Chapter 6

That night I lay awake in the tent, staring at nothing. I’d done plenty of sleeping lately. Probably too much. So maybe my body was just done with it for now. An owl hooted somewhere in the trees, and the fire cracked softly beyond the tent flap, little bursts of sound in an otherwise still night.

Eventually I gave up on the idea of rest. I sat up, pulled on the rough leather vest, and crawled out of the tent. The soreness of my ribs almost felt like a good stretch would resolve it. Turns out that was the wrong thing to do. They complained the moment I stretched, sharp, lancing pain that made me wince and abandon the attempt. Definitely not healed enough for dramatic movements.

The fire had burned low, but the flickering flame cast enough light to reveal Ashlara perched on a log, staring into the coals with an unreadable expression. Mirri was curled up nearby, on the bare ground beside the drying hides, blissfully asleep.

I took a seat on the fallen log opposite the orc woman. “Ashlara,” I said, letting the name settle into the air between us. She glanced at me for a heartbeat, then returned her attention to the fire.

“So, uh… I wanted to…” I trailed off, exhaling. Why the hell was I so nervous? It wasn’t because she didn’t like me. Plenty of people didn’t like me. And it definitely wasn’t because now that I was really looking at her, I noticed she was… well. Stunning.

She was well built while remaining feminine. Wide hips with a large bust made even larger by the pectorals underneath. Her features were just off from conventionally attractive, but taken as a whole, she had an exotic beauty about her. Her tattoos and ritual scars only added to it - foreign, dangerous, fascinating.

Okay, maybe that was part of it. I’d never been good with women. Jennifer had been the one to pursue me, not the other way around. And that had turned out… not great. I hadn’t known why she pursued me or even stayed with me for the longest time. I probably still don’t, but I had a feeling it had something to do with money and stability. When we met she was recently divorced and had a teen daughter. She got a lot without investing much. Pretty good investment for her. Shitty one for me. But this wasn’t like that. This was something else.

Her eyes lifted and locked onto mine, caught staring like an idiot. Heat rushed to my cheeks and I looked away.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Then, louder, “For everything. You saved my life. Twice. I know you didn’t want to, but… I’m grateful. Thank you for carrying me here. And for helping Mirri keep me alive.”

Something flickered across her face, her mouth opened to say something, but she shut it down and focused on the burning coals instead.

“And I’m sorry,” I added. The words felt heavy. “I’m sorry I put you in those situations. I’m sorry for messing things up for you in town. I’m sorry for following you when you wanted to be alone. For making you take care of me when you found me in the woods. And for… for needing you more than I should’ve. But I’m glad it was you I ran into. I’m glad you were the one there. And I’m grateful for all of the things you’ve done for me. I’ll try to do better. I’ll try to carry my own weight. If you… if you’ll let me stay.”

I let out a shaky breath. “That’s all. That’s all I wanted to say.”

I pushed myself up and stole another glance at her, but she didn’t look at me. Didn’t even twitch. So I turned back toward the tent, finally feeling sleep tug at the edges of my mind.

“Alright,” she said so quietly I almost missed it.

I nodded, letting her know I heard, and slipped back inside the tent.

“See?” Mirri whispered. “Was that so hard?”

“Fuck you,” came Ashlara’s hushed reply from outside.

* * *

In the morning, I **** myself upright with a quiet resolve. I wasn’t sure what I could actually do, light duty, heavy duty, whatever, but I needed to start pulling my weight. I owed them that much.

Mirri and Ashlara were already awake and working. Mirri knelt by the fire, scraping bits of seasoned meat off a metal plate onto a broad leaf. Ashlara stood a few feet away, snapping branches the size of my forearm cleanly over her knee like they were breadsticks.

Mirri beamed when she saw me and held out the leaf. “Eat up, hero. You need the energy.”

“Aren’t you having any?” I asked.

“Ashie and I already ate,” she chirped.

Ashlara shot her a look sharp enough to cut, but didn’t comment.

I thanked Mirri, settled onto the fallen log, and dug in. The food was spicy and smoky, mixed with some kind of root vegetable I couldn’t identify. Whatever it was, it beat the frozen dinners and greasy drive-through meals I’d been living on for months. Honestly, it might have been the best thing I’d ever tasted.

A shadow fell over me. I glanced up to see Ashlara standing there, expression unreadable, holding a leather bag about twice the size of a softball.

“Your share of the bounty,” she said flatly.

“I didn’t-”

“Just take it.” She shoved the bag into my hands before I could finish, nearly making me drop both it and the food. I managed to tighten my grip just in time. The bag was heavier than it looked. “I’m going hunting,” she added, already turning away. She vanished into the trees without another word.

Mirri watched her go, her face unreadable.

I set the food aside and loosened the leather tie on the bag. Inside were coins - thick gold pieces the size of pirate-movie doubloons. Dozens of them. Maybe a hundred.

