Chapter 7.2: Judith

And here ya go folks, second release of the week and the other half of chapter 7.

Enjoy!

They took me to an isolated room, deep within the cavern, and tossed me on the dirty straw rug laying on the ground.

Looking around, I saw only a single Orc.

The rest of them were all Humans.

They were unshaved, unkempt and had mean looking mugs – a typical bandit get-up, but they were Human.

“You’re… Humans, yet you’re in leagues with an Orc?”

“What’s wrong with Orcs? Hey, that’s pretty racist of you. The war is over, girlie. If our interests align, we should get along, right!”

Said one of the bandits, prompting the others to laugh and hit the Orc’s shoulder.

The Orc also joined in on the merriment and hit the Humans right back.

I was even more stunned than I thought I’d be.

I would have never imagined that an Orc of all people would be working closely with Humans.

But thinking about it again, it wasn’t that strange.

First, while it wasn’t obvious that Orcs were involved, I should have considered the possibility that Daemonic Secret Arts had been used.

I was taught about them at the Knight Academy.

And I knew that some Orcs could use those techniques.

I should have concluded that an Orc was involved, given how close we are to Orc Country.

However, Orcs didn’t have the delicate wisdom required to come up with a plan to steal from merchants yet only take a small amount of goods in order to stay undetected.

Whenever Orcs raided… well, anything, they would take as much as their hands could carry.

The Humans were lending him their wisdom.

It was so simple; how could I have missed it?

…I know why.

This is all because I thought that the Orcs didn’t have the social skills necessary to work with other races. I thought they were dumb, lumbering brutes, only good at swinging around a sword.

I was so caught up in my pride as a Human that I thought there was no way a race as… savage as the Orcs could have partnered up with anybody.

My shallowness brought about this situation.

“So… who goes first? Boss, right?”

“Ah, it’s alright, go ahead boys.”

“Are you sure Boss? Aren’t female knights an Orcish favorite?”

“Orcs enjoy treating their underlings properly, alright?”

“Well then, us Humans like to suck up to their superiors. It’s all thanks to your bugbears that we’ve made it this far. She’s all yours, Boss.”

“Hey, hey, hey, just the other day, you guys said you didn’t give a shit about your leaders.”

“Except for the ones we respect, Boss. You’ve got our respect.”

“Hehe, in that case, don’t mind if I do…!”

While they spoke, the Orc reached out towards me.

He was going to rape me.

The moment that thought entered my mind, I felt the blood drain from my face.

My hands and feet were cold…so cold…

I was shaking.

“No… Please… I don’t want this… Please stop…”

“Hey, hey, that’s not right, Miss Knight. At times like these, you’re supposed to show your spirit and tell us to kill you! Death before dishonor and all that jazz, you know? Now let’s try that again…”

“Wha… please…stop…STOP!”

Memories flashed through my mind.

I remembered my sister’s lifeless, sullen eyes as she looked at us when she finally came home.

I remembered her fear, the way she howled and screamed when her own father tried to approach her.

I remembered her story, the tale her suffering through six pregnancies and giving birth to six Orc children.

I was boiling with rage.

Orcs.

This was all the fault of those damned Orcs.

Orcs did this to us.

I’ll kill them.

I’ll kill all of them.

This…

I’d only ever thought of myself as the attacker.

I thought I’d the one that would be out there, killing Orcs.

I’d never even considered the possibility that I might become a victim.

“Get away from me! No, no, no, no!’

“Hey! Stop freaking out! Stay still…”

They clumsily ripped off my armor, fumbling with the pieces.

With my hands tied behind my back, I could do nearly nothing to resist.

The only thing left for me to do was scream and protest.

After they’d gone through my armor, they shredded my clothes, exposing my underwear and bare skin.

The men’s eyes lit up with lust.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

“No!”

The Orc stretched out his hand and hooked his grimy fingers under my underwear, and then ripped it off with one swift pull.

He was now drooling, his spit dripping onto my thigh, and the sounds of the bandit’s ragged breathing suffocated me.

“…Hey, guys, you hear that?”

One of the brigands interjected.

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

The men’s rapid panting stopped for a moment, as silence fell over the room.

Sure enough, I heard the sound of struggle, coming from outside the walls.

This wasn’t exactly the clings and clangs of combat but rather… a muted cacophony of wild destruction.

Then, another man came stumbling in.

“Boss! We’re under attack!”

“Huh? So, there were more of them… How many?”

“Urgh… how many? Argh…two…just two.”

“…What? Then just calm down and go deal with them. Don’t let them get away.”

You couldn’t possibly do anything significant with just two people.

Rather than paying attention to this new disturbance, the men kept their eyes pointed towards me.

But suddenly, they did a double take, noticing something about the bandit that had come in to warn them.

His face was drenched in blood, and his ghastly complexion was nearly white.

He shouted some more.

“Deal with…? I’m…I won’t make it… Run! Get out of here, quick…”

Before he could finish, the stone wall was blasted inwards.

Everyone was stunned, covering their eyes to repel the incoming rock debris, before looking towards the rubble.

A faint light flew through the dust and smoke.

“Bingo. Just in time. I was expecting you, Mister.”

This time, the Faerie’s voice was calm and collected.

Meanwhile, the dust settled, revealing what was behind it.

A hole.

Where the wall used to be, there was now nothing but a huge hole.

And through that hole, a man solemnly stepped into the room.

At this sight, I could feel my desperation growing ever stronger.

Green skin, long fangs.

An Orc.

Another Orc had just come in.

I couldn’t control my body anymore – the trembling just kept getting more intense.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen to me now. My limbs were going numb, and I could barely put any strength into my legs. I couldn’t even stand up.

I was crying.

The tears just wouldn’t stop.

That was it. I was done for.

I give up…

“…”

But after this new Orc looked around, his gaze stopped on me.

He was looking me straight in the eye. Not at my exposed skin

And then he spoke.

It was a voice I had grown familiar to in these past few days.

“I’m here to help.”

He declared.

Mother.

Fucking.

HYPE!!