The Ardor - 2. Chapter 2

The Ogrushkai stared at me like this for a Part, but it felt much longer. Every fiber in my body screamed at me to flee. This urge intensified when he stood up, but his deliberate movements didn’t give the impression of an impending attack. My body relaxed; just to go tense again when the Ogrushkai pushed away the cloak.

He was the most muscular being I had ever seen. His chest was so broad that four humans could comfortably stand inside its volume. His arms were thicker than both of my thighs together. The Ogrushkai’s legs were covered by leather pants, into which fur had been worked. Those legs had to be as massy as the rest of his body. He wore an X-shaped, metal-ornamented leather harness, which was made of the same material as the pants, giving view to his flat and ripped stomach. Leather bracers on his lower arms completed his armor. Ogrushkai were green, I had already known that, and in the dim light of the prison, dark grass described his skin color best. I looked up into his face. I didn’t know whether human standards applied, but he had to be in his early twenties. His features were edgy, manly, and well proportioned. Two tusks extended up somewhere halfway between his upper lip and his nose. Without the shadows of the hood, the color of his eyes had changed. It was something between gold and amber. Rage glowed in them but was mixed with other feelings I couldn’t discern. I hoped that his fury wasn’t directed at me but our captors. His black hair was braided into dreadlocks, gathered into a ponytail with a leather band. If worn open, it’d reach down to his shoulders. Apart from his brows and eyelashes, there was no further trace of body hair; at least, not on the parts visible. Some bruises and small wounds, covered with dried, green blood, were all over his torso. Someone had treated them without care, and they told of a recent battle.

He studied me, motionless, while I studied him. One thing was clear: If he decided to hurt me, I couldn’t do much about it. My heart was still hammering, but the only chance I had was to establish a connection with him.

“My name is Elyran.” A thought occurred to me. “Do you speak my language?” A silly question if he didn’t.

He growled before he answered in a deep bass voice, “It’s not that difficult, human. And the witchery didn’t tamper with my hearing.” He raised his hand, its back facing me, and flicked it towards me. “You told the warlock your name.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“If you offend me, human, you’ll know.” Despite the unfriendly words, his posture and his face relaxed.

I nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Is that important, human?”

“For me it is, cause I don’t want to call you Ogrushkai, Ogrushkai.”

That was much more defiance than I had intended. It was a curse of the gods to give me wit but no control over it. Nervousness cramped my chest.

“At least, you’re no coward. My name’s Maraki.”

He pronounced his name with the stress on the second syllable. A fleeting smile on his face assured me that I hadn’t crossed a line. He wrinkled his forehead when he realized that I was still standing pressed against the wall.

“I promise you this: I won’t harm you…” His eyes closed. “…at least not willingly.” He shook his head, getting something out of it, and opened his eyes. “Since you don’t know us, we Ogrushkai keep our vows.”

“Nice to meet you, Maraki. I don’t know whether this means much to you, but I believe you.”

I really did. His whole demeanor told me he spoke the truth.

“It does, human, it does.”

He scanned his surroundings. When he saw the basin, he advanced towards it, but after a couple of steps, he went down to his knees with a dull sound. His arms barely caught his fall.

Without thinking, I crossed the distance between us, knelt down beside him, and touched his shoulder. “Let me help you.”

His face contorted. “Don’t!”

“You’re not in the position to tell me what I do and what I don’t. Can you make it to the wall if I support you?”

He grunted an affirmative. With effort, he managed to get his right foot on the ground and pushed up. It took all my strength to hold him. I estimated that he weighed three times as much as I did. Only a fraction of his weight rested on me, but it was enough to bring me to my limits. We made it to the water basin; with his back to the wall, he slid down.

I got the brown cloak, ripped off a couple of small stripes, soaked them in the cold water, and began to clean his wounds. “Who took care of these? A butcher?” My uncle had instructed me in taking care of the wounded. One of the many things he had taught me before I had run away.

He pressed his lips together. “The Nur’Zhul didn’t deem me important enough to send me to the Emperor’s personal healer.”

“As long as the patient is able to make jokes, he’s not mortally wounded. That’s what my uncle always said.”

