Refugees of a Broken Land

Grok hid in the shadows not moving an inch. Following the ongoing events with growing irritation. His day had started perfectly. One of his traps had caught a forest chicken and for most of the day, he had been thinking about the best way how to prepare a meal out of it. Roasting would be the obvious choice but some sort of soup could warm the winter day in a very special manner also.

The vast area Grok used for hunting was so secluded that he practically never ran into strangers there. And this was just the way he wanted it. He could not call it exactly his own territory but being the only inhabitant within miles he was starting to think of it as his land. And now this lot had come around to disturb his peace.

He heard them from far as they did not really try to go undiscovered. There were five of them but they were not the same group. Or maybe four and a half since there was one child who was nothing more than a toddler. The toddler's mother was furiously shouting and trying to protect the toddler and herself with some sort of ancient sword but now even that was over. The three others had just managed to snatch that off from her leaving her defenseless.

It is a cold world Grok was thinking. If she would be lucky she would only be raped. But most probably they would not settle for that. She would be sold to the slavers after. That is if she didn't fight back so much that they would end up killing her. In which case they could only sell the motherless child. The toddler was just old enough to understand that something was terribly wrong and was hiding behind her mother and watching the bandits with tears in her eyes.

Based on his own hard life experiences his inner voice of reason was telling him not to meddle with the affairs of people he did not know. And especially not with humans. He knew that a lonely orc like himself could very well be the target of some drunken angry mob from the closest city and that was exactly why he had chosen to live so far in the wilderness in the first place. But he had made up his mind and stepped forward.

So good had his hiding place been that within seconds he was among the others and all action stopped. All of them were staring at this green giant that had appeared from nowhere. The toddler was screaming with terror. The leader of the bandits talked first. "Nothing to see here why don't you carry along and mind your own business you dumb ogre!" His companions snickered but with some nervousness in their voices. "Go back on your tracks and never return to this part of the forest ever again" Grok rumbled with his deep voice. Not overly aggressively but with enough authority to let them know he meant it. The man that had spoken earlier weighed his options for a moment. "We'll take the woman," he said nodding towards her but a simple and firm no was the only answer from Grok.

The leader of the bandits was a hard man himself. Runaway from a distant military unit. Living off the purses of weaker men. He had already calculated that a fairly attractive woman with a growing daughter would result in a handsome fee from the slavers. He could not see any weapons on the Orc no matter how impressive its physical frame was. He on the other hand had this sword he had just removed from the woman and his companions had their long daggers.

And without a warning, the leader lunged with his sword aiming to kill. With speed and accuracy trained during his years fighting in other people's wars. But still, it was not enough. He did not have the time to comprehend what was happening when his wrist snapped and iron-hard knuckles crunched every bone in his face. He dropped dead on the ground. His companions had moved simultaneously with his attack but the second of them found now the old sword piercing his throat. And the third one youngest of them stopped in disbelief. The sudden and violent deaths of his partners did the trick. He had no illusion of defeating this adversary just by himself.

Grok knew that it was over before it even started. The last of the bandits would reconsider his position and flee. The only rational thing to do. But sadly no. He also had laid his bed when he had come to Grok's lands in order to take advantage of this woman and her child. If they only would have listened and turned away earlier when Grok had offered them the chance. It was highly likely that if the third bugger would be let go he would only return with some sort of lynch mob. Telling them stories of a mindless ogre kidnapping a young woman with a child. And killed two companions of him who were just trying to protect the woman. That sort of story would certainly rouse the anger of the town's men. So Grok took a few more steps. He made sure that the bandit's dagger would do no harm by seizing his hand and when he was disarmed lifted him up in the air by his throat and broke his neck with his bare hands.

