Page 130 of The Orc Chief's Baker
She hoisted Sythcol under the arms and used her full weight to pull him.
She slipped in the muck. Her leg sunk into the mud all the way to her knee. The water rose and she couldn’t get out. The wall was still buckling and swaying with Brovdir clinging for dear life right above.
One wrong move and he would fall.
One wrong step and she would slip.
They would both be sucked in.
“It’s here, Elder!”
Trinia gasped in shock as a group of young orc sons burst out of the tree line.
They ran right for the sinkhole.
“Wait!” Trinia cried as the children got far too close. “Stop! It’s dangerous!”
Another group emerged, led by Elder Plog. “It’s here! Bring the boar!”
Thewhat?
More boys appeared ahead, clearing the path, ripping out bushes, moving aside debris.
“Over here! This is the best spot!” One of the younger sons cried from a precarious position on some rocks right at the edge of the sinkhole.
“Get away from there!” she cried.
“Nice work, boys, but she’s right! Come on down!” the elder agreed and the boys instantly ran to safety. Plog looked around. “Niloc! Ulid! Get her and Sythcol away from that edge before they get sucked into the drink! The rest of you, hook onto the wall!”
Hook onto the?—
“Don’t get close! It’s too dangerous!” she broke off, eyes wide, as the boys stopped a safe distance away. Their arms outstretched; their feet were braced.
They were going to hook into the wall with theirmagic.
Just then, another group appeared out of the trees. The older boys.
They carried themassivebolder.
“Good show, boys! Right up that way! Quickly, quickly!” The elder guided as the boys struggled to heft the enormous thing. It was only after looking closely that Trinia realized their hands weren’ttouchingthe rock. They were using magic too. The task was still arduous. Their jaws were tight with the exertion. Sweat covered their faces.
But they were grinning from ear to ear!
“W-what is going on?” Trinia gasped as the two boys that had been told to help her appeared at her side.
“Chief Brovdir called us to help,” Ulid said. “We should get Chief Sythcol out of here first. He’s out cold.”
“That’s what he gets for never sleeping. Catches up with you at the worst time.”
They dragged the conjurer out of the frothing sinkhole, and Trinia breathed a great sigh of relief. Her arms ached and trembled from the effort of holding him for so long.
The boys lifted the unconscious conjurer by his arms and legs and carted him off toward the safety of the forest. They made it look so effortless.
“TRINIA!”
Brovdir’s loud bellow reminded her she was a hair’s breadth away from the edge of the sinkhole. It was churning and swirling and still eating away at the ground.
But she was still stuck. She couldn’t pull her leg free.
