A Twist of Fate

The carriage rattled and jostled, sending tremors through my body as we barrelled through the dense forest, heading towards the border of Avalon and the orcs’ domain. The forest was thick with ancient trees and the air was heavy with the scent of pine, a stark contrast to the perfumed scent of my dress and makeup. It all felt wrong, as if I was playing a part in a twisted fantasy.

Anger was raging inside me; yet, here I was, sitting here like a prim and proper daughter, a good girl princess who was off to do her duty. My stomach churned as I thought about what awaited me. The thought of being handed over to the orc leader filled me with dread and anger. My father had called it a marriage to forge an alliance, but I knew the truth. I was nothing more than a pawn in this game, a toy for the orc monster who had the power to destroy my people.

My nails dug further into the soft flesh of my palm when my father’s words echoed in my mind, the promises of safety for my people if I agreed to this union. I couldn’t help but feel like I was betraying everything I stood for. I was a fighter, and here I was, allowing myself to be used as a bargaining chip.

The orc leader was cruel, ruthless. A monster beyond just his appearance.

He was not interested in a bride. Not that I was interested in a husband, certainly not an orc; still, I was simply someone to add to his harem of female sacrifices, offered to him to stay on the good side of the orcs.

Given the chance, I was going to be more than happy to slit his throat in his sleep if I could, and yet, even that was not something that I couldn’t do. Because even though I had fought the orcs alongside the Avalon men and women until yesterday, I had accepted to become a docile offering to make sure that my people didn’t need to fear for their lives anymore.

“Oh my, Ember, your hand! You are bleeding.” My cousin Lilah’s worried voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked down at my palm, where my nails had left angry red marks. The blood dripped onto my cream dress, staining the pristine fabric. It was a small price to pay for the control I still had over my own body. “It’s nothing, just scratch.”

It certainly wasn’t anything in comparison to the battle scars that covered my skin beneath the fabric. Yet, I was no longer a warrior, even if I had a dagger strapped to my thigh and my dress was hiding my fighting outfit underneath. I might have not had a say in the deal that my father and the orc elders struck, yet even though I had accepted this union, I was determined to keep my fighting spirit alive. And if I was going to live on enemy territory, I wasn’t going to underestimate how treacherous the orcs could be.

As we crossed the border into Rogra, the sky grew darker, the sun disappearing behind storm clouds. The landscape turned gloomy, matching the tales I had heard of the orcs and their cruelty. The sea roared, waves crashing into the shore, as if warning me of the danger ahead as the road swerved down the hill and past the sea.

“I tell you what,” Lilah spoke again, unease written on her face. “I am happy your father was wise enough to agree to send you with an escort. I don’t even want to imagine what it would have been like if you had to cross these lands on your own. Travelling to Torgard is dangerous, even for someone as brave as you.”

She was right–the journey to the orc capital was a perilous one for anyone who didn’t know the territory. Even more so for Lilah and the other warriors who had come with me. I couldn’t shake the guilt I felt for dragging them along on this dangerous path. It wasn’t my choice, of course, yet that didn’t make it any better. But I knew that, at least while I was with them, we had a better chance of making it through unscathed–the orcs wouldn’t have dared to harm me. That would have only fuelled the war between our worlds further, which was what this sham of a union was supposed to put an end to.

Suddenly, a deafening roar pierced through the air, and the carriage began to shake violently. I reached out for Lilah, but before I could even touch her or check what was going on, we were thrown from our seats and into the air. The carriage split in two, revealing a massive, purple tentacle that towered above us.

On instinct, I scrambled to my feet, ripping the skirt from my dress to uncover the dagger while the tentacle retracted enough for me to see what was going on. There, right on the edge of the beach, was a huge shape with tentacles coming out of its body and dozens of eyes all over its head. It looked like a giant squid or octopus, but bigger than any creature I’d ever seen before.

But the beast itself was not as horrifying as watching it wrap its tentacles around our horses, as well as my friends- men that I’ve fought side by side with- and drag them inside the water, drowning them in a matter of moments.

My whole body went weak, my blood curdling from their screams. These men knew no fear, and yet this monster had them begging for mercy right before it took their final breaths away.

I felt dizzy, my heart thumping against my rib cage, fighting for space in my chest with the air frozen in my lungs. This can’t be happening.

A scream sliced through the fog in my brain–Lilah. The tentacle that had destroyed our carriage was now wrapping around her, ready to take her as well.

I couldn’t let that happen; I couldn’t lose her as well.

With my dagger in hand, I rushed towards my cousin, my weapon no match for its thick skin.

“Ember,” she pleaded, but despite my best efforts, there was nothing I could do.

Nononono. This can’t be true.

This journey was meant to end the death of the people I cared for, and now I was helplessly watching them die.

“You fucking monster!” I screamed at the creature.

My words were mixed with anger and despair, but it didn’t care, its limbs aiming for its next victim instead–me.

