Page 19 of Charmed By the Orc
“Then, you think…” He stopped, a strange expression falling over his face.
“If I collect the dust, I might be able to go home!” The idea of figuring the mystery behind my strange journey to this world clouded the reality of my words.
“Oh.” The frown coupled by the sorrow in his eyes snapped me back.
“No!” I dropped my hand from Inara, sending the dust flying, and clapping his cheeks between my hands. “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t want to leave you. But, my friends, and the mission, I was just… I…”
Words failed me.
But not my orc. With infinite care, he tugged my hands from his face and held them to his chest. “You’ll always have a place here, with me,” he said, a tight edge to his words, “but I’ll never trap you. If you need to do this, Sammy, then collect the dust from Inara.”
I stopped breathing. “I don’t want to leave.”
He stared at me, searching for something. “But, you do want to see your friends, right?”
“Well, yes.” My heart picked up an unsteady rhythm.
“And you want to see what happens if you complete this mission, yes?” He brushed my hair back behind my ear and the movement brought tears to my eyes. “Gather the dust, and let’s see what the fates have in store for us, little one.”
Torn in two by his sweet words, I didn’t even bother gazing at the sparkles in the grass. I swiped viciously at the remnants of it on my hands. “No.”
“Sammy,” he said, halting my furious movements. “You have to try. If you don’t, you’ll always wonder.”
“No,” I said again, but with less conviction.Would I always wonder?
The thought haunted me. As the dust twinkled like a tempting treasure, I both hated it and felt drawn to it. But I couldn’t give up my orc, my love for curiosity.
Then, he whispered as if afraid I’d hear, “What of your friends?”
I imagined what Mako, Abby, or any of my friends, even Raine would say if they knew the choice I had to make. And it was with a smile, I said honestly, “They’ll always be with me, but you’re my home.”
My friends would support me. No matter what, and no matter how far we were from each other. With that thought, as if I had conjured the creature to my side, the florin from the council popped into the pen. Sitting atop Inara, he began to twitter and tweak at a rapid pace. Then, he hopped down from her great height, landing on his tiny feet and stomping over the glowing dust in the grass.
“Easy, slow down, my friend.” Guruk waved to get their attention. “I can’t understand if you go to fast.”
The next minute was the longest of my life. It was as if a spot inside me, an important piece, was shifting with the florin’s every word.
When his twitters quieted, my orc turned to me with a curious expression. “Sammy, you know what the alicorn horn does?”
“Um, something like wishes, right?” I couldn’t remember if that was from the game, the book Thad had given me, or something Guruk said. Everything felt so jumbled.
“Inara, like all alicorn, can grant a person’s most fervent desire. It’s not simply a wish.” He took my hands, steadying me. So quickly, he’d become my anchor in the storm. “It’s the greatest secretest, most sacred part of one’s heart.”
“Yes?” My world was typing on its axis.
“And that’s how you must have come here, my little human.” He placed my palms to his chest. “You touched Inara’s horn in your game, but she heard your heart through the veil. And granted your dream.”
I swallowed, the truth rising too fast. “Which was?”
“Your friends, they’re not in your world, Sammy.” The florin patted my side in support. Guruk held my gaze. “You wanted to live in a fantasy realm, a game to you, but real for all of us in Havenlore.” He kissed my cheek. “And you didn’t want to come alone. You wanted your loved ones, your found family to come with you.”