Chapter 4 - Contests

“I’m sorry about Trixera,” Lunora said, glancing over to where Ethriel was laying in the sand next to her. The pair were waiting just on the other side of a large rolling dune that overlooked the Dunemaul compound while Trix scouted the area for information. Lunora had to admit that her younger sister was quiet when she needed to be. She just wished she needed to be quiet a bit more often.


Their journey through the desert had taken them a day, which meant the trio had spent a night camping in Tanaris together. It was bad enough that Trixera had claimed she had no mount of her own and chosen to ride with Ethriel on his Hawkstrider, spending the whole day with her body pressed into his back, but after they had made camp she came right out and asked him if he wanted to share a bed that evening. This had thoroughly embarrassed the elf. He had been flustered and looked to Lunora for help. Thankfully for him the older twin had no issues telling her sister to back off and keep it in her pants. Trixera played it off as no big thing and went right to bed without another word.

“I-it’s really fine,” Ethriel stammered, “Flattering even. I just wasn’t expecting her to be so… open about it.”


She sighed, “Yeah, that’s my sister apparently. Doesn’t care so much about being subtle about her feelings on someone.”


Ethriel nodded, “I just wouldn’t feel right about it. Not with you and everything--”


“Oh don’t worry about me,” Lunora lied, “If you really want to give her a go, feel free.”


Ethriel frowned, “That’s… a very strange thing to say.”


“Yeah, I know,” Lunora sighed, turning onto her back and looking up at the clear sky of the desert, “And that’s only after spending two days with her. What I mean is don’t worry about any issues dating her on my account. I won’t be jealous or anything.”


Suddenly her view was blocked by Ethriel’s shining golden eyes. He smiled down at her and said, “Lunora, I have no desire to sleep with your sister. Trust me on that.”


They would have said more, but Trix chose that moment to interrupt them, “My my, don’t you two look cozy.”


Lunora sat up so quickly that Ethriel had to launch himself to the side to avoid smacking his head against her horns. Flecks of sand cascaded down her armor as she straightened herself up and cleared her throat before saying “Just talking!” a bit too loudly.


Trix gave the two a knowing smile and said, “Uh huh. Sure.”


Ethriel began to brush some of the sand out of his robes and tried to change the subject, “What did you find out, Trix?”


Mercifully, Trix decided to let the matter drop and nodded in the direction of the compound, “There are a half dozen ogres wandering about on the outside of the compound. Only two looked like they were actively guarding the entrance of the only cave, the rest just looked to be going about their normal day. Setting up for something this evening by the looks of it.”


“Right. So what’s the plan?” Asked Ethriel. When both pairs of eyes turned to Lunora, she realized they were looking to her for guidance. It made sense, making her the leader, but she had never actually led anyone before. It took her a moment to put everything together, then said, “Okay then. We know the main goal of the mission is to get as many weapons as possible right? Because the goblin doesn’t want ogre heads, just wants to see them de-fanged, so to speak.”


“That’s what I gathered from his implications, yes,” Ethriel said.


“So if we do this right, we can sneak in, steal the weapons, and get out without being spotted.”


“I’m impressed,” Trix said, “I would have assumed you’d be more the ‘kill everything and take it’s stuff’ sort of bounty hunter.”


Lunora shook her head, “ogres are dangerous. Half a dozen that we can see isn’t much, but we don’t know how many are in the mounds, so we don’t want to alert everyone that something is going on. Better to sneak in and take what we need. With any luck, the ogres won’t have the means to effectively attack the caravan’s for a while after that”


“Then I’m going to suggest the cave first. I didn’t see any other places for them to keep large caches of weapons.”


Lunora nodded, “Right. Everyone get ready. We’ll move around the southern side and sneak in just behind the cave entrance. Ethriel, can you handle one of the guards? I will be able to handle the other.”


The mage nodded, “Should be easy enough.”


Lunora took a moment to check her weapons, then smiled, “Perfect. Let’s get going.”


-----------


The trek south did not take the trio very long, though they took care to travel far around the flatland that made up the compound to avoid being spotted. Lunora took her time with the trip, mostly so she could remember everything she had been taught about the shamanistic spell she needed to use. It had been a while since she had utilized the ability and wasn’t confident it would work. Her backup plan, to rush the ogre and knock it out or kill it before it could cry out, was not one she wanted to utilize.


As they approached the entrance, taking care to hide behind what little cover they could find in the rocky outcroppings, Lunora motioned to Ethriel for him to take the furthest guard himself. The Elf mage nodded to her and gave her a thumbs up, which caused Lunora to shake her head. The man had all the articulation and knowledge required for the complex hand gestures of magic spells, but his covert communication still needed work.


Her sister had no such troubles, easily using a common combat hand gesture language to ask Lunora if she was sure she could handle the other guard silently.


I can, she gestured back, though Trix could tell she wasn’t that confident in her statement.


Still, the younger draenei nodded and took a step behind Lunora. The bounty hunter nodded to Ethriel once, and the pair began their individual spells. Ethriel’s spell was a sweeping wave of cold energy that sent chills down their spines despite the desert heat. Lunora attempted to tap into the natural energy of the world. The feeling of the stone beneath her and the nearby pool of water radiating life giving energy. Her teacher’s had always taught her that the world around her, as well as her own emotions, were the driving force for shamanistic power. The latter had always been easy for her to tap into, at least when it came to enhancements of flame or lightning, but this was a combination of all the elements to physically change a being. It had never come easy to her.


With a final grunt of effort, the pair released their spells. A burst of ice streaked out from Ethriel’s hands, coating the ground in a shimmer of frost that quickly melted in the heat of Tanaris as it sped towards the far ogre. At the same time Lunora unleashed her own hexing spell, she saw the flash of metal overhead but paid it no mind. She was focused on transforming her target into a harmless critter.


There was the sound like cracking ice as Ethriel’s spell struck. The surprised ogre still looked like it was standing guard, but now there was a cage of clear ice surrounding it that glared in the sunlight. Lunora was impressed with the work he had done. At the right angle, it barely looked like the ogre was frozen at all. 


She was less than impressed with her own spell. She had no physical indication that her spell had hit the target, but had hoped to have at least some result. Instead the ogre stood, completely un-changed and unaware that anything had been attempted on it. It did notice it’s friend had stopped moving though, and turned to investigate the issue.