To Eve all this was an ongoing nightmare. One moment she was sure she and her daughter would be killed by the three robbers. And then came this green monster from the bushes and within seconds all three men were dead. The one whose throat had been cut was heavily bleeding and the snow around them was turning red. Another of the corpses was twitching in a horrible manner. Clearly dead but it took some time for the body to understand it. And furthermore, there was this undeniable and disgusting smell of human feces lingering in the air. At least one of the bodies had released it all at the moment of death.

The green giant turned to her and she instinctively pulled her daughter closer and tried to readjust her torn clothes. Oh god did she even see how the brute was taking a glance at her revealed cleavage? Would it have been better to be raped and killed by the three human men than by this brutal orc? Eve's heart was breaking from the desperate cries of her child. There was nothing she could do about it. Not a single thing she could do to help themselves. She had been no match for the three bandits and they had been no match for this new horror that came out of nowhere.

Eve knew about orcs and had even seen one once in the town market but what she saw now was just too much. The violence. The size. Those evil-looking fangs peaking out from the lower part of his mouth. For all her childhood she had heard stories of wars between orcs and men and how the orcs were the most vicious and violent creatures that had ever been spawned.

The giant pulled something from his bag and even though Eve tried to flinch away pushed it to her daughter's hand. The crying toddler took it and put it in her mouth and stopped crying for a moment. Eve could see it was some sort of loaf of bread and as hungry as the child had to be it had done the trick. "If you need shelter, you follow me," the orc said and started strolling away.

Eve looked behind him. Not moving an inch. The winter day was starting to fade away. For all that she knew they could be ten miles away from any lodging. Earlier she had had to drop her bag in order to run away from the bandits and now had nothing on her. In the heat of the escape attempt she had not been thinking about the temperature but now that all of it was over the lethal coldness was creeping in fast. Well, at least the orc had not killed them immediately Eve thought and hurried to follow him.

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Grok was not an orc of many words. He did speak the common tongue but he just didn't use it much since he was almost always alone. When they reached his cottage he continued his chores like he would have done without the woman and the child. He lit up his stow and started to pluck the forest chicken. Eve was studying the place with her daughter.

She had had terrible problems staying up with the Orc's pace walking back there. It seemed that he had not slowed for them a bit. But now they were there and she was thinking that at least the effort had kept them somewhat warm. As the stow was starting to heat the place and themselves up she could not believe they had survived.

Eve was quite surprised at how neat the orc's home was. It was built solidly and everything was dry. At the center of it, was this huge stow for making food and keeping the place warm. Then there was a large table with chairs over it and some cabinets for pots and pans and various other stuff. An alcove could be seen in the back of the big common room and there was a huge bed with some animal furs as blankets. Eve hadn't had any expectations but if she would have to guess she would have thought of some sort of cave or even a hole in the ground would be where an orc would be living. The most surprising part still had to be this ingenious tap where running water could be turned to come straight out of the wall. Eve knew that the richest parts of her hometown had something called an aqueduct and this had to be something similar.

When the chicken was plucked and cleaned Grok offered it to her and nodded towards the stow. It took a moment to sink in but Eve realized he wanted her to prepare some meal out of it. And being a woman who had been working in several households as a maid she certainly was up to the task. From the kitchen cabinet, she found some roots and even salt and some sort of pepper and garlic. How wonderful she was thinking. Maybe the orc was not that uncivilized after all. And she decided to go with a soup recipe she had learned as a child. After all, it was a cold winter day.

As Eve prepared the dinner Grok was sitting in his chair and fiddling up something. Combining some wood and an acorn. Then he gave it to the toddler and she was astounded that it was clearly some sort of a cow or a horse. She took it and showed it to her mother. Water broke from Eve's eyes. She mustered up her courage and looked at Grok directly into his eyes. He was still a terrifying sight but she could see his good intentions. She nodded approvingly cleared her throat and thanked Grok. And not just for the acorn but for all of it. They could not have survived without him. This made Grok visibly embarrassed and uncomfortable. He grunted and just waved his hand and returned to his chair to wait for dinner.

