Page 17 of Yuletide Orc
Demon dogs, they were. I’d not run into them often until traveling the country with my party, but they’d always been tough to fight when we had encountered them. They came without warning and attacked without discrimination. At their root, they were normal wolves, but they’d been infected by the demonic undercurrents that ran through our world along ley-lines.
Bikkar hissed as I shifted his arm so I could get a better view. “How do you think I was able to broker a deal with the Crown after centuries of bad blood between orcs and humans?”
I froze and held his gaze. Realization sunk in. “The Crown’s allowed you land here because there’s a ley-line.”
Bikkar nodded. “There are things orcs and humans have in common. Hell-wolf enemies are one of those things.”
I shook my head. Anger filtered through me, but I held my hands still and tried to calm it before it got out of control. Bikkar needing healing.Now. And if I lost control, he wouldn’t be making it out of this storm alive. I’d seen people die to hell-wolf venom. It happened quick and without recourse if it wasn’t treated right away.
“Caiburn should’ve told us,” I spat as I called magic to my fingertips. They glowed, shimmering with blue energy that poured forth, enveloping Bikkar’s arm and wound. “The people who hired us were idiots.” And we’d been bigger idiots yet to believe them. To take the job.
Orcs. No, they’d feared the hell-wolves and wanted to kill two birds with one party-sized stone.
“What’s done is done, Elysia,” Bikkar grunted as he turned his gaze to the window and the forest beyond. Under my magic, his bone began to heal and muscle wove back together. I couldn’t imagine it was all that comfortable.
I shot him a look. “How can you be so casual about this?Hell-wolvesare in the area. This could have killed you.”
Bikkar seemed more distant than before. “A misstep earlier this morning, andyoucould have.”
I didn’t stop working my healing spell, but I did openly stare at him. “Bikkar. What’s wrong?”
His massive free hand rubbed his temple and then moved to the back of his head of long, amber hair. “As I said earlier, I’m not a fan of the violence and bloodshed. I’ve seen too much of it. And the one time I’ve managed to turn it into something good,todayhappened.”
My party had happened.Ihad happened.
When silence had drifted between us long enough to settle heavily, Bikkar added, “And now the hell-wolves have grown bold. Had I been armed, I might’ve taken one or two of them with me.”
“I don’t doubt that.” My healing magic had nearly closed his wound by this point, but my breath had grown shallow. My hands shook as I held them over Bikkar’s arm. The well of my magic was nearly gone. All I could hope was that my magic had been enough to cure the hell-wolf venom. His blackened veins had returned to normal at least. “It’s not worth it to take them on alone, though. Trust me.”
Bikkar met my gaze with a pensive look on his brow. His full lips parted as though he’d speak, but no words came. He shook his head.
“What is it, Bikkar?” I shifted his arm again, looking for any more remnants of the venom and blackened veins that I might’ve missed.
Bikkar reached for the healing salve, opened the can, and dipped two fingers inside. When my magic finally waned, he rubbed the salve over the angry, pink skin. It’d heal what remained, but I’d repaired the worst of the damage.
“I thought maybe we—your party and my tribe—could work together,” Bikkar said slowly, “but then I remembered your party left you behind.”
“I can help,” I said before really thinking it through. Helping him would mean walking away from my party for good. But Bikkarwasright. They were gone. Even if I found them again, could I trust them? Even if they’d only run because they’d been scared and then hadn’t turned back because of the snowstorm, they hadn’t so much as called for a retreat aloud.
“I can’t ask that of you,” Bikkar said as he screwed the cap back on the can of healing salve.
“Why not? I can handle my own in a fight.”
Bikkar rose his scarred eyebrow. “I’m aware.”
“Good, then let me.” I chuckled dryly. “A thief mage with honest work. Imagine that.”
I stood, sending the chair I sat in scraping against the wooden floor of the cabin. The room spun before I was upright. I lurched sideways, scrambling to get a hold of the chair. Bikkar threw out his newly healed arm and wrapped it around my middle to steady me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concern wrinkling his brows. He studied me from head to foot.
I felt lightheaded, but I knew the cause. “It’s from using my magic so intensely. I’m not highly trained. I’m better with blades and lockpicks.”
Bikkar stood and scooped me up into his arms. I sighed against his hold, gripping his arm for safety as my vision swam. “You need rest.”
“So do you.” My words were soft but clearer. I was coming back to myself now. It’d come in waves, this wariness. I knew from way too much experience exerting myself in the heat of battle. “You need to make sure that venom is gone from your system.”
“I feel fine,” Bikkar argued.