They were almost back to camp when Bukoo lifted his head high, tail going up in an aggressive manner, and growled. Cold Hammer slowed immediately and put his hand out to warn her to do the same. In perfect sync, they stepped behind the wolf, to try and catch sight of what he searched for somewhere ahead of them.
"There's men on the road ahead." Cold Hammer said as he began to crouch. "They're not kingsmen."
"Are they coming this way?" She asked and watched him tilt his head. Orc hearing was a lot better than hers but she'd give anything to have the dire wolf's keen ears. He could probably hear everything those men were saying. His growling intensified and she motioned ahead. "Let's get closer."
Cold Hammer dipped his head and swung his hammer off his back and crept forward, staying low and out of sight. He stopped her after they moved several feet forward. "They're talking about Wren and Lohke." His face scrunched a little as he tried to decipher the words but he shook his head, "I don't know your language, Sheobulf. I just recognize the names."
She sucked in a deep breath as she studied the ground and took the smoothest path closer, trying not to step on anything that might make too much noise and alert the men they were here. Normally she would've walked right by them, but Bukoo's aggression made her ere to caution. She edged closer, bit by bit, until she started making out the voices.
"What are they saying?"
"Mostly crude remarks about Wren being too weak to just kill every orc in sight." His expression grew grimmer as she spoke. Her heart sputtered in her chest as she caught the next bit, "They're trying to figure out if they can survive and escape a raid on the campgrounds at Weeping Woman's Rock."
"That'll cause a war. It'll break everything we're trying to do with the treaty."
She cocked an eyebrow, "I thought you liked war?"
"Nobody likes war, I just happen to be good at it." He replied curtly, his eyes focused on the raiders farther up ahead. "Let's ease back and go around them, we have to take this news back to Lohke and Wren."
She nodded her head and agreement and snuck her way back to his side. When she reached him, he seemed to relax minutely. "Do you think we have time to go around them and beat them back to camp?"
"Yeah and-" Bukoo let out another low growl and they both looked down at him. He was facing the opposite direction now and they both wheeled. "Fuck," was all she heard him say before three riders came into view behind them. They were going at a pace too quick for them to hide and in another second they were too close anyways. There was no way they didn't see her horse and Cold Hammer's hulking ass.
She saw the moment it registered on their faces that someone was here, someone who wasn't supposed to be here, and in the next their faces were clouding with fury, "There's a fucking orc on the road!"
"You spying on us you fucking animal?"
Their expressions twisted and contorted all the more and the raiders they'd just been eavesdropping on heard their shouts and came running. Erinne scowled and stood up straight, reaching for her sword until she realized she didn't have it. She'd quit carrying it around camp because it wasn't allowed in the treaty tent.
"Cold Hammer? My weapon,"
She didn't have to finish her sentence, "Stay close to me." He assured her and gripped his hammer with both hands as the three rushed in a little closer, spreading out just a bit while the rest of them charged their way. She faced them head on, unafraid, Cold Hammer's shoulder brushing hers, but as she faced them she slowly realized she recognized them. It must've dawned on them at the same time.
"I'll be damned, that's the treacherous wench that killed Leit!" Her heart sank a little at his words, as she recalled the night the raiders struck their orc camp. That had been her first lesson that immorality didn't just exist within orcs, but in humans. That night she'd tried to stop a fight only to have them call her a whore, insist on taking her so that she could service them. They'd had no intention of saving her, but to hurt her.
So much had changed since that night. She'd killed a human to save an orc.
She would do it again if she had to.
The raider called to the others as they reached them, "She's the one! That orc lover killed Leit!"
"I think we'll be taking our horse back, Missy."
"I think you stole him to start with." She hissed back at him as the group spread out around them, circling them. She stepped backwards, bumping into Cold Hammer, her palm twitching to hold her sword but she didn't have it.
Cold Hammer murmured low under his breath, "These are the men that raided our camps weeks ago."
"They recognize us, too." She told him softly and caught several glares.
"Look at her! She speaks orcish!"
"She's one of them!"
"Orc whore!"
"I'm going to split you in two!"
Cold Hammer couldn't understand them, but she could sense the fury mounting in him. He understood their tone, the sharp looks they cast at her. Almost as though they hated her more than him. She had nothing but Cold Hammer in that moment, and words she didn't think would save her, "I am King Wren's translator, if you touch me-"
"I'm going to touch you!" One of them shouted and grabbed his crotch, laughing, "Show you what a real man feels like, not one of those fucking monsters."
Cold Hammer's eyes narrowed in on the one grabbing himself and she felt the switch as he found his first target. "Keep your back to mine." Cold Hammer said, low in his throat.
"Watch that one, he's got spears." She warned.
"Move with me." He said and lunged. He lashed out so hard and fast that even the man's horse didn't have time to react. He gave a short battle cry as he moved and Bukoo threw himself into the fray. Erinne moved with him, scrambling with her back facing his, not quite touching so she didn't hinder his steps. When he drew back, she felt him just brush against her and she moved away from him, amazed at how well they moved together, in perfect sync. It was like a dance, but this dance ended with death if she missed a step.
The first man he struck didn't even get to scream, but hit the dirt while his horse crab stepped directly into a second, starting a mad scramble of chaos immediately. Bukoo had torn a rider down and she saw the man with the spears pulling back his arm. Having nothing at her disposal, she stooped and snatched a rock and tossed it at him, drawing his attention away from the wolf.
