A Monster Life Ch. 10-12

Elzbieta blushed and looked away. 'I understand. There's no need to apologise.'

He sighed and flattened his ears. Iphigenia pulled food from her pack and chuckled. 'How about another bite while we're sitting here anyway?'

The path gradually went down again later and after a while the broad view of the landscape opened up before them. It wasn't a land scorched and overshadowed by evil dark clouds spewed from a single volcano at the centre as he had prepared for. It looked normal with forests and fields of grass and a small lake and everything. He might even think it boring if he'd been a native. 'So, where to go from here?'

Elzbieta peered at the horizon. 'I heard there's a large city at the centre of the country. That would be the most likely place to pick up information.'

'All right, that'll be our new destination then.'

***

They travelled along the quiet land keeping to the cover of trees as much as possible and by the time night fell they stopped once again for a rest. Ulric adjusted slowly to the rhythm of sleeping a few hours several times during the long days and nights and he didn't mind the night being bright enough from the reflections of the moons and the wide planetary ring that it looked more like a black and white movie shot at daylight. He had only slept for a short time and carefully slipped away from Iphigenia's hold on him and Elzbieta who surprisingly had moved with her back against him at the last couple of rests.

He walked to a nearby small stream trickling pleasantly across an edge of boulders for a quick refreshing dive when he picked up a faint yell which sounded female. Other crude voices and laughter sounded and was familiar enough to recognise as orc. He hurried towards the noise when he heard the female cry out again. If what he thought what was happening was true, he'd not hold back this time and rage filled his chest.

He only needed a split second to assess the situation when he reached the source of the ruckus. Two pig faced orcs held down a young female orc whose clothing had been ripped off and a third orc sat on his knees with his leather breeches down between her legs as he forced them apart. The first two didn't notice the bloodwolf's presence until the third orc was slammed aside with a furious loud snarl.

Their eyes went wide instantly as the black and red spined creature turned its red glowing eyes towards them, and their horrified shouts were silenced fast by spiked fists crushing their throats.

Ulric finished each one off with two slams in their faces and leaving nothing put a bloody pulp in place. He breathed through his clenched teeth and watched the dead orcs for a moment to be sure they were, then turned towards the plump woman.

She had curled up against a thick tree and trembled in fear with her head held tight between her arms. Her erratic breathing was barely louder than her pounding heart to Ulric's ears. He picked up her clothing and saw it had been a simple dress with the front now torn in two. She flinched when he covered her naked body.

Stepping away from her he noticed a toppled cart with a woolly cow trying to get free from the reins and sighed. Acting gently now wouldn't be very convincing after the mess he made.

'Wolfie!' shouted Iphigenia as she came running with Elzbieta. 'What happened!?'

'Bunch of orcs tried to rape her.' he said and gestured at the huddled orc behind him. 'But now I frightened her and her ride.'

She glanced at the small carnage and sighed. 'Yeah, no surprise there.' she said and placed her hand on his chest. 'Elzbieta and I will take care of it. Don't worry.' He nodded and she approached the snivelling orc clutching her dress around her. 'Hey? Can you understand me?'

The orc glanced sideways at her from between her dark blonde long curls.

Iphigenia held out her open hands. 'We're not here to harm you.'

The orc glanced at Ulric standing away and watching Elzbieta calm down the cow by talking softly and stroking its neck.

Iphigenia smiled gently. 'Don't worry, he's really a friendly guy. The ones assaulting you just made him very angry.' She chuckled. 'He's the kind to be very protective of women.'

The orc lowered her shoulder a little. 'But he's bloodwolf.'

Iphigenia smiled and nodded. 'It's a long story but he's not what he seems.' she said and held out her hand again. 'He's Ulric, our elf friend is Elzbieta, and I'm Iphigenia.'

The orc glanced at Ulric and Elzbieta once more, then took Iphigenia's hand and stood up on shaky knees with her help. 'I'm Kaui.'

'So, what happened before our Wolfie put an abrupt end to it? Why are you out here anyway?'

Kaui looked down and pulled the remains of her dress tighter around her. 'I was sent to gather plants for the master. He ordered a guard to come along for protection and he took along two of his friends saying it wouldn't otherwise be much fun for him to hang alone out here. While I worked they started drinking and became rowdy, and then they wanted me to join them and said I should be part of the fun and started groping me and-' Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Iphigenia gently hugged her. 'You're safe now. Ulric made sure they can't hurt you anymore.'

