Jasper's POV

I looked around for Sten, praying to the Gods for help. I saw him running toward me but crashed into the dirt as an arrow impaled him. I could feel my face turning purple, still struggling to take a breath. The last thing I saw was a human approaching us, then everything went black.

While being dragged by my feet by two humans, I went in and out of consciousness. At one point, I saw Sten being pushed along by another man wielding a crossbow. This was it for us.

My mind went to Brenna. I don't know why but I found comfort in her image. I remembered the little time we had spent together; and how blissful it was. I'd give anything to see her one more time. My consciousness slipped into the void.

Sometime later, I began to wake up. I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious this time around. My broken body screamed in pain. I was still being drug through the earth by my feet. I wished they would go ahead and kill me.

I took in a labored breath. I suspected a few of my ribs were broken. Maybe my lungs were damaged as a result. I found it very difficult to take in air. Suddenly the men pulling me stopped and looked around as if something was coming.

They dropped my feet and drew out their weapons. I heard it too. There was something rustling in the underbrush nearby. By some miracle, had our brethren come to save us? Just then, a massive animal burst through the trees. It was Amity, my warg.

She lowered herself and bared her teeth as a warning. I pleaded for her to run. I didn't want to see her come to harm, but it was no use. She lunged at the two men who drug me.

She took down one of them and pinned him with her weight. She sunk her teeth into his face as the man screamed for mercy. The one with his crossbow pointed at Sten had no choice but to turn his attention to Amity.

Wargs are not ignorant beasts by any means. Amity knew her actions would be fatal, but she did it for me. She created enough of a distraction for Sten to get over to me. He pulled me from the dirt, despite both our injuries. He propped me against his shoulder and carried me as fast as he could in the opposite direction as my legs drug on the ground. I was too weak to hold myself up.

I watched in horror as she was shot with the crossbow. I could hear her yelps and cries of pain. She and I locked eyes as Sten continued pulling me along. I hadn't cried since I was a young orkling, but I teared up as I watched my companion be slaughtered before my eyes.

Orcs are matched with a warg pup when they are about fifteen and raise the warg by hand. I had done the same with Amity, and now she was gone. I began sobbing like a baby as I lost sight of her.

One after another, I heard the fire of the crossbow. With each shot, Amity cried out in pain. Not

long after, her cries fell silent.

"Amity!" I tried to call out, but my voice was gruff.

"She's lost to us, Jasper. There is nothing we can do. We have to get out of here!" Sten's voice was just as bad as mine.

I gritted my teeth, trying to regain control of myself. "I will slaughter every last one of them, even if it costs my life."

Sten kept going for a few more minutes, but his wound caught up with him. He collapsed to the ground and clutched his chest as he huffed, trying to catch his breath. He attempted to drag me further but was too weak from blood loss and exhaustion.

They would catch up to us in no time. Sten and I looked at each other. We didn't need to say anything; we knew the same thing. This was going to be the end for us.

"At least we'll die together, brother," Sten said with defeat in his eyes.

He used his last bit of strength to pull us both over to a worn stump to lean against as we waited for death. We heard something rusting in the distance heading our way; it must have been the humans coming for us.

My head hung between my knees in defeat. I had let my people down. Would they survive without me? The orcs were nearly hunted to extinction the last time a Chief was killed. My mind went to Brenna again; it was a comfort to think of her.

Whatever was headed toward us was now much closer. This was it. We are going to die. Amity died for nothing, and my people will be without a leader.

Something bursts through the trees. By some miracle, it was Sten's warg, Angus, who was just as bullheaded as Sten. Angus nearly trampled Sten as he ran to us, sniffing and whining. It was almost like he was begging Sten to get up. He knew how much shit we were in.

Sten forced himself up and lifted me from under my shoulders. My legs weren't injured; I could tell I was hurt internally, and my body was working against me.

I bared as much weight on my legs as I could. We managed to mount Angus. Angus was slower because he was carrying the two of us, but he got far enough away that we were safe for the time being.

"Get us home, boy," Sten said.

I wasn't sure where we were since I was unconscious for a time, but wargs have an excellent sense of smell. That is likely how Amity and Angus found us in the first place.

I took in a sharp breath. It was no use going back to the main post. My injuries were too severe for the healers at the orc posts to mend. They wouldn't have the supplies to help me. I just hoped we could get back quickly.

I didn't recognize where we were. The last place I remembered clearly was our campsite, and it was a day's ride from the nearest orc post. We would have to rely on Angus to get us back to the mountains.