Lunora quickly took a step forward, reaching for her maces so she could enact plan B, but Trix put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Lunora watched the ogre take a step towards its companion, heard a soft click, then watched in amazement as the second ogre was encased in a block of ice as well, though this one a much darker shade of blue.


Trix patted Lunora on the shoulder as she gawked at the now frozen guard, “There,” she whispered, “Now you don’t have to worry.”


Trix and Ethriel moved forward and, after a moment to shake the cobwebs out of her head, Lunora followed. They slipped past the pair of frost bitten guards and into the cave beyond.


“I didn’t know you could do that,” Lunora commented.


“You never asked,” Trix replied, “Maybe next time you should get to know your partner’s capabilities before trying something that might not work?”


She sighed and nodded, “You’re right, of course. I’m sorry, Trixera.”


Trix turned to look at Lunora, grasping her by the shoulders as she did, “You still see me as the helpless little girl who you had to protect from bullies. I’m not helpless anymore. You can trust me to pull my weight.”


The older twin nodded, “I’ll trust you from now on.”


The pair shared a brief smile, then moved back into silence as they continued to move into the cave.


A few minutes later the trio had encountered a problem. The cave moved back maybe fifty yards and then came to a dead end. A single chamber decorated into what they assume constituted a room for ogres. Furs covered some of the walls and as much of the stone floor as it could. A crude stone slab was laid out near the back to act as a bed and several hunks of armor rested in a heap on one side. 


The problem the trio was encountering was that there weren’t any weapons in this small cave. They searched around quickly, hoping to at least turn over a dagger or something they could take with them. Ethriel was the first to speak up after their fruitless search, “I think we may be in the wrong cave…”


“Oh you in da wrong cave alright, smallies,” was the grumbling reply. All three spun around to see the hulking figure of an ogre blocking the cave entrance. He was at least a head taller than any of the ogres they had seen outside and wore several shields strung together as a makeshift set of armor. His pale skin was marked with red tattoos and his large head was capped with a three horned helmet. All three of the intruders starred in horrified surprise at the massive humanoid glaring down at them.


It was Ethriel who acted first. He flung out his hands and cried out an arcane command, sending several bolts of purple energy streaking towards the ogre. It responded with a roar and swung its right arm around from behind it, revealing a giant spiked ball of metal where a hand would normally rest. It moved through the air and a deadly arc and crashed into the bolts, absorbing the bolts with barely a dent in the massive hunk of metal.. Lunora attempted to dash forward to follow up and intercept the ogre, but a single stride from the much larger combatant brought him next to the mage much quicker than she could match. Before she had moved halfway across the cave his meaty left fist was wrapped around Ethriel’s head, clamping down painfully.


“No movin’!” the ogre shouted, lifting Ethriel several inches threatening, “Or I squish da sparkleflinger’s head!”


Lunora stopped in her tracks and Trix did likewise a few steps behind her sister. Both draenei women kept their bodies poised for action, which caused the ogre to shake Ethriel back and forth violently and growl out, “Yous wants me to crush da pointy ears skull?!”


Lunora shook her head and Trix murmured softly, “Don’t…”


He gave them a toothy grin, “Den throw your weapons over to Sandscraper.”


Lunora heard the clatter of Trix’s spear moments before she saw it kicked over to the ogre’s feet. Sandscraper turned his gaze to the Bounty Hunter until she sighed and idly tossed her maces to the ogre’s feet as well. Then the large ogre swung his spiked fist towards the entrance, “Good. Now head out of da cave and into da cages outside. Yous now da prisoners of da Dunemaul.”


They moved out of the cave slowly, the ogre sauntering confidently just behind them with Ethriel still clutched in his massive grip. Once they reached the entrance they were greeted by a dozen or more ogres, two which looked rather pissed off and wet from the recently melted ice that had surrounded them. The sisters ignored them all and moved together to the sturdy metal cages that looked more for animals than for people. There were three of them, so both ducked into a separate cage while Sandscraper tossed Ethriel unceremoniously into the third. Then he slammed the door to all three and locked them with a single bolt each before turning around and roaring in triumph at the gathered crowd, who cheered back.


Lunora, for her part, slid against the far wall of her cage and hugged her legs close to her. She knew that whatever came next would not be good for her or her friends.



*********


If Lunora could use only one word to describe the thought of being locked in a cage again, it would be panic. Her mind was flashing back to her formative years, to her captivity. She didn’t know what the Dunemaul had planned for them, but in her mind she hoped they were just hungry and would kill her quickly. The thought that she was just giving up would have sickened her if she had been in any condition to give rational thought.


Outside, the hot desert sun had dipped below the horizon and a large bonfire flickered in the few windows the metal cages offered. Shouts of triumph and revelry surrounded the bonfire, echoing through the night as the ogre’s celebrated their new catches. Lunora was on the cage to one side of the trio, with Trixera in the middle and Ethriel furthest away from her. That is why, over the dull roar of ogre parties, Lunora still heard the echoing song as Trix sang into the night.


It was a soothing melody, one the draenei used to sing on nights in honor to the beauty of Shadowmoon Valley. Lunora had not heard her sister sing in a long time. Trixera had a pleasant voice. It wasn’t professional level or utterly beautiful but still managed to be harmonious. Still, her addled mind focused on that soft song and the rest of the world fell away, sending her back to the days as a child on the Exodar, listening to their father sing in an effort to keep the traditions of their people alive.


The memories of a simpler time calmed her down. She slowly unwrapped her arms from their position and slid her legs out before relaxing against the wall of the cage. Then she began mumbling along with the song, using the words to ground her and bring her out of her stupor. Then she brought her mind back to the present day as loud footsteps stomped over and a meaty fist clanged down on the middle cage, “Stop da singing, meat!”


Trix did stop, but Lunora heard her move over to the front of the cage, where the small window peered out into the night, “I just wanted a little attention, big guy. You must be the chief, right?”


The ogre snorted, but when he spoke Lunora could clearly hear the elevated pride at being called both large and the leader of the Dunemaul, “Me no chief. Chief is Sandscraper!”


