No matter how much Alex struggled, he couldn’t escape the orc’s iron grip. Every attempt at a claw swipe, his arm was grabbed. Remembering the taste of goblin, he didn’t even bother biting her. He imagined there wasn’t much of a difference between orc and goblin flesh. Even though his rib was healed, he still couldn’t muster up enough lightning for anything more than a little zap, which wasn’t even enough to pierce her leather tunic.

Alex looked over to Parker and called out to him. Why wouldn’t he help? In fact, he didn’t seem to care at all. He just went on conversing with the orc, ignorant of Alex’s struggle. The worst part was they were speaking in orcish! He tried to follow along in the conversation, but he couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying.

Alex finally found an opening when the orc lost focus and jumped away with all his might. The orc tried to grab him out of the air, snatching his tail for a moment. He slipped out of her grip, but it messed with his trajectory, and he tumbled onto the forest floor. After dodging a few more grasps from the orc, he skittered up a tree, perching on a branch. The orc tried jumping to him, but he remained safely out of reach.

The orc yelled something at Parker, clenching her fist and shaking it at him. She then pointed at Alex and waved her arm at Parker, yelling some more.

Parker leaned back and raised his hands, palms out towards the orc. He let out an awkward smile and replied something in orcish. Alex could tell they were talking about him. He didn’t care what they agreed to. Whatever they talked about hinged on him and he was sick and tired of being treated like an object they could barter with. Finding a way to communicate was top priority. But in the meantime, he needed to find a solution to this clingy orc. Currently, she was trying to chop down the tree with her axe. Parker was frantically trying to calm her down, but his efforts were in vain.

Alex was considering hiding in the treeline and just leaving, but they were looking for that thing, and no matter how frightening it was, it was the only clue he had to how he could change back. Even without his training, the thing that took his form had a pretty strong body to work with, much more than he could handle in his current shape. Staying with a group was his best chance for survival, especially since it was looking for him. Besides, once he got his body back, he could leave this group behind and finally become a real adventurer.

The axe’s thuds came to a stop, and Alex looked down to see the orc had calmed down. Parker called up to Alex. He was probably just going to try to convince him to suck up to the orc.

“Hey, I know this isn’t ideal for you, but if you just stick to the plan, you can go off on your own soon!”

As if. Parker’s “plan” sucked. Alex knew he could’ve made a better one any day. He just couldn’t now, because he wouldn’t be able to share it. This silencing curse was a huge hassle. He heard Parker and the orc discussing below him.

All of a sudden, Alex’s nose twitched. An intoxicating aroma filled the air around him. It was rich, smoky, and gamy. His mouth watered as he looked down to find its origin. The orc had pulled a leg roast out of its bag, holding it by the bone. It was calling to him softly, waving to convince him to jump down. He knew if he listened, he’d get some of that roast. His body automatically got up to jump down.

No, no, he wasn’t going to be bribed. Just because he looked like an animal didn’t mean he was one. He couldn’t be coerced into submission so easily. Although, he did need to jump down eventually. He couldn’t just sit on that tree branch forever. At least this way he’d be getting some food from it…

He smacked himself with his tail and snapped out of his trance. He couldn’t believe he was falling for such a simple trick. If he was going down there, he would be doing it on his own terms. Even if it meant he couldn’t have any of that delicious meat. He spread his wings and leaped from the branch, aiming to land on Parker’s other side than the orc. However, he overestimated his flying skills and ended up crash landing upside down into the orc’s outstretched arms. After orienting him upright, the orc tore off a piece of meat and motioned it towards his mouth. Well, he might as well take it now. He snatched the meat from the orc with his maw and promptly devoured it. It was even better than it smelled! It was smoky, fatty, juicy, and, best of all, salted! None of his meals in the past week had any seasoning, so this salt was a welcome commodity. He suddenly realized how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten since that morning, and even then, what he did eat didn’t satisfy him. He tried stretching his neck over to take a bite, but the orc quickly pulled him away. She made a disapproving noise and muttered something at him he didn’t understand.

If he was gonna be stuck here, he was getting that meat. He tried jumping for it, but the orc held him too tight. He tried zapping the orc to make her let go, but like before, he could only muster a few small sparks. He locked eyes with the orc and tried to yell at her. Instead, he let out a soft cry. Damn his tiny throat! The orc looked at him with a sad sense of pity and exchanged a few words with Parker. She then pulled off a much larger chunk of meat and gave it to him.

Alex snatched the chunk in his mouth but had trouble eating it. What was the orc thinking? This piece had to be a third of his size! Well, at least it would tide him over for a while. He grabbed it with his forelimbs and took a bite. He was too distracted by the food to notice the orc begin scratching his head, only able to fit one finger between his horns. He shocked himself with how much he was able to eat. He had devoured a little less than half of the chunk he was given. He turned his head to the orc, who was looking at him with a giddy smile.

Alex was shocked by the look. He flinched, dropping his meal. The orc reflexively tried to catch the falling food, dropping Alex in the process. After so many falls, Alex had finally developed a reflex for righting himself in the air. He landed on his feet and ran towards Parker, taking cover behind him. To Alex’s surprise, she didn’t chase him. She just waved the food around in an attempt to coerce him back. Parker said something in orcish, and she stopped. The orc retorted with some angry words, throwing her arms up and crossing them. They were probably arguing about whatever deal they made involving him.

