“Follow the path up the mountain,” the orc commanded in a clipped tone. His deep, low, hoarse voice caused shivers to run over my spine. “Then enter the first cave.”

Even though I was scared, I still couldn’t look away from him, finally having the chance to observe an orc at close hand.

His skin had a different shade than that of the other orcs I’d seen before. Maybe their skin came in all kinds of colors? Human skin was unique, so why wouldn’t theirs be too? This orc was grayish brown and severely scarred. His bare arms were under scratches and lumps and bumps.

I raised my head, looking up at his tall physique. Broad chest, wide shoulders, thick neck. His face was asymmetrical, his jaw square and his nose stump and crooked. He wasn’t very pleasing to the eye. I even dare say that he was quite hideous instead. But his face was surprisingly scar-free and smooth, except for a bit of hair growing around his thin lips.

His facial decoration was called a beard, or so I’d learned in school. It was something that was most common among men, although my sisters always told me that our grandmother had a stinging beard as well. I couldn’t remember that myself, as my grandma had died when I was only three years old.

This orc possessed a shiny black beard, braided below his chin and adorned with a small silver bead at the end of the thin braid. His beard seemed soft and not stingy at all.

My eyes then followed a trail to his black as coal irises and I found him looking at me with narrowed eyes.

He softly growled before he ordered: “Walk along, woman.”

“O-oh,” I answered, not able to find any other words.

“Of course. Thank you, sir,” Amira replied before she hooked her arm into mine and pulled me with her.

I looked over my shoulder one last time. The orc, however, paid us no further attention as he'd moved on to the next woman in line.

“Gosh, Gyda! You dared to blatantly gape at the man with an open mouth!” She said when we were far enough out of reach for the orc to hear us. She still held onto my arm. “So shameless.” She chuckled.

“That was so intense,” I whispered before taking a large inhale of breath and exhaling again. ”Weren’t you scared?”

Amira seemed to be calmer than I was feeling at the moment.

“That was you being scared?” she asked. “You didn’t seem to be afraid.”

“Oh, I was,” I answered.

“I think you maybe mean…fascinated instead?” she giggled.

If my mother would see me like this, she would be very, very disappointed. Giggling over meeting an orc? Disgraceful!

“That too…” I admitted. I’ve always been fascinated by orcs and the few known tales about them. Maybe it was because there was a taboo and mystery about them. “But I was also scared. My heart is pounding in my throat!” I touched my neck and felt it beating against my fingertips. “Isn’t yours?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I’m not that scared. I’ve seen orcs before. I guess you haven’t.”

“Y-you have?” I asked. “Where? How?”

“Wait. Let’s do this first,” Amira answered as we stood in front of a steep, rocky stretch. We had to climb up, but it was nothing I couldn’t do.

"Okay," I replied. "Be careful."

Amira went first and I followed. A minute later, we had successfully climbed up the hardest part.

I brushed my hands against my skirt, patting away the sand and dirt that were left after crawling up.

“Now tell me about where you’ve seen them,” I asked, not yet forgotten what she’d promised me.

“I told you I’m from the poor side of town,” Amira started, brushing off her dress as I was doing. “It’s closer to the border and orcs sometimes cross, to do business with my mom. You see, she’s a medicine woman, so the orcs sometimes trade stuff of their own in exchange for mom’s ointments and remedies and all that.”

“They do that?” I asked curiously as we walked the narrow path, up the mountain.

“Yeah. Especially for their little ones, as they get sick more often. It’s cold in the mountains, you know? And baby orcs aren’t as strong as their fathers. They say my mother’s stuff helps.”

“Really? Wow…” I answered, quite impressed. “I’ve never heard anything about that." I held on to the rocky gray wall with my right hand as I avoided looking down at my left. “I always thought that humans and orcs don’t mingle, except for that one day a year.”

And I never thought about their kids. I mean, I knew that orc sons would return to their fathers and brothers, as they couldn't stay with us. But I never thought about orcs being responsible parents. Come to think of it, it was strange I hadn’t given that any thought before. Maybe it was because people always spoke about them as if they were aggressive, brute, and dumb creatures.

“Oh, I’m sure they don’t come everywhere,” Amira continued. “And it’s not like they’re visiting us to talk about the glorious weather or anything. It’s purely a business deal. We live close to their border. They want something we have. We want things they have. That’s it. And I mean, why not? They get medicine and my mom gets meat and fur in return. They’re very skilled hunters, so it’s a win-win.”

I agreed. “Tell me more!” I enthusiastically cried out, so fully emerged in Amira’s story, that I was careless and slipped when my foot stepped on a loose rock. I let out a high-pitched cry as I barely kept my balance.

Amira reacted fast, turning around, and grabbing my arm. “My gosh! Be careful, will you!” she yelled, squeezing at my arm and pulling me back to balance again.

“Hahh…s-shit,” I breathlessly replied, sweat gushing off my forehead in just mere seconds. “I- I will.”

“Maybe we need to stop talking because you should focus on walking, miss curiously,” Amira said sternly. “It won’t take long before it’s dark too.”

“M-maybe we should.” I smiled with trembling lips.

~

The dark, cold cave was lit up with torches that hung on the walls every few meters.

“I can hear other people,” Amira whispered as we and a few girls walked inside. "Deep voices. And music."

“Me too,” I replied, ears wide open.

The sound came from further inside. It was music, but the kind I’d never heard before. Deep drums getting mixed with low guttural chants. These weren't the voices of women, so it had to be them.

“Come!” Amira grabbed my arm and pulled me with her. We hastily passed the women that walked ahead of us.

“Hey!” one of them called out when I accidentally bumped against her shoulder.

“Sorry,” I apologized, looking over my shoulder.

They all had such pretty hair and I felt a sting thinking about my own pathetic hairdo.

“You’re eager,” I said breathlessly as we speed-walked through the narrow, stone mountain hallway with long strides.

I have to say that I didn’t expect the mountains to look like this from the inside. Didn't expect the candle and torch-lit hallways. Some walls were even decorated with paint and showed all kinds of curly shapes. I couldn't recognize anything in the art, though.

It was fairly clean too. And I wondered how long it had taken to create all these tunnels. It must have been such hard labor.

“I'm sorry but I can’t stand walking behind snails,” Amira whispered, harshly.

“They’re nervous, Amira. And to be honest, so am I. You may have seen orcs before, but the rest of us haven't. At least not from up close. And…didn’t you see the size of that guy? I felt so small compared to him. I think I barely reached his navel.”

And that while I was the tallest in my family.

“And his neck was almost as thick as my waist!” I added.

“Do you think I’m not nervous?” Amira asked. “I am nervous!” She let out a nervous giggle while continuing to pull me along with her. I guess she’d been keeping it in all this time.

The deeper we went into the mountain, the louder the music became. The beat of the drums vibrated through my body, almost in sync with my too fast-paced heartbeat.

Amira suddenly halted her steps, stopping me as well. “I think we’re at the end,” she said before inhaling a deep breath.

“I think so too…” I replied, looking at a dark-brown cloth that blocked the narrow hallway. It was made of fur and leather that was sewn together to form one big curtain.

They were there. Behind that curtain, we were about to enter. Their domain.

.