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Zathra felt the chill that fell across Frogblood, not unlike the moment his old companion Silgak had realized his own blood brother Tuka had been killed. The silence of realization hung in the air for only a moment, before the captain of the ship erupted in a murderous blaze as the green orc slammed the tark woman into the floor, shrieking at her, "DEAD!? MY BROTHER IS DEAD?!"

The slave woman screamed in pain, trying to pull away, as her attacker beat her face against the wood planks, splitting her the skin of her cheekbone with a sickening crack. She tried in vain to wrap her arms over her head but the tautness of the chains that linked her to Zathra and Barbaurak made it nearly impossible. There was nothing either orc captive could do, but Frogblood wasn't about to let them go unpunished either. He threw Alaesia to the floor, before snapping towards her previous captors.

"So ya poaching scum think ya can kill my blood brother, lie right to my face, and get away wiv it, do ya!?" in the blink of an eye, Frogblood lunged at Zathra with his trident, striking deep into the orc's arm and pinning him to the wall behind the trio of captives.

Barbaurak watched his companion writhe as Frogblood twisted the weapon deeper into the orc's flesh, snarling, "Leave him alone, kranurz flagit! He ain't lied at all! This sharlob is trying to make ye turn against yer own kind!"

Frogblood whirled on Barbaurak, leaving Zathra stuck like a wild beast on the barbs of the trident as he crossed to the belligerent captive and gave him a swift kick, knocking him to the floor and pinning him underfoot. Frogblood reached down with cold calculation in his eyes, grabbing one of the swords, the one that Barbaurak had taken from Alaesia, from his belt, "That so? Not to save yer own hides to pin the blame on some pathetic snaga!"

Alaesia turned her head away as Frogblood lifted the blade, unable to bear watching the scene unfold. Her whole body shuttered as she heard the blade drop and sink through flesh and bone, cracking and crunching. Barbaurak's roar rattled the very walls of the ship. Zathra looked on in desperation, but pinned as he was, he could do nothing to help. His eyes met Alaesia's bruised face as she flinched away from the violence happening just behind her.

Zathra looked pleadingly towards her. It took only the slightest tilt of his weary, pained face for her to feel a soft wave of his mind wash over her own. She was the only one who might be able to distract Frogblood, to stop him from killing Barbaurak, she heard his influence press in a silent plea. Tell him! Please...

"No..." Her throat threatened to close in fear as she resisted Zathra's influence, but the utterance caught Frogblood's attention anyways.

He grabbed her collar, nails digging in on either side of her throat as he pulled her off the ground once more, "No?! Ya seriously tryin' ta save these sorry sods' lives?! Then tell me, who killed my brother!"

Terror crawled through every inch of Alaesia's body at the roar, psychosis wilding Frogblood's eyes. She sobbed as his visage brought back memories of Ku'Gohn lording over her, and Vezhir's vicious assaults. Zathra's mind, open to her own, was witness to every flash of violence she had experienced at their hands.

"Th-the r-re...!" Her voice was broken as she tried to answer Frogblood's demands.

He shook her harder, "TELL ME!"

Zathra's mind saw another visage, a great hulking beast, covered in a mane of black cross Alaesia's mind as she choked out, "I-it was th-the R-reaper. The R-reaper k-killed K-Ku'Gohn..."

Frogblood's eyes narrowed and he let Alaesia fall to the floor, his voice growing deceptively calm. "The Reaper... The right hand of the overlord of Nurn?" He himself had never seen the supposed Reaper, but he knew Ku'Gohn had been planning to take the fort. It wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility that the slave was telling the truth. He crouched next to Alaesia, brushing her hair from her face with a frighteningly soft hand. When she tried to jolt away from his touch, he gripped the bruised side of her head, hushing her whimpers of protest, "If what ya say is true, then yer gonna lead me to this Reaper. An' when he's dead, then maybe I'll let ya live."

As the trio of captives were extracted from Frogblood's chambers by other members of the crew, Alaesia couldn't avoid seeing the gory mess that Frogblood had made of Barbaurak. He slumped and his head lulled back and forth, a great gaping wound splitting the top of his skull open by a long chopped strike. The ooze of black blood pouring down his face streaked across the floor as they were dragged along and thrown into a holding cell below deck. As soon as they were alone in the darkness of the ships interior, Zathra rushed to Barbaurak's side, ignoring his own injuries.

"Skai! This is bad..." He cursed under his breath. Alaesia watched from as far a distance as their joint chains would allow as Zathra passed his hands over the fringes of the cleaved bone and flesh. Almost immediately a faint glow began to rise from the injury as it tried to pull itself back together. The orc's skull creaked like the settling of old timbers. Pieces popped and crackled, settling into place where they had been broken from. Tendrils of veins and skin crawled from their injured surfaces and reached across the void to mend together.

The whole time, as Zathra worked, he muttered, cussing out Barbaurak himself, "Ya never know when to keep yer stupid gob shut. Always pickin' fights outta yer league. Not ev'rythin' has to be a dur ghru mund... Lat marr pugh..." Even as he wove his magic, Zathra was fighting the loss of blood in his own body; his left upper arm had been thoroughly shredded by the captain's trident barbs. Barbaurak's skull was only about halfway mended when Zathra began to sway dangerously, before falling back collapsing on Alaesia's lap.

