Chapter 17 #2
Good. He should be. Panic made prey careless, and right now, he was being very careless. Her rage burned hotter with every step. If he harmed one hair on Orlena’s head—
She would not just kill him. She would erase him from existence.
The wind grew sharper as she climbed higher. The forest thinned, giving way to scraggy rocks and sparse brush clinging desperately to life. She paused only once to listen.
Voices.
Not too far ahead. She crept forward, using a stone outcropping for cover. The trees ended abruptly at a cliff’s edge. Moonlight spilled across the open area.
Yambul stood near the drop. Orlena was bound in front of him, with his arm locked around her waist.
Nargol stepped into view.
“There you are.” Yambul grinned.
“Release her,” Nargol ordered.
“Or what?” he taunted.
It was easy to see the panic behind his bravado. Sweat gleamed on his brow. His chest heaved with his quickened breaths.
“You hide behind a bound woman,” she said. “And you call yourself a strong orc? One who you think Rujin will respect?”
Orlena cried out from him tightening his hold on her.
“This is survival. You think your father’s rule will survive Rujin? The trolls will crush Aghon!”
“You mistake fear for wisdom. Nothing you say makes sense. Do you think orcs will want to bend the knee to our enemy? The same enemy who tried to wipe out our race!” Nargol snapped. How stupid were these orcs? Did they not know their history?
Yambul laughed bitterly.
“Rujin has an army. Giants with stone-crushing hands. They will grind your dynasty to dust.”
“You have sold your own people out to them for what?” she demanded.
“This ensures I live.” He dragged Orlena closer to the edge.
Nargol’s heart stuttered. He gripped Orlena’s hair and snatched her head back. A yelp released from her lips. Her eyes were wide and searching as her gaze landed on Nargol.
“You made her dream. It was you who put crazy thoughts in her head about leaving. She was content where she was.”
“I was not!” Orlena shouted.
“You were mine. My property,” he snarled.
“I was free. You lied to me!” Orlena screamed.
The words echoed against the stone. Nargol’s pulse thundered. Yambul leaned closer to the drop, his boots mere inches from the edge.
“One more step,” Nargol warned. She rested a hand on the hilt of her dagger sheathed on her waist.
“You killing me won’t stop anything. The trolls will still come.” He belted out a laugh.
“Then I will kill them, too,” she said softly.
Yambul’s grin faltered.
“Back down or she goes over the ledge,” he said.
Nargol held his gaze and calculated. Distance. Wind. Angle. All she needed to make the perfect shot from where she stood. Slowly, she reached for her bow.
Yambul’s eyes narrowed. He shoved Orlena.
Time froze.
Orlena’s scream tore through the air as she disappeared over the ledge. Nargol moved before her thoughts caught up. Her bow was in her hands, arrow nocked and released.
It flew true.
Straight through Yambul’s heart. His body jerked violently. She sent another arrow without hesitation. It struck his shoulder and spun him off balance. He staggered backward and fell.
His scream faded into the ravine below.
Nargol dropped everything and ran to the cliff’s edge.
“Orlena!” she roared. Her vision blurred. With the moon high, it provided little light to help her see down into the dark ravine. She checked the area, and her heart shattered.
Movement.
Ten feet down, Orlena somehow clung desperately to a thick tree root jutting from the rock face. Her fingers were slipping. Nargol flattened to her stomach and reached.
“Take my hand!” she shouted.
“I-I can’t,” Orlena sobbed.
“You can. Please. You have to do it.” Nargol stretched down farther.
Their fingers brushed.
Then slipped away.
Orlena screeched, but Nargol caught her. Her muscles screamed as she hauled Orlena upward. Her boots dug into stone and dirt for leverage.
“Look at me,” Nargol demanded.
Orlena’s tear-streaked face lifted.
“Do you trust me?”
Silence.
Her heart thrummed so violently she thought it might break her ribs.
“Yes,” Orlena whispered.
It was enough. With a final surge, Nargol pulled her over the edge. They collapsed together on solid ground. Orlena clung to her, sobbing uncontrollably. Nargol wrapped her arms around her mate and held her tight. She breathed in the scent of her hair and relished the warmth of her skin.
“You came for me,” Orlena whispered.
“I will always come for you.” Nargol meant this. There would never be a day that she wouldn’t be there to protect her mate. She pressed her forehead to Orlena’s.
“We will never be apart again.”
Orlena shook against her. She looked away.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Orlena said.
“We will speak. I will tell you everything. But not here,” Nargol murmured. She gently reached out and gripped Orlena’s chin. She forced her mate to meet her eyes. “I’ll ask you again. Do you trust me?”
The question shivered between them. This was something she had to know for certain.
Now that Orlena wasn’t hanging off a cliff, she wanted to ask her one last time.
Nargol would die before she allowed anything to happen to this woman.
It pained her so that she’d had to lie to her, but she would spend every waking day making it up to Orlena.
Orlena studied her face. Nargol ensured that all of her feelings were present. She needed Orlena to see the truth, the fear she’d felt at almost losing her and the devotion in her heart.
Orlena nodded.
“Yes.”
“Good.” Nargol helped Orlena to her feet. “We need to go.”
“Wait!” Orlena stiffened.
Nargol wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her away from the cliff.
“The other women. We have to go and help them.”
“We will, but we need to hurry. All of this is no way near done.” Nargol glanced back toward the cliff. She was only slightly satisfied in the way Yambul had died, but it would have to do.
Grat was still out there somewhere, and he had been the ringleader of these rebels. He was the one they needed to find.
Because if they didn’t, he would literally escort Rujin into Aghon himself.