Kaui nodded slightly and wiped her tears with a corner of her dress.

Elzbieta came up. 'The cow's calm again and Ulric righted the cart.'

Kaui looked up at her. 'Thank you.'

Elzbieta smiled gently. 'I'm just glad nothing worse happened.'

The three went up to the cart where Ulric stroked the calm cow's neck to Kaui's surprise. Elzbieta grinned slightly. 'It's an elf ability to sooth animals.'

Kaui glanced up at Ulric and pulled a little on her dress. 'Thank you, for saving me.'

He growled a little and wagged his tail once, and Iphigenia said 'He says he's just happy to have been able to stop another bad thing from happening, and didn't mean to scare you.'. She chuckled. 'And also that cute girls shouldn't just go with anyone to a lonely place like this.'

A shy smile formed on the orc girl's face and she blushed.

'Anyway, are you good to go home now?' Iphigenia asked. 'There's not some trouble you'll need to go through to get there?'

Kaui shook her head. 'I'll manage, but what about you? You're in orc territory here.'

Iphigenia nodded. 'We're trying to find the demon lord's castle for a special reason and were hoping to get a clue from someone here who might have connections. We'd be grateful if you don't tell anyone about us. Just tell the part of the truth where the others were killed by a terrible beast.' She chuckled when Ulric drooped his ears and winked at him. 'They don't need to hear why him becoming terrible was a good thing.'

Kaui nodded, pondered for a moment, and looked at Iphigenia. 'Maybe I can help. The master's an influential alchemist and he might know more. I could smuggle you into the city and hide you at his place. It's huge and there's lots of places where no one comes.'

Iphigenia looked at Elzbieta and Ulric. 'We'd be one step further.'

Ulric nodded. 'It would save us from figuring out how to get in and where to start.'

'It's as good as anything we could do for now.' Elzbieta said.

Iphigenia smiled at Kaui. 'Thank you, that would help us a lot.'

After Ulric had ran back to their camp to retrieve their gear the four of them rode the cart towards the city. Ulric smelled something that made rotten eggs feel embarrassed and wrinkled his nose when he picked up the wooden box it came from. 'What's in here? It's disgusting.'

Kaui chuckled after Iphigenia told her. 'It's the leaves from Sweetweed.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'What's sweet about this?'

'The flower of the plant is very sweet and to protect itself from being eaten the leaves smell and taste repugnant. But they have good properties for some potions.'

He put the box far away to the back. 'They'd better well be damned good potions.'

She chuckled again. 'It'll also help to get you past the guards.'

'Are you learning to become an alchemist?' Elzbieta asked.

Kaui nodded. 'But I'm not really an apprentice. I just pick up things while I'm serving as a maid. I'm not allowed to become one but the master uses me for tasks such as this that require some knowledge.'

'Why aren't you allowed?' Ulric asked.

Kaui sighed. 'I'm just a low class slave. Only higher class free people can become alchemists.'

He grumbled low. 'Ridiculous.'

'I have no family and no other place to go to, so it's the best I can get in life.'

***

It was barely light again when the wide orc city came into view. The top floor of a few houses and dark brick towers stuck up above the high stone wall surrounding the city. 'Is this the capital?' Ulric asked.

Kaui nodded. 'Garkan. It has protected many generations from enemy forces. The group of roofs and towers in the middle is where our lord resides. The master's house is the sharp roof further to the right and close to the wall.'

Just outside of the view from the large gate into the city Kaui halted the cart between trees and pulled out a tarpaulin. 'Hide underneath this.' The three laid low with some sacks and branches between them and Kaui gave Iphigenia the box with Sweetweed. 'In case the guard wants to see underneath.'

Iphigenia nodded. 'I hope not. For his sake and ours.'

Kaui drove on and a large guard blocked her way. His frown radiated his displeasure at pulling guard duty and he stepped up to the side of the cart to look inside. 'What's this?' he grunted.

'Supplies for master Barkan.'

He pushed and pulled at loose bags and a pile of branches, grabbed the edge of the tarpaulin and reeled back the moment the stench hit him. 'Wargh! What did you pick up!?'

'Oh! I must have forgotten to close the box with Sweetweed properly and it opened when I rode over a large rock. Sorry!'

He held his nose and breathed through his mouth as he waved her to go on. 'Damned alchemist and his concoctions! Get out of here!'