She recoiled, trying to shove the orc off. He was heavier than he looked, but the impact seemed to have shook him more awake, and he rolled away of his own accord, "Ah, sorry 'bout tha' lass. Bit uv a rough go there wunnit?"

"Give me a minute... I'll fix up yer pretty lil face after... this... skai..." He groaned, using the wall to steady himself as he passed his hand over the injury of his own arm.

Alaesia hissed, recoiling from him, "D-don't touch m-me!"

Zathra couldn't protest, for his exhaustion, but nodded as he grimaced in summoning what additional magic he could muster, "Alright, alright, no need to nip. Juss thought it might be stingin' a bit. Guess I ain't as pretty an' friendly without my tricks... It's too bad the green-skin saw through that. Could'a made out thick as thieves if 'e hadn't caught on."

She watched him force his own wounds to close, take a moment to recoup, then turn back to Barbaurak's, "W-what are y-you playing at?"

"Ain't playin' at nothin' really," he grit his teeth as the glow of his healing magic dimmed and sputtered. "You speakin' up prob'ly saved our lives and even took a beating fer yer troubles... thought I could return a favor."

"You m-made me d-do that," she scowled, still feeling the violation of her mind.

"Nah, lass... all I did was ask ya fer help. An' yer the one who told that swamp-skinned shrakh that 'is blood brother was dead in the first place," he paused to look at her, meeting her gaze. It was clear she couldn't see him through the darkness nearly as well as he could see her. He could see the split skin of her cheek, the blood streaked down her face, and the black mottling that was swelling around her eye socket. Even if he was able to finish mending Barbaurak's skull, he realized he likely wouldn't have the strength to mend her, at least for now; perhaps that was for the best, considering the wretched sense of disgust he felt emanating from her.

Zathra waited in silence for a response, but he could sense her mind whirring a million miles a second, trying to make sense of this orc talking to her like a civilized being. She started to protest, but couldn't seem to find the words. Could he have been right? Everything had happened so fast, but had she really spoken up without his mystical manipulation influencing her to do so? He couldn't have... she thought silently to herself. He wouldn't have even known Ku'Gohn was already dead to get me to say that in the first place.

As the conclusion formed in her mind, Zathra interjected again, "What I mean ta say is... Thank ya. Ya didn't have ta get this thick 'ead and me outta taking the blame, but ya did. And fer that I'm grateful."

"I..." Alaesia stammered, but she was interrupted by an angry groaning from the unconscious orc from where he lay half conscious on the floor. Barbaurak began to shift and stir as a final glint of light seemed to pop from the top-most part of his injury as it sealed together. Zathra leaned in, listening for whatever it was Barbaurak's gasping lips here trying to form into words.

"Blloouud..eee...shhhrk..." he slurred, shoving one arm out to push Zathra away.

"Stay still, ya idjit." Zathra snapped, but Alaesia was able to make out a hint of relief on his semi-melted face, "Ya ain't fully recovered after takin' a blow like tha!"

"mmm-ah keeeeel 'im...!" Barbaurak nearly lunged upright, but was pinned down by his orcish companion.

"Sure ya will, now shaddup and lay still. Looks like we're headed fer Nurn then so ole frog-face can settle his vendetta. Leastways, if we ain't dead we have a chance o' breakin' outta here." Zathra rolled his eyes, glancing back at Alaesia, who had retreated away once more. "Guess you'll be guiding 'im to find the Reaper once we get there, eh lass?'"

To Zathra's surprise, she responded with a quiet, firm answer, "No... H-he's not in N-nurn..."

Zathra pushed a firm finger against Barbaurak's chest despite his protests, "Ah I suppose if the fort 'as fallen like frog-face said, tha' prolly means the Reaper ain't around anymore either."

Alaesia shook her head, "I... I think... h-he was the o-one who made it f-fall..."

Zathra's eyes widened, "Yer saying the Reaper turned against 'is overlord?" Alaesia nodded, making Zathra breath a curse, "Skai... then frog-face is gonna 'ave ta assault Nurn's fort if 'e wants ta take revenge!"

"N-no," Alaesia corrected him, "L-like I said... H-he isn't in Nurn."

Even as she spoke, Zathra probed her consciousness, where could see in her minds eye, the same hulking visage he had noted earlier. A massive olog with pale skin, black and purple scars, and shrouded in a pelt of matte black hair. Just as the other images he had seen of the bird-eyed uruk evoked visceral, raw emotion from the human, the thought of the monstrous olog forming in her mind made a wave of anxiety wash over her, leaving a sour taste in Zathra's mouth. "If 'e ain't at Nurn... then where...?"

Alaesia couldn't help but picture the previous night when she had made her escape, second guessing her decision to spare Ar-Tashk. She couldn't picture him taking her disappearance well. His possessiveness had been punctuated by unbridled aggression. Maybe it would have been better to cripple him further before she had made her escape... His rapid healing probably meant he was nearly recovered by now, finally ready, "I-I... think he'll be h-hunting... f-for me..."

***** Translations *****

Kranurz flagit - Gullible idiot

Sharlob - Human (female)

Skai - Damn

Dur ghru mund - big dick contest

Lat marr pugh - You dumbass

Shrakh - Shit