Read Fallen Crown (Orc Destiny Volume II) (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) for Free Online

Orc blade, designed for
basic stabbing and slashing, its thick steel blackened by heat and animal fat.
His eyes finally focusing, he recognized Daku, a former captain to his father,
and could see light coming in from what should have been the back of the tent.
The Orc had obviously cut his way in from the side opposite those captains
standing guard. Gnak tried to think how best to react, but was at a loss. The
Orc above him held his head down with one massive hand and held the blade
against his throat with the other. If he shouted, he would die. If he moved he
would die. The only thing Gnak did not know, was why the Orc had not yet killed
him. But he did not wait long for the answer.
    “Gnak no chief. Gnak demon. Daku kill demon. Bring much
honor. Make chief. Daku better chief, Gnak. Gnak want change Orc. Orc mighty.
No change Orc.”
    Gnak knew the Orc’s rant would not last long, but
nonetheless he was forced to endure the ramblings of the Orc who feared change
and mourned the loss of his position. Fortunately he did not have to wait long
for the Orc to run out of things to say. But when he did, things turned
immediately for the worse.
    Gnak felt as the Orc first pressed the blade against his
neck roughly as warm wetness dribbled down and around his neck, and just as the
Orc began to drag the rough blade across his throat to finish the job, Gnak
panicked and reacted by instinct. In an effort to strike his assailant, he
smashed his hand into the chest of the Orc leaning over him. Though his
open-palmed strike was not sufficient to cause damage, such was the blow that
Daku was driven up, relieving the pressure upon the blade, and back, causing
him to become off balance. But that was not what caused Gnak to gasp.
    In the instant his hand touched the bare chest of his enemy,
something wondrous happened. It was as if a veil had been yanked from before
his eyes, and not only could he see the inner light of his attacker, but he
could feel it upon his fingertips as he struck Daku. He grasped at it with a
growl of rage and felt as the warm light gave way, tearing from his attacker as
he wrapped his fingers around it.
    Instead of retaliating, Daku froze, a blank expression upon
his face as all the light in his eyes faded. From the front of the tent, both
of Gnak’s captains on guard duty burst through the flaps. Though Gnak should
have been focused on his captains and Daku, as the two Orcs sworn to him hacked
the would-be assassin to the ground viciously, regardless of the fact that Daku
made no move to defend himself, instead he looked first into the palm of his
hand and then to his captains.
    Like Daku, both of his captains had a small inner light
within them. He could see it plain as a beam of sunlight through the clouds.
Though he did not know how it had happened, or what had brought about the
change, Gnak knew that this would define everything he did from this day
forward. Raising a hand, he called for his captains to relent in their butchery
of Daku. Then, with naught but curiosity and confusion, he rose from his bed of
furs and walked out of the tent, blood still dribbling from his neck wound
which was luckily little more than a scratch.
    Though it was still day, it was just barely so. Most Orcs
remained in their tents, yet there were a few that wandered about the camp
seeing to minor tasks or personal needs. Each of them had an inner light. Each
of them glowed like Daku and his captains. Though it took his heart near an
hour to finally calm in his chest, and just as long for his mind to slow back
to a reasonable level, eventually he was able to think more rationally. He
recalled the entire attack over and over, and only stumbled upon one
conclusion. His vision had changed when he had touched Daku. His attacker had
been the first living person he had laid a hand upon since he had spoken with
the goddess weeks ago. Sure, he had touched Jen, but she had not truly been
alive. He had touched his father too, but only after having