I quickly looked around, the coast was clear. I glared at Daniel and flipped him off.

  Daniel snickered.

  Louise had come around. She climbed into the wagon with Daniel and gave me a small wave.

  I smiled and returned the gesture, then after a final glare at Daniel I joined Vis in the front wagon.

  Once we were all settled, Vis whipped the reins and we were off.

  — — —

  The rest of the journey was uneventful. This place was called the demon continent but the most dangerous thing we’ve come across was Daniel’s face.

  That and the heat.

  After around the third day of traveling, I saw it.

  A city built on a massive oasis of black grass and crystal clear water. It dwarfed even Col-Rava in size.

  “Welcome to the capital, Hoj–Ma’,” Vis sighed.

  I blinked, capital?

  “You mean the demon continent isn’t made up of a bunch of city-states?”

  Vis shook her head.

  “Nope, this is the orc kingdom of Fenja. The main reason it’s so disorganized is because of the humans.”

  “What? How did we ruin it?”

  “Money,” Vis replied dryly. “A little gold easily swayed the chiefs in charge.”

  She shrugged. “I’m telling you this because the capital is different from the rest of the kingdom. Orcs dominate it and they don’t take kindly to foreigners, mercenary or otherwise.”

  That doesn’t sound too good.

  “So what, basically just keep my head down and mouth shut?”

  Vis gave a curt nod of approval. “Yep, the less we say and do here, the better.”

  We approached the massive gates of Hoj–Ma’. It was guarded by a small platoon of orcs dressed in white leather with short hip-caps that held a strange emblem on them.

  Tribe of Tava.

  We waited in a long line of wagons and carriages. The orcs went one-by-one.

  They turned away a lot of wagons, most carrying non-orcs. Even other demon-folk were turned away.

  This wasn’t just them taking kindly to foreigners.

  They just straight up weren’t letting them in.

  “Vis, are you sure everything is going to be alright?” I whispered and leaned close against her. She placed her hand on my head and massaged it.

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  “Just be quiet and keep your head down.”

  I did as she said.

  The line crawled forward at a snail's pace until finally we neared the gate. An orc stepped forward, tall with broad shoulders and a scowl.

  His golden eyes swept over us. Vis brought my face against her side so that I wouldn’t make eye contact with the orc.

  Daniel did the same for Louise.

  Finally, the orc spoke. “Longeared, why are you here?” He spoke imperial, low, and slow.

  Vis used her other hand to reach into her satchel to produce a scroll and her tag. The orc examined the tag briefly before he took the scroll.

  He opened it with the flick of his wrist.

  My heart was pounding. It was hard to breathe because my nose was pressed against Vis, but still, she wouldn’t let me go.

  Time seemed to slow as he continued to read the scroll.

  The orc eventually let out a long sigh before he climbed onto the wagon. He wasn’t sitting with us, but standing on the side with a firm grip.

  Another orc climbed onto Daniel’s wagon.

  The orc on our wagon spoke.

  “You are not to look at anyone. You are not to speak unless spoken to. You are not to deviate from the path I direct, to do otherwise will lead to your immediate execution. Do you understand?”

  Vis gave a quick nod.

  The guard pointed forward. “Go straight ahead.” The wagon rolled forward through the gates and into the city.

  As we rode through the streets I could hear conversations between the locals. Whispers as they walked by dressed in silk.

  The city’s architecture, though I could barely see it, was a lot more open than in Col-Rava.

  Buildings effortlessly flowed into the landscape with tall trees dotted about.

  “Turn here,” the orc ordered.

  Vis followed the orc's instructions to the letter. Never talking back, always listening. Every time I tried to peek out she’d press my face harder against her side.

  This felt like some kinda cruel joke. We finally reach civilization after three days of staring at rocks, crappy inn walls, and the sky.

  And I can’t even see any of it.

  At least Vis smells nice and her boobs are soft. Wait, bad thoughts! God, am I going through puberty already? No, it’s just a coincidence.

  I swear.

  Damn it, I really don’t wanna go through that again.

  We pulled past a gate and onto a gravel pathway that led to a massive, white stone mansion.

