Gula POV

With night now fully fallen, it took a bit for me and mother to get back to our hut. Once we were out of the water and the frojan dried us off, we decided on our next meeting time.

“Tomorrow. Around midday.” I called to the waving Frojan as they shot off into the water.

Satisfied with today’s events, mother and I both walked off towards the straw-roofed brick house that I had spent my whole life in.

“He seemed more than capable. Slow, methodical, doesn’t look at us like trash.” Mother said with a sway of her two brown braids as she looked at me.

“Yeah. I just wish he wasn’t dropping the world on our heads.” I responded tiredly as I was busy forcing my mind to not think about him and his wife kissing. Romance was never a part of an orcs life, but something about seeing their raw passion for each other had wrecked my train of thought like nothing else ever had. We were talking about keeping my entire home from getting burned and I was spending valuable time trying not to look to the left as I sat near the amorous couple.

Going through the front door, put in with the new wealth Eli had gifted us, I brushed my teeth and went straight to bed. Come morning, my mood was rather foul. The recent worry over the Phoenix empire had set a cloud of worry over every morning since that first whisper had come through the market. The recent additions of sausage and hotcakes to our breakfast always helped though.

As the sun struggled to get through the grey cloudy sky showing through the door frame and the window beyond, I got up from my straw bed and donned a white shirt and brown pants. Almost identical to Eli’s, my mind noted. Huffing to no one in particular, I went out of my room into the center of our little abode as the smell of cooking meat and cakes filled the air. With mudbricks for walls and a floor of hard-packed dirt, it wasn’t much but it was ours.

To the left in the corner with a wall of hooks holding various utensils sat my mother, her thick eyebrows and ridged nose scrunched in concentration. Being a muscular woman with a strong jaw and three cornrows on the left side of her head, her get-up with a white top and grey skirt clashed with her bone nose ring and very apparent ability to commit violence. Her loving cooking of sausages on a griddle with hotcakes also presented a contrast to her form.

With the addition of showers in Lokan’s home, I now went there instead of using a warm, wet rag that was kept over the fire. Something mother was a bit put off by, mumbling about ‘charity baths’ whenever I brought it up.

“Good morning,” Mother said as she handed me my plate and fork.

After eating my breakfast, I went back into my room and got a change of clothes. With mom setting things up for a lunch, I went through the front door with a wave. Getting in my small boat kept in the bushes on the left side of our back end of nowhere, I paddled down the river. The soft wind carried the smell of decay that hung around the swamp this time of year, fortunately, the local animals had enough experience of making meals of the undead that it was only a small concern here. To say nothing of the natural hazards unthinking sacks of walking meat would face in these waters.

With the soft wave of the cattails and tall grass, I could forget my woes in the verdant landscape that I had called home all my life. That was until I came to the particular bush on the left side of the waterway where all of my hopes and woes lay. As I brought the boat up to the side of the patch of land, I pondered whether this exchange with him was truly for the best. But the prospect of a warm shower quelled any irritation I may have felt towards him.

Going along the side until I got to the door hidden among the grass, I knocked, and a moment later, the blue head of Lokan was sticking out.

“Ah, Lefty. Good, good. Come in.”

Picking up her purple robe, she moved to the back and past the entrance kitchen. The smaller Kelton woman was on the stove making pancakes and some kind of spicy-smelling meat mixture on a pot. It was all magically heated, of course, but as a precaution, some wood was kept to the left of the stove and it could work as a classic cooking station if Lokan had visitors who were not familiar with the quad mage.

Opposite of me and sitting at the table with cups of water, was Salamede and Eli. While our mornings were typically spent with some girl time, talking about our lives and hearing stories of Salamede’s experiences in the north, she was too busy for that right now. As I walked forward, Cell came out from between the wooden cover that prevented heat loss through the roof and glided onto my shoulder.

“Hey, how you been, little fella?” I asked gently as he rubbed his crystal sphere of a head against my neck. I continued walking across the floor until I came to the usual hatch on the far side of the table. None of the three lower rooms connected but that was a blessing as the solitude of the shower was something I had come to treasure.

“Hello, Gula,” Eli's voice called behind me. It occurred to me then, having spent my whole life surrounded by my gender, how masculine his voice was. Turning around to look at the couple, the voice certainly matched. He was wearing his white shirt and Salamede was hanging on his right shoulder, running her hands down his muscular abs and arms. Their activity last night couldn’t have been more obvious from their fondling and slightly worn expressions. As my mind replaced his metal mask with the strong jaw and good-looking face that I had seen when Salamede pulled down the metal cover, I quickly nodded.

“Good morning, Eli. I’ll be heading into the local market and see what the official report is. Anything you need me to pick up, Lokan?” I called to the back as the blue snake woman rummaged through her cabinets.

“Anything I could get from the market would be better acquired from the dwarves.”

Nodding, I turned around and put my hands over the smooth red stone of the floor until I found the right dip by the wall. Pushing it towards the wall, the soft click announced I had succeeded. Flipping up the stone, I pulled on the wood handle beneath and opened the small hatch beneath. Dropping down below, I put up my hand with practiced ease and touched the half-diamond of crystal mana that now gave off a soft glow.

The shower was a slightly elongated tube with a small wooden compartment behind me to hold towels and clothes. A finger-thick cord was dangling beside me as it swayed from the movements of the cover I had just opened, which I promptly pulled down. Now truly alone, I pulled off my clothes and opened the compartment. It had two sections with a board horizontally separating the two. Putting my clean clothes on the left and my used ones on the right, I ran a hand over the soft texture of the white towels above before taking out a bar of soap from beside their pile.

