Smitten

Snak heard it first. I was still three quarters asleep when she leaned over me and put her little hand over my mouth. With her other hand, she raised a finger to her lips.

I couldn't hear a thing. I groggily became aware that it was past dawn, even though the morning sun had yet to penetrate under the trees.

I gently lifted Snak's hand off my face.

'What?

' I mouthed, without making a sound. She responded by moving her fingers in a walking motion, then raising a single digit. Finally, she pointed in the direction of the beach.

Very, very carefully, I rolled over and rose into a crouch. I couldn't see anyone; there were too many trees in the way. Snak signalled for me to wait, and silently moved forward.

She was only ten yards or so away when I saw her drop into her own crouch. A moment later, though, she stood up, and moved closer to the edge of the tree line. Then she turned, with a buck-toothed grin, and waved me forward.

She waited for me. There was a single person on the beach, with their back to us. They were standing close by the bodies of Ushug and Slagip. It was a female - and then the morning sunlight illuminated her. There was no mistaking that rhubarb colour.

Before I could call out to her, Shaghar shouted out my name.

- "SMIT!" She had her hands cupped around her mouth, shouting in the direction of the wreck. "SNAK!"

- "Back here."

Shaghar whirled about at the sound of my voice. I will never forget the look on her face: shock, followed by amazement - which gave way to sheer relief. She stumbled a couple of steps towards us. Snak and I moved out of the cover of the trees to meet her.

Snak wasn't just clever; she was also wise beyond her years - she slowed her pace just enough to let me reach Shaghar first.

I wrapped my arms around her, and lifted her off her feet. She immediately sought my lips with hers.

- "You're safe." I got out, when she finally let me breathe.

- "I was so afraid." she said. "Afraid you were dead - and Snak, too!" Shaghar made me put her down so that she could embrace Snak.

- "We hid on the ship." said Snak. "Kurbag could not reach us."

- "Oh, I am

so

glad!" said Shaghar, and she hugged my little assistant even more tightly. Then she released her and stood.

- "Ghorza found you? Is Ditgurat alright?" I asked.

- "Perhaps we should get off the beach." she suggested.

Under cover of the trees, we moved to the spot where Snak and I had lain concealed. Shaghar saw the rope - and the knife. She looked at me.

- "I ... um -"

- "Give it to Snak." she said. "Here - this will be better for you." Shaghar pulled a long knife from her belt, and handed it to me, hilt first. It was a fighting knife, a foot long, a straight blade with a guard - so that I wouldn't shear my own fingers off if I tried to stab someone.

Shaghar had another weapon, a dagger, but I was still surprised that she made no fuss about arming me.

"Ghorza reached us, so we knew what had happened to Ushug and Slagip. She said that she had told you to swim, so we hoped that you would be safe."

- "Smit swimmed." said Snak. "I only float."

- "Thank the Goddesses you did." said Shaghar.

We all heard it at the same time: the sharp snap of a dry twig.

Someone was nearby.

- "IDIOT!" roared a voice. "They ARE here! Find them! Find the Shara!"

The voice was Kurbag's. All of a sudden, we heard half a dozen big bodies moving through the underbrush. They were close, and they seemed to be on three sides of us. Our only escape route was towards the beach.

My heart sank. Could we make to the water before they caught us? Should I carry Snak, or trust her short legs? And did I have the strength to swim back to the wreck, towing both Snak

and

Shaghar?

I was about to rise to my feet when Shaghar took hold of my hand. Her grip was firm, and she was clearly holding me in place. I looked at her, and saw that she was simultaneously holding Snak by the hand as well.

Shaghar squeezed my hand - twice - before releasing it, and raising her finger to her lips.

- "

Sshhh

..."

This was madness. We were barely concealed here. They were sure to find us.

Yet I stayed. I'm still not sure why I did. Snak was kneeling beside Shaghar, trusting her completely. Did I trust her? Or was it that I simply didn't believe that I could carry both of them down to the sea before we were slaughtered?

Shaghar whispered again, so softly that I couldn't catch most of what she was saying. What I did hear didn't sound like words - not in orcish, nor in the common tongue.

Then she slowly released my hand, and began to move her fingers. She was slowly counting her fingers, or perhaps waving them, without moving her hands. Her digits were rippling, like tall grass in a strong wind.

