached up to rub forehead in a vain attempt to force reason back into his obviously addled brain. The whole plan had been stupid, and just because it had worked out with the ant creatures did not mean he should keep making rash decisions, yet he found himself once again in an unpredictable situation. He was starring out of a crack into a large kitchen filled to the brim with a queer assortment of items. It was easily three times the size of his back home, but nowhere near as organized. The sandstone floors rose in the center and on the room's sides to make rough counters where a trio of smaller orcs was working. They had paler complexions than the guard he had locked in the cell earlier that day, as well as long gangly arms and fingers they were currently using to aggressively chop a series of unidentifiable meats. His mother would have scolded him for weeks if he had let their kitchen look the way this one did. Corpses of various animals and beasts lay strewn about on the counters, oozing liquids everywhere, and a bison sized drop claw was being roasted on a nearby spit, completely whole.

He felt bile surge up his throat when he saw that these heathens had failed to even gut the dungeon creature before spitting it. Every instinct in his body demanded he rise out of the crate he was hiding in and save them from the inevitable food poisoning they would unleash onto any and everyone who tried their abhorrent cooking. He refused to even look at the cauldron bubbling merrily to his left. It was not worth the anxiety it would give him to learn what they were boiling.

He had been fortunate to find this space by exploring where the guard had come from because it confirmed his guess that these creatures were indeed civilized. He watched one of the orcs rip an eye out of a canine creature whose body was half-decayed. “Maybe not quite civilized... but at least they are trying to cook. I can work with that.” When he had first found the room, it had been emptied with only a low fire keeping the then empty cauldron warm. He had been able to look around in morbid fascination for a few minutes before voices in the tunnel had forced him to fit his body into one of the numerous storage containers to the side. The one he had chosen contained old rags and burlap, so he hoped they would not need to open it. The orcs had sorted through a couple when they arrived but had not approached them recently.

His legs had long since gone numb from his awkward crouch as he waited for the ideal moment to either run or introduce himself. The manic way they were dismembering the slain beasts was pushing him towards fleeing if he was honest with himself. It was only a short while later that a shockingly broad tusked creature lumbered into the bustling kitchen. The vaguely humanoid figure was easily double the mass of its three underlings and had rolls of fat jiggling along its nude body as it moved. The flesh concealed any hint of its gender, and Aiden silently thanked every god he knew for this small mercy. He could not avert his eyes from the grotesque phenomenon in front of him if he had tried, and without a gender, it was easier to see it as the beast it appeared to be instead of the person it probably was. Any thought of leaving his safe little hideout vanished in the face of such an imposing monster. The possessive way it moved through the room and directed the inept orcs reminded him of his father’s behavior in their kitchen, so he could only guess that this was the cook.

His best shot at proving his worth came in using his oldest skill, and it was something that he could most assuredly do better than the orcs he had been watching. He tried to imagine how this creature would compare to his expectations with its unwieldy body. It did not take long for his jaw to drop at the surprisingly appetizing smell that resonated through the room from the direction of the heavily charred and now fiercely gurgling cauldron. Despite having seen what went into the pot by the creatures’ dirty hands, he felt himself salivate, and his stomach began to gurgle. Days of travel rations and minimal nutrients had made his body crave its former life to the point where he almost risked exposure for a sample.

His one eye pressed against the thin wood of the crate closed as he tried to distract himself from his ravenous body. When it finally opened, he witnessed something strange. The kitchen was quite loud, and he had failed to hear anything change in the mere moments he had been distracted, yet now one of the workers lay dead on the hard stone floor. The stark red blood merged with that of the various dead creatures and stained the floor an even darker shade of pink. He watched riveted as the cook threatened another with a wide mallet and seemed to be expecting them to act in some way. Aiden was not certain what was happening, so when the two remaining servants pulled a mushroom out of a hidden divot in the wall, he felt strangely disappointed. “All that drama for a mushroom?” he thought, confused. However, his mind cleared in realization as the smaller of the two orcs dumped it into a regular-sized pot beside the cauldron and was forced to try a sample with obvious reluctance.

Aiden might have thought it was simply to taste test the final result if it had not been for the panicked look in the orc’s dark eyes and his furrowed brows. His actions further proved this as he began to move as if a great weight were upon him and yet somehow more animated in his behavior. It took minutes for the full force of the drug to kick in, and everyone present waited with various expectations. The giant orc looked on with a smug expression, and Aiden noticed it slowly shift away from the other two. The remaining sane orc looked concerned and was attempting to aid its fellow worker. He watched as the servant unexpectantly began to attack his startled companion, and the cook roared with laughter as they fought. It was not a fair fight as the smaller orc seemed to be possessed, despite his decreased mobility, and his opponent was ill-prepared to defend himself.

