The Keep

The day was filled with celebration and exploration, and throughout the day the orcs feasted on the bountiful animals and vegetation. The marsh air was thick with the acrid scent. The metallic smell of blood and the rich scent of meat wafted through the air. The dozen or two children that passed through the portal stayed close to the crowd, exploring the nooks and crannies in the rocks, looking for hiding areas and playing games. Though Grot kept a low profile around the adults, he did come out to meet Kali and Lae as they played in the lands.

She sat watching the others play, mostly, with Grot at her side, watching them play games and frolic. The three of them were young, far too young to be looking so seriously watching the others play, but Kali didn’t much feel like a child these days. More of a mother than a child, she took her duty of protecting and caring for her infant sister seriously, hardly daring to put her down for a moment most days, glancing suspiciously at anyone who looked at them with a questioning look in their eyes.

Lektu barely even noticed, Kali figured, she was so confused and obedient lately. The haze in her eyes hit her mind hard, and she acted without fully thinking things through. She walked around listlessly, with a confused look often on her face. The only time she seemed to react was to Grimmik’s shouting or rough hands, to which she would blink her eyes as though seeking for clarity. Kali figured the only reason Lektu was even allowed through the portal is because Grimmik held such a tight hand of control over her. The Horde wanted fighters… individual fighters who could react quickly to any situation, not mindless killers, but Lektu was skilled with her magics. Maybe that was why she was so muddled.

Grimmik, on the other hand, grew more violent still since the blood. Kali had a handful of good memories, short and blotchy in her mind. She remembered being happy once or twice growing up, but in the years since his eyes turned red, it had gotten worse. He would pick fights with others, including his family, his lips turned into a terrible sneer as he spat terrible words at them.

Kali had grown stronger through the years, though she was but a child. All the children of the Horde had grown quickly, some mentally, some physically, some naturally, most not. She feared that coming through the portal would mean the same fate for her, but she didn’t have a choice. Food was so scarce on Draenor that they would all starve after another few years of living there. She was also excited about the prospect of a new world, of something bountiful and exciting.

She sat on a flat rock a few yards from the other children, with Grot at her side, his hand holding hers, their bare legs touching one another. If it weren’t for their age, it would have been easily assumed that the child in Kali’s lap was there’s. They both stared at the children, playing a game of hide and seek, running and spinning around care free, their bellies full for the first time in years, feeling carefree for the first time in just as long. They were separated from the adults by a couple hundred yards, completely out of earshot, though Kali would sometimes take a quick glance over her shoulder as the group shouted, raising their weapons into the air, before turning her eyes back to the children, her finger lightly tickling Lae.

“What do you figure they’re talkin’ ‘bout?” she pondered aloud, not looking at Grot.

“I guess strategies… where we’re going to move to,” he replied, his voice quiet and a little hoarse.

She nodded, grunting a little, looking back over her shoulder briefly. “Figure we’ll be comin’ with them?”

He shrugged, his shoulders brushing against hers. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I guess they’ll bring us to the next camp, keep us there while they take the lands.”

She nodded again, still watching the children. “You figure this is right?” she sighed, lowering her voice, finally looking sidelong at him, her bright blue eyes staring into his.

He shrugged again, his bony shoulders rising and falling. “I don’t know. Gul’dan seems sure.”

She glowered at the mention of his name, quickly trying to hide her expression of disdain. “How would we’a felt if the humans or whatever came to Draenor and tried to claim it?”

He smiled a little, meeting her eyes. “I’d say we would have fought as hard as we could to protect it.”

She turned her eyes from his, slightly confused at his smile, shaking her head and looking down lovingly at Lae. “S’what I’m afraid of.”

Another loud shout came from the crowd and they began to walk away from the spot, back to their camps. Kali tore her hand from Grot’s, punching his shoulder. “Get outta here before they see.”

He smiled again, rubbing his shoulder, looking at her and nodding, quickly bounding to his feet and taking off into the marsh.

Kali rose slowly, frowning at the playing children, then down at Lae, sighing deeply. “I’ll protect us Lae. Promise.”

She sighed again, slowly dusting off her bottom, and walking back towards the camp, looking for Grimmik and Lektu. She spotted them speaking to another orc couple, Grimmik gestating wildly as he spoke, with a wide grin on his face. Lektu slowly raised her eyes up to him, mimicking his wicked grin, nodding when she thought it best appropriate. Kali stayed out of earshot, standing back respectfully, waiting for their conversation to end.

With a triumphant shout, Grimmik turned on his heal and began moving swiftly to Kali, his long, strong legs carrying him quickly to her.

Kali asked, “anythin’ I can do, Sir?” She looked up at him, Lae resting in the carrier Kali constantly had around her neck.

He glared down at her, correcting her pronunciation, before nodding. “Go find your weapon and shield. You need to practice harder, not out playing with the children. You may not have a strong connection with magic, but I’ll be damned if you won’t be of help to the Horde.”