I looked down and noticed with mixed feeling that my own body, typically so wiry and firm, now had some fat around the hips and belly. While slow starvation was the typical meal this time of year, I guess that influx of sausages and bread had to go somewhere. As I moved one of my green breasts out of the way to check on the various scars, a surge of excitement ran up my spine as I anticipated the coming luxury.

Shutting the wooden compartment with more force than needed, I turned around and started up the main attraction of this hole in the ground. Tapping the center of a wooden flower with four petals on each side, I touched the third one down on the left side. Out of the center of the flower burst steaming water that blasted away whatever dirt and sweat were still on my body. A small metal drain on the bottom whisked away the water as I just stood there taking in the incredible sensation.

The first time I had used this I was worried about the drain, my mind not understanding how it would drain away when we were below the water level outside. It had taken some convincing and cajoling on Lokan and Salamede’s part to get me to try the shower. When I felt that hot water wash over me and purge all the sweat and grime away for the first time, I was glad they weren’t around to see it and the sound hadn’t carried. A squeal of delight like a little girl was not a sound I wanted them to know could come out of my mouth.

Forcing myself to not spend an hour enjoying the sensation of hot water rolling freely over my body, I quickly finished with a scrub of the soap and washed off the bubbles before shutting off the showerhead. Dried off with a towel and fresh for the day, I put on my clean white shirt and grey pants before taking my old dirty clothes in a bundle under my left arm.

Coming out of the hole, I saw the rest of them eating. Salamede’s mother was to the right of her daughter while Lokan was off to the left side of the table.

“Want to eat with us?” Salamede asked, “We made plenty.”

“Thanks, but the Phoenix empire is on the march and mother gave me a good breakfast.” I rejected politely, getting nods from around the table, in the middle of which Cell was eating nuts and ignoring everyone.

As I moved around the table, Eli took a big gulp of his mug of water before looking at me.

“Aside from the official report, try to ask around from anyone with experience with the Phoenix empire. We don’t have a lot of time to make this happen.” He said, before stretching and putting his arm around his wife. Then his eyes took in the water around my bowl cut of black hair with a bang hanging near my right eye. “Why has the water not dissipated yet? It should disappear almost immediately.”

Salamede just swatted his arm, though she rubbed her head against his shoulder.

“Eli. It’s not about the practicality, it’s about the experience. Coming out of the steaming shower and being dry five seconds later doesn’t do the act justice. We had the dwarf and some of the frojan change the enchantment to make the water last longer.”

Eli raised an eyebrow and looked between us both.

I just nodded and continued walking out of the room. He was going to be on my mind today, a fact I had to accept if I was going to the local market. Once I was through the door and back out onto the cold swamplands, I walked back to my boat and stowed my dirty clothes under the boat’s seat.

Taking out over the river, it took an hour of maneuvering around various bends and junctions in the water before I came onto the wide array of wooden platforms with round, thatched roofs. I remember finding the noise to be a screaming chorus the first time I visited the market, but experience had rendered the endless sounds of negotiations, games, and gossip into low background noise.

Near the center was a large dock that you could tie your boat to. Taking my piece of wood with the number five on it from the attending Frojan, I headed up the stairs on the left side and onto the various walkways. When I mentally found where I was and where I needed to go, I moved through the crowd of orcs and frojan. Sure enough, when my mind relaxed and started taking in the surrounding conversation, it was,

“The quad mage might be friendly with us,”

“There’s no good to come from whatever unfathomable ploy he’s pulling. The quad mage has given the orcs some false hope of mating him.”

“Indeed, but what’s his game?”

“We know he’s an ultimate mage, but the humans don’t. How can this be?”

“It’s like we have something special with him. Something even his kind don’t know about him. Makes me heart race just thinking about it.”

“Momma, when I grow up will the quad mage be too old for me?”

Ever since Eli had let that patrol go, there has been only one item worth discussing. He was served with every meal, accompanied every orc on her perusing of the various stalls, and had a seat at every table where older Frojan played games on boards. I had found it funny, but this was the absolute last place I needed to be if I didn’t want to think about him. Any residual humor disappeared when I thought about the consequences of them finding him now that he was about an hour away.

If only the swooning masses knew.

As I moved through the crowd of hagglers, sellers, carts, and guards, there was more than one distraught face that took in the increased prices for meat, leather, lumber, and worst of all, the grain. Looking over it, I flinched as I saw the price of a sack had gone up several copper coins just since yesterday. Panic buying was now in full swing as I approached the food section of the market, packed with desperate buyers who jostled for any grain they could get their hands on with various amounts of copper and even, I noted with dread, some silver.

Thankful that such concerns had passed me by this season, I headed further into the market until I got to the message board. A long wooden rectangle sat on an open-air platform between the food and lumber markets that let in the cold air and grey sky with no obstruction. As various interested parties perused the papers nailed to the board, I approached the board on the right side.

Perusing some of it, I happened upon a bit penned from Borba herself. My eager eyes poured over her words as my hands got sweaty and my breathing got heavier. Near the end of reading it, I only started feeling sick.

“This is the time that will define our people. We alone bear the responsibility of generations before us to reach the peak of our kind the world over. For our people. For our homes. We must move as one people and for one purpose and one purpose alone: Acquiring the line of the quad mage.”

It went on a bit longer, but my stomach started twisting too harshly to finish the rest of it. My mind had a brief moment where the blonde, fire caster orc in red robes looked at me in disgust. Unable to bear the shame of what I had done and was doing, I pushed it all down and moved to the left.