Kaui continued and drove through the streets until she led the cart into a walled off backyard enclosed between the main building and a stable and storehouse. She pulled the tarpaulin away when they were out of view inside the stable and Ulric jumped out and ran off into a corner. Iphigenia chuckled while hurling sounds echoed through the stable. 'I could use my healing ability to mask the worst for Elzbieta and me, but it had no effect on his sensitive nose.'

Kaui nodded and glanced at the low tail twitching behind a low wooden wall. 'I feel sorry for him to have to endure it.'

'He's tough, don't worry.' Iphigenia said while Elzbieta brought a bucket of water to him. 'We're at your master's house now?'

'I'll take you to one of the rooms filled with unused old books and furniture. You should be safe in there.'

Ulric returned while wiping his muzzle. 'Next time I'll pretend to be dead. Then I won't have to actually die from that stench.'

Kaui walked them through the stable to a side wing of the house. 'We'll go through the kitchen and go up the back stairs.' she said and opened the kitchen door. She froze at the sight of her master.

Barkan looked up from the book he held and stared at her with black eyes set deep into his thin orc face. 'There you are.' he said and shut the book as he watched her. Ulric and the girls had pressed themselves to the wall behind her to hide. 'What happened to you?'

Kaui fiddled with the dress tied close with a rope. 'An attack by a demon wolf. The guard was killed.'

Barkan stared for a moment at her. 'Did you get what I wanted?'

She nodded quickly.

'Tidy up and bring me my tea.' he said and left.

Ulric gnashed his teeth and Iphigenia placed her hand on his chest. 'Ignore him.'

'He didn't even ask if she was okay!'

Kaui sighed. 'Don't mind it, I'm used to it.' she said and carefully led them up creaky wooden and narrow stairs.

12 - Treachery

The room several floors up under the attic was full of books in cases and stacks, various furniture like chairs, small tables and dressers, and assorted junk you might see after a few generations storing things that might come in handy one day, all complete with the standard accessories of dust layers and cobwebs. The stale air hit Ulric's nose and he sneezed loud. 'After stench comes dust. My poor nose.'

Kaui gestured at a grimy small window. 'You can open that for some fresh air.' she said. 'I need to go because the master gets upset when I keep him waiting.' She looked back before closing the door. 'I'll be back as soon as I can.'

Ulric fumbled with the stuck window lock, opened it with a little force and took a deep sniff from the outside air. 'That's better.'

A shout from nearby brought him to full attention. 'Kaui!' he growled as he rushed out into the attic passage, and stormed through a door at the other side after a crash sounded.

He stared at the naked plump body of Kaui who held a brush in her hand, then turned around quickly. 'Uhh, you all right?'

She snatched a blanket from her bed to cover her front while Iphigenia and Elzbieta arrived. 'I was just startled by a big spider and bumped a jar onto the floor trying to catch it.'

Elzbieta folded her arms and frowned at Ulric. 'What's with you and walking in on naked women? Really!'

'I just thought she was in trouble.' he said and she pushed him out the door. 'She's fine so no need to embarrass her any longer.'

Kaui looked at Iphigenia. 'He does that all the time?'

Iphigenia chuckled. 'So far. I can't tell if it's lucky or unlucky for him.' she said and picked up the pieces of the jar. 'At least it wasn't while he was aroused this time.'

Kaui gasped. 'He did that!?'

'Yeah, it happened the first time with both me and Elzbieta.' Iphigenia said and grinned. 'Mind you, after the initial shock it was quite a sight. Maybe you'll get to enjoy the experience too.'

Kaui blushed at the image that came to mind. 'I, I couldn't!'

Iphigenia placed the shards on a free spot on Kaui's dresser. 'Just kidding.' she chuckled. 'We'll see you when you're done.'

Kaui hurried dressing after Iphigenia left, and went down to fix tea.

***

By the time Kaui returned to the attic, the three had found usable seats and a salon table and had settled into a corner near the window. 'The master will be studying for some time now so I'm free to help you.'

'So,' Iphigenia said. 'what can you tell us about your lord here and his house?'

Kaui sat down in the seat meant for her. 'Lord Humanus has been ruling over this country since the previous one died in an attack by humans years ago. He's very hard to speak to because there are always soldiers and one or more of his advisers with him. And his house is tightly guarded.'

Ulric grumbled and Iphigenia nodded. 'Any place or time he's alone?'

Kaui shrugged. 'Not that I've heard of.'

Ulric grumbled a remark and Elzbieta stared blankly at him. 'Bedroom? You're going after men as well?'