She nodded obediently, bowing low before him, her hands rising up to hold onto Lae as she did so, and walked back to the camp with him.

“We’re going to be moving out, and we’ll need every man, woman and child to know to defend themselves in case our traveling party comes under attack. Humans are the main threat in this region, but there are other things as well. Train hard, or embarrass your family at your own risk,” he spat out at her, moving quickly ahead of her, Kali’s brisk walking pace unable to keep up with his.

She jogged slightly to stay close to him, arriving at the camp fire quickly, and rummaged through their family’s belongings to pull out a large shield that was much too heavy for her arm to hold comfortably, along with a larger axe. The shield was spiked, made of black iron, thinner than an adult’s, and slightly smaller, though not by much. The axe was made of the same iron. The blade was long, sharp and serrated, and it curved inwards at the center. The handle was of a thick wood, which Kali had dyed a red with the red clay of Hellfire, and her name was engraved deep into that wood.

She hoisted them up, Lae still resting on her chest and stomach, the mere weight of the three nearly dropping her to the ground. She grunted loudly as she rested the head of the axe in the sand, resting her arm for a moment. The grunt caused Grimmik to turn from his conversation with the imp nipping his heals, and his cold eyes looked over at her, his large brow furrowed in anger.

“Let the baby down, you don’t need to have her on you every second. She’s just going to grow weak and reliant on you!” he shouted, foaming at his mouth.

Kali grimaced at his words, and slowly let the axe drop. She then placed the shield gingerly into the marshy ground and slowly reached to her neck and untied the knot, struggling for a moment.

Grimmik rose from the ground, anger in his eyes as he stomped behind his daughter. He grabbed the tiny dagger attached to his belt and moved it swiftly to cut the material, the end of the blade nicking Kali’s brown flesh. She grimaced, biting down on her tongue so as not to shout. Her eyes filled involuntarily with tears, and she blinked her eyes rapidly to get rid of them. She looked at Lektu, who had walked beside Grimmik back to the camp. She was staring obliviously at the imp, completely ignorant of her daughter’s pain.

Grimmik lowered his blade to the rope that tied Lae’s carrier to her stomach, again quickly cutting it as well as her shirt, and quickly put the dagger back before walking over to continue giving orders to his imp. Kali whimpered, hugging Lae tightly before softly laying her down on a rock, far enough from Grimmik and Lektu that she could feel comfortable, and walked back over to hoist the axe and shield into her arms. She held them there for several minutes, getting used to the weight.

She moved slowly to a tree near Lae, leaning down and tenderly kissing her head before grunting and lunging at the tree. She hoisted the axe, looking for a point of the tree to strike at, whapping her axe into it once. She groaned as she attempted to remove the deeply imbedded axe from the tree bark, blushing angrily as she failed. She put down her shield and put both her hands on the handle of the axe. She struggled for a few minutes, rocking the blade back and forth before finally loosening it, and fell backwards into the marsh, the axe falling into the mud before her.

Kali cried out in anger, trying to ignore the pain of the slit on her neck, and hopped to her feet, glaring at the mar on the tree. She took in a deep breath, wiping the mud from her bottom, and grasping the axe tightly in one hand, leaving the shield on the ground for a moment. Though Kali was trained with weapons since a child, her musculature had faded with hunger. Her arms were scrawny, her ribs easily showed through her top, her legs were frail and weak, but she was determined. If nothing else, she was determined.

She gripped the tiny handle in both her hands, breathing deeply as she stared at the broken bark, swung her arms back, aimed, and moved the blade forward. She lacked balance, however, and teetered, her axe missing the tree altogether as she spun. She fell back into the ground, face first, with her blade held tightly in her arms above her head. She stood angrily, staring at the wood, wiping the mud from her eyes and mouth, and once again took aim. This time she hit, though not the same mar. She grunted in disapproval, shaking her body out and staring at the axe.

For the rest of the day, while the other children feasted and frolicked, Kali glared at the elusive mark, her body covered in mud and detritus, her arms weak with effort, her chest heaving with heavy breaths, practicing over and over again to swing and hit the mark. After she struck the same mark ten times in a row, she picked up the shield, held the axe in one hand, and tried again.

Night fell quickly and suddenly at the same time, the young orc’s eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light, squinting harder and harder at the tree before finally, unable to properly concentrate, her stomach growling with hunger, Lae crying quietly behind her, they returned to the camp fire, plopping down exhausted in front of it.

Eating her fill and making sure Lae ate hers, she once again horded away some additional meat, blood and water for Grot, and snuck out to meet him long after her parents and clan fell asleep.

Grot had been watching the young girl with envy and love in his young, grey eyes. She tried, failed, and tried again, though her muscles failed her, and still she persisted. His body was scrawny, his muscles non-existent, just like her, but here she was, fighting with everything she had. He admired her, surely, and there was nothing he wanted more in this life than to please her and grow into the man she deserved. Even at such a young age, he knew she was special.