Things had changed now, he was no longer bonded in chains and the liquid in the vial that Lady Lorne forced down his throat had recovered all his health and then some. He felt lighter on his feet, and all his wounds and hurts from the past few days were gone.

He gripped the knife in his hands. It was the same hunting knife he had back in the cave. Damn, she couldn't have given me an actual sword? He looked up at Goran, who was still holding the dead elf woman and in mid shout. The sadistic bastard looked like he was having the time of his life.

Then Malcolm looked southward, or what he thought was southward. He looked at the expanse before him, it was dark, and it'd be hard to navigate but numerous stars lit the sky which offered just enough light to see. Does this world have a north star I could navigate by?

His eyes wandered back towards the cages, taking in all the slaves horrified faces. Next his eyes rested on the face of the little girl, her small face was a portrait of pure terror.

"One more minute of frozen time? And I've probably wasted at least half of that just standing here!" He looked to Goran and an idea began to take form in his mind. "Either this will end well, or very bad. Here goes nothing!"

<><><><><> 

A half minute later and time lurched forward, and no one seemed to notice that Malcolm was gone, instead everyone still had their attention trained in on Goran's brutal display. It was terrible but provided the perfect distraction.

Goran slammed the woman's face against the iron cage bars, then he did it again and again. Each time shouting for the slaves to look at her and not to look away. The poor woman had gone slack and blood was freely flowing from what used to be her face. A crazed grin spread on his thin lips.

"See what happens to those who try to start shit! They get put in their place-ARG!"

The gasp everyone made was almost comical as Goran released the woman and haltingly grasped at his now bleeding neck. He fell to his knees as dark blood squirted between his fingers as he tried to face his attacker.

"I told you to stop." Malcolm scowled down at him, the blade in his hands now drenched in blood. "Not so pretty now, are you?"

The orc didn't have much armor on, just a loincloth and a thick leather vest. His neck was an easy target, even with the level gap the critical hit did well to stun the brute. After Goran fell to his knees, Malcolm quickly continued to shank him in the neck. The hunting knife was dull, and Goran's skin was thick, but Malcolm's ferocity and desperation were more than enough to drive the blade deep till he saw blood.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Back Stab.

Info: Inflicts Melee Physical Damage to a single target and may leave it stunned. This skill ignores the accuracy check, can only be used from behind the target's rear. +200% Attack Damage.

Back Stab has leveled up to level 2! Back Stab will now inflict a Bleeding Status to your opponent.

The flicker of life was fading from Goran's blood shot eyes as he stared at Malcolm, but they were quickly filling with something else. Pure unadulterated hatred. Malcolm could feel it settle on him and the weight of it shook him at his very core. Goran opened his mouth, seemingly with the intent to speak but all that escaped his lips was a gurgled cough of blood. Then unceremoniously, he fell face first into the desert floor.

Quest Updated! Bound by Chains!

(x) Free Self

(x) Kill Goran "Lump Face" (Optional)

() Kill Barolo (Optional)

Killing the orc wasn't as easy as he thought it'd be. Malcolm had killed before; but swatting a few bugs and going fishing didn't quite seem such as big as a deal as stabbing a guy to death. He could feel a part of himself closing off with the sudden shock. What does this make me? What is this new world turning me into?

Warm blood covered his hand that still gripped the knife. It was Goran's blood. Malcolm looked down at the orcs body, blood had stopped gushing from his neck now, and his chest no longer rose and fell. He was dead. Malcolm had taken his first life and he feared that it was just the first of many.

A thick acidic bile began to rise in Malcolm's throat, but he choked it down. He had to get moving. The other Orcs were still frozen in surprise, he had to act fast. Crouching low he quickly grabbed Goran's short sword, he looked at the Orcs surrounding him with pure defiance in his eyes.

He gulped audibly as he analyzed them all and saw that they all were at least five levels higher than he was. He was still level one, though there was a strange plus symbol next to the number now. He'd have to deal with that later, now he had to fight.

They all rushed at him, and Malcolm swore to himself that this wasn't going to be a repeat of the beat down that occurred back at the cave. No, this time he had to fight with all he had. This was the fight that'll decide his fate in the new world, whether he'll come out of it free and alive or dead. There was no way in hell he'd let himself be chained up like a dog again.

He was also glad that the orcs were all considerably drunk due to all their recent partying, even now they stood slouched and their eye were half lidded. It wasn't much of an advantage, but he'd take it.

"Kill the damned fool!" Barolo shouted. "Just try to keep him in sizable pieces, human flesh is a delicacy. We can still get some profit from the damned fool."

The obese orc had already receded farther from the rest of them. Sweat beaded on his wrinkled forehead which he patted with a cloth nervously. Malcolm was beginning to think that the orc leader might be somewhat of a coward. "M-make him pay for killing our kin. Avenge Goran!"

An orc rushed towards him, its large spiked club raised high. Malcolm sucked in a breath and dived towards the brute, the blades in his hands throwing him off balance slightly.

The club came towards his head, he caught it with his knife. The blade sunk into the wood, then in a fluid motion Malcolm twisted and brought the short sword into the orcs gut.

The orc looked surprised as he glanced at the blade in his gut, a whimper on its hideous lips. With a grunt Malcolm yanked the blade to the side, causing the orcs innards to spill.