More importantly, Alex had betrayed himself. He threw away his dignity, and for what? Some lightly seasoned meat? He could never let this happen again. Besides, given the same ingredients, he could’ve done much better. It was nothing more than a cured and smoked leg of a hog.

Then, his heart sunk. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. It was nearby. He called out to Parker, but he didn’t hear and kept arguing with the orc. Alex knew it was getting closer. He tried calling out again, but it got caught in his throat. The fear had almost paralyzed him. With every ounce of strength he could muster, Alex leaped up and scrambled his way into Parker’s bag. Parker was confused by this sudden action and turned his backpack around onto his chest. He opened the flap to see Alex had buried himself into the bag as deep as he could. Parker yelled something at the orc, blaming her for Alex’s reaction.

“Hey, whoa there, what’s wrong, buddy?” Parker had a look of genuine concern on his face.

Alex peeked through the junk of the bag, grabbed the flap, and pulled it shut.

“What’s in the bag, Parker?”

It was here.

“And what are you doing with that orc?

The orc yelled and charged straight towards the thing, axe raised. She swung at it, and the thing sidestepped, bringing up its blade to counterattack. Parker rushed into the thing, bashing shoulder-first as hard as he could into its exposed side. It slid back on the loose soil and dropped its sword, but kept its footing, grabbing Parker’s bag off his back and throwing him off to the side.

The orc tried charging the thing again, but even though she was much larger, she was tossed away by a stiff backhand, shooting away and hitting a tree with a loud thud.

With the nearby threats dealt with, the thing opened Parker’s bag, turned it upside down, and shook out the contents.

Out fell the food, tools, first aid equipment, and sleeping bag. Alex’s had dug his claws into the bottom of the bag, and his tail dangled out the opening. The thing grabbed on and pulled. He tried to hold on but was easily torn out. The thing reached with its other hand and grabbed him by the neck.

Alex tried zapping it, but he couldn’t breathe. It was choking him! He tried clawing at its arm, but all the scratches healed as he made them.

The orc ran up and socked the thing as hard as she could in the face. It took the punch easily, but loosened its grip slightly, just enough for Alex to pull himself out of the stranglehold. The thing readjusted its grip to Alex’s ribs, crushing them between its fingers, to the point of them almost breaking.

Alex really didn’t want that to happen again, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He bit off some of the thing’s fingers.

They tasted like distinctly inorganic, and burned his mouth.

It cried out in pain. Except, it wasn’t a human cry, it had multiple voices, all yelling out in agony, including his own. The sound was piercing. Alex ducked down and covered his ears.

Parker looked up, still dazed from the attack, and noticed something strange. Even though the thing had lost two fingers, it didn’t bleed at all. He ran over and scooped Alex up. The orc followed, and they took off into the forest.

The thing was too busy covering up its fingers in an attempt to hold back the rapidly escaping gas to follow, and the density of the forest allowed them to quickly flee from sight. Alex turned his head to face behind them and saw no sign of the thing, but he could still feel its presence. The sense receded rapidly until it eventually disappeared altogether.

After a few more minutes of running, Parker yelled to the orc, and they both stopped, collapsing to catch their breath. Parker’s fall threw Alex back, and he tumbled onto the ground.

“Sorry-I just-needed to-rest,” Parker spat out between breaths.

After catching his breath for a moment, Parker sat up and turned to Alex.

“I know he’s not following us. You stopped shaking a while ago. I just wanted to make sure we were safe.”

Alex looked over with a face full of worry. They were lucky to have gotten out of there alive! In his body, that thing outclassed them in every way! If it had chased them down, there was no way in hell they would have made it out alive.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you earlier. I thought you were just complaining about the orc-if only I’d realized, maybe we could’ve gotten out of there soon- Hey, what’s in your mouth?”

Alex hadn’t even realized, but he still had the thing’s severed fingers held in his mouth. He promptly spat them out and scraped his tongue with his claws.

Parker picked up the fingers and pulled off the rings.

“These rings... They have names on them! Neart and Slainte.”

Parker called the orc over and showed her the rings. She rushed over to see them, and after reading the names, she turned away and frowned, growling something back at Parker. She then reached over and picked up Alex, holding him tightly, but not too much to crush him, and cooed some soft words to him. This time, rather than fighting, he let it happen. The encounter had left him quite shaken, and being hugged like that made him feel a little better, even if it was from an orc. Besides, she had probably just saved his life.

Parker had lost almost all of his gear during the skirmish, and only had the time to grab a few items along with him. Rather than taking his knife, food, sleeping bag, or anything else useful, he grabbed his notebook and pencils. At this sight, the orc dropped Alex, and started yelling at Parker. Alex, to avoid falling, dug into the orc’s leather tunic and climbed up onto her shoulder, perching next to her head. Her head alone was almost as big as him!

With the argument between Parker and the orc, Alex could hardly tell they had just come out of a near-death situation. If he didn’t know better, he may have assumed nothing had happened at all. The sharp taste in his mouth leftover from that thing’s fingers quickly reminded him of reality. He would need to cook something really good to forget about that.