The fire crackled as the dire wolves settled in around the tent she'd constructed for herself, leaning it against a tree to keep it upright. They would've been beside her at the fire but everyone ran them off and ordered them to go sleep while they sat and made food around the flames.
There was a tenseness to Lohke that hadn't been there before, and Cold Hammer was just as bad. Some of the others reacted similarly, but there was a curiosity in their eyes. Whatever had happened to Lohke, they knew the story, but she didn't believe they'd all heard the story from him. Not directly. Cold Hammer acted like he knew it by heart, as if he'd lived it with Lohke.
The anxiety in the air was almost enough to make her not want to hear the story. Still, as they finally began eating, Lohke began, staring into the flames. "I believe I promised you a story." She'd never seen him unsteady, but that's what he was as he started, voice quivering just a hint, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. "Our lives are greatly paralleled, Sheobulf."
"How so?"
"You were enslaved by my people. I was imprisoned by yours." She didn't reply, watching him keenly across the fire. "I was young, it was Cold Hammer's hundredth raid, my first. Simple raids, stealing some livestock and weaponry."
"Nothing serious." Cold Hammer interjected. "Would not risk a young orc like that. We were in between wars then. Humans still fought us, feared us, as they always do, but the fighting had more or less ceased at that point. There were no battalions lining up on either front."
Lohke dipped his head, "This is true. At the time I was proud, I thought I was a true warrior. We stirred up some trouble, just enough to get the attention of some human raiders. They tracked us back to our encampment and attacked that night."
"And they took you?"
"No." He shook his head, "They attacked us and then they left. We went home with our injured, not necessarily bitter, but there were certainly some promises to go back and continue the fight."
She blinked and mulled that over for a moment, "So how were you taken?"
"They followed us from the first attack to home."
Cold Hammer intervened again, "It is our belief they did it on purpose. Wound some of us enough to drive us home and follow us there."
"They attacked the village." One of the others told her. "Everyone knows about that attack. News of it spread like wild fire. For us, that was the start of the third war between orcs and humans."
Chigun leaned forward, "Do you know what started the third war for the humans?"
She shook her head. She'd been so little when she'd been taken, she wasn't sure where the third war had actually started, she'd been with the orcs. All she knew was that, even without an official war, they were still always fighting.
"We did." Cold Hammer's voice was solemn. "Looking for Lohke."
"The Killerfrosts." Kitchka, one of the two female warriors added. "We stormed human territory looking for him. Well, I was just a girl then."
"Are all of you Killerfrosts?"
"No, the Great Chieftain wanted to ride with many, he welcomes any who wish to travel with him." Lebrik gave him a proud smile. "I am of the Blood River Clan. Known for our singers." He winked at her before he grew solemn, "I remember our clan receiving the news of Lohke's kidnapping. Humans taking one of our younglings...it'd never happened before. Lohke's father had been a Great Chieftain before he passed so everyone knew Lohke's name, and we expected great things from him. We weren't wrong."
Lohke had his lips pressed together in a hard line as he listened, staring into the flames. When it grew quiet again, he spoke, "When the raiders followed us to our village, they attacked hard and fast. I had no weapon with me, I was unprepared."
"You were a child." Cold Hammer snapped. "Of all the things for them to do—" his voice echoed through the trees as he cut himself off and Erinne watched him. Rage billowed in his eyes, plain for anyone to see, and when he looked at her, she could feel the hate he had inside of him for humans. "They took a fucking child and destroyed him."
His tone sounded accusing, like he was blaming her, and she bristled, "Your people took a child, too." She snapped and he opened his mouth as if to yell back when he stuttered and fell silent. He stared at her as if that revelation had just struck him and she swore his lip quivered before he rose to his feet and left.
No one said a word for a long time as they stared after him. They shifted uncomfortably, some ate what remained of their food. She hadn't even touched hers so she took a bite. Lohke sighed heavily, "Forgive him. Some days I think he has recovered from the experience less than I have."
"He was there?"
"My father had already died when I was taken. Cold Hammer promised to keep an eye out for me. They fought in two wars together. Inseparable friends from the day they were each born. Losing his best friend's son was...just another failure for him. He blames himself for it, for not keeping an eye on me when the raiders came. Believe me, there were plenty of orcs to save that day. They killed half our clan."
"I'm sorry," Erinne whispered.
He shrugged, "Cold Hammer led almost every raid into human territory. He already had a reputation, but those raids were...well, they weren't good for humans in his path. Sorry, Sheobulf."
"I understand." She waved her hand through the air, "It was war." But she was staring at the flames, trying to take that in. "How long did it take him to find you?"
"Almost two months. I was there for several weeks." She winced as Lohke stood, gripping the edges of his shirt. "The day we found you, I caught a glimpse of the bruises and scars on your back." She remembered, her shirt had been askew due to Donrin. "I wasn't in human custody for years like you were in orc custody, but they were not kind. I imagine what I've been through has little in comparison to everything you've been through, but I sympathize with you, Sheobulf."
He pulled his shirt up and over his head and clutched it in one fist as he bared his chest to them all. There were scars and burns across his chest. He turned slowly, letting her see his back and she recognized the lash scars. When he rotated back, half of the orcs wouldn't look at him as they hung their heads sadly.
"I came back an angry orc. I'm sure I lost a piece of myself along the way, but as I got older, I saw that war was pointless. War breeds more suffering, we need less. I battled hard through much of this war, but I've begun to see the world differently. As such, I staked my claim on Great Chieftain and when the time came to challenge the Great Chief, I took my opportunity. I fought and trained hard before that day and I won against a warrior with experience far greater than my own. What they didn't know was that I had an iron will. After everything I went through, the pain didn't hurt me and I wasn't one to give up."
She finally understood the sympathetic looks that Lohke kept giving her, ever since the day he'd met her. She understood why he was so driven to stop this war. Erinne stood up slowly, feeling compelled by his story and his inner strength. She carefully removed her shirt, keeping it clutched over her breasts as she lifted her chin high.
His eyes swept over her, as did the others, taking in the wounds she'd received in her fights, the scars of it across her collarbone, her chest, her ribcage. There was one stab wound in her stomach that had almost killed her. Then she turned to show him her back and there were a few gasps from the others as they took in the lash scars there. It'd built up over the years into scar stacked upon scar, thick on her back.
When she turned back, she spotted Cold Hammer, standing against a tree not far away, watching with hooded eyes. Lohke dipped his head to her, "Our scars are a story of our survival, Sheobulf. You have every right to be proud of that fight."
She was proud, though she wasn't sure she realized it until then. She'd been living exactly as her father told her to all those years ago. Run, stay alive, fight. It was how she kept putting one foot in front of the other.
"Are you proud, Lohke?" She asked him.
"Every day."