mouth opened to shout Lydia’s name.
I clapped my hand over his mouth. Russell flinched, blinked, and nodded. I removed my hand and pressed a finger to my lips, and he nodded again. I switched off my flashlight, and Russell followed suit. Only then did I beckon, and I moved forward in silence, Russell following after me with admirable quiet. The scream rang out again, and Russell flinched, but he didn’t shout or run. I also heard the rough, grating voices of orcish soldiers speaking in the Elven tongue. There were two or three orcs, I thought.
“No!” shouted a girl’s voice, and this time I recognized Lydia. “Please, don’t, just let me go, I…”
There was a growl, the sound of a fist striking flesh, and Lydia wailed and fell silent. Russell tensed, but he didn’t say anything. I headed towards the sound, moving to the corner at the end of the corridor. As we reached the corner, I pushed Russell against the wall and whispered into his ear.
I had to get on my tiptoes to do it. God, but it was annoying that everyone was taller than me.
“Wait here,” I whispered. “I’m going to take a look. Don’t do anything unless I tell you.”
He nodded. I dropped to my stomach and crawled forward the last few steps, peering around the corner. There was one advantage to being short. Most people did not look at things below their eye level, and the orcs were a lot taller than I was. So I didn’t think they would notice me peering around the base of the corner.
They didn’t.
A row of pallets ran along one wall, holding stacked cardboard cartons of toilet paper. Further down the corridor I saw three orcish soldiers, wearing similar harnesses and armor as the ones I had killed in the bookstore. One of the orcs held Lydia by the arms, blood dripping from her nose and mouth. She was struggling, her face white with terror and shock, but she might have been a puppy for all the effect she had on the orc’s iron grip.
“We should kill it,” said the orc holding her in the Elven language. “Its cries will draw the attention of the foe.”
A second orcish soldier shook his head. “The masters commanded that we take captive any females of childbearing age that we encounter.”
I blinked. Why would the Archons want human women? It wasn’t unheard of for an Elven noble to have a human concubine, but the vast majority of Elves considered the practice a grotesque perversion.
“It is too small and weak to be useful for labor,” said the first orc.
“All the humans are small and weak,” said the third orc.
The second orc shook his head. I suspected he was the sergeant or the corporal or whatever. “The human females are to be given to the masters’ human allies. Evidently the human allies frequently reward their soldiers with females.”
The first orc growled. “The humans are in mating season now?”
“No,” said the second orc. “The humans are always in heat. It is one of the many ways they are a barbarous and uncouth race.”
I eased back around the corner. The Archons’ “human allies” were probably Rebels, which meant my suspicions were correct. The Rebels were indeed in the mall, and they had probably opened whatever rift way the Archons had used to get here. And though I had never seen it happen, I knew the Rebels sometimes kidnapped women, pumped them full of drugs to make them compliant, and gave them to their soldiers as slaves. Evidently they had adapted the practice from the wars of the Caliphate and the Imamate in Asia.
Sick bastards.
I wasn’t going to let the orcs hand Lydia over to the Rebels like some kind of toy. A dark little voice in the back of my head pointed out that if Russell hadn’t liked Lydia, I would have been perfectly content to leave the girl to her fate. I pushed the voice aside. I could indulge in moralizing self-doubt once I had gotten away from the orcs that wanted to kill me and my brother.
Assuming I could do it.
I thought I could, but I
I clapped my hand over his mouth. Russell flinched, blinked, and nodded. I removed my hand and pressed a finger to my lips, and he nodded again. I switched off my flashlight, and Russell followed suit. Only then did I beckon, and I moved forward in silence, Russell following after me with admirable quiet. The scream rang out again, and Russell flinched, but he didn’t shout or run. I also heard the rough, grating voices of orcish soldiers speaking in the Elven tongue. There were two or three orcs, I thought.
“No!” shouted a girl’s voice, and this time I recognized Lydia. “Please, don’t, just let me go, I…”
There was a growl, the sound of a fist striking flesh, and Lydia wailed and fell silent. Russell tensed, but he didn’t say anything. I headed towards the sound, moving to the corner at the end of the corridor. As we reached the corner, I pushed Russell against the wall and whispered into his ear.
I had to get on my tiptoes to do it. God, but it was annoying that everyone was taller than me.
“Wait here,” I whispered. “I’m going to take a look. Don’t do anything unless I tell you.”
He nodded. I dropped to my stomach and crawled forward the last few steps, peering around the corner. There was one advantage to being short. Most people did not look at things below their eye level, and the orcs were a lot taller than I was. So I didn’t think they would notice me peering around the base of the corner.
They didn’t.
A row of pallets ran along one wall, holding stacked cardboard cartons of toilet paper. Further down the corridor I saw three orcish soldiers, wearing similar harnesses and armor as the ones I had killed in the bookstore. One of the orcs held Lydia by the arms, blood dripping from her nose and mouth. She was struggling, her face white with terror and shock, but she might have been a puppy for all the effect she had on the orc’s iron grip.
“We should kill it,” said the orc holding her in the Elven language. “Its cries will draw the attention of the foe.”
A second orcish soldier shook his head. “The masters commanded that we take captive any females of childbearing age that we encounter.”
I blinked. Why would the Archons want human women? It wasn’t unheard of for an Elven noble to have a human concubine, but the vast majority of Elves considered the practice a grotesque perversion.
“It is too small and weak to be useful for labor,” said the first orc.
“All the humans are small and weak,” said the third orc.
The second orc shook his head. I suspected he was the sergeant or the corporal or whatever. “The human females are to be given to the masters’ human allies. Evidently the human allies frequently reward their soldiers with females.”
The first orc growled. “The humans are in mating season now?”
“No,” said the second orc. “The humans are always in heat. It is one of the many ways they are a barbarous and uncouth race.”
I eased back around the corner. The Archons’ “human allies” were probably Rebels, which meant my suspicions were correct. The Rebels were indeed in the mall, and they had probably opened whatever rift way the Archons had used to get here. And though I had never seen it happen, I knew the Rebels sometimes kidnapped women, pumped them full of drugs to make them compliant, and gave them to their soldiers as slaves. Evidently they had adapted the practice from the wars of the Caliphate and the Imamate in Asia.
Sick bastards.
I wasn’t going to let the orcs hand Lydia over to the Rebels like some kind of toy. A dark little voice in the back of my head pointed out that if Russell hadn’t liked Lydia, I would have been perfectly content to leave the girl to her fate. I pushed the voice aside. I could indulge in moralizing self-doubt once I had gotten away from the orcs that wanted to kill me and my brother.
Assuming I could do it.
I thought I could, but I
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