The Orc Warrior and the Soft Man

The Thicket

Ian sat haunched down in a saddle with Galek behind him steering the huge horse.

Unaccustomed to chaperone riding, he decided he did not like it. He much preferred his own bit and bridle. The towering orc shadowed over him and he could feel the heat of his muscles along his back. Ian's bottom was so large that at times it brushed against the orc, even though he did not want it to.

"I am Galek. I will help you to pass the boundary and I will be your guide on this journey. No harm will come. You will be safe." Galek had said these words to him before giving him a hand up into the saddle.

Ian had pushed up his glasses on his round face and said "thank you."

The orc warrior nodded and had helped him mount the horse after the prince had introduced them. Ian had smiled in his human traditional way and Galek not caring for the smile had responded with a grunt and pointed towards the horse.

Orcs preferred to run along the land when they traveled and so even the prince ran. It was a form of celebration of life to them. Often they would sing/chant orc folk songs that sounded ominous and foreboding

Ian did not have the stamina or leg length to run so he was carried on a horse. The only horse in the entire troop.

"I am sorry you do not get to run with your people." Said Ian.

"I am not sad. There will be other times. For now this is best."

Galek didn't think much of the human he was carrying. He simply thought about his task. He was an orc and the orc must keep the human alive.

The galloping rhythm exhausted Ian. And the absence of human life soon stole his vigor. He fell into a sort of awakened sleep while riding.

They rode for days eating while continuing to move at a pace. Finally they came to the border.

The borderland  between human and orc was a vast thicket with long thorns that could cut through human skin and scratch orc skin.
The wrapped Ian in leather and covered him. They placed a metal helmet on him. The horse could not travel with them. Ian would have to walk.

The thicket was their enemy now. For the entire orc company their goal was to help the human pass through. For this reason he was placed in the center of them in hopes that the thorns would be less harmful to him here. Galek knew he would be cut, it was simply a time game. Could they get to the end before he bled to death?

"You will be cut, but you must keep going. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"We will not have time to stop and look at your wounds until we are completely out of the thicket border. Then I will be the one to take care of you. No one else. You must be kept alive." Galek grunted.

"I'm ready. I can do this."

Galek saw his determination underneath the metal helmet on his head and he stared curiously at the human.

"When we met I did not think you would have such determination. Even with the possibility of pain you do not complain. You become more orcish already!"

Galek slapped Ian on the back and they smiled. In that moment they became friends.

As they set out, Galek went before him hacking as much as he could only to see the brush grow back almost instantaneously.

"We must keep moving."

The orc company pushed through.

Ian walked with Galek in front of him glancing back every once in awhile to make sure he was there.