***** Author's Note *****

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44

Alaesia heard Zathra's howl of agony as the gray warg's fangs sliced deep into his arm, but she couldn't bear to look, nor was there the opportunity to.

The moment her climb on the outer surface of the jagged cliff face brought her to the peak of the lower cave, she was stopped at was the base of the fissure. She felt the metal chains get dragged backward. A smaller warg, half the size of the others, probably a pup, had crawled from the lower opening and found a new shiny toy to bite and nip at. Alaesia threw her arms around a tree root that crawled down through the fissure clinging in desperation as the pup threatened to pull her apart by the shackles. She cried out as it threw its weight upon the dangling metal, tugging, whipping its head around at full force, trying to rip its prize off the cliff. The rings cut into her wrists and ankles making her bones feel like they might snap at any moment.

At the same time, Zathra was swung in the maw of the great gray beast, back and forth. It shook the orc, like a rag doll, before releasing him mid-swing, sending him flying back towards the tree line. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, just a short distance from where Barbaurak was facing his own troubles. The warg he had stabbed in the eye with the wood spear crawled from the bushes, looking for its attacker with murderous intent. The other two wargs circling him were momentarily distracted by the sudden crash of Zathra plowing across the clearing, giving Barbaurak a chance to take stock of the situation.

He glanced at the still form of Zathra laying in a jumble on the ground, a desperate snarl curling Barbaurak's lips, then came the tark woman's cry. He snapped around, trying to find some way to overcome the insurmountable odds. A single warg? He might be able to manage on his own. But five coordinated beasts working together with precision?! That would be difficult even for a small regiment of orcs to conquer. And if Zathra was incapacitated, that would leave only Barbaurak and the tark. He only had one choice.

With his two circling wargs' attention shifted for that split second after Zathra hit the ground, Barbaurak made his flight. He ricocheted on his foot, bolting for the cliff and the warg pup that was trying to pry the tark down. It took the full-grown wargs a second to return their attention to Barbaurak, by which time, he had crossed the majority of the clearing. The warg with the spear in its eye hadn't been quite so distracted and immediately took off after the orc, the other two quickly following suit. Their claws shredded the ground beneath them, sending slate shards scattering behind. They yipped and barked in voracious excitement. The prey was making the hunt fun! That was until the orc slammed into the pack's pup full force with his wooden club, sending it tumbling back down into the lower cave entrance, limp and broken from the impact.

Barbaurak scrambled up the rocks just as the spear-eyed warg launched itself at him, only to be thrown off by its sudden lack of depth perception. The beast crashed full bore into the wall with a loud crunch, just as Barbaurak pulled his feet out of the way.

Alaesia felt the warg pup get thrown off the end of her chains. She was free once more to continue her ascent! But the relief was short-lived as the other wargs quickly set upon the base of the cliff, jumping and snapping at their escaping prey.

Barbaurak slammed into Alaesia's legs, shoving her upward with all of his might, "CLIMB TARK!"

She kicked and scrambled, only to have another of the wargs clamp onto one of the longer shackles hanging dragging down on the both of them. The spear-eyed warg had gotten ahold of the chain, all it would take was one good tug and both the human and orc would be pulled from their precarious perch.

Barbaurak's keen mind took in the moment as if time itself had seized in place. Precious reaction time remained, all that separated them from death and survival was what he chose to do in that infinitesimally short moment. He kicked downwards, hoping his aim would strike true. The orc's heel pinned the end of the spear, shoving it entirely through the warg's skull at the same time that its massive clawed paws swung up and latched into Barbaurak's calf. His roar and the warg's melded into one horrible cry as both were split by the others' attacks. Great gouges shredded down Barbaurak's leg, but the beast fell, lifeless, to the lower cave entrance below.

The other two wargs jumped back to dodge the falling body of their companion, granting the pair on the cliff just enough time to scale beyond the beasts' reach. Barbaurak grit his teeth, ignoring the damage as he used his own shoulders to move the tark woman up into the fissure, and finally into the mouth of the upper cave. Safe...

They both slumped to the floor in a heap, adrenaline still rampaging through their bodies. But Barbaurak couldn't relax just yet. He dragged himself to the edge of the cave mouth, looking down at his pursuers who were stalking the cave entrance and whining like a dog might when begging for scraps. His gaze scanned across the clearing hoping to see if Zathra was still alive, yet, the further he looked, the blurrier his vision became.

"Ah... Tha' ain't... good," his words came out choppy and breathless.

Alaesia drew herself up just in time to see the orc starting to slump and slide to the ground. The ground of the cave entrance was slicked with blood black as the night. It took only the slightest look at his pallid features to realize the warg's claws had hit a vital artery. The cuts alone were bad enough, but after the damage he had taken to his head at the hands of the slaver captain, Frogblood, Barbaurak was particularly vulnerable to any further letting. The head wound cleaned into his skull may have been healed by Zathra, but the magic-wielding orc couldn't exactly replace the blood lost from such wounds.