Trix gasped slightly, “You aren’t? That’s strange. You look the leading type. What’s your name?”


The ogre considered for a moment, then said, “Tunock.”


Lunora imagined Trix pressing her face against the small bars of the window and assuming a more casual pose, “Tunock huh? That’s a great name. If you aren’t the chief, you must be one of their greatest warriors then, right?”


There was a soft metal thump as Tunock rested his arm on the top of the cage. Lunora moved to peer out of her own window and saw him leaning against it, comically casual, “Tunock is great warrior, yes.”


Trixera smiled, “I didn’t doubt it for a second, Tunock. I was hoping you could help me. Could you, Tunock?”


Tunock suddenly looked a bit wary, “Tunock not help meat escape.”


Trix gave a laugh that Lunora was sure had melted the hearts of many men, “Oh no, Tunock. I don’t want you to free us, though I do not doubt a great warrior like you could rescue a frail thing from any number of rivals. I need to speak with the chief, Tunock. I feel like there is something more my companions and I can do for you than just be food.”


Tunock, who no doubt had similar ideas in his head about the flirtatious draenei at this point, nodded and said, “Tunock agree.”


Trixera smiled, “Great, but I need to speak with your chief first. Could you find Sandscraper for me?”


Tunock was off like an arrow fired from a bow, thumping away with such speed that it surprised Lunora. She had never seen an ogre move that fast before. Especially not in the condition she expected he was in.


“I’m not becoming a sex slave, Trix,” Lunora said quickly after Tunock had departed.


“What?” Trix asked.


“I know what you are planning and I’m not doing it. I won’t be a slave for the pleasure of ogres.”


Trix laughed, “Oh, I’m not just going to offer us up as slaves. I’m going to challenge the chief to a contest.”


Lunora frowned, “A contest?”


“Yes. ogres love to compete, and if we offer ourselves as willing servants if they win we can fight for our freedom!”


“Uh huh, and if we lose, then we become sex slaves.”


Trixera thought for a moment, then said, “Yes, then we would be. But we won’t lose.”


Ethriel chimed in at that moment, “We were just beaten by a single ogre. What makes you think we can best the tribe in a contest?”


Trixera waved the comment away, “That ogre got the drop on us. In a true test without any of us in danger I am confident we can win.”


Lunora, for her part, was not as confident, but she had chosen to trust her sister. She sighed and slumped back against the wall, keeping her ears and eyes open but resigning her fate into the hands of her more impulsive twin.


Soon enough the trio heard the thumping steps of a large ogre. Lunora peeked out to see that same hulking ogre who had defeated them, his spike ball hand still attached despite the festivities. Judging by the three fights Lunora could spot going on around the bonfire, it was probably a wise strategy.


“What you want?” his deep voice rumbled as he finished his approach.


Trixera adopted a more reverent tone as she said, “You are the chief, Sandscraper?” He grunted at her, but didn’t say anything. He was expecting her to be a flirt, as no doubt Tunock had impressed upon him. But Trixera took on a different tactic, “I wanted to speak with you about our fate.”


He snorted, “You are food! Nothing will change dat.”


“Oh really? I did not think you ogres had lost your way from your people so much.”


“Huh?” Sandscraper asked, confused at her statement.


“I thought ogres were conquerors, not hungry savages,” she explained.


“ogres are conquerors!” Sandscraper roared.


“Then you should prove it to us.”


The chief glared down at her, “ogres conquered you. You need more proof?”


Trixera shrugged noncommittally, “Maybe this is good enough. I remember stories about ogres taking slaves though. My people turned into servants for the great ogre empires.”


He snarled, “Slaves too much trouble. Better to be food.”


Trixera scoffed, “Oh, you can’t handle slaves huh? Mighty ogres indeed.”


Sandscraper slammed his fist (the real one, not his metal hand) on top of Trix’s cage, “Stupid girl! Sandscraper crush you!”


“Or,” the draenei replied calmly, “You can prove yourselves our betters and we would serve you willingly.”


This gave the chief pause. He looked like he would pass out from concentration as he mulled over the words he had just heard, “You… wut?”


Trixera smiled, “I want to challenge your ogre clan. The three of us against the best in your tribe in three contests. If your tribe wins two out of three, we agree that you are our betters and will be your willing slaves to do with as you please. We will submit ourselves fully to your commands.”


The implications of that statement and the way that Sandscapper grinned broadly at the thought caused Lunora to shrink back just a bit. The idea of becoming a slave to the ogre tribe did not appeal to her at all for obvious reasons. She doubted Ethriel would enjoy it either. However, she was half convinced that Trixera would find a way to enjoy, if not love, the whole experience.


“And what you want if you win?” Asked the chieftain.


“Freedom for my companions and I and every weapon you have in the camp, plus you have to agree to move your tribe to the shores of Tanaris for three moon cycles.”


The chieftain roared with laughter, “Dat a lot for three puny slaves.”


Trixera shrugged, “I understand if you aren’t confident you will win and don’t want to risk it. After all, you are only ogres.”


The chieftain growled in the back of his throat, “Sandscraper confident. ogres agree and will beat da puny slaves into da dust, den you see!”


Trixera smiled and extended a small hand through the bars, “Then we have a bet?”


Sandscraper nodded and grasped the slender hand in his meaty fist, shaking it hard once, “Deal.”




*******


“What the fuck is wrong with you?”


Trixera shifted in her cage, “What do you mean, dear sister?”


Outside their cage, the celebratory party had turned into a different affair. Apparently the ogres, particularly the men of the tribe, enjoyed the idea of a contest and the potential of winning three willing slaves. The stares in the directions of their cages had turned to a different kind of hunger now. A hunger which made Lunora profoundly uncomfortable.


“You know exactly what I mean, Trixera,” The bounty hunter snapped, “Why in all the hell would you offer me up as a sex slave after knowing what I’ve been through?!”


Trixera laughed, “Oh. That. Don’t worry about that.”


Lunora glared at the cage wall that separated the twins, “You can’t be so confident we are going to win. It was a foolish bet.”


She heard her sister scoot closer to the same wall, “Okay, a few things sister. One: I’m very confident we will win tomorrow, Two: This was the best plan we have to avoid being dinner for these assholes and Three: You have to trust that I would never make you go through anything like that again. I’d kill you myself first.”


