Chapter 2
2
Cedar
T he orc stared right at Cedar as the crunch of bone breaking filled the air between them. Lissa’s head fell to one side and hung limply there, then he tossed her body away like it was little more than a used toy.
Cedar was next. Surely this monster with the dark eyes that glowed red around the edges would do something even worse to her, something more painful and brutal. She could almost taste the blood on her tongue.
That was when Cedar spotted the other orcs headed toward the barn.
“No!” she called out, thinking of Bread Pudding and the new piglets. Cedar tried to pull away from her captor, the one who had chased her into the woods, but his grip was like iron. “Don’t kill them! They’re just babies.”
The orcs ignored her. But this one towering over her, with the scar that ran from his temple on one side of his face to his jaw on the other, where his tusk had clearly stopped a massive blow... he turned to them and shouted something in his deep, growling language. They halted.
“What is in there?” the monster asked Cedar, and she was surprised to hear familiar words fall from his lips. His pronunciation was poor and his accent was thick, but she understood him.
“Pigs,” she said, trying to still her quivering voice. “Just born. Piglets.”
She didn’t think it would work, telling them to stop, but he seemed to be considering it. Then he called something else in his tongue, and the other orcs resumed their march into the barn.
That was it. Now it was Cedar’s turn to meet her end. But the big orc with the long scar didn’t raise his axe to behead her. Instead, the red faded from his eyes until they were pure black again, and he tucked the axe into his waistband before grabbing her by the wrists from the bastard who had caught her. Cedar couldn’t help the scream that came out when he hoisted her up over his shoulder like she was a bag of goods.
Then he turned to the others and called out something in his own tongue. Cedar watched as Bread Pudding was led out of the barn, and two big orcs hefted her up into a cart, followed by her suckling piglets. Cedar tried to free herself as the horses were rounded up and cinched to the cart, but the scarred orc’s grip was like iron.
Then he turned and headed back toward town. Cedar kicked and shouted and clawed, but it was like she wasn’t even there. He was an unforgiving pile of bricks.
All along the road were bodies, people that Cedar had known for the last four or five years. She realized she’d lost track of how long she’d lived with Lissa.
Lissa, who was now dead.
Most unexpectedly, a thrill surged through her. Cedar was finally free of that old tyrant. She was dead . Perhaps she should have felt some kind of sadness, some kind of regret at seeing Lissa’s body broken and limp on the ground, but she didn’t. No, but now she was a prisoner of another kind, with a different pair of shackles.
“Where are you taking me?” Cedar asked, grunting as the big orc’s shoulder dug into her belly.
“You will find out,” was all he said in return.
As they passed down the main road, other orcs began to emerge from the houses loaded up with bags full of goods. They had pillaged for everything they could get their hands on.
Cedar should have mourned these innocent people. They didn’t deserve this, after all. But each of them had looked away as Lissa tormented and beat Cedar day after day, right in the main square, and so for a moment, she let the guilt roll off her and decided she would much rather focus on how she was going to escape her new captor. Who knew what he wanted her for? She needed to get away before she could find out.
But this orc was powerful, as tall as a mountain and hard as a rock, and carried her like she was nothing. She feared that she was now in a far worse prison.
More wagons were hitched to horses and loaded up with goods and livestock, which, besides Bread Pudding, had all been butchered and now lay in piles. This was everything the village had.
Just how many orcs were out there, after all? And what had this one chosen her for?
Kargorr
He rather enjoyed the way the human woman’s warm little body rubbed against him as she struggled and squirmed. Her energy didn’t wane nearly as soon as he had expected. She had a lot of fight in her.
His warriors led horses pulling carts full of goods, both of which they’d taken from the village. When they reached the most difficult part of the climb up into the mountains, though, they’d have to abandon them, because the carts couldn’t handle the terrain. Once they released the horses, he would call the rest of the parog to come help transport what remained.
It would be two days before they got that far, which made Lord Kargorr ponder whether it was time to move the parog to somewhere easier to reach, less walled off from the human lands, if he wanted to achieve his mission.