“Must be a wise man, your uncle.”

If he knew how right he was about that. I touched his forehead. It felt warm. “Are you feverish?”

“No, I don’t think so. The heat of an Ogrushkai is higher than the heat of a human.”

That was one of those little facts the sorcerer had spoken of.

“I think the battle and the spell have weakened you. The wounds don’t look too serious. You’ll be back on your feet in no time.” I looked up and saw that Maraki’s eyes rested on me.

“I’m grateful, human, but when I’ll be in full Ardor, you’ll wish me to be weak.”

I had wondered about the sorcerer’s words. “So he has spoken the truth? About the Ardor, I mean.”

He nodded. “He has not lied to you. Not this time.”

“Then I hope you’ll remember that I helped you when it starts.”

“That’s not how the Ardor works. When it sets in, there isn’t enough left of me to remember your kindness.”

“When? When will you be in full Ardor?”

His gaze was still on me. “At the moment, I can take care of it myself. We have certain meditation techniques together with…” He gestured at his crotch.

I understood.

“But the Nur’Zhul are too clever not to find ways of getting me into the Ardor. The spell which he used to bring me here, for example.”

“As long as you don’t give in to it, it cannot make you do more than basic movements.”

“You know a lot about magic.”

A shiver crawled up my back at this bothersome subject, and I hoped he didn’t notice. “Ardor or not, you’re a prisoner like me. I’ll treat you with respect and friendliness. Even if it doesn’t help, it won’t harm either.”

His eyes narrowed but not in an unfriendly way. “You’re a peculiar thief, human.”

“I’ll take this as a compliment.”

I smiled at him, and though Maraki shrugged, his eyes sparkled and betrayed that he wasn’t as indifferent as he wanted me to believe.

Maraki had closed his eyes and rested, though I doubted that he was asleep, since he was fully alert when the wooden door opened. A guard with two bowls descended the steps. He placed them just within my reach outside of the bars and, as always, parted without a word. I got the bowls and handed one to Maraki, while setting mine aside for later. Knowing the usual quality of the food, I tried to extend the time between meals as much as possible. It smelled like its ingredients had been dead for too long, and it looked likewise. Maraki didn’t seem to care. With quick movements, he stuffed the muddy pulp into his mouth. When he was finished, his stomach growled, asking for more.

I took my bowl and held it before him. “Here, eat.”

His brows raised. “You listened when I told you about it being clever to keep me weakened, didn’t you?”

“You listened when I told you about being nice was my plan, didn’t you?”

Maraki’s stomach complained once more, but he didn’t budge.

A little more diplomacy was necessary. “There are some humans, and I think to be one of them, who keep their vows, too. I promised you to be friendly and respectful, so please take the food. I’m not hungry, and I won’t starve if I go a day without this delicacy.”

Making it a question of my honor worked.

He extended his hand and took the bowl from me. “Thank you, human… Elyran.”

It didn’t escape me that this was the first time he addressed me with my name. Cozy warmth filled me. “You’re welcome.”

Once more, he inhaled the food, but his stomach kept silent after the second serving.

“You’re a truly peculiar thief.”

He’d understand the way I was if he knew my story. Perhaps I’d tell him, but not now, not yet. I gave him a lopsided grin. Maraki got up from the floor. He was still weak but stood without problems.

He cleaned his hands in the basin and turned towards me. “We gave ourselves mutual promises. We call such a pact na’dach, and it is sealed with a handshake.” He extended his arm.

The size of his hand was impressive in comparison to mine. Maraki gripped my wrist, which would have fitted inside his hand two or three times. I tried to do likewise, but my hand was too small to reach around his arm. Though he could’ve crushed every bone in my wrist with ease, his grip was soft and well dosed.

“Na’dach zru ta’kai.” He looked at me, expecting me to answer, I presumed.

“Na’dach zru ta’kai.”

Maraki nodded and let go of my arm.

“What did we say?”

“The promise shall hold forever.”

Rather pragmatic than lyrical, but this notion was consistent with what I had learned about the Ogrushkai culture so far.

“It’s time to take care of my… condition.”