“Y-you would kill me?”


“Of course!” Trix exclaimed, like it was the easiest decision in the world, “I’d kill you myself if it meant sparing you from that life again. Of course I’d try my best to bring you back to life after I got out of there, but the sentiment is still there.”


Lunora shook her head, “By the light Trixera, you must have loose crystals rattling around in your head. You are by far the most insane person I’ve ever met.”


She could hear Trix’s smile, “Yes, but I’m family. What about you, Ethy? Are you worried about becoming a slave to the ogres?”


Ethriel, who glossed over the new nickname he had been given, sighed, “I daresay it isn’t my first choice, but I have been through worse.”


Trixera had a wicked edge to her voice as she said, “You say that until you have to be a gay ogre butt slave for a day.”


Lunora didn’t know if Ethriel was blushing, but she suspected he might be. The first time Lunora had met the blood elf had been a similar type of slave, “Yes, well, that would be rather bad…”


Trixera giggled, “Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen to anyone. We are getting out of here tomorrow. All we have to do is win some stupid contest.”


The conversation lulled there as each party member thought about what exactly tomorrow would hold. They all silently agreed that some extra sleep might do them some good and settled in for the night, trying to block out the sounds of ogre revelry outside.


--------


By the time the trio woke up the next morning the desert sun was already heating the metal walls of their cages to uncomfortable levels. Thirty minutes after sunrise, the twins were doing their best to keep as much of their flesh off of the walls as possible to avoid any serious burns. Ten minutes after that Trix was calling out for the ogres nearest to let them out before they fried. A full hour after daybreak they had finally been let out into the sun. Lunora and Trix scrambled out as quickly as the doors opened, but Ethriel casually strolled out, dusting some accumulated frost off of his robes. Trixera glanced into his cage, which was currently covered in melting mystical ice, and grumbled out, “Lucky bastard.”


Ethriel gave her a smile, but their attention was pulled away before he could respond. Three ogres had come up and deposited their weapons in a heap in front of them. As the party retrieved their gear, ten of the tribesmen stood nearby with their own clubs or axes clutched in their hands casually. The message was clear; they may be getting their weapons back, but they were still vastly outclassed in a straight up fight. Thankfully, only Lunora mulled over the idea of trying to escape or attack, but even she had to admit she couldn’t kill a full tribe of ogres and keep her companions safe at the same time.


After settling their weapons back into the various sheaths the trio were led through the hot sun to a large crowd of ogres circled around Sandscraper. He was grinning confidently as they approached. It was Trixera, as usual, who got the first word in as they came within earshot, “Good morning, Chieftain. Thank you for returning our weapons.”


He huffed, “Not much good dey do you, smallies. We start competition with me choice, den you pick, den me again. Understand?”

Trix gave him a sweet smile, “Right to the point then. That seems fair.”


It didn’t seem fair to Lunora at all, but the chieftain continued before he could protest, “Also, only one for each test. No doubling.”


“Also fair.”


“Lastly. No magic tricks. You use magic. You cheat.”


Trixera took a bit more time with this one, “No magic at all?”


The chief nodded, “No magic at all.”

“Alright then,” Trix said with a shrug.


“Good,” Sandscraper said with a grin, Den first contest starts. Famous ogre contest.” He waved his hand to a pair of large rocks sunken into the sand, “Test of strength. Throw da rock further.”


Lunora frowned. That was going to be a hard test, but she might be able to manage it. She was about to step forward when Trix held up a hand to stop her, “No, Luni, this is Ethriel’s contest.”


“What?” Both the blood elf and the draenei asked in unison.


“Trust me,” Trix said, looking over at the massive brute of an ogre currently making his way to one of the rocks.


“I have no chance of winning,” Ethriel complained, “especially without magical assistance.”


“Oh I know,” said Trix, “But like I said, you have to trust me.”


Ethriel looked over to Lunora, who nodded her head in turn to him. She didn’t know what her sister was planning, but she had to hope that she knew what she was doing. Ethriel gave a grim nod and moved towards the other ogre. The tribe around him snickered as he approached, murmuring and pointing at the puny specimen that was about to try and throw a boulder. As he prepared himself, Lunora sidled up to her sister to watch the spectacle and grumbled out a single word, “Explain.”


“Without magic, Ethriel is only useful as eye candy,” Trixera said softly, her eyes never leaving the blood elf mage as he stretched out his muscles, “No offense to him, as I am sure in a social situation he would be the best choice for anything, sorcery or no. But this is ogre society. Nobody is going to want to engage in a debate here. He’s going to lose whichever contest he gets put up in. This at least spares us from wasting your turn.”


“We could have used our contest to do a debate,” Lunora suggested.


“Oh no, I have that contest in mind already,” Her sister replied with a wicked grin. A grin that made Lunora roll her eyes, “Holy Light, Trix, you can’t be serious.”


“Shh,” her sister said with a raised finger to her lips, “It’s starting.”


“It” did not last long. The contest was simple enough, with the ogre being polite and letting the frail blood elf go before him. Ethriel had difficulty picking up the large rock from the start, much less throwing it. He made it several inches before it hit the ground with a hard thud, much to the snickers of the tribe watching. 


“That was… embarrassing,” Lunora said.


“Yeah,” Trix agreed with a wince, “That was bad. Poor guy. Two days in a row he’s been shown to be more or less a damsel in distress. First getting captured and held hostage against us and now this. He’ll need a confidence boost soon or he’ll be depressed forever.”


Lunora nodded as the large ogre smirked down at his competition, palming his own rock in one hand and lifting it effortlessly, “Yeah, I’ll find a way to make it up to him.”


Trix cocked an eyebrow as the large brute, still grinning dumbly down at Ethriel, casually chucked the rock to the edge of camp to the cheering of his tribesman, “Oh I bet you will.”


“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Lunora snapped as her cheeks went red, “And get ready for your turn. Please don’t make it anything to degrading.”


Trixera smiled, “Perish the thought. It won’t be anything I wouldn’t normally do.”


Lunora sighed as her sister sauntered towards the center of the crowd, patting a discouraged Ethriel on the shoulder as they passed one another, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”


Trixera stepped into the center and placed her hands on her hips, looking up definitely at Sandscraper, “A good first round.”