I wish I could tell you what she was doing. I had

no

idea.

A large male orc ran by us,

not three feet away

. I was so startled that I nearly leapt up to run - but Shaghar calmly reached out and took hold of my hand again. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were still moving. She seemed so ... so unnaturally calm, even serene.

My panic subsided, and I remained kneeling beside her. After a short time, she released my hand, and again began to ripple her fingers.

I won't lie; my heart was beating madly. I could hear Kurbag's crew running about, and another large male - or perhaps the same one - thundered by some six feet from us. It was almost impossible to believe that they hadn't seen us.

As difficult as it may be to credit, it seemed to me that they hadn't spotted us

because Shaghar was protecting us.

It made no sense. But I couldn't come up with any other explanation. The orcs searching for us had been struck with a universal case of blindness, or stupidity - or both. Three of them gathered, a bare 10 yards away. I swear that one of them was looking directly at me.

- "They are gone." said one.

- "No. We would have heard them."

- "They

must

be here! We heard her calling out their names."

The only possible explanation was ...

magic

.

I'm from Portoa. The Topaz Order have their headquarters there. We had prophets and elementalists, spiritualists and alchemists (well, proper mages tended to look down their noses at alchemists). Magic could enhance your body, your mind, or even extend your life (though that type of magic was illegal, as was death magic - necromancy).

There were schools of magic, established Mages and apprentices, and the wealthy could afford to pay for their services. Obviously, those services were well outside my family's price range. The ones we could afford were mostly charlatans, selling charms, or love philters, or curses upon your enemies - and there were scads of them all over Portoa.

All I knew about magic was that people with talent could manipulate the aether, which either floated in the air, or was contained in every living thing. No, I didn't understand it. But I do remember hearing that one could learn to cast spells, or, alternatively, they could be born with the ability.

Was that what I was witnessing? All I know for certain is that three of Kurbag's confederates stood a short distance away, without seeing or smelling us. Shaghar wiggled her fingers and muttered to herself, while Snak trusted her completely and I broke out into a cold sweat.

We crouched there for so long that my foot fell asleep. Shaghar kept whispering, but she motioned to Snak and to me that we should lie down.

It was the strangest experience of my short life. I lay on the ground, next to my lover and my little friend, in plain sight of a group of orcs who were searching for us. To this day, I can't explain it.

I dozed for a bit. It's a remarkable thing, but you cannot remain terrified for a long period of time. After a while, a certain fatalism creeps in: fine, you would say - kill me now, because I just can't run any more. Instead, though, I simply slept.

It was darker - just past dusk - when I awoke.

Shaghar was still mumbling, and twitching her fingers, but she appeared to be near the end of her strength. I glanced about us, and neither saw nor heard anything.

I still didn't understand what she'd done, but I knew that she couldn't keep doing it much longer. We had to move.

When I took her hand, and stilled her rippling fingers, Shaghar jerked as if I'd stabbed her with a needle.

- "

Sshhh

..." I whispered.

She was disoriented, for a moment.

"We have to move." I said. Snak was also awake, watching me with wide eyes.

Shaghar wasn't merely confused; she was exhausted. But I knew that we could not remain where we were. If Kurbag and company were still in the vicinity, we would be found in the morning. Darkness was our only friend, for the moment.

I lifted Shaghar in my arms, and stood up.

Snak led the way, and we moved off through the woods, as quietly as we could.

***

I'm not sure how far we went. Moving through the trees, in the dark, you quickly lose track of how much ground you've covered. I just wanted to get well away from the beach - and

not

directly towards the Blasted Tree.

After a bit, Snak took the lead, blazing a trail for us, while I followed with Shaghar in my arms. She was shivering too often, whether it was from the cool of the night, or from exhaustion. Casting her magic for so long must have taken a great deal of energy.

There came a point when I had to put her down, to rest a while. Snak found a sheltered spot, and I lay Shaghar down. She was asleep in an instant. I lay down behind her, and had Snak lie directly in front of her. We both wrapped our arms around her, to share the heat of our bodies.

***

Snak woke first, but she didn't move. When I finally opened my eyes, I found her looking straight at me. Shaghar was no longer shivering. The sun was up. I decided to wake her - she would know better whether we should move again, or stay put and hide.

Shaghar was a bit groggy. "Where - where are we?"

- "Smit carried you." said Snak.