There were a lot of other interested individuals, but from their scars, I could tell they were fighters like me. Looking over the papers, there was a bigger one in the middle that naturally drew my eye, and perusing it I found it was a report on the phoenix empire’s movements. Looking it over, I knew of several of the places it was talking about. When I got near the bottom, I found a particularly bad piece of news.

The fire tribes from the northern part of the Phoenix empire had joined the fight.

Biting my lip, I looked over the rest of the report before talking with some of the local veterans. Getting what I needed, I turned around and went back towards my boat. Moving through the crowd and arriving at the docks, I handed off my wooden card to the big blue frojan minding the docks before getting into my boat. A paddle in hand, I made the trip back to Lokan’s home even as my mind was only half on the directions towards her house.

Maneuvering around the streams, my mind wandered back to all those desperate people and worried mothers, fretting over how they were going to feed their children. As much as it irked me to be eating so well when so many were going through what I had regularly experienced this time of year, my time as a soldier taught me that doing the best thing for everyone sometimes meant having to let some people die, some left hungry, and some had to be killed for you to get the mission done. I spent almost as much time maneuvering the twists in my mind as I did the water before I eventually came back to the big patch of cattails and tall grass that was Lokan’s home at early-midday or late morning. Knocking on the door, my old friend opened the door for me.

“Ah, lefty. How was the market visit?” She said with a hug as I crossed the threshold into her home.

“Bad. Everyone seems to think losing the grain farms is a sure thing and the merchants are betting on it. But the report on the board also had some bad news,” I said as I walked past her and towards the low table. At it sat Eli, Salamede, and her mother on the left while my mother and Baloo sat on the right. Taking my seat in the middle, Lokan went to sit opposite of me as faint light shined from a mana lamp on the wall above.

“What was the news at the local markets?” Eli asked, directly on my left and wearing a white shirt and brown pants.

“Not good. The market was mayhem but I had a crowd of local veterans looking over the report and they always love to chat about-“

Eli put up his hand with a question in those purple eyes above his smiling metal mask.

“The military report… was in the market square? For everyone to see.”

I just smirked before answering him.

“Considering espionage is a dead art in our conflict with the Coalition, making everyone go around a bunch of twists and turns to see it would be a waste of time.”

“Indeed,” The deep reverberation of Baloo’s voice sounded out as the big green frog man rubbed his darker backside and blue robe.

Eli nodded, which prompted me to continue.

“The Phoenix empire typically uses heavy leathers and metal shoulder guards. Given that they favor the fire and wind elements for their mages, the preferred tactic they employ is burying leather strips in the ground and using them to boil the surrounding water. Aside from that, it’s our dance to lead.

Another element this time around is that they are using soldiers from the fire tribes.”

That got some concerned looks from mother, Baloo, and Lokan, while Salamede fidgeted with her blue dress nervously.

“I assume they’re dangerous,” Salamede said in a rough voice.

“Yes. They maintain phoenix nests as a matter of breeding and national pride, which has turned the more northern region of the empire into a harsh desert. Those that choose to live there are some of the deadliest warriors around.

From birth, they are taught the ways of the spear, an item of supreme importance in their culture. Slitting throats for handfuls of water, surviving the almost constant furnace-like heat, occasional phoenix attack, and the strife amongst their kind have left their warriors so practiced in fighting that they could take on three or four regular soldiers. The difference with their mages is even more pronounced.”

“Hmmm,” Eli mused for a second, strumming his hand on the table as I finally recognized Cell on the metal frame of the lower half of the mask. That shimmering slit of light regarded me for a second in its little circle of metal before looking around the rest of the room. “How much strife between the tribes are we talking about?”

A cough from Baloo drew everyone’s gaze.

“The various factions typically have to be put on opposite sides of the field. Too many bitter rivalries and personal grudges to have them around each other for any amount of time.”

“Now there’s an angle,” Eli said with mild interest before turning to me. “What about the scouts on our side? Should we try to remain unseen or blend in?”

I looked at Baloo for a brief moment, his big amber eyes meeting mine and I was confident we were having similar thoughts. The quad mage thought of himself being on the orc/frojan side of the conflict as opposed to an independent faction.

“Well,” Baloo said after taking a deep breath, “It would be best if we tried to seem like we were out on regular patrols. High command is a mess right now and we’ve been sent on regular scouting duties and harassment detail when available. Hiding would be a chore, and I’d feel a lot better if we only had to evade the Phoenixes’ patrols. Though, us running into other frojan and orcs is a slim chance. Everything is stretched so thin that I doubt we’ll run into anyone.”

Eli strummed his fingers on the table for a bit before talking again.

“How long will we have to stay out there?”

I went over my mental map of the area before giving my estimate.

“The camps are set up along the northern route should be close enough that we can come back here before nightfall if we leave in the morning. But if we want to crush the big encampment along the main body of the northern route, we will need to prepare for an extended night out.”

Eli nodded to all of this before mother coughed and asked a question of her own.

“But what about the rest not on the northern road? Right now, the bastards are on the eastern side of our swamp. Could you do something about them?” The muscular orc asked hopefully.

The quad mages eyes got a sad look as he shook his head of short silver hair.

“As much as that would improve our situation, I have to stick to what’s possible. I’m one person and as more of the orcs and frojan out west come here, I’ll be more and more limited in what I can do. Redirecting the Phoenix empire from the northern route is about as much as I can shoot for. Even that is a slim thing if it goes on too long.”

I nodded in agreement as mother got a disappointed look.

“When will we move out?” Salamede asked the group in her typical rough voice.

“We?” Eli asked in a disapproving voice as he turned to his beloved. Salamede looked back to him with pursed lips. After a few moments of spirit conversation, Eli huffed as he turned to the rest of the group.