"Who's next! I'll take you all-Gah!" Malcolm shouted, but before he could boast any further another club caught him in the ribs.

Malcolm tumbled with the blow, gritting his teeth he quickly tried to spring back on his feet. The orc roared as if charged at him. It was nearly on top of him as he was still in a crouch. With no real time to spare, Malcolm swung his blade low and towards to rushing orcs knees. Given the orcs forwards motion, the blade slice in deep.

The orc hollered in pain as he flopped on the floor, holding his half-severed leg. Malcolm stood up straight and walked over to the thrashing orc, all the while keeps his gaze locked on the crowd of onlookers. "I'm going to tell you this right now," Malcolm addressed the crowd, a harsh chill setting onto his tone. "This isn't going to end well for any of you, orcs."

The air had grown still. All the orcs surrounding Malcolm had developed condense expressions of hesitation. One question hung heavy in most of their minds. Who was this human? How and why was he so confident? The man was seriously outnumbered, that was plain to see. A few of the orcs were beginning to unsheathe their weapons, they craved to put the filthy human in his place.

Malcolm took notice as the orcs glanced at one another, the grips on their weapons tightening. The next attach wouldn't be a single orc, they'll rush him in waves. He knew his time was growing short.

He had groaned in pain under his breath. Taking the hit from the orcs club had been a critical hit. It was only due to Lorne's potion that he was still on his feet.

I can't let them see me too weak, gotta play the crowd. He glared at the remaining five orcs, thankfully most of the other orcs were either crowding around Barolo or too far off the see the commotion. Malcolm felt he could probably put up a decent fight once more, but his tank was nearing empty and the adrenaline that fueled him was quickly fading.

So, he drew his best weapon he had at hand. He opened his mouth and let out a forced if not slightly crazed laugh. Hopefully this plan works, if not I'm gonna end up looking stupid. And very dead.

"Mwhahaha! You foolish bastards, can't you see that your beat?"

The orcs looked to each other, exchanging confused expressions. They must have thought he'd completely lost his mind, though in the corner of his vision Malcolm could see the confused look on Barolo's face as he scanned Malcolm's sudden healthy appearance.

Malcolm chuckled, "What do you say, my brothers and sisters, will you join me and rise above your oppressors!?"

Silence.

An orc snorted "I Ain't your brother, filthy human!"

A grin bloomed on Malcolm's lips, "I wasn't talking to you, Shrek." Then with a flick of his hand he tossed the hunting knife into one of the cages. "So, what will it be? Will you stand on your feet and fight or die on your knees!"

The slave looked down at the bloodied dagger at her feet, then looked up at Malcolm with wide eyes.

"The cages are open," He pulled out a ring of keys from his bag, they jingled as he shook them for all to see. "I opened them myself." All they need is a little push.

"That's impossible! How-" Barolo began to snap.

"Shush, Tubby." A grin spread over Malcolm's lips as he began to address the crowd before him, raising his voice to ensure all could hear him. "We outnumber these green skinned fools easily, and you'll find weapons laying close to your cages. Arm yourselves and fight for your survival. Fight for your freedom! Only by being united can we hope to avoid slavery!" He raised his sword and let out a roar like a mad man.

Holy shit, I feel like Leonidas!

Again silence.

Well, shit. I might be screwed... Malcolm looked out to the slaves around him, they were either staring back at him or at the weapons he'd placed by their cages. Doubt began to set in, and Malcolm started to wonder if Lorne was right, should he have just left when he had the chance?

The orc's whipped their heads all around them, expecting a revolt at any minute. They tensed up and backed themselves into groups, even the orc's that had been further off were beginning to take notice of the situation.

While time was stopped, he had snatched the keys off Goran's belt and rushed to open every cage he could. When he was done with that, he had tried to stab a few orc's but found he couldn't affect them while they were frozen. So, instead he went about and counted them and found that there was just a little over fifty of them and just about double if not triple the number of slaves.

"Liar!" A voice called out, all heads turned to find the source. It was Barolo, who had somehow distanced himself considerably. "There's no possible way he could have opened all the cages! End this fool now, he's just trying to scare us." He then glared into the cage where the knife was tossed into and sneered at the slave who had moved closer to it. "Don't you dare touch that fucking blade, you mongrel. Or so help me, I'll shove my co-"

Barolo was cut off by a high pitch creaking noise as a cage door just a few rolls down opened, a burly looking dwarf stepped out of it. His bearded face was twisted in anger and his meaty hands gripped two menacingly sharp daggers. "You." He jabbed a blade in the direction of one of the orc's by Malcolm. "You killed my brother, you cowardly cuck! I swear upon the Listening Hills, you will pay for that with your blood!" As he began to advance towards them, the orc he pointed at looked as if he was on the verge of browning his pants.

Soon more creaking sounds filled the air as more cage doors swung open.

A wild smile split Malcolm's face as he saw a familiar face in the growing mob of disgruntled slaves.

"The day is now," Saria's raspy voice called out. Malcolm had made sure to unlock her cage when time was still frozen. He was happy to see that she answered his call to arms, if they made it through this, he'd need her healing abilities. "This is the day we make them regret underestimating us!" She looked to Malcolm and nodded.

Malcolm nodded back, lifting his sword high he let out a whooping battle cry. "Attack! Fight for your freedom, this is your critical moment. Make your choice! Liberty or death!"