Chapter Three: Somber Homecoming

Dayn disarmed the woman before securely tying her to a narrower tree in his camp arms behind her back hands facing out, "This is all I needed" he said mostly talking to himself, "Wasn't sure if I'd get any sleep tonight but now its definite." He casually tossed her weapons in a pile on the opposite side of his tent before going back to setting up his fire pit, the orc glared at him the whole time.

"You can stop glaring at me woman" he said "I'm not going to do anything to you," her expression didn't change, "That's my luck" he said to himself "Probably don't speak my language." It didn't take him long to get the fire going once he was done setting up he put a pan on the large flat rock he left in the center of the pit and unwrapped a few chunks of salted meat, Dayn chopped up some wild herbs he found and tossed them in the pan letting them wilt before tossing in the meat. He uncorked a flask and poured out the red liquid into the pan after browning the meat on all sides, for the first time the orc changed her expression giving him a confused look.

"Everything tastes like salt" Dayn said exasperated.

The woman's stomach let out a loud grown as the meal neared its completion, Dayn stifled a laugh, "Human or Orc can't hide it when we're hungry eh" he said as he chopped one of the hunks of meat into small bits with his dagger. He grabbed the pan handle with a thick sheet of leather he kept in his bag and set it on the ground, he piled the cut up bits in a bowl and tore a loaf of bread in half before bringing the food over to his captive.

He forked a chunk of the cooked flesh and held it in front of her mouth, she looked at him incredulously, "What?" Dayn asked, "You think I was going to untie you after you attacked me unprovoked?" he said dumbfounded.

She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him, Dayn sighed and set the food down just close enough to her that she'd be stuck smelling it. "I don't trust you, you'll either be fed or go hungry" he stated before sitting down on the opposite side of the fire and starting in on his dinner, he looked up every so often to see the woman staring at the bowl of food to her side salivating.

He shook his head in disbelief before finishing his meal, he walked back to her side and tried to feed her again, she simply stared at the fork. "I only have one" he said, she closed her eyes turning her head away from him again, "Okay princess" he muttered under his breath he set the fork in the bowl and went back to his spot laying back using his pack as a pillow.

Dayn closed his eyes, he knew she wanted the food but was convinced she wouldn't let him feed her, only other Wild Orc he had met was Ziri and she was just as stubborn, would rather die trying then accept help. He heard her struggling against her binds, "Don't try it, the next time you attack me I won't hesitate to kill you" Dayn said letting out a loud yawn, he heard her let out an exasperated sigh. Dayn tried to give her food one more time during the night but she still wasn't cooperating so he folded it up into a small cloth package.

The next morning he began to pack up camp, the orc was sleeping soundly despite being bound to a tree, he rolled her equipment up in canvas and stuffed it in Whiskey's saddlebags, he didn't feel the need to feed his companion since he had cleaned most of the grass away from the hilltop.

"Glutton" he said amused, the woman woke up after Dayn had finished untying her from the tree and securing her hands in front of her with a lead attached to his saddle, an expression of fear filled her eyes but was quickly replaced with defiance.

"I'm not going to drag you" he said shaking his head, "I'm in a hurry but I'll set a slow pace." Dayn set the pace to a slow trot and kept an eye on the orc to make sure she wasn't going to collapse, he made good time that day and passed through the forest. He could see the temple in the distance now but they wouldn't make Sartann till well into the night, he considered just going but worried the woman might trip and hurt herself in the dark.

After a moment of thought he motioned to her to come closer, she glared at him and turned her head to the side, "All you're missing is the hmph" Dayn muttered to himself, he didn't have time for her nonsense so he tugged on the rope. She stumbled forward and before she could move away he pulled her up onto the back of the horse and lifted her tied hands so that they were around his midsection. Before she could protest he galloped Whiskey towards the town.

Dayn made the town in half the time with the new pace, he didn't care for the woman's constant thrashing around though, he wasn't prepared for what he witnessed, several of the buildings were smoldering ruins. The town was mostly destroyed he trotted Whiskey to the stable which was still mostly intact, "What happened here" he said somberly, after getting himself and the orc off the horse he began to walk aimlessly about the ruins. He stopped just outside Agni's smithy, there was a fresh corpse lying in the dirt, it was an orc, Dayn turned the body over "I recognize this orc" he said to himself. "I fought this orc in the tunnels when I was a child" he said aloud, The woman's eyes lit up at this comment but Dayn hadn't noticed, he cursed, "Gods damned Iron Orcs, something should have been done about them long before it came to this."