Kaius the Fierce by Cara Wylde
Chapter Twenty-Four
Grace cried and refused to let go as Ulgan was trying to roll Kaius over and check the wound. Sasha was crying too, a few feet away, too terrified to get any closer to the pool of blood growing on the ground.
“Please do something,” Grace wailed uncontrollably. “Please! I don’t want to raise the baby on my own! I don’t want him to go through what Sasha went through. Please! They both deserve so much more. They deserve a father.”
Ulgan looked up at her, blinking in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t fall into place like before, so he gave up.
“What?” Sasha moved closer, careful where she stepped. “Baby?”
Grace hid her head in her mate’s neck and cried harder. She hadn’t thought when she’s spoken. She couldn’t think even if she tried to.
Behind Ulgan, Thrak the Butcher and Dharg the Giant appeared, and from the looks on their faces, they had heard Grace, too. Everyone had probably heard Grace, since she’d practically yelled it. She and Kaius had decided to keep her pregnancy a secret until they told Sasha. They felt like it was fair for Sasha to hear about it before the horde.
“Let’s get him out of here, Thrak said.
The two raiders carried Kaius out of the cave. It wasn’t easy, since Grace still refused to let go of him, and Ulgan insisted he needed to stop the bleeding immediately, or it would be too late.
Sasha clung to her mother’s hand, trying to pull her away from the unconscious captain.
“Mom, stop. You’re not helping.”
“No, I can’t... He can’t leave us...”
“Then let them help him.”
Thrak and Dharg were moving fast, and the tunnel towards the exit was becoming narrower and narrower. Grace was forced to let go and fall behind. It was more important that the mage was there, already holding his trembling hands over his captain’s head and murmuring something in orc language.
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
Grace turned to look at her daughter. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was all over the place, and she was soaked in blood that was beginning to dry. She looked legitimately crazy, but Sasha kept her head up, feeling compassion for her mother more than anything.
“I know what I said...”
“Is it true? You’re having a baby?”
Grace took a deep breath, released it slowly, and tried to put her thoughts in order. This was not how she’d wanted her daughter to find out.
“I wanted to tell you... We wanted to tell you. Right before the raiders came with news that Goroth had destroyed our gardens again, that evening, Kaius and I wanted to take you for a walk, maybe by the river, and tell you that... Well...” She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. She couldn’t help it. Tears streamed down her face once more, and she sobbed softly, forcing the words out. “I’m pregnant. You’re going to have a little brother. Or sister. He or she...” She took a breath. “I feel like it’s going to be a boy. And he’s going to be perfect. He won’t look like you, or like me... What am I even talking about? I don’t care. He’s going to have green skin and tiny little teeth, and he’s going to grow up and learn how to lead a horde...” She leaned against the nearest wall and pressed a hand to her chest. She tried to take another deep breath, but it was as if there was no air. “I can’t breathe...”
“Let’s go outside.” Sasha took her by the hand and pulled her gently after her. “It’s going to be okay. Kaius won’t die. He’s strong, and Ulgan is a great mage. The best. He’ll know what to do.”
“What I said before... Baby, I’m so sorry you grew up without a father. It was my fault. I made a mistake.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I should’ve chosen better. Carl was... so unworthy. I should’ve chosen all the people I gave my energy to better.”
That confused Sasha a bit, as she wasn’t sure what it meant, but she ignored it and pushed on. They could see the light at the end of the long, winding tunnel.
“Mom, it’s going to be okay.”
“You keep saying that...”
“You told me to have faith.”
That only made Grace cry harder. They emerged in a large clearing. They stopped in their tracks, and Sasha let go of her hand and covered her eyes. Grace couldn’t move a muscle. She was in shock. The scene unfolding before them seemed to have been taken out of a horror movie.
Goroth’s horde had been wiped out. What remained of it were dead bodies, pools of blood, severed limbs, and wounded orcs moaning and grunting as poison spread through their blood. Their mage was dead, and there was no one to heal them. The winning side had no interest in keeping them alive, and Ulgan didn’t even look at them. A few feet away, he hovered over Kaius. The raiders had laid him on a bed of leaves that were now soaked with his blood. Thrak held him on his side so Ulgan would have access to the long cut on his back.
“At least it’s not poison.” The voice was Beka’s, and it served to snap Grace out of her trance. “Birma wasn’t that lucky.”
Grace turned to look at the female orc. She had a cut across her cheek, but the mage must’ve taken care of it already, because the skin was healing. She was dirty and bloody but seemed to be in one piece.
“Where is Birma?”
Beka pointed at the edge of the clearing. Her twin sister was leaning with her back against the trunk of a tree. Both her hands pressed hard on a deep wound on her chest, but she only had a rag to try and stop the bleeding.
“Ulgan has to help her!”
Beka shook her head. “He has to save the captain. It might be too late for Birma anyway. The poison is spreading fast.”
“Maybe I can help,” said Sasha.
Before Grace and Beka had a chance to ask her what she meant, Sasha had already run to the mage’s side. At first, Ulgan pushed her away gently, muttering something incomprehensible. But the girl insisted, and he took a short break from running his hands up and down the captain’s back to reach into his pocket and hand Sasha one of his ointments. The girl ran back to her mother.
“Come on and help me. He says this will help stop the poison, but I have to apply it slowly and say the words ‘Ghur und hunad ghee’ over and over.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. It must be a spell.”