Aiden’s already cramped body protested as he scrunched into the box to avoid witnessing the inevitable slaughter. The gurgling of the stew muffled the sounds of battle, and he could almost erase the vivid imagery from his mind. His intent to focus on ignoring the wet squelching from outside caused him to miss the slight clunk of footsteps as they approached. It was not until he heard the distinct clack of his lid being opened and made eye contact with a set of deep brown eyes that he processed the subtle sound. The cook had blood splatters on its dark brown and hairless chest making it appear to be shimmering in the firelight in an intimidating manner. Neither of them moved as they took stock of one another. The cook’s eyes were startled and uncomprehending while Aiden was sure his were just as confused, but unlike the beast in front of him, he had known the other was there. This allowed him to take the initiative and burst out of the crate towards the door. Had the tusked menace behind him been ready, it might have reacted in time, yet fear made his mad dash too fast for it to catch him.

The manic blood-soaked orc he could see chewing on the check of its brethren had no such hesitation. He could hear it begin to follow him as he sprinted. His wounded leg ignored in favor of whatever motion would get him away fastest. The rush of adrenaline failed him only seconds into the hallway, and he had to dodge into the wall to avoid the charging creature. Luckily, the crazed monster's momentum caused it to overshoot his position. He used all his remaining force to kick out at the orc’s extended back leg. This made the servant stager onto a knee as he slowed, and Aiden used the pause to swing his dungeon spawned dagger into the vulnerable tendon on the orc's ankle. His slight knowledge in anatomy told him this was the best spot to main a humanoid, and he prayed his strike would be enough. Unable to risk going into unknown territory, he instead raced back down the tunnel he had come from. He only narrowly missed a wild swing from the orc as he limped past.

****

Aiden knew it had been stupid to stay in the kitchen. He should have just left it and moved on, but he had felt this uncontrollable urge to stay there as if it would somehow give him back the life he had lost. He smacked himself in the face as he ran to try and force reason back into his obviously addled brain. Life had been going his way. Now, because of his stupidity, he was running for his life again. Fortunately, he had maimed the pesky creature before making his escape, so his bum leg was not going to give the orc any advantage as it chased after him.

Aiden could only manage an awkward swinging motion with his burned calf, but he felt he was making good progress until the sound of barking made his heart beat faster. His legs could not match the speed of the blood pumping through his veins, but he made them try. He needed to find a place to hide out in immediately because whatever was barking would be able to catch up fast. The area he was traveling through was new to him, and he could only hope an opportunity would present itself. As the sounds grew louder behind him, he heard a howl. His body broke into a painful sprint, but he realized that it was unnecessary a few seconds later.

The now excited yipping that followed the frightful howl was becoming more distant. Aiden sighed in relief before realizing the only other reasons the creatures might have lost interest in him: Horace and Rita. “Oops!” he thought, cringing internally at the mental image of Rita’s disapproving stare. He felt bad and knew how angry they would be but was ultimately grateful to be able to slow down. The others had refused to join him, and he was not responsible for their safety right now. Once his plan panned out, he could make sure they were okay. The time he spent wandering around the cells had taught him that this dungeon preferred captives over straight killing, although he had yet to discover why. He had little interest in finding out personally, "I will leave that up to them," he thought wryly. As long as human flesh was not some delicacy here, they would be okay.

His goal was a little less feasible now that he had angered one of this dungeon’s denizens, not that it had been that realistic in the first place even he could admit, but he was still optimistic about it. There was little other option for him, and they had already managed to survive for more time than he expected, so he held out hope that he could turn this situation to his advantage.

**[Two Days Later]**

Aiden was feeling funny. He regretted eating the food from the sack he pilfered back in the prison section of the dungeon. He had hardly been able to move without experiencing intense cramps, and his vision swam through colors and shapes he knew could not be present. The effect had finally been fading after hours of lying prone in a corner of a new cell where he had taken ill. He had been fortunate to stumble upon another secret pathway when nausea had first hit him and had hidden in a potentially new prison ward. It might have been the same one, but with the discomfort, he did not care enough to find out. Safety was his number one priority, closely followed by privacy. He became supremely appreciative that his group was not in sight, smell, or hearing range of him as the day passed.

His clothing had been beyond ruined, so he was bare naked and disgusting as he lay there, deciding if it was worth rising. He still had the sack from the orc, and as much as he wished to chuck the poison inducing death bringer that it had proved to be in the nearest pit, he had a plan. The pain and misery had brought it into his mind, and he felt like it might be just crazy enough to work. He would walk through this part of the dungeon into whatever came next until he found the place where the orcs lived. That was his plan. His brief encounters with the creatures thus far had allowed him the barest of understanding about their culture. As a result of his charisma trait, he turned that meager knowledge into the plethora of instincts foreign to him as a human but vital to his future survival. The orcs would seek to kill him regardless of who or what he was unless they had reason to doubt their ability to do so, which none of them would. His plan involved putting that uncertainty in their minds. If he walked confidently one unwavering step at a time straight into their domain without having a noticeable means to be so brave, then it might be strange enough for them to let him through.

Giving the refuse coated cell a mournful glance, he rose to his shaky feet and began his mission. If nothing else, he could see his teammates one last time. The awful nature of his last day and the bone-deep exhaustion that came with it had taken all the fight from him. It was this or dying. He was not ready to die quite yet.