The Mistakes Of Misfits

        I woke up with the worst headache of my life. It felt like that orc had cut open my skull with that massive sword of hers. I put my hand on the side of my head where I remembered being hit by the jutting rock. I felt dry flakes of blood as my hand met the wound. I could see it wasn't going to kill me anytime soon. 

        I looked at the area around me. My vision was almost pitch black. Could I really be in the abyss? That fall should have easily killed me. I pushed myself up from the ground with hands I could barely see in the dark. 

           I threw a magelight into the air. The abyss illuminated revealing small creatures, none bigger than my hand. The creatures scurried. Some of them looked to be kinds of insects and a few seemed to be rodents of some variation. They all scurried as the light hit them. I looked around to see the deep obsidian on the wall beside me. The truth hit me like a shard of ice. I was stuck in the abyss of the depraved. Once a holdout for demons it was now a shelter for monsters of all kinds. 

         I was knocked out of my thoughts by a rustle on the other side of the abyss. I spun to face the threat. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest but I inched closer to the source of the noise. I sent the magelight forward. The light slowly illuminated a pair of dark muscular green legs. My heart sank and my rage rose as I knew exactly who this was. The light reached the face of the female orc who attacked me on the bridge. 

         I gritted my teeth at the sight. Her face was surprisingly soft. She looked mostly human other than her green skin. I didn't see much of her features in my rage but looking at her now she was surprisingly beautiful. Her long black hair hung over her shoulders. She had a long angular chin and piercing purple eyes. Those eyes were hard to look away from. They were dazzling, accenting off her dark skin. 

         The orc looked up at me, those bright purple eyes looking me up and down. She had a noticeable amount of fear in those eyes. That's when I noticed the rocks pinning her to the floor. The boulders on her arm covered her arm all the way up to the shoulder. I winced at the thought of what the bloody broken arm underneath could look like. 

        I raised my hand and a fire formed on my palm. I would kill her, would incinerate her for what she did to Rylie. For what she did to Dimitri. As I tried to fire my blast of fire I held back. This was wrong. She may have been a savage orc but was I any better if I killed her while she was so defenseless? I had killed people before, but only in self defense… This was an execution. It was dishonorable. 

         I shook my head at the thought. She would not show me the same mercy. She would slaughter me without a thought like she almost did to my friends. The orc noticed my hesitation. She raised an eyebrow and studied me, as if I were just some creature she wished to observe. My hand shook a bit as I contemplated my next move. I couldn't do it. I gritted my teeth and shot the fireball right next to her head. The flames almost killed her cheek. “Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you.” I ordered her, trying to hide my weakness. 

          The orc tried to sit up but the rubble pinned her arm down so tightly she couldn't move without ripping her limb off. She willed her face into a stoic blank stare. “If you were going to kill me you would have done it by now… you're looking for the reason you're sparing me.”

          She was right on the mark. My jaw tightened as I let out a sigh. I knelt down, level with the orcs face. That curious gaze made its way up and down my body. I shrugged at her trying to hide the conflict in my body. “It's a strategic move, I've heard of the orcs'excellent navigational skills. I admittedly don't even know which way is out of here."

          The orc gave me a genuine look of surprise. “Are you suggesting we work together mage?” Her voice indicated a level of surprise that I suppose was warranted. I didn't believe it was coming out of my mouth either, but I knew the legends of this place. The creatures here were from most men's nightmares. They would tear me limb from limb alone. The orc was the same way. With that arm there was no way she could survive alone. 

          I shrugged. “I'm suggesting we postpone killing each other until we get out of this abyss.” I stated. “I need your navigational skills and you need my knowledge and power. Neither of us survive this alone. You think you can survive the hell of this abyss with one good arm?” The words felt like traitorous poison coming out of my mouth. I needed the assistance, besides I could kill her when this was over. I was confident of that. 

          I could see the same conflict racking her mind. “Who are you mage? First you fist fight a norn. Then you survive a fall that should have killed us both.” She stopped for a moment taking in the words she was saying. “Then you propose an alliance? Who the hell are you?”

        When she said it like that it really highlighted how stupid this all was. I nodded to her. “Names Varrin.” I told her. “I'm a survivor. I'll do whatever it takes to get home to those I love. Even work with you.” I made sure the spite in my voice showed as I spoke those last words. 

          The female orc didn't take her eyes away from mine. She searched for any bit of deceit. I smirked when I saw her surprise at none of what she assumed. She let out a long deep sigh. “Sumi.” She responded. “My people call me Sumi.” 

          I curled my mouth into a rye smile. “Now that we're such good friends, let me get you out of there.” I made sure to coat each word in a heavy layer of sarcasm. “The sooner we get out of here the sooner we can kill each other. I saw Sumi roll her eyes and I chuckled. I would enjoy screwing with her for the time being. Till I could kill her at least. I made my way to the rubble covering her arm and started to remove the rocks pinning her. 

