Page 24 of The Orc's Rage

In the morning, Lord Kargorr was gone when she awoke, and Cedar was surprised she hadn’t felt him leave. She rose from the bed and saw the weapons had all been packed, all except the dagger, which now lay on the furs next to her.

Was it a gift? She got out and put on her clothes, then started rolling and bundling up the furs to make them easier to transport. The half-orc from yesterday returned and dismantled the tent, and many orcs had to work together to lift the main post out of the ground and then topple it into the wooden cart.

Cedar tucked the dagger into her belt, hoping that’s what he’d intended by leaving it with her.

That was when she heard a noise that nearly sent her skeleton crawling from her skin: a wild trumpeting that echoed in the frosty air. She wove through the remaining tents of the camp, toward the sound.

It came from a massive beast, taller than the sky, with two scythe-like tusks protruding from beneath its long trunk. It was covered in shaggy brown hair, and certainly it could squash her with one misplaced foot.

Cedar screamed and shrunk back when she saw it, and the massive creature let out another trumpet, alarmed.

Two huge arms wrapped around her, binding her arms to her sides. “Shh,” Kargorr murmured into her ear. “Stay still and calm. You don’t want us all trampled.”

Cedar shuddered but did as he’d ordered, keeping her trembling feet placed right next to one another. With a hum of approval, Kargorr released her, and the beast now stood without any further trumpeting.

She watched as the rest of the tent was loaded into the sledge, and then the sledge was yoked to the massive beast with ropes and wood. Then it plodded away, led by its keeper, another half-orc woman. The sledge was pulled along behind it, over the snow.

“It’s time to go.” Kargorr still hadn’t left Cedar’s side. “I have something else to show you, little deer. But you must not shout or scream.”

Cedar wondered what other horror he had to bestow on her after that terrifying beast. Still, she followed along behind him as he led her down what used to be rows of tents, but now was bare ground filled with leftover postholes. Up ahead, she could make out a big lump in the snow.

“Liga!” Lord Kargorr’s voice surprised her. “Come!”

The lump rose, and what she saw took her breath away.

The creature that appeared was beautiful, in the way swords were beautiful. Cedar knew just looking at this massive animal, with its round ears, soft snout, and fangs that curled a whole hand’s length under its jaw, that it could easily kill her. It would barely have to lift a paw. Muscles rippled through its lithe body as it approached them, and Kargorr advanced on it. Reflexively, Cedar grabbed his arm to hold him back, and a grin pulled at his mouth.

“I will be fine,” he said quietly. Then he rubbed the huge cat’s forehead, and it made a low, rumbling sound as it rubbed back.

“It’spurring,” Cedar said in wonder as Kargorr began slipping a harness on over the creature’s head. Just like a pet cat.

He seemed pleased by her reaction and urged her to come forward. After all this, Cedar didn’t think he would let her get hurt, so she followed along. Liga—that must be the animal’s name—observed her curiously as she approached.

“Hold out your hand,” Kargorr said, extending his own palm up. “Like this.”

Cedar did as she was told, hoping against hope it wouldn’t choose to take off her arm. Her palm was trembling when she held it out, and the cat leaned down to sniff her.

It seemed, mostly, uninterested.

“Come with me.” Kargorr gestured for Cedar to walk around the creature’s side, where two ropes attached to the harness lay crisscrossed over its neck. Two hands seized her around the hips, and Cedar tried to keep from making a noise of surprise as he hoisted her onto the furry back. Liga danced underneath her, and she couldn’t help a little bleat of alarm.

But soon Kargorr was mounted up behind her, and he looped one arm around her waist before picking up the ropes.

“Liga,” he said in a brusque voice. It was followed by an Orcish word that Cedar didn’t understand.

“Hold on tight,” he told her, right in her ear. And then Liga began to move.

Cedar clung to his arm, her only rock in the storm, as the huge beast leapt into a lope. With every step, Liga’s spine moved underneath her, and Cedar thought surely she would get hurled off into the air.

“Move your body, little deer,” Kargorr said. His hips circled smoothly behind hers, while she bounced up and down with each of the huge cat’s strides. “Let yourself sway with her body. Use your hips like you would if you were on top of me.”

Her lower body tensed at the implication, and she grimaced as she met directly with Liga’s back. The cat hissed with displeasure at her inexperienced rider. But Cedar knew it would do no good if she didn’t listen, so she tried to imagine herself astride Kargorr, her hips moving in synchronicity with his as he plunged inside of her. Her thighs loosened, sinking her down onto the creature’s back. Soon her legs were no longer fighting with Liga’s powerful movements but traveling alongside them, and she found herself undulating in time with Kargorr’s firm body. It felt as if all of them were one single creature loping across the snow.

As they made a loop, they returned to find the camp was empty, and in its place stood more of those great, furry beasts with the noses that fell to the ground. Another trumpet sliced through the air as Liga swiftly passed them, until they had reached the front of what Cedar realized was an immense line.

Kargorr brought Liga to a halt, next to an orc she recognized as Orgha, the one who had captured her that day at Lissa’s house. If he hadn’t caught her, none of this would have happened. She would’ve escaped into the woods and found her freedom.

She flared her nostrils at him and looked away.

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