He saved my life... Alaesia's stomach lurched at the sight of the blood that was pooling deep under Barbaurak. It was surprising to hear her own voice was firm as she narrowed her eyes questioningly, "Why...?"

Barbaurak let out a barking chuckle, "I'm pretty sure... Blood's s'posed ta stay... Inside ya."

"No..." she didn't know why she was even questioning him, the orc that had threatened to gut and eat her, did it really even matter what his reasoning was? Yet, he could have just as easily thrown her from the cliff as a distraction, or let the warg pup pull her down, or he could have easily climbed past and left her to her fate. He hadn't, and that irked her. "Why did you s-save me?" She felt the grit of irritation at the back of her mind; the stutter hadn't stayed away too long, as her adrenaline levels calmed.

"I dunno," Barbaurak was starting to slur, his words, "You were just there, getting' 'ttacked. Ya rather I left ya?"

"Y-you've wanted to k-kill me yourself!" She retorted with exasperated indignation, though there was a hint of confusion in her voice. If the orc noticed, he didn't let on. He probably just didn't want to lose his ticket to a promotion... she thought scathingly.

He chuckled again, "Yeahhh. Kill'n's fun... You should try it."

Alaesia couldn't believe him; even as he was dying he seemed to get a kick out of the idea. He IS dying though. The thought came through like a tail on the end of the orc's words, as if he was inviting her to take his life. She hated the question that came next: Would it be a mercy, to end his suffering?

"M-maybe I should! J-just be rid of y-you!" She hissed.

"Ha!" Barbaurak huffed. He looked as if forcing himself to speak took all his mental capacity. "Think ya can do tha'... tark? I'd be impressed." The orc slumped further to the ground, resting in the sanguine puddle of his own life force. He shrugged a shoulder at the improvised weapon he had dropped upon the floor of the cave, "That club'll do the job. Go 'head... Beat my brains out."

Alaesia felt tempted to curse him out in the orc's own rotten black speech, just as she had heard Zathra so before. She had picked up a word or two after constantly living in the shadows of orcs. "S-skai you!" It seemed the most appropriate at the moment.

"Skai lat," he mumbled with a half-hearted smirk, correcting her. His eyes started to lull backward.

He was infuriating! Alaesia glared at Barbaurak, daggers in her eyes. Maybe she would kill him! Then she'd be free of at least one of her tormentors! But... I don't want... I can't be like these monsters... Both sides of the debate tore at her heart. Zathra's words came to mind, when he had previously pointed out that she had killed before, you do what you have to, to survive...

Her mind flitted to Zathra, a hint of worry threatening to manifest in her mind. The last she had known she had heard him scream in pain, then he'd fallen silent. Is he still alive...? she couldn't help but wonder, but she didn't dare look, sure a grisly sight awaited her if she did try to determine his fate.

Still, it made her hesitate. She didn't think Zathra would be thrilled if she did kill his leader even if Zathra were to have survived the wargs. In spite of his insubordinate personality, he still clearly respected Barbaurak, enough to follow him. Any other orc would just kill someone this badly injured and Alaesia knew it. But she was also stuck in a cave above a warg den. If she were to cut Barbaurak's life short with her own hand, it would only be a matter of time until she perished herself, whether from starvation or the beasts below getting at her if she tried to escape. You do what you have to, to survive... The orc's words echoed in her head, despite her defiance of them.

She sucked in an angry breath, wanting so badly to reject the decision she was about to make, but when she released her sigh, she knew she couldn't choose any differently. We have better odds of survival working together. Or at the least, he could make for a decent distraction for her to slip away perhaps. If he gives me any more trouble, I'll shove him off the edge...

Alaesia grabbed a shard of slate from the ground and put its sharp edge to the hem of her makeshift clothing to slice a length of fabric from its edge. Barbaurak was out cold as she approached, a fact she was thankful for, but also concerned her. She would have to move quickly.

"Y-you're lucky I even k-know what I'm d-doing... stupid orc..." She didn't want to look at the damage to the appendage, but there wasn't time to be squeamish. Black stained her hands as she wrapped the fabric strip around the highest point of his leg, tying it as tight as she could, then tighter with satisfaction as Barbaurak, moaned in delirious pain. An old stick scrounged up from the cave floor, made a decent enough rod to loop into the strap, then used it as leverage to twist until finally the gruesome flow of orc blood was stemmed. She secured the stick with one final bit of cloth, and finally sat back.

The yipping and snarls told her the wargs still stalked at the bottom of the cliff, waiting for their prey to emerge. Alaesia finally took a moment to look around at her surroundings, slowly realizing just how smart the beasts were, the cave was a shallow dead end, and the fissure came to a close somewhere above their heads. There was no other way out, and the wargs seemed to know it. Sooner or later, their quarry would have no choice but to try to leave, and when the prey decided to brave the wild world outside, the wargs would be waiting for them.

***** Translations *****

Skai - shit (or damn contextually)

Skai lat! - Damn you!