I scouted the ground nearby more closely.
“The damn water dog was here too.” I pointed at the animal tracks that led into the grass.
“A water dog?” Pip gave a long, sad whistle. “Sorry, Grat. A human woman is no match in a fight with a wild water dog.”
“If it’s the same water dog that I believe it is, it’s not entirely wild.” I followed the footprints through the grass and over some patches of moss, hoping with all my heart that Khala was right about that dog and that it didn’t harm her.
“She knew the dog. Fed it too,” I said, holding on to that hope.
But could one really fully trust an animal, especially such a fierce predator like a water dog?
A short way from the cabin, a movement behind a large oak tree caught my eye. I paused and raised an arm for Pip to stop too.
He crouched down and moved another step forward, peering through the underbrush.
“Duke’s guards,” he whispered.
Dread pressed on my chest at the same time as rage pounded inside my skull, urging me into a fight. I moved closer, catching shreds of their conversation.
“…animal attack?” a guard asked.
“W-what kind of a beast would do such a thing?” another one stuttered, sounding horrified.
I stepped around to see what was happening behind the oak trunk. The duke lay on the ground not far from the tree. His head was turned at an unnatural angle, with his throat ripped out. Blood and gore marred his silk shirt and sky-blue coat. About a dozen guards stood around with horrified expressions, inspecting the body.
Twelve humans weren’t going to keep me away from Khala. I walked over, no longer hiding.
“Orc!”
They drew their swords, and I raised mine.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I bellowed.
“Grat, I’ll take the ones on the right,” Pip said quietly, taking his place at my side with his mace raised.
A flash of olive green on the ground behind the guards caught my attention. I remembered the smile Khala gave me when trying on the olive-green woolen dress I gave her. She had looked so pretty, spinning in it to make its wide skirt with red and orange embroidered flowers fly in a twirl around her hips.
“Khala…” The beloved name left my lips with a panicked breath rushing from my lungs.
“Back off, orc!” The duke’s guards formed a line of defense around their dead duke.
“Fuck off.” I plowed through them, swinging my sword left and right on my way to Khala.
Not holding back, I killed a few and maimed many more. With a battle cry, Pip rushed into an attack, tossing the guards in all directions too. Those who escaped my blade and Pip’s mace scurried away like rats.
With my way cleared, I fell down on one knee by the broken body of the woman who stole my heart.
“Khala…” I lifted her head in my palm.
The beading of the ribbon around her head caught the sunlight, sparkling. But that was the only sign of life about her.
A suffocating stillness descended over the creek.
Pip dropped the arm with his sword, blood dripping from his wide blade into the moss.
“I’m so sorry, Grat,” he said somberly.
He saw what I refused to comprehend or accept. Khala’s belly was ripped open, with her guts pulled out and strewn around her. Blood soaked her dress and pooled under her body. The torn loops of her intestines hung loosely from her sides in a gory mess.