  Those same orc guards in white were all over the place as human and even elven servants maintained the grounds of freshly cut black grass and hedges.

  Vis released my head as the orc dropped off the wagon. I took in a sharp breath of air.

  “Wait here,” the orc ordered.

  He marched up to the mansion and slipped past a curtain door.

  I looked around and caught the gaze of a few humans. They looked broken. Not in a way that says they’ve been tortured or abused.

  Just that, they gave up.

  Brutal.

  “Slaves mostly,” Vis said as she leaned forward. She rested her arms against her knees.

  “Could we free them?” I asked softly.

  “Not really, you’d have to burn this city to the ground, transport them across the continent, and for what? Too feel good about yourself? It’s better to just not get caught up like this.”

  “What if you just didn’t have a choice?”

  “In being a slave? There’s always a choice, kill yourself.”

  My heart dropped. Did she seriously just say that? I knew she was pragmatic but damn.

  I stared at Vis for a long time after that.

  She looked completely unbothered.

  Eventually, the guard exited the mansion followed by a massive orc in flowing silk robes.

  He was built like a bodybuilder, muscle stacked on top of muscle. He had long black hair that flowed down his back and his skin was riddled with tribal tats.

  The orc stopped in front of us.

  I unconsciously straightened up.

  He didn’t speak to us; instead, his golden eyes shifted to the cage behind us. He approached it and reached a hand inside.

  My body tensed.

  Gargon and his boys stepped back and growled. The orc grinned. “Doka, loo futo to-sha.” The moment the words left his lips my hair stood on end.

  Wonderful, these will bleed well.

  What the hell did he mean by that? Without thinking I spoke up. “Ugh excuse me, sir?”

  Vis’s eyes went wide but before she could stop me, the orc and I had already exchanged glances.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Hm? What is it, human?”

  I swallowed, that switch to imperial was like whiplash. “Uhm, I just wanted to know what you meant by, they’ll bleed well? Are they like hunting dogs or something?”

  The orc blinked, before a soft chuckle escaped him.

  “No, no, my son has recently come of age and it’s time he learns to hunt, to kill. It’s so he can replace his old man, you see?” He gave a smile that was sickeningly sweet.

  Like he wasn’t casually talking about murdering Gargon. “I don’t think I can allow that.” Again, the words left my lips before my mind processed them.

  This time the guards gripped the hilts of their swords.

  The orc’s smile faltered just a bit. “I wasn’t under the impression you allowed me to do anything. Perhaps you don’t understand where you are.”

  Daniel dropped from his wagon and approached ours. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s all calm down here.”

  He turned to the orc. “Mister…”

  “Bascovok.”

  “Mister Bascovok,” Daniel said as he placed an arm around my shoulder. “Look, the kid has just grown attached to the dogs, that’s all. He doesn’t mean any offense.”

  Bascovock smirked.

  “None taken, though you should definitely teach the boy that attachments to mindless beasts are pointless. They hunt and are hunted, it’s their way of life.”

  “Exactly!” Daniel squeezed my shoulder as he looked into my eyes with a face that screamed for me to shut up. “I’ll definitely be sure to teach him that. Anyway, about our payment.”

  Bascovock nodded. “Ah yes, 7 gold pieces, correct?”

  Daniel grinned. “Yes sir.”

  “No, no, no!” I replied. “You’re not about to just sell Gargon off to be killed. I refuse to let that happen!”

  “Kid, please don’t do this.” Daniel gripped my shoulder as his life depended on it. I could feel him shaking. He was terrified of both the situation and me.

  But I didn’t care.

  “I didn’t come all this way just to sell my dog off to be killed!” I pointed a finger at the orc, which was basically a challenge in their culture. “Your son wants to fight someone? Have him fight me! I’ll kill him and you!”

  Bascovock’s expression darkened. “You insignificant creature, you dare speak to me in such a fashion?”

  “I’ll speak to you anyway I want!” My heart thumped in my chest as a shiver ran down my spine. “You’re a coward and I’ll never respect you or your spoiled brat of a son!”

  The orc raised his fist.

  “Then I will show you what happens to those who disrespect me.”

  “Bring it!”