Feral: Chapter 16

“How dare they!?” Katya walked back and forth, pacing the floor with more anger than I’ve ever seen. Usually as adorable as a puppy, the tiny girl before me now has all the ferocity of pacing tigress. For a moment, I worry about the cell around us. I’d seen what she could do on a relaxed occasion. Now, with my armor boosting her power, in a rage?

For a moment I looked at the metal bars, marking the weak spots left in construction of them. Yes, if she wished it, escape would be easy.

We’d been taken to the nearest guard station to Allgowlden City, and placed in a cell about an hour ago. The men we’d beaten had been taken into an infirmary, and moved to cells of their own as they were healed. But our cell was in a different section of the building, so I only knew that from seeing each of the men getting escorted through the hallway in front of the cell. 

The cell itself was rather sparse in terms of amenities, though that was normal for cells I supposed. Two beds, and a smelly bucket to shit in, with no privacy or real space. Katya was pacing as best she could however, despite the small area. I closed my eyes again, going into a meditative state. I slowed my breathing, simply feeling the molten core of my magic pulse. After a moment, Katya seemed unable to contain herself.

“Char!” I looked at her, blinking. She was still angry, huffing. “Why is this happening!? You didn’t do anything! Why did those men attack you? Why did the guard want to arrest you?”

Oy. She really was upset.

“You… know I’m a half-orc, right?”

She frowned angrily. “That’s stupid then! The Word says to love all the children of the world! ‘Be they of forest, stone, or plain, love all the children, for they are those who can be forgiven once repentant.’”

“Technically, orcs originate from deserts,” I replied wryly. “Not too many forests there. Lots of stone though, and maybe a couple of plains, so—”

“That’s not funny!” She said with a glare. When I shrugged, she just seemed more confused. “I don’t understand. Aren’t you angry? They’re trampling over your rights! They’re…They’re racists!”

I stared at her. Then, I nodded. “I am extremely offended. Confused as well, to how around twenty men knew where I was, or how those guards assembled so quickly. But as angry as I am, staying calm is the best decision.”

“Why?”

“Because I am half-human too,” I said softly. “All the things they say about me? None of it makes sense with what I know about myself. I show traits that races across Turab have. I'm a good blacksmith, a magic user, and I'm physically strong. None of these are truly 'orcish' or 'human' traits. No matter what they claim, neither half of my blood has any true hold over me. I cannot control how they respond to me. In fact, I would not want such a power if offered,” I smiled. “But I can control myself. I will never let them push the image of a mindless monster onto me if I can help it.”

In the end, a lot of my life was based around that. My studies in magic, my attempts to be polite in the face of rudeness, even my tools.

“I will defend myself against violence. But I am not the brainless, violent monster they paint me as. If I must die proving that I am who I choose to be, then I will. I know I am. And sometimes, in the toughest moments like these, that is enough.”

It was quiet. Then Katya nodded. She sat down on the bed next to me. Then she leaned over to rest her head against my shoulder. I was surprised for a moment, but that left when she spoke.

“I worry about you. This is the second time someone has tried to kill you. What if no one can stop the next time?”

I chuckled. “You’re worried? What about me? My best friend is going to go fight giant monsters and save the world. What if you get hurt because of that?”

She giggled. “I’m the Prophesied Child dummy. I can’t die, remember? I’m fated to win…It’s easy to be brave when you know you’ll win.”

Something about the way she said it… her voice, the inflection of her tone. I almost asked what was wrong, when she giggled again.

“I can’t believe we got arrested in the back alley of a brothel.”

My eyes bulged. “Wait… you knew?”

She giggled again at my reaction. “Of course I did! Jennifer told me what she did the first time we met! I just wanted to see if Richard would let me go. Light, the look on his face!”

I thought of the look on Richard’s face when he realized he’d have to escort Katya to the most (in)famous brothel in the city. For some reason I laughed. That set Katya to giggling, which made me laugh harder.

After a moment of this, we simply sat there, her small body leaning against mine. 

“So you really don’t have a problem with Jennifer’s job? I thought the Light had some pretty heavy things to say about whoring.”

“…No. I mean, it’s not right to sell your body. But I know some people feel like they have no choice, or they get forced into it. Jennifer said she makes sure they can stop when they want to, and she keeps them safe. I won’t hate someone for doing what they can to survive. The Word tells never to judge others for their lifestyles, only to provide an example and a better path. Well, except for those who hurt the innocent and those who have done them no wrong.”

“Good policy,” I noted.

We didn’t talk after that. Just sat together, letting the minutes pass. I was half-asleep when something finally happened. After a while of waiting, the far door opened. When someone stepped inside, we looked at him. I’d expected the officer who arrested us, or maybe his superior. But what we got was worse.

Katya’s eyes widened. “Oh no.”

I understood the feeling. We both rose to look at our visitor.

He wore flowing white robes. His head was balding. His green eyes seemed to gleam in the low light. His face was craggy and wrinkled, but full of an ancient strength. And he wore a white version of Katya’s white scarf.

The Leader of the Chapel of Valor, the Arch-Bishop, the Child of Prophecies teacher, glowered at us.

“Explain.” He said, his voice as cold as ice.

------

If the Prophesied Child is the prophet of the Light, then the Arch-Bishop is the one who decides what that means. Standing before us was the spiritual and political leader of Humans, Dwarves, and more than a few Elves.