Grace shook her head but followed Sasha to Birma’s side. Beka looked even less convinced. What could they do, though? It would’ve helped if they’d had another mage, since there were so many wounded. Hell! Grace thought it would’ve even helped if Goroth’s mage had been alive. If Ulgan hadn’t snapped his neck, maybe they could’ve found a way to convince him to help. On the other hand, if Ulgan hadn’t been there to end it, she and her daughter might’ve never seen the light of day again. They would’ve fallen in that dark, cold cave.
They knelt next to Birma, and the female orc looked at them through half-closed eyes. She smiled at Grace.
“You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
“Kaius is...”
“No.” Beka squeezed her arm to stop her from saying a word. “The captain is wounded, but he’s fine. We’re here to help you.”
“Help me how?”
She lifted her hands, and blood gushed out of her wound. Grace could see the skin around it had turned ashen, and the veins were starting to become visible.
Birma winced. “It’s deep, I’ll tell you that.”
“I can do it.” Sasha dipped her fingers in the strange-looking ointment. It was muddy brown and gooey, and it smelled like rotten eggs. “Hold still, and I’ll... I’ll just chant the thing.”
Birma looked at her with an indulgent smile. She did as she was told, thinking it probably couldn’t hurt. She didn’t truly believe the human child could do anything for her, even if she used the mage’s ointment and said the right words, but she had no power to argue with her. She also didn’t want to. If that made the girl feel better, like she was helping, then Birma the Unseen could give her that before she gave her last breath. She loved Sasha even though she hadn’t been with the horde long. She was family.
Beka took her sister’s hand in hers. “Look at me.” When Birma did, she fought a sob. She couldn’t afford to show any sign of weakness, so she swallowed heavily before speaking again. “It was an honor to fight beside you. It was an honor to share a womb with you, train with you, hunt with you, and cook dinner alongside you. But more than anything, it was an honor to fight beside you, sister.”
Birma nodded. “Same. I would say it in as many words as you did, but I just... don’t think I have the energy.” She smiled, then coughed.
“Shh... let me focus.” Sasha was spreading the muddy ointment all over the wound and whispering the words Ulgan had taught her.
Grace looked at her with gentle eyes. Her little girl was working so hard to save someone’s life. Birma was a friend, and Sasha had easily grown attached to both her and her sister. It broke Grace’s heart that what Sasha was doing would probably not work. First, there was the question of whether Sasha was even saying the words correctly. Orc language was hard to make sense of and not much easier to speak. Then, had Ulgan even given her the right spell? He was under a huge amount of stress, though it had seemed that he’d been able to put together more coherent sentences than usual. And finally, Sasha was not a mage. Grace doubted anyone belonging to her species could do what an orc mage did. Their skills didn’t seem to be something one could just learn. They were born with their talents. If she closed her eyes, she could see Goroth’s mage cut Kaius down over and over. No sword, no dagger. With his hands alone and the ability of form a blade of pure, crackling energy between his palms.
She shook her head and tried not to think about it. It was impossible. She turned to look over at where Ulgan was still struggling to save Kaius. Thrak had rolled him onto his stomach, and he was cleaning his wound with a damp rag. The bleeding seemed to have stopped somewhat, but Grace couldn’t say whether that was good or bad. She bent over, placed her hands on the ground, and turned them into fists. The soil felt hot and wet between her squeezing fingers. Too much blood today. Too much sweat and tears.
“Go to him,” Birma said. “Don’t worry about me. Sasha is doing a great job.”
Grace looked at the female orc’s wound. She had to cock an eyebrow when she noticed that her veins seemed to be returning to normal. The skin around the wound was still ashen, but the poisonous color didn’t seem to be spreading anymore, at least not at the same rate.
She wanted to say something, but then changed her mind. Sasha was chanting in orc language as she worked more of the gooey ointment into the skin. Beka nodded at her, and Grace stood up on shaky legs. She promised herself she wouldn’t lose it this time, because she didn’t want Thrak and Dharg to push her away again. She was the captain’s bride, for goodness’ sake! She couldn’t let them see how weak and desperate she felt. Because if Kaius died... what would become of her? What would become of Sasha and the baby?
He couldn’t die. He had to live, because she loved him. She needed him. And he was the first man who’d ever loved her like she’d once dreamed to be loved when she was much younger and much more naïve. Maybe she was naïve now... To think that she could have this good thing. She shook her head and reminded herself this wasn’t about her. This was about him.
She knelt beside Kaius, and Thrak moved back to give her space.
“How is he?” she asked.
The raider grunted. He wasn’t used to talking directly to the captain’s human bride.
“Will he make it?” She was whispering, not wanting to interrupt Ulgan, who had his hands raised now, his eyes toward the woods, and was chanting faster and louder.
The raider nodded. “Yes. See?” He pointed at the skin that was starting to stitch itself back together. It was a long, slow process. “Ulgan is a great mage. Before he lost his mind, he did great things.”
Grace realized Thrak’s vocabulary wasn’t as advanced as the others’. The raider preferred to be silent and talk in English as little as possible. Maybe that was why he’d always avoided her. And all this time, she’d thought she’d been avoiding him.
“He didn’t lose his mind,” she said softly, watching the mage’s profile. “Just his ability to speak clearly. Which... I mean... Why would he need it? His metaphors make plenty of sense if you have the patience to listen.”
Thrak nodded, but Grace wasn’t sure he’d understood everything she’d said. He kept cleaning his captain’s back with the rag, dipping it constantly in a bucket that was now filled with red water. She thought the least she could do was change the water, but she couldn’t find it in her to stand up and walk. So, she took her mate’s hand in hers and lied down beside him. With her other hand, she gently traced his features. He could feel his breath on her fingers, and that gave her hope.
“Come back to me.”