He laughed, “Puny elf was no match for Urnagag. ogres da stronger, always.”


She nodded, “True, but it is my turn to pick the next round.”


Sandscraper waved a dismissive hand at the smaller woman, “Go on den! Pick next round to lose.”


While Trix spent a moment thinking about her options, Ethriel made his way over to Lunora, looking a bit dejected. Lunora turned to him and smiled, “A good attempt, Ethriel.”


He shrugged, “I don’t know what I expected. I shouldn’t feel bad that I lost, even that badly.”


“Well, yeah, but it’s okay too. Nobody likes feeling weak.”


Ethriel smiled, “Some people rather enjoy it, in the right situation.”


Lunora glanced over at him, “Not me. I need to be in control to feel safe.”


The elf returned her glance, his soft grin never faltering, “Well some people enjoy that too. Usually those people go hand in hand.”


The implications were not lost on Lunora. She blushed and turned her head forward, clearing her throat and changed the subject, “Let’s hope my sister can get us out of this.”


Ethriel accepted the change of subject with a nod, “Agreed. I’m sure she has a plan.”


Trix finally snapped her fingers, surprising the chieftain as she exclaimed, “I got it! I propose that I have more stamina than any ogre in your tribe.”


Sandscraper snorted, “Test of endurance? Another usual ogre test.”


Trixera smiled, “Indeed. Pick any tribesman you have and bring them forward to try to outlast me.”


“What to lift?” The ogre asked.


Trixera shook her head, “No lifting. I want to see who can last longer during sex.”


A murmur ran through the ogres and Lunora put her face into her palm, “Light give me patience.”


“That certainly is an odd challenge,” Ethriel said, “But if what I have gathered about your sister is true, it plays to her strengths.”


Lunora did not want to agree with that statement, but she nodded anyway, “I guess so. I just wish she didn’t flaunt it so much.”


Sandscraper took a moment to consider the draenei, then laughed. The laugh was picked up by the whole tribe and lasted for several long moments.Then the chieftain turned out towards the crowd and roared out, “Borgus!” Several delighted chuckles and conversations went through the crowd as it parted to let another ogre through. He was not the largest ogre in the tribe, a head shorter than those around him. His tan skin rippled and he carried himself with a swagger that didn’t fit his stature though and the horn on his head had been etched with intricate designs.


Trixera looked him up and down as he approached, tilting her head curiously, “This is the member of your tribe with the most stamina?”


The chieftain shook his head, “No. He has largest cock in da tribe. If you break, we win.”


Trixera rolled her eyes. She could point out that if she broke, they may not get one of their prizes, but instead she said, “Alright, a fair strategy. Do we need privacy in order for him to perform?”


Borgus growled, “Borgus have no issues. Fuck you here and claim you!”


Trixera chuckled, “Alright then, big guy. Let’s get started.”


Getting started apparently meant putting on a show, because Trixera walked to the center of the crowd and began to slowly dance for the assembled tribesmen.  Her hands sliding slowly up her hips and along her sides as every ogre in the tribe watched her with keen interest. She unstrapped her weapon and tossed it to the side first, before slowly rotating her hips and pulling at the red leather straps that wrapped around her body. She seemed to captivate the attention of everyone, including her party members, as she slowly unwrapped the straps first from her arms and wrists and let them fall away in spiralling patterns into the sand. Then she began dancing in earnest, walking around the edge of the ring of spectators as she moved and tantalized them all with new sections of her blue flesh as the leather was slowly unwrapped from her stomach next.


She paused at Ethriel, sliding in close and dropping her body low in a slow, deliberate drop that pressed herself close to him. Her hands paused their disrobing to slide along his body as she crouched down and then popped back up. Ethriel took in a sharp intake of breath and tried to look anywhere but there, but all he saw beyond Trix were jealous ogres glaring at him.


Lunora, who had been captivated to a lesser extent by the show from her sister, growled out, “Stop playing around and get this over with.”


“What’s the matter, sister?” she asked, grinding up Ethriel’s body again and placing his hands against the side of her chest suggestively, “Don’t want to see me fuck someone again?”


Before Ethriel could glance over at her or Lunora could slap her sister upside the head, Trix spun away in a twirl. It took Ethriel a minute to realize that, when she had moved his hands to her body she had subtly wrapped his left into a fist to grip one of the longer straps of her arm. As she spun and twirled away, the strap unravelled, revealing more and more until finally it fell away completely and the young woman stood in the middle of a crowd of ogres with her breasts exposed to the assembled crowd.


They were not overly large by normal humanoid standards, probably a large B cup at the most, but they were glorious. A good handful each, capped with a small darker hued set of nipples that stood straight out from excitement. They did not match the much larger breasts of any of the ogre women standing around watching the show, but every pair of eyes were trained on them as if they were the most perfect pair in the world.


Trixera spent a moment spinning around, blowing kisses or making poses to allow her breasts to bounce and jiggle for each member of the tribe. It was unashamed showing off, but she managed to make it look almost casual. Then she began twisting and grinding her hips again, her hands sliding down the sides of her breasts and trailing down her stomach towards the straps that made up her pants.


As horrified as the spectacle made her, Lunora couldn’t look away. She was the least sexual person in this village, unless one of the ogres happened to be a eunuch, but even she had to admit that the sight of blue skinned woman’s display was highly erotic. Trixera had mastered the art of the strip tease and refined it into a well practiced ritual that could captivate even the most prudish people. For her part, Lunora saw in her twin everything that she could have been. Confident with her body, relaxed in the face of such danger, and able to enjoy even the worst situations with a bit of fun. It was like staring into an alternate version of herself where she was never separated from her family.


She chose to ignore the fact that, with nearly identical bodies, every ogre in the village was basically ogling her as well.


Trix spent less time on her lower body than she had on her chest. She still put on an amazing show, slowly rolling the leather strap away from her legs to reveal her smooth blue calves and shapely thighs, before pulling it away quickly to show what lay underneath. She was sporting a very skimpy pair of underwear which barely covered her crotch and did nothing to hide her shapely ass. Her tail lifted slightly as she bent over, her fingers hooking the thong and slowly sliding it down. She was facing away from Lunora, but from the reactions of the crowd behind opposite the bounty hunter it wasn’t hard to imagine that her ass and pussy were just as lovely to them as her chest had been.