“When will we move out?” He grumbled.

Baloo got a slight smile before coughing into his fist and answering.

“Before dawn tomorrow is when enough of us should be rested from our other duties. Though it would help if we knew beforehand what exactly we would be doing.”

Eli turned to me.

“So, what did the veterans say?” He asked.

“Just knock them in the water from one side and slit their throats when they fall in the other. A lot of things have been tried but they said nothing seems to work better than that.”

Eli strummed on the table some more before reaching some internal decision.

“That sounds good, though some metal attracting crafts below would help keep them down and make sure they can’t draw their weapons. For the main encampment… I have an idea, but only time will tell if it works. Cell is going to be the backup plan in case anything goes wrong. While we’re waiting, I’ll start on the craftwork.”

For the rest of the day, Eli spent his time crafting various longboards of molded wood. Baloo stayed behind to advise him, but his more plain motivation was to watch Eli push mana out of his body. It was all apparently very fascinating, but for several hours all I saw was Eli waving his hands around and running his fingers over pieces of wood. Though, those pieces of wood sometimes started growing after he was finished doing the handwaves. I had my typical time with Lokan, Salamede and her mother. Mother seemed a little awkward at first talking with everyone, but she eventually warmed to our little group. Salamede did assist with some of the boards while keeping in the conversation.

“Yeah, I noticed there are still some bugs around,” Salamede grumbled to my left as she ran her fingers over one piece of wood that was wrapped around a stone. Once she was satisfied, she handed it off to Eli.

“Aye,” Mother grumbled on my right, “Makes an orc right bitter when something the size of a pin can get magically enhanced, but you can’t.”

We all nodded at that as Eli was apparently putting the last metal craft together in the kitchen area. After a few more minutes of idle conversation, he held up the arm-length piece of flat wood in triumph.

“Done. Now for the mask.” He declared to the room as he set it down by the small pile of others by the stove.

Cell left his mask and zipped outside through the cover in the roof. Quickly coming back in with a raise of the wood cover carrying a large bushel of grass, he set it down on the table between me and Salamede. The quad mage quickly moved between me and Salamede and took a strand of grass.

We all watched in fascination as he started molding the strands together. It took a bit for the jaw to form, but I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering over to the sheer concentration in those purple eyes above the smiling metal mask. By the time I realized I was staring, I looked back down to see an almost finished mask.

The long ears were the last item. His skill, however, showed through even in the small details of that feature. Curving and molding the grass into slightly darker shades of green for the inner ear, it took me by surprise when he suddenly turned to me with that same concentration. I had a moment of faltering confusion which quickly passed when he turned back to his craft.

After thirty minutes of molding, the seamless face cover of grass looked almost lifelike with its smooth skin-like texture. Another thirty minutes and I would have been hard-pressed to say he hadn’t cut the face off an actual orc if not for the lack of eyes. It was kind of disturbing in a way, seeing something my eyes were telling me was a face while my mind knew it was a pile of grass an hour ago. My mother was particularly impressed when he wrapped a rag around his head and turned to us with his arms out.

“Well, how do I look? I know the eyes are an issue, but I think using a headcover should be enough for a passing inspection,”

There were nods of approval all around. Baloo coughed into his hand as he stood beside the table.

“Indeed, though I doubt we’ll see a single patrol during our time out there.”

“Yeah,” Eli agreed as he took off the headcover and mask, “But I’d rather be prepared for that possibility. If we do meet another patrol, I’ll either pretend to be resting or you can take me on a ‘scouting trip’. On another note, try to undersell any contributions we make in the coming days. There’s getting a lucky break, there’s being highly skilled, and there’s being too good. I fear you lot are approaching the last with all of these problems suddenly getting solved around you.”

“Pff,” I scoffed before I could even think about it, “What? You think high command will have an entire session just for our butts?”

Mother and Baloo looked equally incredulous at the prospect.

“Yes,” Eli said with a nod, “Don’t think that governments ignore people of considerable talent. There are starting to be too many miracles following you lot around. That said, are we ready to head out?”

Baloo nodded before turning to speak to the rest of the group.

“Come morning, we’ll pick up Gula and take everyone directly to the prep site.”

With that, the quad mage sat down by his wife. Baloo nodded and after a very early dinner, we all headed out to our various houses. Come the cold morning before the sun was just barely lighting the sky, I woke up and immediately put on my black leather armor with my sword. Walking into the main room of my house, mother was putting some traveling granola bars in a sack as she had her ensemble of leather armor, shield, and handy axe.

“Not coming to see the grandest mage of our time in action?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Her two brown braids shook with her head as I took a bottle of black goo from the right side of the floor of the room and used it to seal the sword in the holster.

“You lot may have more free reign, but we regular bums have to show up on a strict schedule. Regular patrol duty, though. Too many riots over food prices and the law needs to come down on some people who think paying for food is optional.”

Images of the desperate masses at the market flashed in my mind.

“Ok, but do try to be…understanding,” I said gently as I gave her a goodbye hug.

“They’ll understand the underside of my boot if they try to steal food. Two incidents already where grain shops got burned down and that foolishness helps no one.” She said as she gave me a rough squeeze with her two muscular arms. “Though, I will try to be lenient with the mothers. If there’s anyone who deserves understanding, it’s us mothers.”

I snorted with an impish smile, which made mother huff as she shoved me out the door with a snort of her own.

Beside the water were the two muscular frojan from last night. Wanting to keep this as discreet as possible, such trips had to be conducted using water travel instead of boats. Mentally bracing myself for the cold water, I was surprised when the two took out a wood vambrace with a hole in the middle and tossed it to me.

