At those words, everything seemed to slow down. Bianca swallowed. Somehow the word ‘party’ invoked less thoughts of drinking and camaraderie with new friends than it usually did, at this dim hour of the morning.
Bianca watched the color drain from Tanis’ face, his hands becoming fists in his lap. “When?”
“As soon as the others are ready. Wait on our return before you go to track the huldira again.”
‘Stall him?’ Bianca mouthed, and Tanis called out quickly at the footsteps starting to walk away, “No, um. I’ll– I’ll come with you. Give me a few minutes.”
Dhane’s voice returned dismissively, somewhat distant. “Don’t bother. It’s full of halflings. Shouldn’t take many of us, nor very long.”
Bianca felt dizzy as she put a hand on Tanis’ knee, squeezing to try and convey her silent panic. She couldn’t just burst from the tent and start gnawing on Dhane’s ankles to try to stop him, how little it would do.
Tanis covered her hand with his.
Her head was spinning with a dozen questions. How bad would it be? She’d only ever heard stories about orc raids before, and right now she couldn’t recall any of the details. Would they hold them at blade point and demand all their food and gold, and everyone would get away without a scratch? Or would ransacking the camp mean she wouldn’t have a troupe to return to?
Then again, with an orc whose reputation for bloodthirst named him, perhaps no answer was needed.
When she was sure Dhane was gone, Bianca whispered, eyes wide and brimming with tears, “That’s my camp.”
Tanis nodded quietly.
“That’s my camp!” she hissed. Her throat was tight with fear, “I have to go find them, they’re so nearby, I have to warn them—!”
“We can’t return you to them. Dhane will catch up with them, and you could get hurt when they—”
He stopped, shook his head and quieted himself. “First, let’s get you out of here. We’ll plan on the way.”
“We should get Horace– my horse,” Bianca swallowed weakly.“It’ll be faster.”
Tanis blew out a breath. “That was your horse?”
She nodded, and Tanis scrubbed a hand over his face, finishing pulling on his boots while he muttered something about how of course she would have a terrible horse.
Leaving the tent, mist hung low against the ground. It was still very dark, every shape only a muffled deep blue, but torches and campfires burned low against the early morning light.
Tanis held his cloak around her shoulders, covering her entirely, though this time she walked quickly at his side beneath it as he crossed the camp.
In little glimpses, Bianca spied the length of rope tethering Horace to a tree. He whinnied and took snapping chomps of airat another young orc girl. She swore at him as she tried to get close enough to put a feed bag over his head.
“I’ll take over here. Go help your brother watch the herd,” Tanis directed when he reached her, tilting his head in the direction of a field. Bianca held herself as close to his side as she could.
“But Dhane said there weren’t enough left to have more than one watch,” she replied, handing the bag over despite her surprise.
“He changed his mind. More eyes keeps them safer,” Tanis said, taking the feed bag from her, the movement rustling his cloak. Light rippled briefly across Bianca’s face and she shrunk back as best she could.
The orc girl didn’t notice her, thankfully, she had already turned on her heel and headed to find the yakgoats herd. She clearly didn’t want to spend another minute with Horace.
When the coast was clear, Bianca slipped out and slowly stepped towards Horace. He towered over her, his breath clouding in the air.
She reached out a war hand, ready to pull it back. “Horace, hi, I’m so glad you’re ok, oop, ok, no, don’t do that, hey, Horace–”
The demon nickered and took a cheeky nip at her. He snorted then, as if to laugh at her, at how terrified she looked.
“Try calling him by his name,” Tanis suggested unhelpfully as he rounded the other side of the beast, giving him a wide berth.
“His name is Horace– forget it. Look, buddy, I’m sorry we got separated–”
While Horace’s attention was on her, Tanis slipped forward and swung a leg over his back. He pulled himself up into the saddle and gathered up the reigns in a swift, well-practiced motion.
