Mrs. Patterson talked about how the portals had opened sixteen years ago, ripping holes in the fabric of reality and spilling orc hordes into the human world. She talked about the confusion of those first days, when no one understood what was happening, or where these creatures had come from. She described the battles that followed, the territories lost, the cities overrun.
Audrey’s hands clenched into fists under the desk.
“The war lasted for two years,” Mrs. Patterson continued, her marker squeaking against the whiteboard. “During that time, significant portions of the western and central United States came under orc control. The human military fought back, of course, but the orcs possessed magic that gave them a considerable advantage. Their weapons were enchanted, capable of paralyzing or poisoning with a single cut. Human casualties were... substantial.”
Substantial. Audrey felt her jaw tighten. That was one word for it.
Another word was massacre.
Another one was slaughter.
“Eventually, both sides reached an impasse,” Mrs. Patterson said. “The humans couldn’t drive the orcs back, and the orcs couldn’t fully conquer the human territories. A peace agreement was negotiated. The orcs would keep the lands they had claimed, and in exchange for an end to hostilities, humans agreed to establish the tribute system.”
The tribute system. Audrey wanted to laugh, but there was nothing funny about it. The tribute system meant human women offering themselves as brides. It meant bearing their children, warming their beds, living among the creatures who had torn through human civilization without mercy or remorse.
Mrs. Patterson kept talking, her voice droning on about cultural exchange and coexistence, and the importance of understanding orc customs. Audrey stopped listening. She knew the truth. She knew what the history books and institute teachers would never say out loud.
The orcs had nearly destroyed the United States. They had torn through towns and cities, killing everyone who stood in their way, burning homes, businesses, and schools. They had stolen land, whole towns and regions, and claimed them as their own. They had murdered families, ripped children from their parents, and left behind nothing but blood and ash.
And when humans finally begged for peace, broken, desperate, and out of options, the orcs had demanded brides. Human women to ensure the orcs had a future in this world they had invaded.
Audrey’s fingernails dug into her palms. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel the rage building in her chest, hot and suffocating. She wanted to stand up and scream at Mrs. Patterson, tell her that the history she was teaching was sanitized garbage designed to make these women feel better about what they were walking into.
But she couldn’t do that. She had to sit here and pretend to be one of them.
She thought about what she actually knew about orcs, the truths that no one in this room wanted to hear.
They were ruthless beasts. They had no honor, no mercy, and no humanity. They took what they wanted and killed anyone who tried to stop them. They had ripped her family apart whenshe was ten years old and would’ve done the same to her had she not been hiding.
And now she was going to walk into one of their hordes, smile at their captain, and pretend to be exactly what he wanted.
So she could finally get her revenge.
Chapter Three
Two weeks passed, and Audrey was starting to feel like the walls of her room were closing in on her.
She sat cross-legged on the bed, with the long-range radio in her lap, the volume dropped low so no one passing by in the hallway could hear. The curtains were drawn, and the only light came from the lamp on her nightstand. She pressed the button on the side of the radio and spoke quietly into the receiver.
“Shauna, I feel like I’m going crazy in here.”
The radio crackled, and then Shauna’s voice came through, slightly distorted.
“How are you holding up?”
“Not great,” Audrey admitted, letting out a long breath. “The first Doors Open Day already happened, and Morgath the Skullreaper didn’t show up.”
“Sorry.”
“It happens only once a month, damn it. I sat in my room the whole time because I didn’t want to risk some random orc choosing me, but I kept waiting for Monica to come get me. She never did.”
There was a pause on the other end. Shauna didn’t know what to say.
“Anyway,” Audrey continued. “Anything to report?”
“We’ve got the base set up,” Shauna said. “The abandoned lodge is perfect. Far enough from the town that no one will stumble across us, but close enough that we can keep watch.”
“Good. That’s good.”
