Vacation with the Orc (Monsters and Margaritas #15)

Rises in the East

Sammy

“Hi! I’m Sammy, a twenty-six year old gamer from…Earth.” I sighed at the sunflower that served as a recording device. “This is ridiculous.”

My sweet little florin friend—who I’d taken to calling Berry, since their kind didn’t seem to have names—chirped at me in protest. Berry’s species were inter-dimensional empaths that could travel between realms, or so it’d been explained to me.

Their three soft pink tails, shaped like a fox’s, swirled behind them.

They motioned with their cute white paws for me to continue.

I rolled my eyes, but indulged them. “If anyone in Havenlore receives this message, I’m currently in the central village.

And I’m searching for my friends.” Pausing, I realized I hadn’t specified my species.

Guess, I’d have to get used to it now that I was living amongst all types of, well, creatures?

Beings? I wasn’t sure what the preferred term was.

“They’re human, and it’s possible, they were transported here too.

If anyone sees them, please tell them to alert… ”

I stopped for a moment. Who should be alerted?

The ruling council of the village had treated me well.

They’d even made me a citizen, but I wasn’t sure they were the right ones to notify in this situation.

I hummed quietly, searching for an answer.

I settled for, “Sheriff Stoneclaw.” As Guruk’s friend—well, a friend of sorts, anyway—I’d put my faith in him.

Besides, the gargoyle was nothing if not dedicated to his job; and as the chief security officer here, I knew he would do everything in his power to bring my friends to safety.

I nearly crushed the sunflower as anxiety took hold of me for the umpteenth time.

“If we ever find them.” Tears gathered behind my eyelids, threatening to fall.

Ever since the florin had discovered that my friends weren’t back on Earth, we’d been searching for them.

When I had touched Inara’s horn, as part of the mission that I’d been tasked with during our RPG game back home, she’d heard me across realms and granted my heart’s greatest wish.

“Who desires to live in a fantasy world with her besties?” Little five-year-old me would be proud, but adult me?

Ugh. It wouldn’t be so bad if they had been transported to the village with me.

But no matter how far we searched, it didn’t seem like they’d been brought here.

And if they weren’t on Earth, and they weren’t in the village—

“Tweak, tweak, chitter, chitter,” Berry interrupted my thoughts, their noises a cross between a hamster and a squirrel. Yet, with their empathetic abilities, and some practice on my part, I had learned to understand them. Mostly.

“You’re right. I can’t lose hope.” Steeling my nerves and squeezing my hands into fists at my sides, I summoned my courage. “What would Raine say if she saw me freaking out?” I put on my best gamer face and mimicked her no-nonsense voice, “Suck it up, buttercup, we’ve got a mission to accomplish.”

I laughed and swiped at my eyes. My frenemy had a way with turning a phrase that was for sure. As my biggest rival in the gaming world, she and I had come to a mutual respect and understanding. And well, I missed her.

“I miss all of them.” I crouched to the florin’s level to rub my chin against the soft fur at the top of their head.

They hummed for me, sending waves of love crashing through me.

I touched my finger to the side of their cheek, sharing a part of my energy with them.

It was how their kind survived, taking willing transfers of small amounts of energy from others.

In truth, the florins gave far more than they took.

Even now Berry was projecting comfort and strength into me.

Heavy steps suddenly came down the hall and saved me from dissolving into a puddle, despite the florin’s best efforts.

I swiped at my eyes with the back of my wrist and straightened up.

Berry gave a small, encouraging trill and settled into the chair shaped like a beanbag, resting in front of the fire.

It had quickly become my favorite reading spot, and the florin loved to cuddle with me—or snag it for themselves when I wasn’t occupying the space.

I caught the smell of something burning as my orc appeared in the door frame.

“I may have miscalculated the ratio,” Guruk said, his deep voice sending a delicious thrill through me.

He was holding a plate with what had, at some point in its life, been a waffle?

A pancake? It was hard to tell, now appearing closer to a very flat piece of charcoal.