- "Away from the beach. South, and little to the east." I said.

- "

You saved me."

she said, very softly.

- "

You

saved us, yesterday. What ... what

was

that? Magic?"

Shaghar turned her head, to look back at me. "Of a sort. Can ... can we discuss it another time? But ... please do not speak of it to others. I promise that I will explain. The same holds for you, Snak."

- "I can keep a secret."

I was immensely curious, but I could keep a secret, too.

- "What do we do now?" I asked.

- "Find Ditgurat and the others."

- "She's safe?" I asked. "Who's with her?"

- "Ghorza. Bula." Bula was Coopah's apprentice, who could handle an axe. "Urzoth." A young male half-orc. "Umog, of course."

- "Umog?" I was slightly surprised. I hadn't seen her on the beach, but I would have thought that she'd be aligned with our enemies. "She's not on

their

side?"

- "No - why would you think that?" said Shaghar. "She is strong-willed, and too proud for her own good. But she would never serve Kurbag. And she wants

you

."

- "Oh."

- "She likes you, Smit." said Snak, like a tutor admonishing her slowest pupil. "Umog likes no one

except

you."

She likes me? May the Gods protect anyone she

doesn't

like.

- "I will take us to Ditgurat." said Shaghar. "But we must be careful."

Shaghar led the way. She move slowly, stopping frequently to look, to listen, and sometimes even to sniff the air. Snak followed, and I brought up the rear, my thoughts drifting of their own volition into strange channels.

My lover was a witch? Yet it had to be a secret? I had no idea if the orcs had prejudices against the use of magic. It was well-known that they scorned the high technology of Galtin's Port - did they feel the same about mages and magic?

And Umog was on our side? That was almost as astonishing to me as the discovery that Shaghar could use magic.

Shaghar warned us to be even more careful - and to remain as quiet as possible - the nearer we came to the Blasted Tree. That was not our destination, but we had to stick to cover, and that meant getting close to the band's camp before we could go around it.

She avoided well-used paths, which meant that the going was slow. Just past midday, she called a halt so that we could rest.

- "

Is it safe to talk?

" I whispered.

- "

If you keep your voice down

."

- "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Shaghar did her best to explain.

- "Kurbag dare not face Lagakh; she would kill him. But while she is off with the scouting party, many of Ditgurat's best - and most loyal fighters - are away. Still, Kurbag was cautious: he struck at Slagip, Ushug, Ghorza, and you, first. That move partially failed. Ghorza escaped, and so did you."

- "Why would they care about me? I'm no fighter. If Kurbag was to win, wouldn't he just keep me as a slave? Make me work for him?"

- "They fear you because they do not understand what you might mean for the Red Knees. And the males hate you because so many females prefer you. Coopah is too old. But you have already shown your potency. That makes them angry."

Well, that was food for thought. There were far more females than males in the band, but I suppose for some males, that's never enough. You could have a hundred women for three men, and two of the males would be scheming to eliminate the third.

I was having sex with females that they coveted - though, oddly enough, the males hadn't particularly coveted them

before

I arrived.

-

"How much support does he have?"

I asked.

- "A dozen? Perhaps fifteen. No one is certain."

- "That's it? If the rest of the band support Ditgurat, why couldn't she simply put them down?"

- "There are fighters, and there are warriors, Smit. Ghorza and I are fighters - but we could not stand against Kurbag, or Oag. With Lagakh and her party gone, and without Slagip and Ushug, Ditgurat can count on very few warriors."

I knew what she meant. The vast majority of the Red Knees were fighters, in the sense that they were tough, and could handle a weapon. But the difference between a warrior and a fighter was enormous. I myself might have been able to hold my own against Shaghar or Ghorza. But Umog or Kurbag could have taken my head without breaking a sweat.

There was something else at work here. The Red Knees would not rush to fight for Ditgurat - not against a challenger from

inside

the band.

The orcs had the tradition of the Mak-gora - a challenge for the leadership. They would stand aside, and watch two claimants fight it out. In this case, they would remain neutral as two groups fought for dominance.

If Ditgurat won, they would have no claim on her gratitude or her generosity. The same held true if Kurbag emerged victorious - but in either case, at least they would remain alive. They would simply keep their heads down, and go back to work for the eventual winner.

Shaghar still wasn't ready to tell me anything about her magic. Perhaps it was because Snak was there. In any case, she got us moving again.