While working on the dinner Eve was talking to her daughter Sina. Telling her how there would be some delicious chicken soup soon. She wondered how fast the child had recovered. Sina had eaten a second slice of bread from Grok and was now warm in this cozy hut. And as Eve was not that distressed anymore also Sina had calmed down visibly. Playing with her acorn cow on the floor.

The dinner was excellent. Not in a million years would Grok have been able to make such a tasty soup. At the table, they exchanged their names and Eve thanked Grok once more even though it made him quite uncomfortable again. Sina was eating in earnest. She must have been starving. Eve told Grok some of their histories. How the owner of the house she had been working before had run into some financial difficulties. How the house was taken away by the dept collectors and Eve and Sina kicked out to the streets. Being unemployed and without a house was the worst especially since Sina's father had died of cholera the previous year.

None of it surprised Grok. He would have guessed there was some misfortune in her past already far before being chased down by those bandits. On the other hand, he himself did not dwell on the past or plan too much for the future. He had a warm house and a belly full of excellent soup. He did conclude in his mind that it had been a good decision not to let those men take Eve and Sina away. After dinner, they retired to bed. Grog gave them some more furs and Eve made them a separate bed in the corner of the cottage. And Sina and Eve slept like dead people exhausted from all that had happened.

They woke up very late and Grok was not there. Eve didn't really know what to do but she lit up the stow again to keep up the heat. Then she studied the cabin surroundings. There was a separate building for some firewood and also an outdoor toilet. Some sheep and goats were living in another farm building in the yard. A stream of water was running down from a cliff behind the cabin and Eve knew that that was where the water to the tap was coming from. For lunch, they ate the same soup again but she did also find some flour and baked bread out of it. After some searching Eve also found some needles and rough thread and was able to fix some of her torn clothes.

At the end of the day, Grok returned. He had a dead hare hanging in his belt but also a huge shovel and pickaxe in his hands. Eve considered that he had probably returned and buried the bodies but did not ask. The hare naturally was very good news and Eve could think of various different dishes which she could prepare from it. With closer looks Eve noticed that there were indeed some remains of blood and dirt on Grok's clothes and hands and was now certain of where he had spent his day.

As Eve prepared the meal Grok removed a cover from a huge barrel at the outermost corner of the cottage. It was filled with water and Eve realized it was some sort of bathing tub. She noticed also that some sort of pipes were going from the water tap to the stove and furthermore to the barrel. If Grok had really built this all on his own he must be quite a craftsman. And without any warning, Grok started to drop off his clothes. Eve did not know where to look but with a quick glance confirmed that he was just as impressive without clothes as with clothes on. Huge round and green glute muscles were working as Grok stepped up and into the barrel. Eve followed him from the corner of her eye and saw how he closed his eyes and relaxed in the tub.

After another tasty dinner, Grok sat on his chair and Eve asked if she and Sina could use the bathtub also. He hastily approved and with his few words even apologized for not having the wits to offer it to them earlier. He even dug out two huge towel-like pieces of cloth which he then offered to them. Eve was feeling quite shy about undressing in the same room but the thought of the warm bath won her over. After all the sun had set down and the cabin was lit only by a few oil lamps.

She did have all the reasons to be shy. Even though she used her towel as some sort of cover when going to the tub she could see Grok staring at her with glassed eyes. "I hope this wasn't a mistake," she thought. Grok had saved them and been friendly to them all the time but after seeing the look in his eyes it was obvious that he wanted her. And Eve had lived long enough to have seen what lust could make men do. But having the hot water around her and her daughter splashing the water and even laughing at her made all her bad thoughts disappear.

After a while, Sina wanted out from the heat of the barrel. Eve was trying to figure out how to help her daughter out of the tub while still keeping herself covered with the towel when Grok's shadow was over them. He was there to help and pulled the child up like she was a feather. To Eve's surprise Sina did not disapprove but actually, let him take her to his lap and cover her in the giant-size towel.