“Heating.” The big blue one on the left said, with the big red one on the right nodding.

Pulling the leather straps around my right arm, I pressed in the hole and jerked in surprise as the warmth of a summer's midday suddenly rolled over my skin.

“It won’t be nearly so warm in the water, but it makes it bearable.” The big red one said as he put out his hand. I bit my lip as I took in the great warmth for a moment before I forced my mind back on the right track and took his hand. With a big leap into the water and a loud splash, we took off in the muddy water. While the air bubble around my head kept the pressure off my face, the force of the water on my body told me we were making a good pace.

After what I wanted to say was an hour, the world of mud and water suddenly disappeared as we turned onto an embankment and into the air. Looking around, I saw we were in a patch of freshly cut tall grass and cattails surrounded by the surviving foliage. With several backs of frogmen looking out through our camouflage, it was all quite familiar to anyone who had reconnaissance training. The training, however, never mentioned the quad mage and his wife in the middle of the patch.

Eli and Salamede wore full leather armor and the quad mage had a hood, leather gloves, and the green mask on, which stuck out slightly below. They were sorting out the various boards and wood planks with rocks. Baloo was standing to the right of them, thumbing his blue robe as the ever-grey sky barely illuminated our little corner of the world.

“How are we going to play this?” I asked the group as my two escorts used a spell to take all the water off me. Baloo turned his head to me before looking back down to the crafts and giving the answer in that typical deep tone.

“Today we will draw their patrols where we want them and tomorrow we will hit one of their smaller camps then move on to the main encampment to sow chaos.”

I raised an eyebrow and walked closer to look at the crafts. As deadly as Eli could make them, I didn’t see how we could take on the main camp.

“Did you add anything to the crafts since you made them?” I asked Eli hopefully.

“No,” He denied with a shake of his head. “From what we know with previous skirmishes if a camp get’s attacked they don’t send out a new patrol. Too busy trying to just send as many camps further ahead as they can. Instead, they move a patrol from an existing route.”

On a piece of paper, he showed me a very crude map with circles around various bends and points. His finger moved to the camp closest to the big X near the middle.

“Their focus on expansion has left the camps closer to their main base less well manned than they should be. Hitting one or two of the camps clearing the way for their main army will make them swarm on the area, which will be when we move in on the left side through this camp. Using the same tactic as we used on the other camps, we’ll move on to the main encampment.”

“Then what?” I asked eagerly.

“When we get there, Cell will sneak into one of the tribe leaders' tents to steal one of their spears and plant it in the opposing tribe's side. Given what you told me of them, it should start a mini civil war. If cooler heads prevail, then I will create some crafts and use magic with the frojan to sweep all of them into the river.

I’m a bit more reluctant to use the latter because it’s a lot more dangerous and making this thing look like an accident is far more preferable. But we won’t have a choice at that point.”

I thought it over for a second. The timing would be off for most opponents since we would need a full day's travel to get to the main encampment, but the Phoenix troops were far slower in the swamplands. Between hitting the camps and moving the patrols, it would probably take another day before all the needed moves were made. There was still one concern though.

“What about the boiling water?” I asked the group.

“None,” Baloo answered, “They don’t use it for the small camps, but I’d imagine it’s been set up for the main area. Your familiar could handle it, I assume?”

Eli nodded, thumbing the black sphere below his green orc mask.

“Aye. Any temperature that could hurt him would leave the water boiled away. How will we go about setting up the trap?”

Baloo looked to the sky then towards the rest of his kind before answering.

“You lot stay above the water hidden in some grass patches. The hard reality is you’ve played your biggest part for now. Just use that long water blade enchantment you had on your wife’s vanguard and kill any of them who get away. We’ll leave three boys here to knock them into the water but your familiar is going to be doing most of the work.”

We all nodded before an unspoken decision to move out was reached. Stacking the crafts between our arms, the Frojan took us into the water one by one. It was a few more minutes moving through poorly lit water before we came back onto another embankment. The operation was a typical affair as far as ambushes went.

Stuck in a thicket of tall grass and cattails, we were at the bend in one long stretch of land not wide enough to go any more than double file. The cold fog of the morning rolled over the landscape making it hard to see even a dozen feet beyond our little piece of the world, with only a few indistinct masses of dirt and shrubs beyond and a skyline that didn’t exist. The frojan took all of the crafts and slipped into the water, with the black mass of shifting shapes that were Cell following shortly after as he flew off of Eli’s shoulder and landed into the murky depths with a light plop.

“All right, let’s get comfortable,” Eli announced as he sat on a log.

Salamede looked confused at first but when I mangled some grass by the edge of our cover and slouched onto it, she followed our lead. The goat woman sat beside her husband, who had stuck his head between the grass to look out over the foggy landscape. I did as well, but there was a very conspicuous distraction opposite of me. Eli kept up his guard, but his wife would only keep watch for a minute or two before stroking her husband's thigh or putting a hand down his shirt.

When I realized I was looking at her rubbing his hands and wondering how powerful Eli’s palms would feel more than I was looking for a patrol on the road, I decided to say something. Starting a spirit connection with her, she gave a slight start but quickly turned to me without alerting Eli.

‘What’s wrong?’ She asked innocently.

‘I know this is boring, but we need to keep an eye out. Distracting everyone isn’t helping with the job. Besides, didn’t you already have two nights together?’

‘Only two,’ She affirmed with a nod before turning to Eli and spoke, “Am I distracting you, dear?”

Eli just huffed as his head was still looking out between the grass.

