| July 30, 366 “Escape”
A pile of meat and vegetable leftovers lay on a dirt bottom drenched with fluids you don’t really want to think about. The air around it foul, flies buzzing. A mere but good example of how much the orcs cared for their surroundings. They had been moody for weeks. Losing the battles against the Covian army and their Trinsic friends did not please the lot. They were drinking a lot. Fighting a lot amongst each other. Even the usually somewhat calmer Orc Mage had never been so cruel to his slave. A smart one that one… quite a story how this Orc managed to capture and keep his slave. But not the story I’m telling now.
A trail of footsteps in the dirt, carefully placed to avoid making any noise. It was however hard to imagine the frail starved body that came with the footsteps could actually make any sound with moving around. A pair of green eyes looking around nervously and afraid, but also determined to continue the path she had chosen to take. A path that would lead her away from the orcs, as long as they didn’t wake up now, or turn their heads to see her walking towards the mountains.
Exhausted, weary and suddenly feeling terribly alone she entered the forest behind the mountains. As long as she could remember she had never been alone, the Orc mage always kept her close to him. As long as she could remember she had belonged to him. Tonight had been the first time ever that he had forgotten to put the chain around her ankle, but still it had taken her hours to decide whether to stay or to go. A part of her actually wanted to hurry back and lay down on the ground besides the Orc to sleep because that’s what she was used to. The throbbing of a nasty cut on her head reminded her however why she was here now. Decades of abuse and the recent aggressive treatment had given her the spark she needed to dare to escape, to dare look for freedom.
But where would she go? At the edge of a small pond she crouched down trying to reach the water to quench her thirst. It had started to rain hours ago, but the drops of rain were not enough. Then she noticed the water barrels besides the pond and climbed on them to drink the water from the top one. A sound behind her made her let go of the barrel so suddenly that they almost tipped over. A strange voice spoke and she backed away from where it came from, hiding behind a tree. “Pleez du nub ‘urt meeb!”
She could hear movement and expected to be jumped on any moment by orcs that had been send out to retrieve her, but instead the voice spoke again, friendly. Absolutely terrified of what would happen to her if she were to be taken back to the orcs, she panicked and ran into the other direction, stumbling over a big stone in the ground. Sore and tired she tried to struggle up, but she had no more strength left. She was cold and soaked because of the rain and knew even if she tried to run she wouldn’t be able to outrun the stranger.
The stranger kept talking softly to her, trying to convince her he did not mean her any harm. He had knelt down close to her and carefully crouched closer holding out some bandage while she struggled to sit up. As he wiped the clean bandage over the cut on her head, she could feel her nerves calm down. She had escaped the orcs and a new life was beginning. |