I hadn’t noticed before, but Maraki’s eyes had acquired a reddish, fiery glow. Very faint, but visible. Perhaps that explained why this state was called the Ardor.

“I’ll give you as much privacy as is possible in a cell. I’ll sit down over there and will study the details of the wall.”

He hadn’t asked for it, but the muscles in his face relaxed at my offer. With the faintest smile, he turned around and walked over to the other side of the cell.

I had underestimated how odd it’d feel to be in a room with someone who pleasured himself. It wasn’t the thought alone but the subtle sounds accompanying it. There was this faint and rhythmic slapping; the noise of something dry rubbing over something wet. Maraki’s breathing was inaudible at first but became heavier and more labored after some time. In addition to the sounds, a smell mingled into the moldy stench of our prison; a musky aroma, which grew in strength over time, marked this territory as his. I asked myself whether Maraki was as big down there as everywhere else. It was hard to resist the urge to turn around and steal a look. I pushed those ideas aside. The strangest thing was that all this wasn’t bothering but arousing. I became hard myself. A suppressed moan of Maraki, followed by a splashing sound, tore me out of my musings and killed off my erection.

“I’m finished.” He raised his voice at the end, almost making it a question.

“Already?” I turned around and hoped that my face didn’t give away the turmoil that was raging in my mind.

Maraki’s eyes had resumed their usual color. His shoulders slumped down and his face sagged. Neither of us knew what to say.

“I’m still rather weak, and perhaps, it’d be best for me to go to sleep early.”

Without words, we had agreed to ignore the topic.

“Sounds like a good idea. Sleep well, Maraki.”

A curt nod served as his answer.

I lay down facing away from him and snuggled up into the thin blanket our captors had granted me. Maraki covered himself in what was left of the cloak. I couldn’t sleep. Too many things had happened; too many thoughts raced through my head. After a Unit of lying awake, a strange noise captured my attention. I turned around. Maraki, huddled into the cloak, shivered with clattering teeth.

“Are you alright?”

He growled before pressing the words through his teeth. “It’s okay.”

‘The heat of an Ogrushkai is higher than the heat of a human.’

For me, the temperature down here was tolerable, but for him, it was cold. Especially now, that he had lain down. I got up, grasped my blanket, and walked over to him. The thin rug was barely large enough to cover him.

“What about you?” Though he was still shuddering, his features softened.

“No problem. I don’t need it.”

I was more worried about him because the blanket didn’t help much. I couldn’t… but then I remembered our na’dach.

“Let me under the blanket. It’s time to be friendly and respectful.”

His eyes widened. “But you… me…”

“My wise uncle once said that you mustn’t be shy when sleeping in the cold.”

Not waiting for any more of his objections, I crawled under the cloak where I cuddled up against his body. It felt firm against my backside. Maraki’s trembling subsided.

“You see: much better.”

His breath wafted into my ear, and I more felt than heard his words. “Thank you.”

With delight, Councilor Ramesh looked into the orb that showed what was going on in the cell below. That was unexpected, but ultimately served his purpose. Perhaps, he could please his master with results ahead of schedule. The gods smiled upon him. First, they had brought him an Ogrushkai, wandering alone through Nur’Zhul, easy prey for the Emperor’s troops. And now, they had instilled those feelings of attachment into the thief.

“Where do you think you are going, Nuzr Shamar?”

The Nuzr stopped dead in his tracks. “But your Excellency, we can’t let our prisoners… do… this!”

The Nuzr was as thick as he was obnoxious.

“Quite the contrary. We want our prisoners to do this.”

The Nuzr’s incomprehension could be read from his face; no mind magic was necessary. This one was hopeless. He should be taken care of when this was over.

“Think about it, Nuzr, if you can. Haven’t you learned the virtue of patience in the barracks of Nur’Khal? How much more devastating will it be for our poor Elyran when his tormentor will be a dear friend?”

The Nuzr’s lips distorted into a grin.

“Now you see, don’t you? Let them get friends, let them get companions, let them get as close as brothers. Don’t worry yourself about the details, Nuzr. I’ll take care of this… step by step.”