"What do we do with them?" The human male looked at the two orcs with distaste, his upper lip curled and his eyes narrowed.
"If we set them free, they're likely to kill us." The second man tugged on his pointy beard.
He was right. Nishta looked at her sister, Gashta, knowing she felt the same way. They weren't just sisters—they were also twins. They felt the same things. They could read each other's minds. One knew what to do without the other explicitly asking.
Yes, the humans would perish if Nishta and her sister were set free. There was no question of that.
After their captor, the mage, had died from his burns, the two orcs had been forced, with spears at their backs, to walk to the village of Gunder. The humans had made them watch while the orc shaman was beheaded, her head put on a spike for all the others to see. They had then been forced to march again upon their home city of Agitar, as the humans threatened to annihilate the orcs.
They watched as nightmare became reality. Not in the skirmishes between the humans and the orcs, but when the giant, tentacled xarlug emerged from the ground, starving and eager to devour all of them. Nishta and Gashta would have preferred to fight; instead they remained chained to the palanquin as always, the humans too scared to sever their bonds.
"We will tear you limb from limb. We will suck the marrow from your bones," Gashta mumbled in her harshest guttural growl.
The humans' eyes grew wide. They had no idea what she'd said, but they understood her intentions well enough.
"Should we try speaking to them in their language?" Nishta asked her sister.
"Do you think if we promise not to hurt them, they will let us go?" Gashta replied.
The sisters broke into laughter.
The man to their right could hold it in no longer. The front of his trousers blossomed with wetness. He ran off, his hands over his privates.
"He pisses himself even though he doesn't know what we say," Nishta said. "Humans are weak. I have no idea how they got through the orcs at the pass. It's embarrassing."
"Indeed," said Gashta.
The remaining guard kept a wary eye on the sisters, but backed away a few steps, his sword hand trembling slightly.
Gashta lunged at him, growling.
He squealed like a small child and fell backward.
Nishta laughed. It felt good to release a little tension. When she and her sister were under the spell of the mage, original thoughts had been few and far between. Often, his magic kept them docile, and even when they weren't under his thrall, they found themselves utterly exhausted. At least now they could converse with each other and laugh, even if they were still prisoners.
Besides, they would be free eventually—and when they were, they would exact revenge on the humans.
Two new soldiers stalked over, covered from head to toe in armor. "Brok told us what happened. We'll take over from here," one said.
Without so much as a glance in their direction, the frightened man ran off. The two armored soldiers stood in front of the orcs, keeping watch.
When the frightened guard was out of sight, and no one else was in view, the two new soldiers dropped their swords to the ground. "We want to free you," the second said. "Nod if you understand."
Nishta looked at her sister, who shrugged. They had nothing to lose. Nishta turned back to the soldier and nodded.
"Good. Now, if we promise to release you, do you promise not to kill us?" The man looked nervous, but Nishta saw honesty in his eyes.
Despite their earlier japes, Nishta knew this might be their only chance. She nodded again, and held out her foot. The chains were looped around her ankle and secured with a heavy, rusted lock.
The man produced a key from his pocket and leaned down. He looked at Nishta once more, his eyes wide, then took a deep breath and turned the key in the lock. A loud click echoed in the quiet dark of early morning, and the shackle fell to the ground.
Gashta thrust her leg toward him next, and within moments, her lock clanked next to Nishta's. They both fumbled with the chains, unlooping them from their legs.
When they were finished, Nishta looked at the man. "Why?" she asked in his language.
"You speak the human tongue?" the surprised guard said.
"Obviously," said Gashta, a wide smile on her face.
Composing himself, the man said, "We no longer have a quarrel with your kind. But I cannot speak for others. You must hurry. Go, before anyone sees you."
The sisters didn't spare a moment. They took off running toward Agitar, their hearts pounding. They hadn't run this fast in two years. Not since the humans captured them.
Soon the humans were so far behind, they appeared as no more than specks.
"I need to stop," Gashta said between sharp breaths.
"We can't," Nishta said. "They have horses. It wouldn't take them long to get to us. They could change their minds and tell the others."
"If we don't stop, I'm going to vomit."
"Fine." Nishta slowed, noticing pain in her own chest. "We will walk. But when we've recovered, we will run again."
"Agreed." Gashta bent over at the waist and took in several deep breaths.
"Are you okay?" Nishta asked, concerned.
Gashta looked up at her sister and smiled. "I'm out of shape. So are you. Vron will have something to say about that upon our return. He always used to be so hard on you."
Nishta felt her green face turning pink. "It has been a long time. I'm sure he has forgotten about me by now."
Gashta rested a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Vron is an honorable orc. I'm sure he will greet you properly when you return."
"We were only lovers, not in a committed relationship. I'm sure he's moved on." Nishta stretched out her back muscles.
"Perhaps, perhaps not. Still, any orc would be understanding if Vron needed to tend to you."
"Shush now, sister. Let us continue before the humans change their minds."
Nishta wanted to stop this line of talk. For the longest time after they'd been captured—while out fishing on the coast; well, truth be told they had fallen asleep on the warm sand—Nishta had insisted Vron would rescue them. She had believed it with utter certainty. It wasn't until several months later that she gave up on the fantasy, resigning herself to a life of slavery under the shriveled thumb of that evil mage.
She and Gashta began running again. Nishta was eager to get to Agitar, even though the xarlug had destroyed it. Their orcs were there, and there was no place they'd rather be. She’d overheard the humans talking about Agitar. The city was in ruins, buildings toppled into piles of stone, and the orcs had moved out to the safety of the prairie, pitching their tents amid the tall grass.
Still, Nishta couldn’t help feeling joyous. She would soon be home with her fellow orcs. Nothing could make her feel bad now.