Chapter Twelve: Unlikely Group

Zakary was unsure about this, of all the orcs the wild ones were the most unpredictable, few had ever seen them those that did usually encountered them in deep forests and described them as savage uncivilized monsters.

Garrok could see the hesitation in Zak's expression, "Worry not, had we intended you harm I would not have called out to you" he said trying to reassure the seasoned warrior.

Ziri puffed out her chest trying to appear intimidating but to Dayn it made her look hilarious and he stifled a laugh seeing this she hmphed at him turning her head away, Dayn couldn't contain himself any further and laughed aloud. The laughter broke the tension that was building and Zak sighed before releasing his grip on the sword, "Sorry I've never met one of your kind and was on edge" he admitted.

The two elders discussed many things over the next couple hours, Dayn sat alongside Ziri on the stone floor of the passage, "You got lost to huh?" Ziri asked, "Kobold trap" Dayn replied, "It caved in the only way we knew how to get out." "I hate those little lizards" Ziri said angrilly, she explained how ever since they were exiled her and her dad had been fighting for their lives in the tunnels against them.

Dayn felt bad for her, if he didn't know better he'd ask them to join him and Zak then come live in the village, he wasn't a child, he knew orcs whether friendly or not would never be welcome amongst a human settlement.

"You and your dad shouldn't keep going this way" Dayn said after a long pause, "Zak said there's probably an Iron Orc settlement somewhere in these tunnels."

Ziri looked at Dayn thoughtfully, she never expected kindness from a human, this boy was strange, she didn't take offense to how the elder had reacted since she had come to expect as much.

"You're strange" she said bluntly, Dayn looked at her perplexed "Humans are supposed to see us as evil monsters, you not only tried to stop your elder from fighting but were never on guard after seeing us" she elaborated. Dayn thought about it for a minute, "I guess I am, it just didn't feel to me like you meant us any harm and seemed rude to bear arms against someone who came to us in peace."

Ziri smiled at the comment but quickly returned to her usual expression hoping he hadn't seen it, when she realized he did she punched him in the arm "Soft gut" despite how hard she tried to hide it Dayn could tell she was happy.

Garrok considered the situation for a moment, "You can't take the north tunnel, we came from that way and as far as I can tell there's no way outside from there it just travels deeper down, my clan has a home in a mushroom grove down there."

"So our only path lies to the east then" Zak reasoned, "It should be safe" Garrok reassured, "Shadow Dwarves don't build fortresses this close to the surface for the most part." "Where will you go?" Zak asked, "If there's an Iron Orc tribe to the south we'll have to try our luck to the west, we have a few weeks of food so should be enough time to clear the rubble out of the way."

Zak considered offering to help them out, they could work together to find their way out but he wasn't comfortable trusting an orc despite how friendly this one was being they were still monsters in his eyes.

"Why don't you come with us for now?" Dayn asked, "As long as you're with us I don't think you'll be attacked if we come across any dwarves"

Zak gave Dayn a disapproving look. Garrok looked between Zak and Dayn, he was about to turn down the offer "We should accept their offer" Ziri said looking at her father, "Besides, it'll give me a chance to whip this soft gut into shape."

She slapped Dayn on the back of the shoulder as she passed by, Garrok still looked unsure, Zak caved first, "Very well that seems the best decision to me."

His motives weren't entirely altruistic, he worried about letting them go west, if they managed to clear the rubble the western path would put them close to Sartann's Mines, even if they are good if the miners attacked them they'd defend themselves.

They moved into the well lit eastern tunnels, moving off solid rock and onto worked flagstone, stone pillars holding torches lined the walls clearly designed to bear the weight of the tons of rock overhead. The light was a bit much for Garrok and Ziri being more used to travelling in the darkened corners of the wild caves, Dayn attempted to help Ziri who responded by giving him a playful shove.

"I can handle this much its just light" she said, the two chatted away at the back of the group while Zak and Garrok led, Zak was a bit concerned about Dayn getting to close to Ziri as they'd likely never see each other again.

The tunnel began to open up to a wider corridor, a pair of iron bound doors lay open at the end of the path the closer they got the more noise they heard, the constant tapping of metal against rock. A cacophony greeted them as they approached the open doors, the noises of mining, loud conversation and construction poured out of the chamber where a multitude of dwarves were busy at work.

A pair of guards at the door noticed them immediately, or more accurately noticed Garrok and leveled halberds in his direction, they turned to the sound of approaching boots and around the corner came a regiment of armed and armored troops.