The Keep

The morning came more quickly than Kali expected. Her eyes flittered open and she looked curiously at the burnt out fire, feeling the cold ground beneath her and smelling the unfamiliar acidic spell in the air. For several minutes she lay confused, trying to gather her surroundings before it snapped into place, and she jumped up to find Grot. Grabbing Lae softly in her arms, she slowly made her way behind the drying skin, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked around the surrounding trees, finally finding a small indentation in the ground that would have been made by a small orc sleeping. She scanned the area, whispering hoarsely, “Grot?”

Quickly he appeared, his clothing and hair matted in mud the same as Kali’s, a tiny smile of relief on his face. “Just you.”

She nodded gruffly, moving closer to him. “You eat?”

He nodded in return, running a hand through his hair, working out a knot. “You?”

Kali shook her head. “No. I wanted to make sure you were outta here before the others woke,” she smiled, shooing him away, “so go on! I’ll meetchu at the same place as soon as I can. Get as much information as I can from the Clan.”

Grot nodded, hugging the two orcish girls in his arms. He kissed both on the cheek in a fatherly fashion, and quietly moved back towards his camp.

Kali softly walked back to her camp, finding the other orcs slowly waking, looking around with a similar confusion on their face. She once again started the small fire, throwing some more twigs and sticks on it as she looked around for her father and mother, softly rubbing their shoulders to wake them. Her mother looked up at her confused, a scowl on her face as she rose, not saying anything. Her father spat out the order to make a larger fire before he woke the others in the Clan to accompany him on the morning’s hunt.

Kali thought her parents looked a little older than usual this morning, and frowned slightly at the thought before returning dutifully to the fire.