Lunora took this opportunity to glance away finally. She wanted to keep her mind away from her naked sister as much as possible. What she saw around her was almost as embarrassing for her. Every member of the tribe was drooling over her sister. There wasn’t a loincloth devoid of a tent from any of the males and even the women were looking very flustered. After their initial scan, Lunora’s eyes naturally settled on Borgus, who stood unashamed of the much larger bulge barely concealed by the dirty cloth around his waist. Then a cheer went up from the crowd, every ogre clapping and cheering for the young draenei that had put on one hell of a show for them all.


Trix bowed and waved to the crowd until applause had died down. Then she turned towards Borgus. This gave Lunora’s side of the crowd a wonderful shot of her taut ass as she took a few swaying steps towards him and purred out, “Alright, big guy. Let’s see what you are packing.”


With much less ceremony and class than his opponent, Borgus tore his loincloth free from his body. The crowd cheered again as he let out a triumphant roar and Lunora’s eyes went wide in shock. Borgus’s large cock stood at full attention and looked almost as if the ogre had just strapped a club to his waist. The dick was at least a foot long, with three inches of girth. It was also twitching in excitement and leaking copious amounts of pre cum out the tip in anticipation. Lunora shuddered to think of that monster pressing into her.


Trixera had a different reaction. She looked at it for a moment, then turned to the largest cluster of ogre women and sighed, “If he’s the biggest you have I feel so sorry for the lot of you.”


The women of the tribe let out light chuckles, as did a few of the men who understood it as a joke.  because he roared and ran at her suddenly, grabbing her by the waist in his meaty fists and lifting her into the air. Trix let out a grunt as he impacted into her and placed her hands on his wrists, choosing not to weeze out any other words partially to keep him from becoming more angered and partially because the air had been knocked from her lungs.


“Stupid smalling bitch!” Borgus roared in her face, “Borgus going to fuck you to death!”


Lunora reached for her weapons but Ethriel put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head, “She knows what she is doing, ma’am. Let her work through this.”


Lunora glared at him, “She’s in danger!”


“Yes, but if we interfere the ogres might take it as a ploy to get out of this bet and attack us. It would not end well.”


Lunora ground her teeth but looked back towards the spectacle, wanting to keep an eye on her sister at least. Her original plan had been to turn away once they had begun, but now she was determined to keep an eye and make sure her Trixera was safe. If things looked too bad, Lunora would step in and kill as many ogres as it took to save her twin.


Borgus had continued to shout obscenities and threats at Trix as the pair had murmured their conversation to one another. He was cut short when Trixera suddenly lashed out with her hands, grabbing the bottom tusks of the brute and pushing his head down and to the side. Then she came down hard, being only a few inches away from him, and cracked her horned head into his left temple. Borgus went stumbling back, letting go of her in the process. She dropped to the ground and landed in a graceful crouch, her body still managing to be angled perfectly to give everyone a wonderful view of her ass as it stuck in the air. As her partner recovered, so did she, standing to her full height and advancing on him. He would have grabbed at her again, but she jumped up and wrapped her hands around his large singular horn, hoisting herself into the air.


At the same time, her long, slender tail wrapped itself around the base of his shaft and pulled it upward with surprising strength, aligning it with her open lips. Slowly she grinded back and forth for a few moments, coating the large cock with her juices before she began to push down. At first it looked like she wouldn’t be able to take the large cock, but slowly the head began to push in and soon after disappeared from sight entirely. Trix let out a moan at this and finally spoke to the man she had just coupled with, “You can fuck me all you like, but never think of me as a helpless smalling again.”


Somehow, this sent a cheer up through the crowd of ogres, most notably from the ogre women who had been watching. Lunora looked around, confused, until she caught the eye of a darker skinned male sporting a raging tent in his loincloth, “Why the cheer?” she asked, unable to contain her curiosity.


“Normal sex with smallings involve a lot of crying and begging,” he explained, “but real ogre sex involves lots of hurting. Borgus usually get him way with women without much fighting though, since him have such big cock.”


Lunora frowned at this, “So everyone is cheering because he’s being put in his place?”

The ogre nodded, “Yep.” He then pushed his loincloth aside, wrapping his hand around a thick but not quite as long throbbing member right in front of Lunora before asking,  “ Want to help Molog with him own cock?” 


Lunora blushed and quickly turned back toward the action, “Um… No. No thank you.”


Molog shrugged and, though she couldn’t see him any longer, Lunora suspected he was already furiously beating himself off, but she chose to keep herself turned enough away to avoid seeing him out of her peripheral vision. Instead she watched the main attraction that, while similarly was making her blush, was at least further away.


For the main attraction, Borgus had taken charge once more. His hands were wrapped again around Trixera’s waist, but not nearly as tight as last time. He was pushing her down on his shaft repeatedly, thrusting up into her with wild grunts as he tried desperately to push himself fully inside of her. Trixera had her hands resting on his wrists, panting as she felt the gigantic member pressing into her inch by thick inch. Her legs were spread wide into a near split and her tail was lifted as high as she could manage to keep it from touching the ground, mostly because Borgus was adjusting his footing quite regularly to avoid falling over from his wild pounding.


So far, she had been able to take nearly half of him into her, but already it seemed like Borgus was hitting a wall he couldn’t breech. Trix threw her head back and gritted her teeth as he tried to press deeper into her. She was preparing herself. She knew what was coming next. Borgus let out a mighty roar and thrust her down hard on his cock, and Trix let out a wild scream as he pushed through into her womb. The ogre felt her body buck and twitch in his grip, as well as his own shaft bulging out against his hands clasped around her stomach. He did manage the rest of his cock inside her, or at least all but a few inches. He let out a triumphant growl as she slumped in his grip, pulling the draenei off his cock completely and holding her in the air as she hung limply to the cheers of the crowd.