I looked over at Mirri. She smiled like this was all perfectly normal.

“This is a lot of money, isn’t it?” I asked.

“You did help kill a god,” she said.

“No,” I corrected quietly. “I was a distraction that almost got her killed.” I set the bag down, unsure what to do with something so heavy in more ways than one.

Mirri came over and lowered herself beside me. “She’s tryin’, you know?” her voice serious.

“Hm?” My mind had been drifting, and her comment yanked it back.

“I don’t think she’s good with people. She’s tryin’ to be better, but… she’s in unfamiliar territory.”

I nodded slowly.

“Granted, I don’t know her that well, so maybe I’m wrong.” Mirri hopped to her feet and started scrubbing the metal plate clean. “But I’m a pretty good judge of character,” she added with a mischievous smile.

* * *

I spent the day with Mirri - gathering herbs, hauling water from a nearby stream, and helping her prepare the hides. All of it was new to me, but she guided me through each task with the patience of a saint.

In the quiet moments between chores she spoke about magic: how anyone could learn it, but only those with a true gift could excel at it. She described it as something woven through the world, something shaped not by the mind but by the soul’s own will. She talked about points in the body where that will could be focused - reminiscent of chakras - beginning at the groin and rising through the stomach, heart, throat, and skull.

When she spoke of her Grams’ abilities, her voice took on a reverent tone: divination, healing, protective wards, shaping stone, conjuring fire. When she spoke of her own skills, it was matter-of-fact: light divination, a knack for healing, and a bit of stone and wind magic.

She led me through some simple exercises to help me learn to focus my will. I didn’t conjure any fireballs, but for the first time I felt like this might be something I could actually do.

As the sun dipped low, Ashlara returned with a pair of rabbits. It didn’t seem like much for a full day’s hunt, but I kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t a hunter; for all I knew this was a miracle of a catch.

I helped Mirri skin and clean them, and she seasoned the meat with some of the herbs we’d collected before roasting them over the fire on spits. The meal turned out mouthwatering - aromatic, juicy, and delicious. We ate mostly in silence, saving just enough for breakfast.

Afterwards, a gentle quiet settled over the camp. We all drifted into our own thoughts, content to sit with the cool breeze, the firelight, and the comfort of a full belly.

“We should head to Woodshome tomorrow,” Ashlara said at last, breaking the long silence. “We can get supplies. I can get an axe. Maybe find some work.”

I wondered why she’d need to look for work, considering the amount of money she’d handed me, but I didn’t ask. Instead I said, “How far is it?”

“Four days, give or take. Close enough that someone’s probably already checked there for us, and far enough that if we’re spotted we’ll have time to relocate before a hunting party shows up.”

“Is it really that bad?” I asked, guilt twisting in my stomach.

Ashlara shot me a quick glance but didn’t answer.

“Okey-dokey,” Mirri said brightly, cutting through the tension. “We’ll break camp tomorrow morning, bright and early!”

“Before dawn,” Ashlara corrected.

“Right-O,” Mirri replied without missing a beat. “Bright and early.”

The orc woman shook her head and slipped back into quiet thought.

* * *

We continued in silence for a long while after that. In that hush, my mind drifted back over the past week again and again. I didn’t know where I was. I’d lost my job, my wife, my entire life back home. I had no prospects and no way to return, and the future, at least the immediate one, stretched out before me like an impenetrable darkness.

I was in a strange land full of magic, gods, and dangers I didn’t understand. We were being hunted, and not just because of Ashlara or Mirri, because of me. I was dead weight, completely dependent on the two people who’d shown me nothing but kindness. I felt useless, lost. But I knew one thing with absolute clarity: I didn’t want to lose them. They had taken me in when they had every reason to walk away. The least I could do was try to repay that. They deserved that much, even if I doubted I’d ever truly even the scales.

With that resolve tightening in my chest, I stood and marched to my tent. When I returned, I carried the bag of gold Ashlara had given me, though twenty coins lighter.

“This… seems like a lot of money,” I said, holding the bag out to Ashlara. Confusion flickered across her face. “I want to pay you to teach me how to fight. I’m useless right now. Injured. Weak. Fat and out of shape. But I promise that I’ll work my ass off to learn whatever you’re willing to teach.”

She looked at me, then at the bag, then at Mirri, then back again. Several long seconds passed.

“Why?” she asked quietly.

“Because I’m tired of being a burden. Because I want to help. Protect. Because I want to pay you both back for everything you’ve done for me.” I hesitated, breath catching. “Because this past week, as messed up as it’s been, has been the best week I’ve had in a long time.”

I kept holding the bag out, even as my arm began to ache from the weight, a slow burn building in my shoulder and elbow.

After a long, uncomfortable pause, Ashlara finally reached out, lifted the bag from my hand, and gave a short, firm nod.

I nodded back and settled onto the fallen log beside Mirri once more.