Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Roommates

Esther was led down the sloping tunnel and tried to keep pace, so the orcs didn’t tug her too hard.  Interestingly, she respected the creatures for how they treated her.  They were rough but no more than they needed to be, and no one leered at her or offered her money for sex.  She understood from Jace that they weren’t going to kill her but try and cast a spell to make her forget everything.  It was hard to forget violence if she were covered with bruises, so their light treatment of her was understandable, but they could have done many more things, and she would have just forgotten them.  It was a hard pill to swallow that these orcs were more of a gentleman than just about every player she had met outside of Jace.

The walls were free of torches. Instead, carefully etched wards were engraved on the walls, glowing with a faint but sufficient light.  Orcs and gnomes could see well underground and didn’t need blaring torches.  Luckily for Esther, vampires had excellent dark vision as well.

They passed several rooms as they descended.  Esther saw storage rooms, bunkrooms, an armory, and two larger sections that looked like abandoned mining expeditions that had been turned into a mess hall and a combat practice room.

They also passed lots of orcs.  Esther counted over a dozen of them.  Most were simply standing in the tunnel, and a few were in the rooms, but Esther thought it strange that so many guards would be kept at attention in the middle of the fortress.  She wasn’t familiar with video games that placed enemies at standard intervals within a dungeon.  She understood that when the fighting started, most of these orcs would run down the tunnel and attack the gnomes working below.  She was going to be the protection against that.

After a couple of minutes, they reached a level section of the cavern.  They stood on a ledge that stretched to her left and right at least 200 feet and overlooked a deep hollow cavity of the mountain where orcs and gnomes moved about.  It looked like the open pit of a vast quarry, only with a stone ceiling looming overhead.  The bottom of the mine was fifty feet down, and the already tiny gnomes looked even smaller as they moved about, hauling ore and ruble to excavate over a dozen tunnels snaking in and out of the cavern’s walls.  Orcs watched over them, occasionally cracking whips to keep the slaves moving.

Esther was jerked along before she could count how many orc guards there were and was led to the left along the ledge to a jail cell built into the stone wall.  Two orcs stood guard over the dungeon, and after ordering the gnome already inside to back up, one of them opened the steel door, and Esther was tossed inside.  She had to fake clumsiness to keep the orcs off-guard and tripped to the ground, rolling up against the back of the cell.  The acrobatic move was made more difficult with her wrists shackled behind her, but she was up to the task.  The door clanged shut behind her.

The gnome rushed over to her, and Esther moved her legs about to arrange the skirt of her dress before he arrived.  “Are you okay?” he asked with genuine concern.  “They are monsters.”

“Yes, they are,” Esther agreed.  She was sitting up now and winced as she had hurt her shoulder a little in her tumbling routine.  “But don’t worry, we won’t stay here long.”  Before the gnome could argue, she introduced herself.  “My name is Esther.”

“Nice to meet you, Esther.  My name is Topprican, though my friends call me Topper.”

The gnome was obviously nervous being near the beautiful woman and awkwardly offered his hand in greeting.  Esther was used to Jace’s massive orc hands, an exquisite contrast to the gnome’s diminutive fingers.  Either way, hers were still shackled behind her, and she gave the handshake a simple nod in response.  Topper blushed as he pulled his hand back, chiding himself for being stupid.  He was attractive, with curly brown hair, large eyes, and a smooth face.  His nervousness and small stature made him more “cute” than “handsome.”  A few gnomes had visited her in her previous life, but she tried to put those thoughts as far away as possible.  “Pleasure to meet you, Topper.”

“Trust me,” he said, blushing further, “the pleasure is all mine.”

She worried for a moment that he might take it farther but left the compliment at that.  Being locked up in a dungeon with two orcs standing 20 feet away probably put a damper on any romantic intentions the gnome might have had.  Plus, the fact that she was shackled made anything he might desire highly inappropriate.  Esther had already begun wriggling out of her bonds, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“I appreciate your optimism,” the gnome said, “and you probably won’t stay here long, but I’ve been here for a few days already, and I don’t see that changing.”

“What did you do?” Esther prompted, “Did you pee in Carraks porridge?”

Topper laughed.  “No, but I should have.  I’m not much for swinging a pickaxe.  I was our group’s scout.  I guess I got caught sneaking around too much.  I never even reached the orc quarters at the top of that tunnel.  They always caught me before I could do anything.  Now they’ve set up those stupid light wards, and I can’t find a shadow to hide in.”

Esther saw several of the magical lights in the dungeon area, tested her ability to hide in the shadows, and found no success.  That would make things difficult.

“What were you doing in these mountains?” he asked.  “Are you from Crestfall?”

“I’ve come here to rescue you,” she said straight-faced.

Topper laughed again.  “I like you,” he said.  “And not just because . . . I mean . . . how do you suppose it’s going?  Your plan to rescue me?  I wouldn’t guess being tossed in the dungeon was part of the mission.”

