Fireside
This is a short story I had to write for my Creative Writing class.
It's not explicit, but the woman has cow horns and the man has shark like characteristics.
It's just a quick thing.
Hope you enjoy it.
He peered outside the cave, carefully watching for any signs of life that may be watching from the darkness. The armies had moved further north, leaving the area around him torched and devastated. In retrospect, the light glow from the cave would never be distinguished as abnormal with the carnage of this battleground. Confident that he had a reprieve, at least briefly, he returned inside and sat on a short rock, staring intensely at the other inhabitant. She slept soundly on a worn bed roll against the opposite wall.
Considering she had been in the middle of the fray, she was relatively unharmed. Taking on an entire troop of those Orcs would be impressive in a group of five or six, but alone was unbelievable. Though, she did lose her helm. Every time he had seen her, she was always armor clad and battle ready, usually unhappy to see him. He had always assumed the horns on her head were from her helmet, but turns out she was not all human after all. He took off his gauntlet and slowly reached forward. He let his hand graze along the surface of her horn, coming to a rest at the base. His eyes shifted to her dark russet hair, then to the menacing glare of her topaz eyes. He smirked, pulling his hand back, "Look who's awake."
She continued glaring at him, her chest rising rhythmically. They remained where they were, neither moving as the fire flickered in unrestrained anticipation.
"Suppose you're wondering what you're doing ere'?"
She was steadfast in her silence. He cleared his throat, running a hand through his short, black hair, "Well, it seemed to me, His Royal Pain called upon his loyal night to come do his dirty work again. The troop you were fighting was most likely a retaliatory force for his threats a few weeks ago. The fool should have known the Orcs of all races wouldn't take his aggression lightly. I wonder though...I saw three other men with you, and they fell back after you engaged. To most, retreating from a larger force would be a fine idea, but to leave you like that, it almost seemed that they intended for you to perish, or kill all the Orcs. I wonder if he expected you to survive."
He stopped speaking upon hearing her voice, a firm, somewhat irritated, "Why am I here."
He smiled, his razor teeth bared in what appeared to be a pleasant smile, "Found your voice then?"
She remained silent.
"I was watching that group of Orcs for a few days. After I took my payment for a cross deal they made, I was curious to see if they had sent after me, turns out they were after your king. When I caught up with them, you were fighting already, and losing. Before they could completely overtake you, I came in and...assisted," he gestured to the large spiked hammer leaning against the wall.
"You were out cold, so I brought you back here before any more came. But now, you should probably rest. You can go back to your king tomorrow morning."
She shifted, wincing, into a sitting position. Taking a quick look around the cave, other than her armor piled beside the bed roll, it was rather barren. She set her eyes on the man sitting across from her, his face illuminated by the fire, "Why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why did you bring me here?"
He gave a strange snorting laugh and looked into the fire, "Why indeed."
His smile slowly faded and his gaze intensified, as if the fire were trying to tell him something. She had to admit, it intrigued her. He stood up suddenly, grabbing her attention, "Do you know who I am?"
"A mercenary. You have fought with and against us for months."
He began pacing in front of the fire, his eyes focused on the ground, "No. I'm the middle child of a brood of seven. My siblings went off to fight in wars across the sea. I stayed behind, taking my race's wanderlust to the land. I never actually intended this calling, fighting to earn my living. I was content minding my business as long as everyone else minded theirs. But you do what you must to survive; however, I did meet you this way. I still feel wanderlust, the urge to see what else this land has to offer, but I feel drawn back to you. Now don't go on thinking I've gone soft with love or some rot like that," he laughed and shook his head, "Hell maybe I have."
He sighed, turning back, and went to his seat, sitting down just as before, "But I don't know yet. But I know I don't want you dead until I find out. Now if you would, rest. You can go back to the king tomorrow."
The man before her had changed. At some point between standing and sitting, he had transformed. The greedy hired blade that had sat across from her moments before had dissipated, like smoke rising from the fire and disappearing into the night. She allowed herself to lie down, suddenly feeling far more tired than moments before. As sleep slowly pulled her back into its embrace, one thought stayed on the forefront of her mind. Who was the man sitting before her, eyes still searching the fire.