Eritance - Chapter 10

Two screams could be heard as Orin pulled the lord’s daughter off the cliff with him. One was the frightened and surprised scream of the lord’s daughter, the other the enraged scream of the orc chieftain as he saw his prey slipping away from him. Orin and the lord’s daughter quickly tumbled through the air and landed in cold water. As the sun began to set, the might river pulled them along, further and further away from the cliff where the orc chieftain was standing.

Orin tried to swim towards the shoreline but the current in the river was too strong. It was all he could do to keep himself and the lord’s daughter from drowning. Their heads repeatedly bobbed up and down below the surface of the water. The lord’s daughter was not taking this well. She violently thrashed around trying to grab at anything to keep her head above the water. She knocked Orin down under several times in her panic. Gasping for air Orin shouted, “don’t panic, if you keep thrashing around like that we’re done for! Just hold on to my arm and kick with your feet. Together we can force our way to land”.

Despite saying this, it was easier said than done. Every time they approached the shore the current would pull them back. The river was also full of small rocks that they would occasionally hit causing them to twirl around wildly and lose their progress.

This wild struggle continued for several tens of minutes and both Orin and the lord’s daughter were exhausted. At this, Orin couldn’t help but thinking to himself again, “Why me? I didn’t even want to come on this stupid journey. If not for the lord threatening me, I would have been back in the village, safe”.

As Orin began to consider the idea of giving up, he saw what appeared to a bend in the river. It wasn’t the first bend that the river had made, but in the darkness, he was fairly certain he could see something. “A log!” Orin shouted. It seemed that a tree had rotted on the inside and fallen towards the river. This long and thick tree was halfway submerged into the river bed and the other half was still on the shore. With that he and the lord’s daughter roused up their remaining strength and desperately kicked towards the log. This would be their last chance for survival. If they missed this, they would die in the river.

However, Orin and the lord’s daughter were quite fortunate. Due to the fallen tree being so long, they were able to make it and grab on as they neared. The current pulled against their bodies, but Orin did not lose his grip on the log. With several mighty pulls, Orin was able to finally reach the shore. They came out of the water and immediately collapsed with a heavy plop. Breathing heavily Orin and the lord’s daughter laid there for about half an hour before Orin slowly got up. “Let’s go” he wearily said. The lord’s daughter looked at Orin as if he were crazy. “We nearly drowned because of you, and you want to keep going? What’s wrong with you” she said. Orin was surprised, not to hear what she said, but to hear her speak at all. This whole time she had said anything, he was beginning to think she was a mute.

“I know you want to rest. I do too, but for all we know that crazy orc jumped in after us. At the very least, he will probably be tracking the river to see if he can find us” I replied. “Even though he was injured, he didn’t have trouble catching up to us after we stopped for a minute at the cliff, so I think that if we stay here he will catch up with us within half a day”. All in all, Orin and the lord’s daughter had traveled 10 km down the river way. “Half a day means that we can rest for a quarter of a day” the lords daughter stubbornly responded. At this Orin became annoyed and snapped back at her “look, if you want to die, be my guest. I’m not going to wait around for that crazy orc to find and kill us. I could survive more easily without you dragging me down anyways”. At his words the lord’s daughter became angry. “Oh yeah? What about you? You’re the one who flung us into the river. Besides, the orc yelled something about scents. It seems that he can track us regardless of whether we move now or move later” she hissed at me. “Have you ever left that mansion of yours? The orcs won’t be able to track our scent through the water. At best they will look to see if we are out in the open by the shore, like we are now. If we keep moving, we can distance ourselves and remain hidden from sight” I exclaimed. “The choice is yours, you can either come with me, or you can try to survive on your own, I don’t really care either way”. With that, I turned around and started walking into the forest. After walking no more than 100 meters someone shouted “wait!” at me. It was none other than the lord’s daughter. “Oh, it’s you” I responded indifferently without really slowing down.

“Wait I said!” the lords daughter shouted “and don’t call me ‘you’ I have a name. It’s Ciara. Ciara Somers, daughter of the lord of Hallen”. “Well Ciara, that’s quite the name you have. I’m Orin. Just Orin. I also don’t want to deal with a spoiled brat, so if you’re coming with me, it might be best if you went back to being mute” I responded somewhat annoyed. At my words, Ciara huffed angrily. “How dare you speak to me like that? I have never been treated so rudely in my life. Have you ever heard of the concepts of manners?” she snapped back at me.

“Oh, I’ve heard of them” I said “but what right do you have to be treated well by me? You and your kind have always treated the field workers under you with contempt, our lives are worse less than the animals and grain you sell at the market. If it wasn’t for your father’s greed. My friend might still be alive today”. I coldly said.