“You being around me is distracting, your little pets aren’t going to make it less so. If it helps relieve the stress, I won’t object.” He said, quickly turning back to his wife and lifting the mask. I had a moment where I fixated on that handsome face and strong jaw. When his lips smacked hers, my breathing stopped before I forced my head back through the tall grass and swore I would never leave the spot again.

I heard them talking about something after that, but I just kept my mind where it was supposed to be. Thankfully, our quarry wandered into the trap half an hour later. They seemed to be in a rush, and it was apparent that they were still getting some of their equipment properly on as they came into firing range. Whether it was six or eight men, I couldn’t tell, and it didn’t matter. When the wave of water washed over their line, all but three were dragged into the water and the blood cloud that quickly followed showed they were now the only survivors.

A fact they didn’t have time to process as water blades from Salamede and Eli’s vambraces cut the head off two and a flurry of those same deadly spells from the water cut the last soldier to pieces. There was a nod from Eli while Salamede just looked like she was trying not to throw up. The Frojan came back with the crafts and this process happened twice more.

Panicked, poorly prepared soldiers rushing about on patrols getting shoved in the water before disappearing into a bloody cloud in the water was how it always ended. I honestly felt bad for them, even as I used the magical vambrace Eli fashioned for me to cut them with water blades. No matter if they were the enemy, this method of… extermination, it wasn’t anything close to what I would call fighting, left almost no possibility for defense.

Moving from site to site, Baloo had departed on the second trip to lead the other attacks elsewhere and left Eli in charge.

As we did so, there was an unspoken easing between us three as well. It was hard to put any one element down to it, but I noticed that we followed each other’s leads easily, found our spots, and even made a few jokes between us. Eli also added an enchantment for water blades into my suit, which was a nice little experience. Grateful to be on this end of the carnage, the easy times ended when our fourth location had two of the fire tribe members.

While the fog had mostly cleared, the line of troops had looked as miserable as they always did. At each end of the line were a woman bearing three spears in a sling along their back and one in hand. Clothed in splotchy red leather, the women had tanned skin and red hair that almost matched their armor. Their attention to detail was commendable as they almost noticed me and Eli’s face in the patch of grass before we pulled back. Those oceanic eyes surveyed the misty landscape with cold indifference right up until they came into the line of fire.

We launched a pre-emptive strike from their left side. The ordinary soldiers in the middle fell with the blast of water and the tribeswoman in the front got cut up to a fine mince, but the one in the back had ducked just enough that my water blade only grazed the back of her neck. As I was getting ready to launch another at her, she hoisted the copper-tipped spear in her hand and chucked it at me.

I immediately moved to the side and as it flew harmlessly towards the ground on my right, I prepared my sword as she did a light sprint to jump into our bush.

Pain followed by a whirl of grass and mud.

My right side felt like it was on fire and I realized I was on my back, staring up at the grey clouds. A wave of stone spikes flashed by, but I didn’t hear anything. At all. As the lack of sound registered, I turned down to see the woman that seemed to have more stone spikes in her than flesh, though the shock was evident on her untouched face as she fell backwards and into the water with what should have been a loud splash.

I was screaming in pain. The lack of sound made me scream louder, but no matter how hard I pushed my throat, nothing came out. Hands lifted me and I saw an orc with purple eyes looking me up and down with concern. Then I realized who I was looking at when a warm sensation flooded through my body.

“-ight?”

I blinked and frowned as I felt the pain in my ears subside and the world of sound came rushing back. Even so, I felt him extracting bits of the copper and it hurt like hell even when he stopped.

“Are you all right?” Salamede said worriedly somewhere above me.

“She isn’t, dear,” Eli said patiently, “But nothing seems lethal so far,”

“I know. Shit.” She continued fussing.

But the pain was pretty much gone now. The burns on my arms were molded to smooth skin and what may have been a broken leg was now good as new. It took me a moment to decide if I should tell him to stop healing me. Another moment and I realized that his hands were on my back and stomach, which was why I didn’t want to tell him I was fine.

Scolding myself, I gave a slight cough which drew those purple eyes back to me.

“I’m-“ speech failed me for a moment as my throat struggled to work past the strain it had just been through.

A rush of water to my left told me someone was coming out of the water and the younger red frojan came up wearing a green robe.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Spear.” I croaked out.

Eli turned up as I heard the other Frojan coming out of the water and going to check on the soldiers for valuables.

“The spears. The copper tip has an explosive enchantment in it. Impressive but it’s a one-time thing. If they’re bringing out the tribes now…”

Eli was looking at the red frojan in concentration. What I was focusing on was Eli’s thumb, which he was distractedly running in a circle on my back. Mentally screaming at the tingle running up my spine, I forced the words out.

“I’m fine, Eli.”

That seemed to jerk him out of his thoughts as he lifted me up and back on my feet. Pondering how weightless I felt as he pulled me up by my back, I looked down to see why I felt his skin on mine. The entire side of my black leather armor had been blasted off. Modesty was still maintained as it mostly bared my midsection, right arm, and thigh, but as a functional piece of armor, it was a lost cause.

Something in my face must have relayed my thoughts about the black armor because Salamede decided to make an offer.

“We have more than enough coin to have it mend-“

I put up my hand as I took a deep breath and gave my friend a slight smile.

“I kept this because it was what I had and replacing it was too expensive. Frankly, I’ll be glad when I get the regular armor. Let’s move onto the next site.”

“No,” Eli said firmly, drawing looks from the rest of us. “If they’re moving out the tribe members from the main camp then they must be mobilizing their main forces. We’ve done our job and it’s time to go home.”

The red frojan nodded excitedly and slipped into the water. There was a bit of time where we all stood around in the wide patch of burnt grass waiting for the frojan to finish their looting when Eli came back up to me with his wife on his right.