She didn't get to see what happened next as Cold Hammer grabbed her with one hand and swung his hammer with the other, spinning her in a loop as he batted at every man within reach. She hadn't realized how quickly four of them had closed in.
As he stopped spinning, he let her go and she rushed one of the fallen men and snatched his weapon from his dead hand, falling back to Cold Hammer's side. She glanced down at the scythe and laughed darkly. If there was anything she knew how to use it was a farmer's tool, thanks to Nukbrik.
"Turn!" Cold Hammer barked at her and she followed his command, turning with him as he whirled sharply and slashed. A rider that had been knocked off his horse was scrambling up, too close to her, and before he could get off his knees, Erinne struck, skillfully using the scythe to slice around his neck and pull his head clean off his shoulders.
Indignant screams of rage pierced the air and she took it like applause, spilling the guts of the next man that got in her way. Most of them were off their horses now, whether Cold Hammer had knocked them off or he'd took out the horse's legs. Her heart ached for the poor animals, but they needed whatever advantage they could get right now and these men on their level was the best chance they had.
"Down!" She felt Cold Hammer's hand on her spine, shoving downwards and he followed her to the dirt, landing hard next to her as a spear implanted in the ground where she'd been standing. Her heart skipped as she glanced over at Cold Hammer in the sand. She knew from years of battle in the fight rings that the quickest way to kill an orc was to get him in the dirt. Any warrior worth his mettle would know it, too and she looked around quickly. Three men were already closing in, Bukoo was too far to protect him.
Erinne gave a war cry and rolled across Cold Hammer's back, coming up with her scythe raised, blocking the first man's sword. It clanged and made most of her body jolt, but she managed to stay upright. Getting up was not an orc's strong suit. They were so big, it was the best time to strike, the time they were weakest. On their feet they moved quick, but flat on the ground was death.
She twisted and kicked out her leg, striking hard at the second man's instep and had to parry another blow from the first while the third moved all too close to Cold Hammer. He was still clambering to his feet, exposed, and she knew she wasn't going to make it in time and could only pray the man didn't land a deadly blow.
He raised his sword high, going for a killing strike, downwards across Cold Hammer's neck when the bastard dropped back to the dirt and rolled into the man's legs. He pinned him underneath and grabbed his skull with both hands. She looked away, counter attacking the two men in front of her while their comrade screamed under Cold Hammer's hands.
She'd never seen him fight quite like this and she was beginning to see why he was renowned. Even at his weakest, when most orcs would've fallen in battle, he managed to come out on top and win the fight. He was quick on his feet, quick witted, and he was a survivor, just like her.
She finished off one of the two men, a screech echoing all around them, but the noise didn't come from the raider. Her heart sank and she jerked around, her heart sinking as she saw Bukoo stagger, a spear sticking out of his back.
"No!" Cold Hammer broke away from her and she sprang away from the second man she was fighting to follow. They had to keep their back's together, if they split up, all was lost, they were too outnumbered.
"Cold Hammer!"
Bukoo screamed again as he yanked the spear from the wolf's back and she heard sharp howls answering in the distance. The other dire wolves, they would come to their packmate's distressed cry. She hoped the orcs came with them.
Cold Hammer was fighting off another human, shoving him away from Bukoo, when she saw another horse and rider come charging through, spear raised. She barely cried out a warning before it catapulted forward and Erinne screamed, fear for Cold Hammer hitting her hard as it landed true.
"No, no, no!" She grabbed him as she reached him, "Cold Hammer?!" He tried to push himself up, but the spear had gone through his shoulder and driven deep into the dirt. Bukoo was flat in front of him, laying across the ground, their blood pooling together as he struggled up to his knees.
"Pull it out!" He hissed at her, fists clenching in the sand. She didn't get the chance as she lifted her scythe to block a sword. The raider tried to undercut with a knife and she grabbed his wrist, twisting, hearing it break, before she kicked him back and dropped the scythe long enough to grab the spear while no one was close to her.
Cold Hammer's blood seeped around the wound, covering her hands, making it hard to grip the wooden spear. She tried to pull when something fell around her neck. Confusion filled her chest, no one had been close to her, she'd made sure of it, but as it snapped tight she saw Cold Hammer's eyes widen. He reached for her, unable to properly move with the spear driving him into the ground, and then she felt her body going backwards. It was like the world slowed down all around her, she could see his mouth moving as he shouted her name, but she couldn't hear him. She couldn't quite feel the pain but she knew she hurt, watching her feet fly up in front of her.
Then everything sped up again as she hit the ground, coughing and choking, pain searing her neck. She landed in the dirt a few feet from Cold Hammer as he bellowed rabidly, trying to yank the spear out of his shoulder, then she heard the men laughing. She barely twisted her head to catch sight of the lasso they'd thrown over her, stretched out between her and a rider. Everyone that remained mounted wheeled, their guffaws still filling the air, and the rope snapped tight again.
Her body skidded over dirt and rocks, scraping and stabbing at her skin while her throat tore. She would have screamed if she could, instead all she could do was grab onto the rope around her neck as her body bumped and bounced over every bit of the path. The horse that drug her kicked dust and small rocks on her as it ran, but she was only vaguely aware of it, vaguely aware that her body was getting beaten. It was strange how she was much more aware of the suffocation, of the blood roaring in her ears, of Cold Hammer screaming her name in a way that sounded strangely desperate.
Slowly, everything faded out.
When everything came back in, she was aware of how much her body hurt and ached, and a pain in her throat that hurt worst of all. Her head was pounding, she felt dizzy. Someone was splashing water on her face as she blinked open her eyes.