Shora watched Javad go with a brave face, but countless doubts stabbed at her heart as she watched him leave. She'd told him outright that she liked him and he'd looked her in the eye and refused her. Or had he? She couldn't recall him saying that he didn't feel the same way. Just that his people wouldn't allow it. Well. She wasn't too concerned with the approval of humans.

What if she did the impossible? Continued training him to be as strong as an orc warrior? In time, he wouldn't care about their approval either. The strong didn't need the approval of the weak, and she'd make him very strong indeed. Even if he'd never be big. He'd told her about his family. His father was shorter than average for a human male and he called his mother tiny.

But she believed in his potential. She was six inches taller than him now and he still matched her in effort. 

She stared at the crumpled map. Imagining a route north of Qismat territory that wouldn't get her spotted. She remembered Uzgar's words about the humans. For all his skill, he feared them. Several more days passed while she considered her options. A dangerous plan was brewing in her mind. But first, she sought Uzgar out. She found him at the fire, drying long strips of meat.

He looked up. "Forgiven me, have you? How was your talk with Javad?"

She shrugged. "Figures you would have seen him. He's willing to move on without me. I'm not so willing."

"I've got good senses, Shora. Can't get anything past me. The boy is willing to become a man. I'll give him that."

"He won't accomplish his goal," Shora said. "He doesn't have the build for it."

Uzgar nodded. "Failure in these unreasonable dreams is part of growing."

"At least he's got one. What am I trying to accomplish?"

Uzgar glanced back towards the mountain. "We are hunters. Ours is the lonely task of supplying the mountain with real food. Orc bodies can't thrive on the mushroom fare alone. We keep our people strong."

"They don't even know I exist. I'm not as selfless as you, brother."

"Yet you spend all your time building up a human boy?"

She thought for a moment before she answered. "It's not the same. I like the effort. I learn while practicing with him. I feel his successes. Brother, I can't let this go. Every morning I'll wake up and want to go with him. Even if it is just his one dream, I want to be part of something."

Uzgar stood from his work and placed both hands on her shoulders. "His kind would reward you for this with your death."

"Why should I fear them? You've told me yourself how many you've killed."

"A soldier likes to tell the stories where they've won. I have killed many. Many of my comrades attempted to do the same. All were killed eventually. One mistake, and they were run down. They were not granted a fight to the death. They were harried by javelins and arrows from afar. They bled until their strength was gone. Hunted down like a cornered bear. Our enemies think us the same as animals. And it would be the same for you."

"I wouldn't seek out a fight." Shora argued. "I'd find a hidden corner of their land."

"Hmph. So our isolation grates at you, and you'll find a place even more isolated? I might not be good company, but at least I'm someone to talk to. Even if you did keep to yourself, all it would take was one human spotting you, and a pack of them would hunt you. The news of an orc within their borders would spread. Their pursuit would never stop."

"I know I'm young, brother. But I'm not so headstrong. I know how to be careful. I picked it up from you." She stared up at him with the most determined expression she could muster.

He stared back her for a moment. "Whatever your plan, think it over carefully. Take a few days. Our life is not so bad. I want you to live a good, long life, Shora."

Shora looked up at the peak of the mountain. "I'd have to live first. Valuable or not, others can take up hunting. I'll do as you ask. Seek my answer in the wilderness."

"Take my steel spear with you."

Uzgar's weapon had taken the weapon from a fallen human warrior. It was the leaf-shaped blade of a pike, now repurposed into a ten-foot spear with a sturdy haft. The steel tip had a razor edge. Shora was of a mind to find Javad, but her brother's words had weight. The humans would see her as an enemy. This fear wouldn't leave her mind until her encounter with a desert lion.

The skinny animal stalked her for an entire day, keeping her on guard. It refused to make a fight of it, fearing the weapon in her hand. The moment she brought down her first deer, the starving cat's attention was taken. She saw the need in the animal's eyes. Retrieving her spear, she waved it in the cat's direction and left it the carcass. The animal descended on the small desert deer with a ravenous hunger.