He quickly shook his head and Iphigenia sniggered while Kaui looked confused. 'He's right though.' Iphigenia said. 'The only places he'd likely be alone is the bath and the bedroom.' She looked at Kaui. 'Unless he has a woman?'

Kaui shook her head. 'We haven't seen him with any since he became lord. Rumour has it he's aiming for someone to strengthen his position later.'

'Then first we need to figure out how to get inside.'

'As the master makes various potions and other things for the lord, I can get inside pretty easily.' said Kaui and hummed in thought. 'There are a couple of windows at the back where you could enter unseen but they're several floors up.'

Ulric stretched and retracted his legs and Iphigenia smiled at him. 'That might not be a problem if we take a rope ladder with us.' She looked at Kaui again. 'We'll go when it's dark again.'

***

Elzbieta looked up at the windows at the back wall of the lord's house from a dark alley. 'You sure you can jump that high?'

Ulric grinned. 'Jumping with you girls on my back was easy enough that I think I can jump four floors up.'

Iphigenia put her hand on his back. 'Just don't hurt yourself when you don't make it and fall back down. I'm not sure I can heal you well enough.'

He smiled softly at her. 'Don't worry, I can shift to armour for protection thanks to Elzbieta.'

Elzbieta blushed. 'I didn't really give you anything. It just happened.'

'Still, I only gained this after you became my familiar.'

Elzbieta blushed harder. 'Shush! Don't say it!'

One of the windows opened and Ulric looked up. Kaui looked down from it and waved quickly with a dim lantern for him to jump up. He pulled at the knotted rope coiled around his shoulder and chest and tensed his whole body. 'Time to reach for the sky. Or window, in this case.'

Iphigenia and Elzbieta peeked around the corners of the alley to make sure no one was around and gave him the clear signal. He took a short sprint through the alley, jumped towards the front of the wall, and launched himself up at the open window with a short growl.

Kaui gasped and stepped back quickly when the bloodwolf came up fast at her. Her heart raced as Ulric landed in the window frame and grabbed it tight. He grinned at her. 'I could have won in the Olympics.' Kaui looked puzzled at him and he shook his head. 'Never mind.' he said and uncoiled the rope. There was nothing to tie it to and he coiled it twice around his arm before waving to Iphigenia and Elzbieta to come up. They climbed up while Ulric braced one foot against the window and Kaui kept an eye out on the street.

A soft clink of metal caught her attention and light shining away to one side made her heart race again. 'There's a guard coming!' she hissed. 'He'll see them before they're up here!'

Ulric concentrated on them. 'Hold on! I'll pull you up!' he said and they gripped the rope tight while he pulled quickly.

Iphigenia jumped from the window as soon as she reached it but Elzbieta's foot snagged it and tumbled forward. Ulric grinned as he lay on his back with her on top. 'Careful.'

She blushed again. 'Thanks.'

Kaui hauled up the rest of the rope and closed the window before the guard could see it. 'Quiet now. Even if there are few inside, we can still get caught by a servant or guard.'

'Any idea on where the lord is now?' asked Iphigenia.

'I overheard a servant saying he was in his study and I believe it's somewhere at the back here.'

Ulric pricked up his ears. 'I'll listen for sounds of someone coming while we search the place.' he said.

Iphigenia nodded and turned to Kaui. 'You'd better go back before they catch you with us.'

She shook her head. 'I'll help you. I can distract while you go hide if needed.'

Iphigenia smiled a little at the determined look in Kaui's eyes. 'All right. We'll rely on you then.'

The four moved silently through the wooden corridors and went down floor by floor, Ulric listening and sniffing at doors that might be where the orc lord's study was until he held up his paw at one. 'It's faint but I can hear voices.' he said and carefully opened the door.

The dark room inside held cases full of paperwork and scrolls covered in dust. Faint light shone from the floor in one corner and they gathered around a crack between two floor boards wide enough to see the pig lord at his desk underneath.

Iphigenia spoke to Elzbieta and Ulric in her mind. 'He's talking to someone in the common demon language.'

'You understand it?' asked Ulric.

She nodded. 'I picked up enough over the years from people who also know it.' She looked down at Lord Humanus leaning back in his seat. 'I'll translate as best as I can.'

'So what are you suggesting?' Humanus asked of his guest.

'I think it's time a band of humans are seen around the area. Maybe even attack something close to the village.' the guest said and Iphigenia heard he wasn't orc, but couldn't make out what race instead.