The pig and its piglets would prove complicated to get home, but the human woman had wanted them, and the parog could use the live offspring in the future. A pig roasted over the fire was the perfect thing for a celebration, and he imagined there would be a few of those to come.
Yes, this woman... she was perfect for his purposes. It had become clear to him when he tossed her over his shoulder and she fought back with all her strength. She was resilient, and her body was tough. She would carry many fine orclings for him.
Until now, Kargorr had been much too busy reclaiming land for the grrosek to be bothered with siring offspring. It would draw his attention away from what was important: taking back what the humans had stolen in the thousands of years his own people had been trapped in the ice.
But with this raid, with this woman now hanging limp over his shoulder, Kargorr imagined something else. Many of his warriors had taken humans in the past to help sate their needs, to swallow up the dripping remnants of their rage when they returned from the battlefield. They said there was nothing like returning from the fight and sinking your cock into a perfect cunt.
Perhaps Kargorr could have a vessel to sate his own rage, something soft and giving to fuck when his veins ran too hot and his hands were still covered in blood. A place to bury himself, where he could continue his line and have hardy orclings who grew into fine warriors themselves.
Yes, that’s what this feeling was telling him. It was time.
And if this human was as delicious as he imagined her to be, then he would find another, and another to bear him half-blooded grrosek , who had proven to be excellent fighters and archers. The half-breeds had the gift of far sight, when an orc himself could only see what lay a hundred paces in front of him. They were skilled artisans, too, with a precision to their movements that made them perfect for working with steel. The grrosek had succeeded in making rudimentary steel weapons on their own, until the half-breeds emerged and could hone and sharpen them. They could learn human techniques, too, but remained loyal to their parog, where they had been born.
As the woman finally lost her strength, Lord Kargorr tucked her under his arm instead. She was light, probably too light. He would have to feed her good meat with lots of melting fat to return her to a state where her womb would be ready. He would keep her in his tent, nested deep in his bed of furs, until she was plump and heavy with his horde.
The woman awoke when they began to climb into the hills. Once more she fought, biting and clawing, but to his thick, dense body she was barely more than a kitten. She left a few long scratches on him, but he would teach her later that such behavior was unacceptable.
The sun was heavy on the horizon when they stopped to pitch camp, but he did not let her go even then. She was quick, and he couldn’t have her running. Once the fire was started and the fresh meat cooked, Kargorr forced her down into his lap. She struggled mightily, which had the gratifying effect of the woman rubbing herself all over his groin.
Still, it wasn’t time yet. She needed ripening.
He offered her food, but the woman stubbornly turned her head away and bit her lips to keep them closed. With her dark eyes set as hard as her mouth, he warned her, “I will make you eat if you do not listen.”
Still she didn’t answer, glaring at him with everything she had, so he shoved the meat into her mouth. She fought him, but he was far stronger, and soon the food was between her teeth and halfway down her throat. She choked and struggled until at last she gave in to her hunger. Then she snatched the next piece away from his hands and set about tearing it apart, chewing it with a look in her eye that made sure he knew she didn’t like being told what to do.
Soon the fire died down, and his warriors made their way to their own beds. Kargorr picked her up and carried her to his traveling furs, and when she realized where they were headed, she dug her nails into his hands and bit deep in his arm.
“No!” she shouted, earning smirks from the other orcs. “You can’t!”
But Kargorr’s skin was tough as leather and his hands were calloused from his practice with an axe, and all her ferocity did was irritate him as he tugged her under the furs and pulled her tight against his body. Still, she didn’t stop her wriggling.
Finally, tired from a long day of traveling, Kargorr snapped at her. “Stop. I will not fuck you. Tonight is for resting. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
“For you, maybe,” she snarled back. “I won’t rest until I’m free of you.”
He grinned at the ferocity in her voice, in the clench of her jaw. She would make a fine concubine and mother to his orclings.
Cedar
Even after he fell asleep, the big creature did not release his iron grip on her. He had forced food down Cedar’s throat in front of the fire while the other warriors, males and females alike, devoured their meals. Some even had loud sex, right there among them. Cedar tried to close her ears to it, because she knew she needed the sleep if she was going to figure out a way past this monster, but still their cries and moans filled her head.