“Actually,” Esther replied, “it is.  I need to be at the bottom of the tunnel when the fighting starts to ensure your people are safe.”

Topper nodded.  “So, you have reinforcements that will attack from above.  I don’t know what you can do from down here by yourself, and you better hurry because I’ve heard the orcs talking about how they are going to get rid of us soon anyway.  My people are almost finished clearing out the tunnels, and when that happens . . .” he drew a line across his throat and made a cutting sound.  “They won’t need us anymore.  But . . .” he suddenly got even quieter, “what they don’t know is that we’ve rigged those tunnels.  If you get out of here, get Carrak and his soldiers to chase you into the mines.  A path down to the lower levels is just a few feet to the left of this prison.  If you get them to follow you, I can show you a safe hiding spot, and we can crush them.”

Esther nodded, having already heard this from Jace.  She wasn’t sure how her leader knew this would happen, but she was starting to think Gracie was some kind of goddess that knew the future.  She smiled at Topper.  “That won’t be necessary.  My boss has it all under control.  We just need to sit tight and wait.”  She leaned against the uncomfortable stone wall and stretched her feet out in front of her.

“I wish I had your confidence,” he replied but mimicked her position and tried not to stare too hard at her legs.

 

---

 

“Trixna?” Jace asked.

Snowy picked her head up off the floor as she realized someone else was there.  She took one look at the alluring female, felt her master could handle this, and went back to napping before the fire.

The female orc didn’t give the wolf much attention either and focused on Jace.  “What happened to Orgalph?”

“He’s dead,” Jace replied.

“Did you kill him?”

He tried to detect emotion in her voice, but nothing was there.  The two orcs had a reasonably obvious relationship, but he didn’t detect genuine love or loss in her voice.  “I didn’t.  But I defeated the one who did.”

“So, you are his replacement.  Do you need a reward for avenging him?”

Jace was confused.  Trixna was utterly unnecessary.  No player could ever get into this room disguised as an orc.  The module shouldn’t have this type of encounter in the game.  It was possible she would come racing out into the main hall once the fighting started, but Jace guessed this was Gandhi messing with him.

“A reward would be nice,” Jace said.

This brought a smile to the female’s face, and she strode away from her private room, a prominent sway of her hips with each step.  Jace did have to admit she was alluring in a way Esther could never be.  If he were in human form, he would be terrified of a female as tall and robust as Trixna, but now it felt like more of an adventure.  One he wasn’t going to take.

“Do you have some mead?” he asked, rising from the bed.

She stopped walking and looked confused.  “Mead?”

“Yes,” Jace said.  “To drink.  To celebrate my victory in battle.  To reward me.  Carrak has not been a good host so far.  He has invited me to dinner, but I am thirsty and hungry now.”

“I am your reward,” she stated bluntly.  “As I have been for the last two orcs that have used this room and for dozens of orcs before that in our previous home.  It is my purpose.”

“Can you leave this room?” Jace asked.

“If I am ordered to do so,” she replied.  “I am very compliant.”  She said it in a flat tone.  Jace imagined Esther saying something like this in her previous life, and she would have added a curl of her lips and a knowing wink of her eye, but this female was as straightforward as possible.  Apparently, most male orcs didn’t need to be seduced.

“Then I order you to go to the storage rooms where they keep the food and fetch me a tankard of the best mead or ale you have.  That shall be my reward.”

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Trixna looked confused, but she didn’t argue.  “As you wish.”  She sauntered past him, wafting an earthy aroma of moss and iron.  As soon as she was gone, Jace released the breath he had been holding.

{I’ll have you know the Germans are quite disappointed,} Gracie informed him.

“Shouldn’t one of them be in bed,” Jace replied, knowing it had to be getting late.

{If there is even a fraction of a chance that Esther will fight again, they aren’t going anywhere.  I bet that they are staying awake until this is over.  You promised Drescher another meeting about four hours from now.  It will be after midnight here, but we have plenty of coffee.}

Jace listened as he moved about the room.  Trixna’s presence here still bothered him.  “Does any of the walkthrough information mention my new roommate?”

{Not that I can see,} Gracie reported.  {If you sneak into this cavern, you do so through Carrak’s bedroom, and if you aren’t quiet enough, two female orcs will come out of a side room to attack you.  Also, Gwen had to fight them off after she stole the demon stone.  The orc shaman closes off the main entrance during the fight, so she had to flee through Carrak’s bedroom.  But those are different females.}

Jace walked over to his window and determined that no one would ever enter or exit through it.  It looked out through a sheer cliff face, easily 100 feet from the next viable ledge below.  He also noticed inscriptions around the window etched into the stone.  He didn’t know what they did precisely, but when he pulled his head back into the room after looking outside, he noticed a sharp temperature change.  The air in the room was much warmer, and he didn’t feel a cool draft from the hole in the wall even though there was no glass or curtain.  The wards must creature a weather barrier that probably also kept the rain out.