He had broken her, Lunora thought, and they had lost. She would be a sex slave for the rest of her life and Trix wouldn’t be able to even live up to her promise and kill her. But, more important than all of that, he had hurt her sister. Lunora tensed as she prepared herself for a charge. She would start by ripping Borgus’s dick off, then killing him and as many as she could before the end. Hopefully Ethriel would be smart and use the commotion to run away.


Then she stopped as she heard soft panting coming from her sister’s body. The ogres stopped too, as Borgus looked up at the limp blue form in his hand. She let out a few wheezing laughs before a long, deep groan escaped her lips and she said, “Fucking fuck! It’s been a while since I came like that!”


Everyone looked curiously around at one another, unsure as to what was going on. Trixera patted Borgus’s hand and looked down at him, a wonder filled smile on her face, “Thank you, big guy. Now get me back on that massive cock of yours and don’t you stop fucking me until you can’t take anymore, got it?”


A surprised Borgus looked over to the chieftain for confirmation. He was supposed to break the woman and win, but she was still wanting more after taking nearly his full length. Sandscraper shrugged his massive shoulders, then nodded to Borgus to continue. Lunora could tell that the chieftain looked a bit worried. Apparently he was expecting that to work just as much as his underling.


The cheer that went up from the crowd was deafening as Borgus brought Trix back down, this time facing her body out towards the assembled mass as he lined himself up to her gaping hole. She sunk down easily onto it, this time taking him fully with minimal effort. When he was fully inside her, everyone could see the bulge of Borgus’s cock against Trixera’s belly. She giggled and rubbed her stomach a bit, causing an approving grumble from her lover. Then she reached up and wrapped her small hands against his bottom teeth again before using them to pull herself half off the shaft and drop down again on it with a mutual groan.


Trixera slowly rode her ogre challenger in a steady rhythm, twisting and grinding as she lifted and dropped herself again and again onto the bulging mass of flesh beneath her. She began to moan continually as she rode Borgus’s cock and planted her hooves against his thighs to allow for better support. Borgus was also enjoying it, his grunts coming out ragged as he struggled to keep himself contained and controlled.His whole effort, it seemed, was being put into not unleashing his load too early. He barely even tried to thrust up into her despite the ease at which he could have.


Trix knew his type, it seemed, and turned her moans into dirty talk, “Oh fuck, Borgus! Your cock is so huge! It's filling me up so much! I want you to cum, big guy. Fucking coat me with your cum!” Her profanities were exactly what she needed to push him closer to the edge. Borgus began to shake, trying desperately to hold off until this woman tired out and he could take charge again. But he was too close. He tried a desperate tactic and grabbed her, throwing her off of him and onto the ground in order to catch a break. But she was quick, scrambling to her knees and spinning around before he could take a step back. Then her small hands were wrapped around his juice covered shaft, pumping it quickly and bringing him over the edge.


The throbbing member twitched wildly as Borgus threw his head back and roared again, this time in pleasure rather than triumph. Large streams of glistening cum sprayed from the tip of his cock, shooting out and hitting Trixera’s face and chest. She coaxed him on, begging him for more as she aimed his shots all over her body. Lunora, despite her disgust, counted three large sprays hitting her face and hair, then another eight aimed at her tits and body to cover the young woman’s chest with the white fluid.


Still Trixera begged and stroked, forcing out several additional dribbles of cum that she rubbed against her skin. The last drip, which didn’t have enough force to do anything more than hang on the tip of his cock, she licked up with a satisfied, ‘Mmm.” Then she let go of the shaft and Borgus, the biggest cock in all the tribe, toppled backward and slammed into the sand with an exhausted thud. Trixera stood over him for a moment, her hands on her hips as she watched to see if any new life would twitch into his shaft. When she was satisfied that he was exhausted, she turned around to face Sandscraper, unashamed of the coating of semen on her skin as she proclaimed, “Well, I win.”


Another cheer rang up at her words, a throng of ogre bodies pressing forward suddenly. The ogre men, it seemed, were turned on enough to assume that they could vie for a position next with the apparently boundless draenei. Before any of the men could attempt their turn with the twin, the chieftain roared out, “Back away! Any who touches her gets der dick smashed!”


As the other ogres moved away quickly, obeying their chief but still leering at the cum covered beauty, Sandscraper turned his attention to Trix and snarled, “You use magic! No way you take dat big of cock.”


Trixera laughed and shook her head, “Don’t you try and weasel out on our deal now, Sandscraper. I’m 100% natural woman, no magic vagina or anything. It’s not my fault your biggest wasn’t even close to the largest I’ve taken. You shouldn’t have been so cocky.”


Sandscraper snarled at her, but turned his head to look back into the crowd. Lunora followed his gaze to a smaller ogre, gawking at what she saw. The ogre was slighter in build than those around him, but bore two heads on his shoulders. She had heard of them, but never had she actually seen one before today. Both heads seemed to confer with one another for a moment, then turned to Sandscraper before collectively shaking their heads.


“Fine,” the chieftain said with a growl, “Little one no cheat wit magic. It don’t matter, you still be slave by nightfall. Then, whole tribe can break you.”


Trixera shrugged again, “It’s your turn to pick, Chief. What’s the next test?”


Sandscraper smirked and pointed to Lunora, then to himself, “Last challenge is fight. Winner is last one standing!”


The entire tribe cheered and Lunora swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat.

“Hold up,” Trix said quickly, trying to shout over the roaring crowd, “I thought you wanted us as sex slaves. Why would you want to kill one?”


Sandscraper smirked down at the naked girl, “You will be slave enough. Don’t need two wit your stamina.”


Trixera tried to look for a way out of this, her mind in overdrive to find a solution that didn’t involve her sister fighting to the death. Lunora, for her part, was only mildly scared by this. Honestly, she had been more worried about another sexual contest, considering the arousal level of the tribe around her. This was more her speed. She stepped forward and flashed a smile at her sister, “Thanks for worrying, Trixera. But this will be a good final contest.”


Trix moved over to stand near her, stopping only when Lunora scrunched her nose up. Her twin was still covered with ogre cum and Lunora didn’t really want to be nearer to it than she had to be, “I’m sorry, Luni. I thought we would get another strength contest from the ogres that you could beat them at, like an arm wrestle or something. I can’t let you do this.”


Lunora smiled at her again, “You’ve asked me to trust you so far, sister. Can you please trust me now?”