Her plan was to wait until the massive orc had finally loosened his hold on her in his sleep, and then she would seize the opportunity to pull free. She listened to the slow, steady beat of his huge heart against her ear, feeling each of his breaths against her cheek. He was dirty and reeked of sweat, but she imagined so did she. His body had a musky, heavy scent to it, and she could feel his power in that smell—almost taste it.
Cedar did not expect to fall into a deep slumber herself, pressed tight against the orc’s bare chest, his breaths hypnotizing her. She dreamed the road leading to Lissa’s house ran red with blood, and an orc rose out of it, covered in it, reaching toward her with it dripping from his hands. He had a scar running from one side of his face to the other, ending in a deep groove in his tusk.
But when he grabbed her, he held her close, as if trying to comfort her inside the nightmare he had created.
When Cedar awoke, it was daylight and she was strangely cold. When she opened her eyes, she found herself alone under the thick pelt. Instantly, she was wide awake. She remained prone, pretending to sleep as she studied the other orcs. They were occupied with loading goods and packing up camp, all their backs turned to her.
Here was her chance. Rather than getting to her feet and running, though, she slowly climbed out of the bed, pretending to roll it up when a female orc with a shaved head, except for a massive braid, glanced over at her. Then Cedar walked slowly, without urgency—though she wanted nothing more than to sprint away at full speed—through the camp, past wagons being loaded and a pair of orcs arguing. She couldn’t outrun any of these huge monsters, she knew, so she had to capitalize on their distraction.
No one spared her a look as she crept by. The cool wind bit at her exposed legs as she started down the hillside, throwing her thick skirt up into the air. She took one long stride, then another, ready to whisk herself away and find some human town, somewhere else, somewhere she could start over, maybe—when something massive and hot grabbed her wrist.
“Going somewhere?” a voice snarled.
Cedar was brutally yanked backwards, the air thrown from her lungs when she met an unforgiving surface. Slamming into the orc’s chest was like colliding with a rock.
“No,” Cedar coughed out. Who knew how he would punish her for trying to run? So she thought fast, and then said, “I just needed to pee.”
She couldn’t see his face as he stood behind her, holding her captive, but she hoped he was considering her lie. The orc didn’t move or speak, and his hand tightened even further around her wrists.
“Then finish,” he growled, his head leaned down surprisingly close to hers. His hot breath warmed her cold skin. “I will watch you.”
Cedar didn’t know if she had heard him right. “Watch me?”
The big orc released her arm and, when she turned to him, one of his tusks was raised high on his cheek in a smirk. He urged her forward, clearly unwilling to repeat himself.
She had no choice. Cedar did, luckily, have a little water inside her from not having gone all night, so when she peeled down her undergarments, she had something to give. The orc studied her closely, his arms crossed, and for a long time it wouldn’t flow under his watchful gaze. His eyes were dark and stony, but eventually, her bladder released. The orc didn’t even twitch as it poured out of her onto the grassy ground, but her own body was white-hot with humiliation.
When she was finished, Cedar moved to pull up her clothes again, but the orc barked a command: “No.” He stomped toward her and reflexively she stumbled back, tripping over her undergarments. He crouched down and tore them off of her. “None of these.”
“But I’ll freeze!” Cedar knew where they were headed. High above these hills sat the snowy peaks of the mountains the orcs called home, and if she had nothing to wear under her skirt...
“You will not. Neither will you leave again without my permission.”
He grabbed her around the waist again and hauled her up over his shoulder. Her hip was already bruised purple from the day before.
“Please,” she moaned. “Don’t carry me again.”
“I will today,” he answered. “As punishment for trying to escape. Next time, I will have you bound and then dragged along the ground. Remember you are mine now. You will never, ever leave.”
Finally, Cedar wondered if he was right, if she would truly be trapped as his bedwarmer, his slave, from now into eternity.
From one master to another. At least Lissa hadn’t had a cock. At least Lissa hadn’t carried her for days on end like a bag full of vegetables. At least Lissa had given her a cot on the floor from time to time.
Tears bit at the back of her eyes, but Cedar stiffened her lip. She wouldn’t give this beast the gratification.