He regarded it with the dignified expression of someone who would absolutely not be admitting defeat.

“Is that for me or the fire?” I bit back a giggle, motioning to the stone fireplace.

He set it on the side table with great ceremony. “It is simply a first attempt.”

I couldn’t help poking at the flat lump. “It’s a frisbee.”

“It is practice.” He waved at the air with a flourish, the corner of his mouth twitching. “And what is a frisbee, my little human?”

“Nothing important.” I headed for my favorite chair, and Berry scooted to the back of it, allowing me room to sit.

Guruk crossed the space between us in two steps and knelt to meet my gaze. He rested his hand on my shoulder, his large thumb grazing my collarbone in a gentle caress.

I bit down hard on my back teeth to keep from letting all my feelings free. But one quick hiccup escaped.

“Everything about you and your world is important to me, Samantha.” His tone dropped, a thick honey pouring over my soul at the use of my full first name. “You may tell me anything.”

“I know.” The words came out smaller than I intended.

He hummed his agreement but didn’t push further. It was one of my favorite qualities about Guruk. He never pushed. He just stayed close and waited, patient as a mountain, until I was ready to speak.

Berry chose that moment to launch off the chair and land directly in the center of the ruined breakfast. They sniffed it, stared at Guruk, and delivered a verdict in a stream of rapid-fire chittering.

I laughed at the florin’s antics.

“Now see here, it is not the hue nor scent of mud,” Guruk said, turning and pointing a meaty finger at the unrepentant florin.

“I don’t know.” I popped a fist under my chin and leaned forward. Pinching a piece of the blackened food between my thumb and pointer finger, the substance turned to powder. “Berry may have a point.”

Guruk made a sound that was mostly a grumble but had laughter hiding inside it.

I leaned into his arm and let myself soak in the moment.

My orc’s warmth and his woodsy campfire scent permeated through me.

His hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to his side.

The florin climbed off the meal on the side table to rest by our feet.

The morning light slanted through the windows, and a fresh morning breeze fluttered the curtains.

“If we could just find my friends,” I sighed and ducked my chin, burrowing into his chest, “everything would be perfect.”

“I know, my love.” Guruk lifted me with ease, cradling my body against his chest, and settling into the beanbag chair with me in his lap. “I swear we will find them.”

Cuddling into his minty-green chest, I wrapped my arms around his waist. “It’s all my fault.”

“Shhh,” he said, his thick fingers combing through my hair in a soothing gesture, “do not do that to yourself.”

“I wished them here.” The sob I’d been holding back bubbled up once more.

He tilted my chin up. “And is our world so bad?”

I sniffed. “No. You know it’s not.”

“And you are happy, yes?” A slight cloud of doubt darkened his bright eyes.

I jumped from his lap to spin around and take his hands in mine. “Of course, I am.”

“You have found your place here? Your tabletop game nights, your helping me with the animals, working the farm…our life together?” My orc dipped his head as if unsure what my answer would be.

How could he not know? “Guruk,” I began, making sure my every word would be clear.

Not leaving any room for misunderstanding.

“I love you. You are my world.” I kissed my big softy on his cheek.

“Everything about Havenlore is amazing. The people, the village, the magic.” I smiled, recalling my first time seeing the quaint town and introducing its inhabitants to tabletop gaming.

They took to it as if they’d been born to play.

“My life is wonderful. I miss my world from time-to-time, but I wouldn’t change the path that brought me here… that brought me to you.”

His hands tightened on my waist, drawing me in.

His woodsy scent enveloped me like a warm, soothing blanket.

When his lips found mine, I melted. My orc often ignited a fire inside me with just a look, but this was different.

He poured all his feelings into the kiss.

I could feel his hope, his desire, even a hint of desperation, but most of all his deep love.

I moaned at the sensations flowing through me.

Before the kiss turned into a prelude of more, Berry let loose a series of long, loud chitters.