Jace got an idea and ran across his room to Trixna’s.  He was instantly struck by how small it was.  She had room for a single bed with a chest at the end.  That was it.  He imagined Esther had more space in the dungeon she was in.

{Going through her things?} Gracie asked.

“She is here for a reason,” Jace insisted.  “I assume this room is on the walkthrough maps?”

{Yes.  After you drop the tunnels on the orcs, you can come back here and go through all the rooms.  There are no orcs left, but you can loot anything you want.}

“Which means people have already been through this chest,” Jace said before opening it, knowing there wouldn’t be anything surprising.  It was empty.  He closed it and sat on top, trying to think.

“Carrak had said Trixna would ease my mind and my body.  She must have some mental or stress-relieving magic.”

{Sex is pretty cathartic,} Gracie argued.  {I think you are overthinking this one.}

“I overthink everything,” Jace agreed.  “It’s my thing.”

He was still sitting on the closed chest when Trixna returned carrying the mug of ale.  “As you requested,” she said, handing him the drink.  She then sat next to him, snuggling into his hip.  “You are much more handsome than Orgalph was.”

Jace rose from the chest quickly, draining half his drink.  It wasn’t very good.  Not nearly as rich as what he had drank in Brett’s diner.  “Why are you here?” Jace asked bluntly, not caring about playing within the game’s illusion.

“I am here for you,” she said.  “To ease your mind and body.”

“How do you ease my mind?”

An expression of confusion crossed her face, which was the only emotion she seemed able to show so far.  “I can demonstrate if you like, but my bed really isn’t big enough.  We can move into your room. . .”

“The ward on the window in my room.  It keeps the weather out.  You did that, didn’t you?”

Trixna nodded.  “I have some abjuration skill.  There is also a ward under your bed.  It will heighten your senses.  If you allow me, I can make you feel things you’ve never experienced before.”

“The lights in the main hall and the tunnels are also wards, correct?”

She nodded.  “Carrak had me place them so thieves wouldn’t be able to enter easily.  Though, I didn’t put any in his room.”  She smiled a little at this.

Jace noticed that the more he got her talking, the more Gandhi was forced to flesh out her character and motivations beyond being a sex slave.  “Do you not like Carrak?”

Now she frowned.  “I will not be part of a rebellion,” she insisted.  “If that is what you are planning.  I only . . . I mean . . . he has been very different since he arrived here.  He is determined to bring forth Dresth’Nal and does not have time for anything else.”

“What else should he make time for?  Orcs must rule.  We are set upon by humans, elves, and dwarves.  Surely you see the need to strengthen our position.”

“To what end?” Trixna asked.  “To kill, to feast, to mate and reproduce?  What of enjoyment?  What of chaos and excitement.”  She grew silent and introspective.  “Jorkik, the orc who had this room before Orgalph, was exciting and free.  It was his idea not to protect Carrak’s room from thieves.  There is a gnome – Topper is what Jorkik called him – who is always causing problems and trying to sabotage our food and supplies.  Jorkik thought it would be . . . interesting if the gnome made it to Carrak’s room and caused a little chaos.  It didn’t happen before he died.  Orgalph was more . . . more orcish.  He was more like Carrak.  He didn’t have time for . . . distractions.”

Jace could swear that Gandhi was trying to make Trixna say the word “Fun,” but it wasn’t in the orc’s vocabulary.  The monsters weren’t meant to have real lives or motivations outside of killing and destroying, but the more Jace pushed, the more the game was forced to accommodate him.

“You want excitement,” Jace asked.  “You want a change from waiting in your room to find out if your mate is alive or dead?  I can give that to you.  I will meet with Carrak to discuss it.  Please stay here for now.  If you hear anything outside, do not leave your room.  Do you understand?”

Trixna nodded.  “I will obey.”  She tried out a curious facial expression for a few moments before continuing.  “Are we not going to mate now?”

“Maybe later,” Jace said, hoping he could forestall the inevitable.  “I will make sure someone sends food in for you.  Then see if you can get some sleep.”  Jace turned and left the female orc in her room.

{What are you trying to do?} Gracie asked once Jace was alone.

“What I always do,” he replied, moving into his room and collapsing on the bed.

{She can’t join your party, and I don’t think you want her to.}

“No,” Jace replied.  “But she has some magical homemaking skills that might come in handy.”

{She will not tolerate living here unless you sleep with her.  And Esther will probably kill her if she gets the chance.}

“Let me worry about that.”

{Suit yourself.}

Jace stared at the ceiling and wished there was a “Rest until Dinner” option, but instead, he had to waste valuable time.  He filled it by worrying.

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