Trying to outrun it was in vain, as moments later it had its tight grip around me, slowly squeezing the air out body. I did my best to fight it, but there was nothing I could do, as my eyelids grew too heavy to keep open while my mind went cloudy.

I felt like I was floating, then suddenly falling while muffled roars invaded my thoughts.

When my eyes snapped open again, I was no longer by the sea. Gone were my escorts and Lilah, as was the tentacled monster that came out of the water and attacked the carriage. Only a giant bed covered in furs.

I searched for my dagger, but it wasn’t there.

My hand immediately searched for my dagger, but it was not there. Fuck.

“Looking for this?” a gruff voice spoke from the darkness that enveloped the other side of the room.

“Who said? Who are you?” I demanded, bolting out of the bed, my tone defiant even if I didn’t have a weapon. “And where the hell am I?”

A dark figure emerged from the shadows, my dagger in hand, though that was not what left me stunned. The creature in front of me was an orc; yet, one different from all the others I had met on the battlefield. Most orcs were tall and burly, but this one towered over me, easily eight feet tall. While I was not a small girl in any way, he made me feel tiny next to him.

And whereas other orcs only had tusks on the lower jaw, the one in front of me also had small, pointy horns on the top of his forehead, right on the edge of his dark hair, the bun he had it tied up in making the horns even more prominent.

“You were attacked by a kraken,” he finally answered as he removed his orcish armour. “I brought you here to recover.”

I wasn’t sure if I was more shocked an orc had saved me or how taking him in, shirtless and all, stirred something unfamiliar in me. His bright green skin called to me, to feel his muscled chest covered with dark battle scars and his broad shoulders.

A shiver ran down my spine and I forced out those bizarre thoughts. That kraken must have squeezed the common sense out of me. Orcs weren’t attractive. Hell no. They were my sworn enemy.

“Where are my friends?” If he had saved me, surely they were all fine as well.

Something changed in that ruggedly handsome face of his as he gazed down at me, allowing me to notice the scar that cut across the right side of his face.

It was almost as if his expression softened, which was impossible–orcs were monsters. Killers. They showed no emotion, felt no sympathy.

“They’re all gone.”

His words cut through my soul like the finest daggers out there, causing me to stumble back, until I hit the bed behind me. It was only then that I noticed the pain around my chest, though I wasn’t sure if it was physical or his statement brought it on.

They can’t be dead–the orc must be lying.

With that sole thought in my mind, I pushed through the pain that was spreading through my body and dashed for the door behind him, ready to find Lilah and the others. But I didn’t even make it ten steps before his thick strong arm wrapped around me and he carried me back to the bed.

“Let me go, you monster.” I cried out between the punches and kicks I was throwing around. If I had my dagger with me, this bastard would have been sorry for getting in my way. “They are alive, they have to be.”

He didn’t care for my protests, nor was he fazed by my attempts to fight him. He could have crushed me in his arms if he wanted to and yet, there was a gentleness in the way he held me.

The weight of my emotions threatened to crush me, tears stinging my eyes, and anger boiling in my veins. I wanted to let out a primal scream and shatter something, anything, to release the overwhelming flood of grief and fury churning inside me.

Yet, instead, I found a sense of calm settle over me like a gentle mist. His touch felt like a balm to my battered soul, and I found myself being drawn into his warmth and security. It was as if his embrace was a shield, warding off the pain and despair that were threatening to consume me.

It was the most illogical feeling ever. In his arms, the arms of my enemy, I felt safe and protected, like nothing could ever hurt me again. His strong heartbeat, steady and reassuring, filled me with a sense of peace that I had not felt in a long time.

“You have to rest, little human. The kraken broke some of your ribs, but you are lucky to be alive altogether. If I had been there moments later, things would have turned out differently.”

A faint whimper almost rolled off my lips when he placed me on the bed, my body unhappy with the loss of contact, while my mind struggled to understand why. What the hell was this sorcery that was making me react to him like this?

“Who are you?” I interrogated him, even though I was in no position to make demands.

His chuckle rubbed me the wrong way–like I was the evening’s entertainment–but what pissed me off more was how handsome he was when he smiled. Even his pointy ears were attractive, a mix between an elf and an orc.

“Are you always like this?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He gave me a look like it should have been evident what he was referring to. “This stubborn and feisty.”

“I am being held somewhere by my enemy, and my people are dead.” I glared at him. “What do expect?”

“Undress,” he commanded, his eyes fixed on me as he took a step forward.

“Forget it,” I snapped back.

Who the hell did this orc think he was? Did he think I was going to sleep with him? Over my dead body.

Yet, the way he spoke to me, the way he looked at me, sent butterflies swarming in my stomach.

He must have poisoned me or something. That was the only explanation. It had to be. This pull–lust–I was feeling towards a stranger, let alone an orc, was unfathomable.

“Undress, little human.”