And he was glaring at us, his eyes especially hard on me. I looked between Katya and the Arch-Bishop, the short girl in the shining silver armor and black carbon sheets I’d given her, the Arch-Bishop in his white robes. Standing across from each other, they looked like polar opposites in every way.

Somehow I got the feeling that where Katya had gotten her kind nature from, it wasn’t this man.

“Well?” His voice was soft, dangerous. “How is it that, on the day I come to watch as my Prophesied Child begin her first steps on the road to saving us all, I hear that she has been arrested?” asked the Arch-Bishop. He looked over at me, green eyes hard, then ignored me.

“Those men tried to kill Char!” Katya protested. “I didn’t hurt them badly, I just had to stop them!”

“Hmf,” scoffed the Arch-Bishop. A pair of guards and the officer who’d arrested us stepped in through the same door he’d entered. He nodded at them, and one of the guards stepped forward with some keys. “Well, Chris here,” he nodded at the officer, “has agreed that his arrest was rather hasty. Now come. If you are to be ready for the den then we will have to leave immediately.”

The guard gave the officer a hesitant look. The officer nodded at the guard. “Do it, Jeremy,” the guard nodded and moved to unlock the cell door.

“Come along,” the Arch-Bishop turned to walk away. Katya followed nervously. As she stepped out, the guard hurriedly closed the cell behind her.

“Wait,” Katya spun around, eyes wide at the sight of me getting locked back into the cell. “What about Char!?”

“Katya!” the Arch-Bishop spun around to look at her, his ancient eyes glowing. “Come along or you will be punished!”

“No!” the explosion of Light that came from her sent even me, with my massive weight, back a step. The guards and officer were sent flying. Only the Arch-Bishop was unscathed, though I could tell from the way his jaw-dropped that he was shocked. “Let him out!”

“Y-You dare—” the Arch-Bishop stuttered.

“He is my friend,” Katya glared at him. Motes of Light magic floated around her. “I will not leave him.”

“…you have to,” everyone spun to look at me. I met eyes with Katya. “You need to go to the den of monsters. There’s a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled.”

“I can’t leave you!” Katya protested.

“You aren’t. I made sure of that,” I nodded at her armor. “As long as you have that, I’ll know I’m keeping you safe,” I smirked when she seemed ready to argue. “Go. Come back for me once you’ve won. I can handle a day or two in prison. But you need to get there as fast as possible, and arguing about my release will take too long. Go. Be a hero.”

“…I’ll be back, Char,” Katya turned, walking away. She stopped in front of the Arch-Bishop. She glared up at the taller man for moment. He stared back at her.

Then, with a shudder, the leader of thousands stepped aside. Katya marched out of the room.

The Arch-Bishop stared after her as she left. Then he turned towards me.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to corrupt my Prophesied Child, orc,” the last word was said with more hatred than I had ever heard in my life, which was saying something, “but it ends today. There will be no misguided attempts to save a pathetic monster. I will have you executed for this!”

“For self-defense?” I said stoically. “The magistrate isn’t well known for executing men for such things.”

The Arch-Bishop scoffed. “You think the magistrate will have a choice? The Prophesied Child is coming into her full potential. Even with your corruption, she is still an influential person. The magistrate will gladly kill you if it is her order.”

“Katya wouldn’t do that.”

He smirked. “Oh, I think you’ll find that a word or two on her behalf will do the job. A simple message about how a certain orc corrupted her, and how she has now seen the Light? And you’ll be facing the axe soon enough. And she might be angry for a day or two. But once I’ve made it clear where her interests must lie, smacked some sense into that thick head of hers? I will have my Prophesied Child back.”

He turned to walk away, seemingly satisfied.

“You aren’t a very smart man, are you?”

He froze. I could see him clench a fist. “What did you say?”

“Kill me if you like. But I think whatever you wish for Katya has long since been destroyed. See, I didn’t corrupt her. I didn’t do anything. She’s a sweet, tough, and smart person. All of that is because of her. I didn’t do a thing. And you preparing to ‘smack some sense’ into her?” I smirked. “Even if she doesn’t kick your ass, more than a few people would be willing to do it for her.”

He spun around, his hand raising. A green glow came from his hand, and he snarled as he prepared to kill me. I glared at him, not moving an inch. The guards, who had risen to their feet by now, stared at the ancient Arch-Bishop, now aiming a spell at me.

“…Entropy magic?” I quirked an eyebrow as I watched the green lights flickering about his fingers. “Interesting choice for a priest.”

“…When you die, I will make sure none will even remember you exist,” with that final word, he waved his hand, dismissing the odd magic he’d summoned. Then he turned and left. The officer gaped, then moved to follow with one of the guards, leaving the one who’d opened the door.

“Well,” the guard said with a swallow. “That was pretty intense.”

I nodded slowly, unwilling to admit how close I had probably come to death. The Arch-Bishop had seemed… wrong. The way he’d spoken had been manic. His eyes wide, almost glowing, the fast speech. And then of course, there was the magic he’d used.

Something was very wrong with the Arch-Bishop. Something more than hatred for a half-orc.

Not that it mattered. Apparently he’d be trying his best to kill me soon. I had hope that Katya and Richard might be able to stop that, but it was a large worry. For now, I’d wait. The cell was uncomfortable, and I was hungry, but waiting here was my best choice.

I sat down on the bed. The guard took a seat on an old chair in the corner. And then, I waited.