Chapter 12
"Mother's going to be sooo mad when she finds out," Serrw said. Knnr huddled close to her oldest sister with her wings covering her head.
"This is all your fault, Vrawk," Knnr said. Her voice was slightly muffled.
"It was Ckkk's idea," Vrawk said sullenly. She stared out through the cage bars at the four Orcs who surrounded them. Three wore full armor despite the day's uncomfortable warmth. This was the only reason one of them was not missing his kidneys.
"No, my idea was that we roll a big rock on them and then get the meat out of the cage," Ckkk said. "You were the one who said no. And Trillik was the one who said we should all go at once."
"Mother doesn't like us dropping rocks on things," Trrilik said. "Besides, you were the one who got batted out of the air trying to fly out of the cage ahead of everybody else."
"I'm not likely to forget it, thank you so much. My scrrringbum hurts like you wouldn't believe," Ckkk said.
"Hey, look!" Serrw said.
Five little harpies fell silent as they craned their necks toward the sky. The Orcs did not understand Saark, but they understood sudden silences. They stopped, glaring around warily. Mana began to rise invisibly around the shortest Orc, stirring the hem of his gray robe. Sweat beaded on their green skin in the morning sun.
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Skrch swept down out of the sun, stifling another scream of rage. Mana crackled down the tips of her wings and arced back to her body. She felt the storm in every nerve, the urge to rend and destroy.
That's harpy thinking, said the part of Skrch that was still Skrch. Be who you are. Don't be the curse.
She pulled up, staring down at the cages. They were off the path, traveling in a straight line through an expanse of tall grass. Headed for Crossroads. The Orcs could not see her. They had made a mistake in traveling due East, into the still-rising sun. Skrch's vision was as acute as any raptor, even many yards above her quarry. I've seen two of those Orcs before. I chased the krrrahk off them last night, when I went home.
Skrch hissed. Then she dove, talons outstretched…
…And scooped the nets off the top of one of the cages. A meaty hand swiped across the bars, gauntlet scraping the iron, but the Orc was too late. Skrch whirled in the air and flung the nets behind her.
The Orc in the robe and one warrior got out of the way. The other two went down, tangled in the strands of rope. Skrch landed atop the cage. Tiny sparks flew from her claws as she clutched at the iron, mana showering down on the fledglings beneath. The two storm hags opened their wings, crying out piercingly as they soaked up the power.
"You must have waited all night, right?" she said in Orcish. The Orcs froze for a second, startled. A ball of flame hovered above the warlock's hand, but he did not throw it. "I bloody saved your lives and you waited all night long for me to leave so you could steal my children?"
The warrior glared at the warlock. "You said they were animals," he said.
"They are animals," the other Orc said. "Kill her, and let's get on with our business."
Viri Starwater rose out of the tall grass like a striking snake. The armored Orc never saw the glaive that cut his head off. The warlock turned and threw the fireball, shouting something Skrch did not understand.
The Huntress should have been able to dodge. She did not. She stood quite still as the blazing missile struck the center of her unarmored chest. The impact drove her a step back, but her face did not change.
The flames evaporated. No scorch mark was left behind. Skrch had time to wonder about this while the warlock was busy trying to brain Viri with a staff. Even the smallest Orc was much larger than the Elf. It made no difference. Viri spun gracefully to the left, ducked under a wild swing, and threw the glaive underarm. Blood spurted from the Orc's throat. He made a truly horrible sound as he fell.
The Huntress retrieved her weapons, wiped them on the dead warlock's cloak, and turned to look at the two Orcs in the nets. They still struggled to get free, but without any sign of success.
"You used enchanted nets, too," Skrch said. "I should have known. He wasn't leaving anything to chance, right?" She jerked her head at the dead warlock.
"What's going on?" said a familiar voice from behind her.
Skrch glanced back. Dev Blackstare sat on her wolf in the flattened grass the cages had left. The animal panted. That's doing pretty good. She circled it all the way around at a run without making any noise.
"Huntress, you'd better go keep an eye on the necromancer," Skrch said. Viri Starwater ducked down and faded out of view. "They tried to steal my daughters, Warrior."
"Can we kill them?" Ckkk piped up from the cage. Skrch swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat.
"No, you may not kill them. Is everyone all right?"
"We're fine," Vrawk said. "Except maybe they hurt Ckkk's pride a little."
"Shut up," Ckkk said.
"You know what I'd like to know?" Skrch said. She coasted down from the cage and landed next to the two Orcs. "Stop struggling. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. I want to know what you were going to do with my children when you got them back to Crossroads."
The entangled Orcs looked at each other.
"I don't know," one said. The other one looked away. Skrch hopped delicately onto the second one's chest.
"That's not a good idea," Dev Blackstare said from behind her, suddenly quite close. Skrch glanced back to see the gray Orc dismounted, scimitar at the ready. The wolf growled.
"This is not a day to be talking about bad ideas, Warrior," Skrch said. "You look at me right now, Mister Green Orc, or you are going to be without your eyeballs in about ten more seconds. I'm trying really hard not to be a harpy right now, you understand?"
The Orc snorted. "The warriors of the Horde do not fear threats, storm witch."
"Why do they always say the same thing? No, lie still." The Orc was trying to sit up, even with Skrch's hundred pound weight on his chest. She dug her right talons in between the strands of rope, finding the seam at the side of his breastplate. "Come on. I want to know."
"Speak up," Dev Blackstare said. A belt knife darted in from the edge of Skrch's vision. A second later the green Orc's breastplate was flapping loose, its leather straps cut. Skrch shoved it aside under the net and stood directly on the Orc's bare chest.
"Ick," Skrch said, momentarily distracted. "Now my toes will be sweaty."
"Did you want me to put it back?" Dev inquired acidly.
"Who are you?" the warrior said, twisting his neck at an awkward angle to look at the gray Orc.
"Dev Blackstare. You?"
"Does it matter?" the Orc said, looking back at Skrch.
"Maybe," Skrch said. "Though I notice you didn't try to find out what my daughters' names were. You tell me what you wanted with them, and maybe I won't open the cage 'til after you're out of sight."
A chorus of protest came from behind the bars. Some of the krrrahk understood a little Orcish.
"Desh'nar said he wanted to study storm magic in its raw form," the Orc said. "He said it'd be easier with small ones. That's all he told me."
Skrch watched the Orc closely. She wasn't the best at reading Orcish facial expression.
"What do you think, Dev?"
"I don't think he's lying," Blackstare said.
"Where you from?" the Orc in the net asked. "That's the weirdest accent I've ever heard."
"Yeah, you too," Blackstare said. "Skrch?"
"Turn them loose," Skrch said. "Start walking, Orcs. It's a long way to Crossroads."