Guruk and I pulled apart and turned to the florin. Berry had gone still, their face to the window. Their three pink tails lifted and fanned wide, a sign that they were sensing a message. It was as if a picture or impression traveled to them across the space between realms.

“Berry?” I took a step toward them.

They spun fast. Berry’s eyes rounded, black, wide, and currently doing their best impression of a horror movie doll.

Okay, that got my attention.

Their paws started moving, and it wasn’t the usual cute hand-flappy chittering I’d gotten used to. This was sharp. Deliberate. I caught one word out of the gestures immediately: east. Then again. East, east, east, like Berry was a tiny pink compass having a crisis.

“East,” I repeated, half question, half just needing to hear it out loud.

Berry didn’t stop. Both paws shot up as if to say, wait, hold on. One paw pressed to their own chest. A single pat, and then they pointed straight at me.

Someone like you.

My stomach dropped somewhere around my socks.

“East,” I said slowly as the thoughts formed, catching Berry’s projected images and feelings. “There’s someone east of the village. Someone like me. Someone human?”

Berry chirped, sharp and certain.

I sucked in a breath. “More than one?”

A pause. A smaller gesture. Unclear. Maybe.

I was already moving before I’d fully decided to.

I grabbed a notebook and pen from the hidden pocket in my beanbag chair.

Guruk had created it for me when I’d told him I needed a place for my “tools.” Since settling into Havenlore I’d started keeping notebooks and pens everywhere, old habits from campaign planning—and being without my laptop. I flipped to a clean page.

Quest: Find the others.

Known facts: florin signal, origin east of village. Possibly more than one person. Human.

Resources needed:

I was still writing when Guruk plucked the notebook gently from my hands.

He read it. His expression did not change, exactly, but something in his eyes shifted—that quality of stillness that meant he was thinking three steps ahead and choosing which ones to say out loud.

“You're planning an expedition,” he said.

I nodded with one caveat. “I'm planning a quest.”

“Of course.” He sucked in his cheek, clearly hiding a laugh, and handed the notebook back. “How much rope are you putting on the list?”

I shrugged. “A reasonable amount.”

“You wrote ‘rope x3’ before I took it.”

Tapping the pen to the side of my temple, I said, “Contingency planning.”

He smiled at that, slow and warm, the one that crinkled the corners of his minty eyes and lifted the tusk on his right side. He walked past me, stalking to the chest resting in the room’s corner. Flipping it open, he rifled through its contents.

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Plotting,” he answered without looking back.

“Guruk,” I warned.

“Sammy,” he laughed.

Berry made a sound like a tiny, tired sigh from the direction of the window. Then, they curled up back in the beanbag chair.

“Fine,” I said, returning to my list. He’d let me in on his plan when he was ready.

He always did. “I'm going to talk to Sheriff Stoneclaw today. If Berry’s getting signals from the east, he should know. He might have reports. Maybe even notice of travelers coming through from that direction, sightings, anything.” I chewed on the end of my pen.

“I also want to check the message the florin network sent out. The one I recorded earlier.”

Guruk was quiet for a moment. “I’ll come with you to the sheriff.”

“You don’t have—“

“I know.” He turned from rifling through the chest and looked at me with the calm, unhurried certainty that I still, after all these months, hadn’t quite gotten used to.

It was like being seen by someone who had decided about you, chosen you, and was entirely at peace with their decision. “I want to.”

I swallowed. Wrote rope x2 on the list. Crossed it out. Wrote rope x3 again.

“Okay,” I said. I snapped my notebook shut and headed toward the bedroom to pack. “But we're stopping at Baxter’s on the way. I need real food in my system.”

Guruk followed behind me. “He'll have the morning rolls ready.”

“See, this is why I keep you around.”

He laughed then, properly, and the sound of it filled the hallway and chased some of the tightness from my chest.

As I scooted around the bedroom, pulling out clothes and supplies, I opened my notebook once more and looked down at my list.

Quest: Find the others.

I underlined it twice.

We were going to find my friends. Starting today.