I was completely lost. I'd never been anywhere but the Blasted Tree, other than the beach or the stream. But Shaghar knew her way; she led us unerringly through the trees, and across rough ground.

It was a bit uncomfortable, being in the open. But that, it turned out, was the genius of Ditgurat's hiding place. She'd used it before, when her sister Yotul (Shaghar's mother) had been killed.

We were seen, and challenged by a low growl. Shaghar made a hand gesture - a signal of some kind (perhaps to indicate that we hadn't been followed). I couldn't see anyone, or anything - where could they possibly conceal themselves, on this open stretch of rock-strewn plain?

It was only when Shaghar advanced again that I saw the hiding-place. It was a fold in the ground, a crevice some three meters deep, and perhaps two meters wide. It was much longer than I would have expected - almost twenty meters. The crevice was completely hidden from sight until you were standing almost directly over it.

But anyone watching from inside could see people approaching; if necessary, they could escape out the other end.

Ditgurat was there. She embraced each of us in turn.

I got to Coopah, next, and embraced him as well. Then I felt a hand like a steel claw on my shoulder.

Umog.

- "I am glad you are safe." she said. It was the nicest thing she'd ever said to me. Maybe Snak was right.

- "I'm glad

you're

safe." I said. What the heck: I opened my arms, and reached out to hug her. She let me - and then curled one arm around me, and gave me a squeeze.

It was crowded in the crevice. Coopah's apprentice, Bula was there. I saw Urzoth, the young male, and another male, not much older than Snak. There were two adolescent females as well. All were half-orcs.

"Where's Ghorza?" I asked.

- "Gone to find Lagakh and the others." said Ditgurat. "Come - sit here and tell me what happened on the beach."

I told them of Oag's treachery, of Slagip's death and Ushug's revenge. Snak took over the narrative, describing how she'd floated while I towed her out to the wreck. Only Ditgurat and Coopah, of those present, had seen the wreck. Snak told them about Kurbag's attempts to lure us back to dry land.

- "We only came ashore well after they'd gone. We had to - it was too cold in the water. That's where Shaghar found us. She saved our lives."

- "Oh?" said Ditgurat. She glanced at my rhubarb-haired lover. Shaghar shook her head, but I saw her surreptitiously waggle her fingers - and so did Ditgurat.

"Ah." said the chieftain. Evidently, she knew what her niece was capable of.

They had food to share with us, blankets and a few furs as well. Ditgurat had had to run before; this time she'd been better prepared.

There was no space to lie down in the crevice, but we could sit, and lean against one another. Shaghar stayed close to Ditgurat; obviously, they had things to discuss. I didn't need the chieftain's warning glance to tell me to go elsewhere.

I went and sat down between Umog and Coopah. Snak then squeezed in between Coopah and me.

- "She'll get us out of this." said the older man, over Snak's head. "Ditgurat has done it before. And if anyone can find Lagakh quickly, it's Ghorza."

- "There'll be a fight, though."

- "Oh, there will be blood. Mostly theirs." I couldn't tell if he was really that confident, or if he was just trying to raise my spirits.

The prospect of violence terrified me. I was a blacksmith, not a fighter. But I was more worried about those who were already near and dear to me. Ushug was gone - and our child with her. I didn't want any harm to come to Shaghar, or Ditgurat, or Ghorza. Lagakh, too, however much I believed that she could look after herself. And now Umog.

I hadn't had many conversations with Umog. I didn't really know how to talk to her at all. But Snak's revelation, and Umog's reaction to my safe return seemed to suggest that she

did

care for me - to some extent, and in her own way, of course.

I turned to her. Umog's pupils were narrow slits, in the gathering darkness.

- "You don't hate me, then?" I said - a classic opening line.

- "I never did." she replied. "You make me very angry, sometimes ... that is not the same."

- "I hated you." I said, all in the interest of honesty and openness.

- "I know."

She didn't seem particularly angry or upset now.

- "I don't hate you now." I said.

- "No?" There it was - that challenge.

- "You stood by Ditgurat. That shows loyalty, and honour. You're carrying our child. And ... you seemed genuinely glad to see me alive."

- "I am." said Umog. Then she lowered her head. "I wanted you for myself. Me alone. I knew it was not-honour ... but I wanted it."