        I kept an eye on Sumi as I moved each large boulder. I didn't want her to change her mind and use one of the boulders to Bash my skull in. The ground started to shake around us. My instincts took over as a large set of pincers emerged from the ground and narrowly missed my torso. The pincers sent rocks and dirt flying and sent the last of the rubble holding Sumi down flying long enough to slide out and join me to face the insect.

       The rest of the insect emerged from the ground. It had a jet black exoskeleton and it had about ten legs that ran across its long body. The pincers that I had seen emerge from the ground were massive, taking about a third of the creature's body. The insectoid creature darted its six black eyes between the two of us, waving a large pointed tail in the air ready to strike us. The creature took up almost fifteen feet between each side of the abyss. There was not enough room to run, we were going to have to fight our way out of this one. 

        Sumi unsheathed her shortsword; the blade looked plain and barely sharpened. Something told me that the blade I had knocked out of her hands on the bridge was the one she primarily used. This blade was barely unsheathed from the look of it. She winced in pain and I finally got a good look at the bloody mess that was once her arm. The bone was broken in at least three different places and shot in random directions. A large stream of blood dripped down from the wound. It was impressive to see her still standing, let alone fighting. 

         Sumi gave me one small glance and charged forward to attack the insect. Her battlecry rang through the abyss and even I felt the power and spirit behind her cry. Her first strike didn't seem to pierce the hard exoskeleton of the creature. It sent sparks flying. The creature attempted to pierce Sumi with its pointed tail. Sumi dodged back avoiding the attack. I attempted to freeze the ground underneath the insect and trap it. Ice formed around the insect and I smirked thinking I had trapped it. The beast seemed to be unaffected as it easily broke the ice and shit a bit of acidic spit at me. I dodged quickly to the side.

          Okay so Icee was not the play, maybe I can try fire. I waited for Sumi to back away from the creature for a moment and I sent a fireball at the beast. The flames seemed to consume the creature and I saw it start to curl through the large cloud of smoke that formed. I let out a sigh of relief. I did it. 

        Sumi turned to me with a look of anger crossing her face. “Cutting it a bit close aren't you?” She asked spitefully. I saw her long hair singed at the ends and her now ash covered tunic. 

        I shrugged my shoulders. “You're alive aren't you?” I countered. Even if I had to keep her alive, I didn't have to take her sass. Before she could make a witty retort the insect emerged from the smoke and slammed into Sumi. Sumi landed her shortsword into one of the creature's eyes. The creature screamed in pain but continued its charge till it slammed Sumi into the wall. 

         Sumi was able to keep the pincers from crushing her for a moment. She pinned herself between a large rock and used her one good arm to push back to the beast. She flexed every massive muscle in her body to keep the beast from crushing her. I knew that she couldn't hide that for too long. I needed to do something. 

        I heart thumped in my chest, probably way too much for an orc but I didn't have time to deal with that right now. I needed a plan. I saw the sword glimmer in the light and I knew what I had to do. I called in the skies and from how deep we were the lightning took a moment to travel. I used every ounce of control to direct the bolt to the small blade and not to sumi right beside it. The bolt of lightning came from above with a large crack and a blinding white light. The light blinded me and I hoped my aim was true.

       I heard a loud cry from the creature it convulsed and cried as it was cooked from the inside from the heat of the lightning. As the light faded I saw the shriveled corpse of the insect, and a large female orc standing on the wall, safe, but tired. She walked up to me. Her size became perfectly apparent to me at that moment. She only stood about three or four inches taller than me but her muscles… my God she made my muscular frame look puny in comparison. 

       She looked down at her broken arm. “That was enlightening." She murmured. Her face seemed to be almost ashamed. “I accept your terms. We will work together till we escape this abyss.” I gave her a small nod. It was not a fun thing for me to admit I needed her either. It was the one thing she said that I truly understood. She looked over to the beast and handed me a knife. “I need to get my arm in traveling condition. I need you to get food off of the beast. We will be traveling for some time and will need to keep our strength up.” 

      It was an order but I didn't start a fight over it. I would save any arguments for times when it was important. I knelt down to the beast and started to make my way through the hard exoskeleton to cut out some of the meat. I wrapped and stored the meat in my bag with a few pieces of the exoskeleton. Who knew if that could do me some good later. I didn't take all the meat. It wouldn't do us any good anyway. I took enough to last a few days before it spoiled. I could hear the popping and snapping from Sumi behind me but did not turn to see it. I didn't know if I could stomach the sight of that arm. 