There was a somewhat curious and indecent glance from Grok to the murky bathwater where Eve hid her naked body but he did not linger and went with Sina to his chair. Eve could see how Sina was staring at Grok trustfully and even reached out her small hand to grab a hold of one of his fearsome tusks. Grok chuckled at the toddler's sincere interest. It had been a long time since someone has touched him with such friendliness.

Eve lingered in the bath. In her mind, he returned to Grok looking at her. He did want her. And what did she think of it? Was it even physically possible for an orc male and a human female to be intimate together? Eve knew those half-breeds did indeed exist. Part human part orc. And this would evidently mean that orcs and humans could have sex together. And with these thoughts, the tub suddenly felt even warmer than before.

Eve rubbed herself clean and left the bath. She covered herself with her towel and since she did not have any spare clothes and the only outfit she had was quite beaten and dirty she made some sort of a toga for herself from her towel. She went for Sina and there she was. Sleeping in Grok's arms. Grok was so big in contrast that Sina looked like a much smaller baby than she really was. She looked so safe. Eve marveled at the powerful figure holding the baby. Shivers still went through her when she remembered the violence. Grok killed three men like it was nothing. The same quality would make him a great ally. Nothing would be able to reach Sina as long as those hands were on her cover.

She took her from Grok and carried her to their bed in the corner. When she returned Grok rose and deliberately took her hands to his own. "Eve sleeps in Grok's bed tonight?" his deep voice whispered as he was looking into her. She kind of had known it was coming. She wasn't even 100% sure if it was a question or a command. She did think that she owed it to him. And she absolutely knew that if Grok decided to have her there was nothing she could do to stop it.

A bit uncomfortable or at least an unfamiliar feeling had stirred in Grok's mind for the whole evening. He did not think anything of himself being naked in the bath but when Eve had undressed everything changed. He wasn't completely inexperienced with women but it had been too long since he had had the opportunity to have sex with someone. Heck, he had even laid with a human girl once at the bordello in the town. He had found it very nice but he also had to pay a big penny for it. And the look on the girl's face while they did it had told him that having sex with an orc was the last thing she wanted. Now having this nearly naked human woman in his cabin aroused him tremendously. Even his member got hard as he was watching her and was pinned tightly to his leg by his trousers.

And then there was the child. After focusing on other thoughts Grok's physical arousal reduced and he decided to help Sina out of the tub. Rubbing the baby dry and then wrapping her up inside the towel had been all new to him. How could a human child be so small and fragile? Just Grok's one finger could match up with the size of her wrist. And how could it be that she was not afraid of him? His appearance must have been that of a monster from human fairytales. But when she reached out and took a hold of his tooth it was adorably clear that she was not afraid of him. As if she knew he would keep her safe.

The second Sina was taken to her bed and he was alone with Eve his arousal returned. It was almost as if he could not think of anything else but her being naked beneath that toga of hers. He had watched her carefully from the very beginning of it all. She was a very desirable woman. Young and healthy. Large bosom rising her shirt to prominent mounds. Fair hair with long curls. Lovely face and eyes different from his own. Blue. He had never seen blue ones before or at least could not recall.

So he could not help but asked her to join him in his bed for the night. He could see some confusion or inner debate in her but at least he didn't see the disgust he remembered from the brothel. She placed her hands on his huge chest. She looked away for a moment but then back to his face and deep into his eyes and softly told him "Yes Grok. I will sleep with you tonight" and began to lift off his rough linen shirt.

After Grok's shirt was gone she handled his belt next. As his trousers dropped his giant penis was right there between them. Already hard. There was just enough time for her to see it in all of its huge greenness before Grok turned to blow out the candles. Then he picked her up in his arms like she would weigh nothing and carried her to his bed. She lost the toga at the edge of the bed and they dived into the pile of furs. Heated water bottles had warmed the bed up nicely and it was very pleasant to bury oneself in the softness of the large and warm bed.