Shora could have put an end to the cat easily, but it was no longer her enemy. It had what it needed now. A deadly fight had been averted. No matter where she went, someone or something might try to do her harm. She had avoided a fight with a cat, she could do the same with the humans.

For Javad, she'd risk it. Not just for his sake. His goal had begun as his own, but after a year, Shora considered it her goal as well. If she went, she'd need a great deal of food. She wasn't about to take any of the dried provisions Uzgar was sending into the mountain.

Shora's kind didn't believe in the human gods, but something was on her side that day. She found a densely trampled game trail and brought down as many animals as she could carry. She was a good hunter, but never had a haul like this. Arriving back at Uzgar's house, she returned his spear and dried enough meat for provisions to last her a few weeks. She'd bring as much water and food as she could carry.

 It was lucky that Javad had joined the Temple of Inferno to receive his training. Most of the other gods had a single temple in the capital city itself. The god of Inferno was the most popular in the nation. There were several temples, including one close enough for rural folk like Javad to attend. And so she could set up near the border, safe in a stretch of hilly, arid bushland.

It was time to go, but she wasn't about to leave without telling her brother. She owed him an explanation. She approached the house, wearing her pack, strapped down with food and water.

Uzgar stared at her. He seemed calm but was chewing his lip, which meant he was anxious. "Where are you going Shora? Far away?"

She stepped close, looking up into his eyes, showing no hesitation. "I'm going to train that boy. But he's moving to a new area."

"All this for a human? Have I been a poor brother to you?"

"You've been good to me. All my life. But I'm tired of this mountain. Javad has big dreams, and the will to carry them out. I want to be part of something. Nothing is happening around here. And it never will."

He'd been leaning down to look at her, but now he straightened his back to look as tall as possible. "If you go Shora. You won't be welcome back. The humans are our enemies. Javad is no exception."

"So you hate the humans that much? Then why are you here? You haven't moved from this isolated longhouse! Why aren't you out there fighting them?" she shouted.

His eyes blazed with anger. He clenched his fists and leaned close to her. "It's for you! Our parents died in the war. I promised father I'd look after my tiny sister. Any aggression against the humans would bring retribution. Against our people. And against you."

She took a step back. "I never asked for that."

"Do you think the humans are peaceful?"

"They've left us alone all my life," she said. "And I know at least one of them is a good man."

"Humans have long memories. They haven't forgotten the war. If it hadn't cost them so much, they'd have wiped us out. Humans are not like us. They don't believe in blood for blood. Any grievance, they repay tenfold."

"I don't care about the rest of his race. I want to be with that boy. He's brave and good."

Uzgar sat heavily on the ground. "I shouldn't have kept you so far from your own kind. This is my fault. You needed companions."

Shora sat beside him. "We visited the mountain many times. I met plenty of other young male orcs. Never took to them like I did Javad. I've made up my mind."

He nodded. "Don't come back with the human boy in tow. If I saw him, I'd tear him limb from limb."

She stood up. "I'm going."

"Do you have enough food, water?"

"I do." She took a step towards the door, and Uzgar was suddenly in front of her.

"Stop." He took the steel spear from above the doorframe, hesitated, and finally held it out towards her. "I didn't mean it. You are always welcome back. Once you give up on this plan of living with a human."

She took the spear. "You were never tough enough on me, brother."

"We all have a weakness. Stay strong Shora. You can only rely on yourself out there."

She stepped past him, leaning against his strong shoulder for a moment. "Goodbye," she whispered.

It was as much affection as she could grant him without changing her mind. His muscles tensed up from the brief contact, but he didn't turn around as she walked out the door. Shora forced a brave smile as she stepped over the hill, but a fear she'd never known roiled in her gut. The unknown beckoned, and she wondered if she was ready.