Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 1: My Name Is...

It was what saved and cursed her life. Ever since hearing her father's words to run, to fight, to survive, she had. The orcs had liked that, so instead of killing her with her family, they'd brought her here. As she aged, she got stronger, fiercer, and then Turook made one snide comment to Nukbrik that changed her life as a slave.

Everfen.

The place the orcs went for sport, fighting sport. They tested each other's strengths, they made bets, and on rare occasion an orc died. Nukbrik and Turook thought it'd be entertaining to include her in the game's fight.

The first time he took her there, he'd shoved her into the fight pit yelling, "You want to fight? Now's your chance, you finally get to fight." She'd been terrified, surrounded by some of the hardest orc warriors she'd ever seen, their height and bulk alone were intimidating, paired with the fact that these warriors were incredibly skilled...she was shaking as they picked a young, teenaged orc to take her on. Afterall, they didn't want to kill her, they just wanted to have fun.

No one expected her to win.

She was fairly certain the young orc was eternally disgraced, but Nukbrik brought her back, forcing her to fight again and again until they started throwing seasoned warriors at her. Sometimes she lost, sometimes she won, but she was ever sharpening her skills and if she didn't get out of here soon, she was going to go for Nukbrik's head one day.

He knew it as much as she did. She slept in a locked room in the corner of the barn because of it. He couldn't risk her killing him in his sleep. If she got too testy, he put chains on her ankles, but always was the reminder that if she ran, where would she go? She had no idea which direction human lands were. She was hopelessly lost somewhere in the middle of orc territory, where she'd been for over a decade now.

"I can handle the firewood." She finally replied to Gwin. She'd won last night's match, but she'd still gotten a hell of a beating for it. The key to winning was using her brain, outsmarting them and being quicker than them. "I've had worse hurts and aches and still been made to do the work."

"Hey!" They both ducked at Turook's shout, "Stop using that tongue. What do you speak of?"

"They were talking about Everfen." Nukbrik said mildly. He couldn't speak the human tongue, but he could understand most of the words he heard.

"Well my slave knows not to use that tongue." He threw his cup at her and she shied away, too slow for it to miss her. It clipped her shoulder and clattered to the floor and Erinne picked it up, hand squeezing tightly as she wheeled.

"Ehh!" Nukbrik was on his feet as she whirled, one hand raised to stay her. "You throw that I'll have you working on burned feet again."

She clenched her teeth, glaring, as she slowly lowered the cup and set it on the hearth. Turook hadn't moved, but the sneer on his face spoke volumes. Mahrat was watching, her eyes flicking back and forth, one hand over her stomach.

Pain was nothing new to her, but having her feet burned, then forced to work the field-barefoot-was a pain she couldn't soon forget. He'd done it to her more than once. "I'll just go get the firewood, Gru." She said through clenched teeth and moved towards the door.

Before it closed behind her, she heard Mahrat say, "I told you Nukbrik! She's getting too dangerous. We have a baby coming, do you want that monster in your house with your child?" She shut the door but still heard some of the conversation from outside.

"I can control her."

"For how long?!" It sounded like a chair tipped over, "I won't have her in this house anymore. When our son or daughter arrives, I want her locked in that barn at all times unless she is in the field working being directly supervised. I don't trust her."

Erinne walked on. They'd been having this fight a lot recently. She carried on towards the wood pile farther out from the house. There was an axe planted firmly in a stump, ready to chop more wood when needed. She walked past it and started gathering a couple logs of wood when she heard the door to the house slam and twisted her head.

Nukbrik was standing in the yard, facing away from her as he ran his hand through his warrior braids. She ignored him, picking up one more log and stacking it with the others she'd gathered in her left arm, but when she turned, she found herself face to face with the devil himself.

She tried to run, her hands too full to fight, but Nukbrik was faster, grabbing her by the back of her head and dragging her down onto the woodpile. The rough bark of the wood bit into her skin, even through her clothes, while his hand fisted in her hair. She screamed in protest, trying to get a hold on his wrist while his other hand yanked his belt off and pulled back.

She closed her eyes just before the lash landed hard across her spine. She hissed and another one fell and she clenched her fists, trying not to cry out as each one fell, stinging as pain rippled through her flesh. She never made a sound, even as he worked himself into a sweat from striking her so hard and rapidly.

When he was done, he yanked her back and tossed her to the ground. "Go get my wolf ready, we're going to town. Now."

She struggled to her feet, pushing aside the pain because she knew if she didn't move now that he would probably kick her. She clambered into a somewhat upright position, moving away from him with haste, getting out of his reach and headed for the woods to seek out his dire wolf, the mount of choice for the orcs.

One day, she vowed silently, I will leave here. Even if I have to kill you to do it.

***Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! There will be a new chapter posted every Monday! Stay tuned for more Rise of the Warrior of Everfen***