The two days passed quickly. Vaela even slept with us on the second night. We were reluctant to let her go, but we had to.
When she left, our daily activities started again. We decided to train harder because we didn't have to work as much as before to get food. From 7 in the morning to 10, we run around the village to build our stamina. Then till lunch, we exercise our upper body. Then at the beginning of the afternoon, we would do whatever we wanted. Trosh would visit that potion maker. Yurim And Ushha ask here and there how to survive in the forest. Then we resume our training till night. That's how we passed the two following months.
During the first week, on one of the afternoons, I decided it was time to see who this Baruba was. I first asked Trosh if he knew anything about who he was.
We could say that thanks to his 'hobby,' he could easily remember anything he saw or heard if it was related to it.
"Hey, Torsk, do you know someone whose name is Baruba ?"
" I don't know him, but I already heard of him."
"Do you know who he is ?"
"Not really. I only know he lives in the north of the village, a bit further in the forest. I also heard rumors that said he was crazy. And that's why I didn't research more on him. You never know how crazy people can react to my jokes."
I rolled my eyes as I thanked him. And I then started to make my way toward this Baruba's hut.
Once I arrived at the edge of the village, I observed the dark forest in front of me. The forest was dense, and the trees could compete with twenties-story buildings. I still had in my mind the fresh image of the huge wild boar rushing out of the forest. I felt a bit uncomfortable, but remembering the heroic figure of Vaela's mother easily dominating the huge boar helped me regain my motivation, and I quickly regained my enthusiasm and excitement.
The forest wasn't as scary as I believed. Birds were singing, and some rays of sunlight were illuminating the flora here and there. It was peaceful right now, but I knew everything could change from one moment to another.
A few minutes passed, and I was soon deep in the forest.
'I am wondering if I got lost.'
I was turning around to see if I could grasp sight of any path or building. When sudden chills ran up and down my spine, I was startled. For a second, I thought a great danger was upon me.
Less than thirty meters, I believed I saw the shadow of a four meters wolf. I quickly turned around to see if it was on my back.
I then let out a long sigh. The wolf wasn't there.
' Was it an illusion ? Am I truly becoming mad ? Or is it like those novels, and a really big wolf is observing me ?'
'Aaaah, stop it. There is no point in thinking about it. If there is truly a wolf of this height who wants me dead, I wouldn't have the time to see it that I would be dead.'
I focused back on finding my way even though I was still a bit scared.
Fortunately, I found some kind of path two minutes later. I followed it for half a kilometer until I saw it. It was huge, and it wasn't a hut made of clay wood and other thing but a true and grand house made of solid wood. It was at least twenty times bigger than egghead !
Till today I always thought that orcs were a primitive and straightforward race. But that wasn't the case at all. First, most of them aren't stupid as it was commonly thought, just overly ignorant on very common subjects. Secondly, we could say that they love their simple life and are hard workers. On the contrary, most humans are greedy and lazy, pushing them to innovate to earn more and do less.
'Is the owner of the house even an orc ?'
I was standing in front of the door, ready to knock, but I didn't. I was only standing there a bit apprehensive. I breathed deeply. 'Let's go !'
TOC TOC TOC
Just like in horror films, the door slowly opens on itself, making a chilling sound. The inside was dark.
"Hello ?" I asked.
" Someone is here ?"
Ding Pang
I heard a loud noise. It didn't help with this creepy situation.
'Should I enter ?"
'No, no, no, it would be very impolite. I should just go home and act as if nothing happened.' I told myself.
'Well, actually, nothing dangerous happened, Grrr fuck it, am I an orc, or am I not? I didn't come all the way here to come back empty-handed.' and I stepped in.
The first room I entered was quite simple, so I went directly to the second one, which should be the living room.
Cold sweat was sliding down my neck as I discovered a wall of dozens of terrifying masks. I stopped, stunned; I couldn't move from an inch.
Some showed horrible monsters; others weren't representing anything. After observing them attentively for a while, I didn't find them as scary. I could even find some really beautiful.
PAM
I was startled yet again. I heard another loud noise coming from my left. Lights were coming from the bottom of a door. I quietly opened it. Behind, I found a staircase leading to a cave. I went down and arrived at a workshop. Someone was working on it.
Ding
He was shirtless, showing me his back. Gold lines were coursing it, complex and intricate. They formed the head of a cunning wolf with a scar on its left eye. The bald orc continued working on what I assume to be a mask by the glimpses I got of it. He was using a pinnacle to draw symbols on it. Although I couldn't see the mask, his serene and fluent movements entranced me. It was like his arm was dancing. For one hour, I observed the orc. During this time, I observed other details. The golden scared wolf wasn't the only tattoo he had. A white feather was drawn on his right hand, and a word was written just behind his ear. I couldn't see if there was any other. Seeing this many tattoos on someone confused me.
"Ah! It's finally finished. Aren't you tired after observing me for a whole hour, little boy ?"
'Oh crap, he knew I was here from the start.'
He chuckled
"if you wanted to be discrete, you could have at least covered your smell."
Orcs had a really good nose.
"I didn't want to hide."
"is that so... Anyway, you came at the right time, my new..."
"guinea pig !"
Before I could even blink he was before me putting his new mask on my face.
Darkness returned to me as if it as found a long and lost friend.
I black out.