        I heard fabric rip and Sumi’s boots behind me. I turned to see Sumi standing with a large sling made from the bottom section of her shirt. I shamelessly looked down at her exposed abdominal section. I hated to admit it because of her norn heritage but she was magnificent. Even if she was a savage. Sumi rolled her eyes. “Let's get moving, mage.” She walked past me. 

         I followed her and kept an arms distance at all times. I needed to make sure I was ready to fight at any moment. We must have walked for hours. Conversation wasn't exactly easy to come by with her. Not that I wanted to start much either. Anything we said was crucial to escaping this damned place. 

       Eventually the silence and boredom had gotten to us both and Sumi looked at me. “What is this place exactly?” She asked me. “My people simply call this the forbidden land. What might we encounter here?” 

        I shrugged. I had studied this abyss in my classes before. “Most people call it the abyss of the depraved. It stretches from the Glintstone forest of the elves to the Alabaster mountains on the east side of Tayrin.” This canyon has a lot of historical significance. It wasn't worth exploring nowadays though. “This was where the Demon king Revan built his portal to the demon realm.” 

     Sumi almost shuttered at my statement. “Demons?” She asked. A noticeable amount of fear formed in her words and I couldn't help but laugh.

       “Is the strong orc afraid of a few ghosts?” I taunted her. I made sure to say the words as if I were talking to a child. Sumi scoffed and frustration crossed her face. 

          “Spirits are nothing to fear.” She explained. “My people value the spirits of those who came before, but demons are different. Demons are conniving evil creatures who feed off hate and malice.” I understood her statement but I smelled blood in the water and I ran with it. 

       “Well don't worry, little scared orc. The portal to the demon realm has been sealed since the first celestial war. It was even said that the blast that ended the demon king is what created this abyss in the first place. No demons have been seen here for hundreds of years.” 

         Sumi ignored my teasing and focused on the no demons part of my statement. She let out a sigh of relief. “You know a lot about this place.” She said, trying desperately to change the subject. “You have the body of an initiate but speak like an elder.”

         I nodded. “The mages make us study all of Tayrin. They don't take very kindly to stupidity. We are forced to study for hours on end every day to keep up our wits.” I remembered those days in the library studying different spells and their origins. 

         Sumi gave me a long look. Not of hate or malice, but of pure curiosity. I almost preferred the hate. “You do not look like one who stays in a library for hours. Honestly you don't look like most mages I've fought.” 

        The question was valid. My body was toned to help me channel magic more effectively. Even the tattoos crossing my chest and back were runes in order to help me become more powerful. I thought about how much to tell her. I couldn't let her know I was weaker than other mages. She needed to believe I could easily kill her. I needed to stick with half-truths 

          I shrugged. “It helps me channel my power. Magic comes from other planes and in order to use it it needs to be channeled through us. A stronger body means I can handle more magic through me.” It was a simple enough explanation. I didn't need to give away more. 

         Sumi nodded slowly. She most likely knew nothing of my kind. She processed the information slowly. “I see.” She muttered. She was genuinely curious about me. The nature of that curiosity drew me toward her. 

      I looked up at her. “And what about you? You seem pretty astute for an orc.” I cocked my head for a moment, studying her face. She seemed to contemplate how much she should tell me the same way I did to her. She grabbed something around her neck that I couldn't quite see under the tunic. “I am… a woman of two worlds, my tribe is not my only concern.” She stiffened and I realized I wouldn't be getting any more out of her. I gave her a small nod. 

        She almost seemed surprised by my respect in not pushing her. “We should camp.” I told her. I didn't know why I was telling her any of this or being remotely friendly. Maybe it was a game I was playing to earn her trust. Maybe those Violet eyes just tore down my defenses. Either way I needed to get done with this conversation before I gave away too much. 

        We both made camp on top of a massive rock we had found. It would hopefully stop any creatures from coming from below us. We both had decided that it was best if I took the first watch. I was in no rush to sleep and Sumi's wound had taken a toll on her body. She rolled over on the hard rock away from me. “Good night, mage. don't be too tempted to kill me in my sleep.” Sumi winced and her arm started to flare in pain again. 

         I don't know why I did what I did at that moment but I felt an urge to help. I knelt down beside her. “Wait.” I ordered. I reached down and put a hand on her wound. I could feel the pain and blood in my own arm as I stared at the still bloody mess that laid before me. I closed my eyes and felt that warm hum of healing magic flow through my chest, then through my arm. I pumped a fair amount of my magic into her arm before I finally stopped. I felt a bit of my power drained and I tried not to show it. “It won't heal for at least a few days. Keep me alive that long and maybe we can get that arm fixed.”

       Sumi curled her face into a smile. Maybe the first genuine smile she had given me. “Well played.” She complimented me. Then she rolled away and drifted off to sleep.