“It’s all good, right? You won’t need some money for the armor or more healing?” He asked.

I nodded and readied some snarky remark to deliver when I looked into those purple eyes. The raw concern he showed for me just made my cold heart throb. All the power, physical attractiveness he had was some passing fancy, but I felt something in me stir at his words. I felt that desire in me, for love, for acceptance, things that I had gotten a lot of from my mother and some of from my few frojan allies. But this was more intense and, for lack of a better term, intimate.

“Oh, why do you care? I’m just a soldier,” I scowled at him. I was stunned at my reaction as some spike of anger came from nowhere. Salamede looked at me with raised eyebrows while Eli just held my gaze before he gave a slight nod.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” He said mildly as he turned to his wife.

I turned around and looked back out over the water, just wondering where that came from. Time was short, though, and before I could make any sense of what I had done, the frojan came back from the water to take us all back home. After dropping me off, they said they would pick me up in the late morning to make sure it would be nightfall when we took out the smaller camp and arrived at the main encampment. I went in first and just passed by the time in the murky depths with no thoughts in my head as I struggled to sort out my feelings. It was a bit after mid-day when we finally came back to the house, but I had too much to do to rest.

After a long slog at the market, I arrived back home near the setting of the sun. Some smoke near the left window told me mom was cooking and as I came through the front door, sure enough, she was there, sitting on the hard-packed floor and cooking a rabbit stew with carrots and potatoes. I took a moment to appreciate how amazing it was to have this at this time of year, especially the smaller loves of bread she was cooking on a side griddle.

“How was your time, mom?” I asked cheerfully, grateful to have anything on my mind but my thoughts.

She huffed, sending a wave down her two long braids above her white top before she sipped the stew with her spoon. Her tongue swiping over her thick green lips showed satisfaction that was, again, very out of place during this season.

“Hard. Constant fighting and desperation everywhere. All the while being irritated by the fact that my daughter is the reason I’m not in that mess. A daughter, having to pull her mother's ass out of the fire. What a joke.” She said bitterly.

I smiled at her sulking. I knew how she acted when she was actually upset so I sat down beside her.

“Well, depending on how it all turns out, your daughter may end up getting you killed. Perhaps praise should be withheld before we see the end of this.”

She still had hard red eyes and her thick brown eyebrows were furrowed but her slight smile gave her away.

“There’s a lot of orcs out there who should be giving praise they still have teeth after today, all due to your patient counseling,” She grumbled. After some more idle chatter, we both tucked in for the night.

As I lay in bed, I awoke to the sound of the front door being opened. Reaching for the sword by my bed, I stopped when I saw Eli in the doorway, dressed in the usual white shirt and brown pants. Unusually, his face was bare as his purple eyes regarded me with naked lust.

“Wha-“

“I need you, you beautiful sow.” He growled, his nose flaring.

I had only a moment to react before he rushed forward and suddenly he was between my legs. Those powerful hands ran up my shirt and down my pants, squeezing my thighs and molding my body like dough. Whatever was coming out of my mouth was gibberish as he ravaged me with kisses. Eventually, I felt our mutual nudity as he proceeded to lay his claim to my whole body. Reveling in the moment, I could do nothing as he joined us as one body with a single thrust into my eager womanhood.

It was after a few minutes of thrusting that I looked up and saw the ceiling. Looking out my door frame on the right, I saw the morning light struggling to rise over the swamplands. Shooting straight up in my bed, I looked down to see drool falling from my mouth. There was a tidal wave of anger as I realized what had happened. However, I could only reserve my fury for my own body, resigning myself to scowling at my breasts and hips.

‘Treasonous flesh!’ I scolded, ‘I fed you, maintained you, and worked for your continued existence. Then you get a whiff of a man and push me over the side of the boat to get a closer seat to him.’

Grumbling to myself, I got out of the bed and put on my new leather armor. It was plain with some extra padding on the shoulders, but it would serve its purpose. Holstering my sword, I went through the door to find the newest strand of weirdness. Mother was dressed in a gray skirt and white top, sitting against the far wall with packs of traveling nuts and two mugs of water.

“Here, breakfast.” She said in an almost even tone with her face being a blank mask.

Now I was worried. I was all too familiar with her ‘I’m trying not to yell’ voice. Taking my nuts and water, I sat down and leaned against the opposite wall to idly chew on breakfast as we sat in silence for a solid minute.

“Do you know the hardest part of being an orc?” Mother suddenly said as she regarded me with that same blank face.

“Being a mean green killer comes with-“

She flared her nose and puckered her lips at that, making me draw into silence before she looked me right in the eyes and delivered the blow.

“We’re rapists.”

I sucked in my lips, not knowing what to say as I awkwardly sat there.

But mother did.

“If we want to continue our line, someone has to get raped. Sure, for a few years, you entertain some fanciful notion of getting a willing farm boy from up north. But even when they’re under our thumb, those humans who do it willingly eventually get shunned and have to ‘mend their ways’.

Even under the best circumstances, the math just isn’t there. There aren’t enough willing men in our grain farms to split between everyone. Being a celibate monk is a nice thought, but your bloodline is obviously not inclined to such a lifestyle. So there you are, stuffed up with an itch you know no man would willingly scratch, wanting a child no man will give you, and needing a release that time with other orcs doesn’t quite provide as thousands of years of baby-making need is screaming through your veins.

Then after some battle, you notice one of the men lying injured on the battlefield. Well, the pants come off and if you’re generous, you let them go afterward. Trying all the while not to let the look of disgust they’re giving you seep in.

And it’s not that bad in the following days. You got that cloud in your mind gone and, low and behold, your cycle stops. Jumping for joy, you finally get that child you always needed, and the nights aren’t lonely. Stinky and filled with crying, but not alone. Then…”

Words seemed to fail her as she just stared at me for a moment as I saw her mind working through some puzzle. I took that moment to get a drink, which she then used to start talking again.

“Then they get older. Gusla was a good girl and loved playing with that long grass, fashioning baskets and other art crafts out of it.”

I choked on the water I was drinking. Bringing up my older sister who hanged herself for my grandmother's cowardice was a big line I never crossed, and Mother had only talked to me about her once or twice. Mom seemed to be somewhere else now and went on with no stopping.

“One day, she waddled up to me and asked where dad was. I only told her that he wasn’t around, but I loved her very much. Things were still good for a few more months. Then, one damned day at the market, she heard an older orc talk about how she enjoyed… how we make children. Disgusting, but I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how some of us process our reality.

Gusla had heard enough, though. Coming back home, her red locks drenched from the rain and her red eyes looking up at me in confusion, I sat her down and finally told her everything.”

Her lips quivered as she looked down with the rising morning light falling on her through the window. I sat there, totally still before she took another deep breath and continued.

“In those few minutes, I experienced what the true horror of being an orc is. We talk big about being mean and tough, but there’s no amount of training, skill, or physical power that can make that moment easier. The moment where the light drains out of your daughter's eyes as she realizes how she came into the world and what her future holds. After that conversation, she stopped doing art. She wasn’t as gentle or caring afterward, occasionally fighting with other children or punching trees.

And… well, you know her course after that.”

I took a moment as I collected myself, twirling my right bang idly before finally filling the void in the conversation.

“I know all of this, mother,” I said in a near whisper.

She flared her nose and looked at me with pursed lips.

“When you were moaning his name last night, it didn’t sound like you were aware of how orcs and humans actually mate.”

I could feel the molten heat blasting across my face, but to my credit, I still held her gaze. She bit her lower lip before continuing.

“One day, it was your turn. Stomach doing flips and palms slick with sweat, I sat you on my lap and told you about the viper gang member who moaned about being an officer and cursing his friend Kane for abandoning him. I went through all of it, all the horrible, awful shit that I did to make you and how you would have to do the same someday. And you kept looking at me with that same expression the whole time. When I finished, you just looked up to me as if to say, ‘Is that all?’ before going to get some bread.

Fool that I am, I was content to give you time to process it or even resigned myself to the possibility that you were the type to enjoy it. But it’s obvious you simply ignored what I was telling you”

“I ignored it?” I demanded with my own scowl as I felt that same anger from before well up in me. “You think I don’t know what a poisonous sack my womb is? You think after all this time, I haven’t accepted what I am.”

“No, you haven’t,” Mother growled as she got up and stood in place. “You put it in some box, some part of your mind where you never have to deal with the reality of what we are. When I suggested getting a child from Eli, you never even thought about how to snare and force him to give his seed. You just passed it off like some joke.”

I sat there as I scrunched up my mouth and let my breathing kick into overdrive.

“He was never going to allow me-“

“There it is again!” Mother growled as she stuck a finger out at me “Allow you. You still haven’t acknowledged what you know.

We. Are. Rapists.

That is what we are and that is what our children will be. You need to accept this reality if you are going to find whatever scrap of happiness exists for us in this life.”

It felt like ants were crawling on my skin. This fucking green skin. My hands started scratching my arm all by themselves as my breathing kept up like I had just finished sprinting. I could tell I was beginning to panic as I kept my eyes on a bit of dirt on the floor in a bid to keep calm, even as I kept scratching my arms and now back.

“I-it’s not-“ My words stumbled into a low wail. “It’s not fair. I didn’t do anything wrong. I put my people first. I put my friends first. But this green skin. Having to see what the Bastard did to me before I was even conceived every fucking day.”

Tears started blurring my vision as I slumped against the wall. Without me noticing, mother came up and wrapped me in a hug. I just cried into her left shoulder, soaking her in tears for a minute before I had cried myself out enough to be coherent.

“But there is a chance for me to at least experience what it’s like to be with a man. As a woman, not a rapist.” I said as I wiped my eyes.

My mother’s red eye’s regarded me with pity, something that I had never seen them hold before. She closed her eyes for a second before looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I just took a deep breath.

“Salamede told me Eli is open to getting more wives,”

She opened her mouth with an obvious objection, but I pushed ahead.

“I won’t ever be his wife. But maybe some affection, a dinner together, or an evening out walking together. I know I’m not Borba’s mother, but even a tender hug would do.”

“Would he be willing to… offer such a thing?” Mother asked with genuine curiosity.

I bit my lower lip.

“I-I… I’ll ask Salamede.” I took a moment where I reigned in my emotions. I loathed myself for letting down my profession as a wayfarer, but I quickly collected myself back into the soldier that I had trained to be. “After the assault on the main encampment, of course”

Mother nodded. Sensing my moment of weakness was done, she stood up and put out a hand to help me up. As I stood tall, Mother brought me into another light hug.

“I know this is hard. You’re my daughter and there isn’t a thing in this world I wouldn’t do for you. Gula, this will only cause you pain. But perhaps it’s better for you to have experienced some intimacy before accepting how things are rather than never tasting the fruit at all. Just promise me you’ll come to talk to me when this bit ends.”

I nodded, quickly gulping down my water and the remaining nuts. My tears dried and my breathing steady, I headed outside to wait for the frojan to pick me up. The rolling grass and cattails moved with the soft wind as the sky showed some light between the oppressive grey clouds as I tried to figure out how to approach Salamede with this subject.