Trix frowned, “You think you can do this?”


Lunora gave Trix a wide smile, “I’m a bounty hunter. Killing things is half of my job. I think I can take one ogre.”


Trix gave her a nod and stepped to the side. She looked nervous and like she wanted to hug her sister, but she refrained for obvious reasons, “I’ll trust you. Kick his ass.”


“I will,” Lunora replied, stepping forward as her sister moved to Ethriel. She spared a glance backwards at her companions. Ethriel had a long silk cloth out for Trix to wipe herself off with and another for her to wrap around herself. She waved off the second cloth though, simply wiping the cum away and then standing in the desert sun bare naked. The bounty hunter shook her head and strode into the center of the throng of ogres, stopping several yards away from Sandscraper and pulling out her pair of hefty maces.


Sandscraper just looked at her, a twisted grin on his face, “You brave, for a smallie. Too bad you gonna die in dis fight.”


Lunora gave her maces a testing spin and took a defensive stance before cocking her head and smiling, “There are no hostages for you to hide behind this time, asshole. I’m going to show you exactly what happens when you lock me in a cage.”


The two combatants squared off against one another, each glaring at the other as if daring them to make the first move. While Sandscraper was confident he could win any fight against a smallie, he still did not want to rush in and make any fatal errors. His cautious tactical mind had brought him up to the rank of chieftain and there was no way he was going to let his guard down now.


Lunora, for her part, was working out her own tactics. While officially she called herself a bounty hunter, she did possess a leg up on the competition by being able to tap into shamanistic powers. True, that had been little help during their initial entrance into the cave, but that was a different area of her powers. Where she excelled was in the enhancing of her weapons with elemental magic. However, she remembered that she wasn’t allowed to use magic of any kind. If she did she would be forfeiting the match and the freedom of her friends. No, she would have to win this match the old fashioned way; bashing it into submission. This meant she had to fight smarter, since she had no advantage in size or strength when compared to the chieftain.


Lunora took a moment to take a deep breath and set her feet. Then she sprinted forward, her hooves pounding through the sand as she dashed towards the far larger opponent. Sandscraper reared back with his mace hand as she approached, bringing it down far quicker than she anticipated. She dove out of the way, immediately rolling as she hit the sand and coming up in a crouch in time to see him stomping forward and throwing his mace upward towards her again. She brought her maces up in front of her and lept backwards, blocking a glancing blow that still rattled her bones. When she landed she kicked off the sand again. The chief had left himself a small opening as the momentum of his spiked hand carried his arm into the air. An opening she used to crack into his right leg with both her weapons.


Sandscraper roared in pain and spun on her, but he brought his weapon down on empty space. She had already carried herself well out of his reach and was currently running along the edge of the circle of cheering ogres. She arced around, heading straight for him again, but when he swung his fist at her this time she deftly rolled out of the way and slammed her weapons into his exposed side. A deep thud and a sickening crack told both fighters that the chieftain had at least one broken rib from the hit.


Sandscraper was starting to panic again. His people were seeing him as weak against a smaller opponent. It was clear that the draenei’s smaller size and speed, as well as the ability to do more strategic thinking than any ogre ever could, would eventually lead her to the win. The tribe shouted and jeered at their chieftain already, disappointed in his inability to beat this weakling so easily. If this went on for too much longer he would lose all respect he held, even if he managed to scrape out a win. With no options left, Sandscraper turned to a desperate strategy.


Lunora was just charging in for another pass when her opponent let out the loudest beastial roar she had heard from any ogre before.  He threw his head back and flexed every muscle in his body at once as he screamed. Then his veins began to bulge and the red tattoos etched along his skin began to glow a deep crimson light. He grew a few inches in height and when he locked eyes with Lunora again his pupils had filled with a blood red color. She barely had time to react to this change before his mace came sweeping at her even faster than before. At this speed she knew she couldn’t dodge or even manage a weak block. All she could do was go limp and hope for the best.


The spiked ball slammed into Lunora’s side and knocked her high into the air. Her maces flew from her hands in seperate directions and the pain of at least one puncture wound flared in her side as she was sent over the heads of the assembled crowd. She hit the ground with a thud and rolled several times, coming to rest only when her body hit a rock too large to roll over. She lay there for a moment, her vision still blurry from the hit and her body refusing to cooperate under the extreme pain. She couldn’t lay around forever though and soon began shakily rising to her feet with a groan.


As she did, the crowd parted to let the rage fueled chieftain through. He was stomping towards her rapidly, his long strides closing the distance between them. However, Lunora’s eyes were drawn away from her oncoming death to her sister, who stood nearby with a panicked look on her face at the development. The younger twin barely seemed to notice the meaty hands of a particularly bold ogre that had began running down her body. He obviously thought the fight was over and was eager to be the first to claim this new slave.


Damn the rules, Lunora thought to herself as she rose to a crouch, No way in hell am I letting my sister suffer like I did.


She set her legs and took off running again. Sandscraper let out a resounding yell of triumph as she approached recklessly, bringing his mace up to deliver the final blow as soon as she got near. His eyes went wide as she made her move though, as did every pair or single eye of those watching. As she ran, the draenei’s body changed before their eyes. Her form shrank away and turned a ghostly see through as fur sprouted from her back. Her arms and legs molded into a set of four powerful paws which pounded through the sand at much greater speeds than any normal creature should be able to. Her face elongated to a snout and soon she was fully transformed, a spectral wolf running in place of the bounty hunter.


Even if he hadn’t been shocked by the new development, there was no way Sandscraper could react quickly enough to catch the beast with his weapon. Lunora passed between his legs as he gave a wild swing downward, slamming his mace into the sand too late to end the fight. Then everyone, save for the chieftain himself, saw her shift back at incredible speeds, her front paws forming back into outstretched hands as she spun to face her opponent’s back. With a scream of her own that almost matched Sandscraper’s intensity, she let forth a blast of molten fire that slammed into the ogre and melted through what little armor he sported.


As Sandscraper screamed in agony, Lunora threw her hands back and opened her fingers wide. The sand beneath her maces rippled and moved in a trail towards her, carrying the weapons along the ground at incredible speeds. As soon they had reached her hands her fingers had grasped the shafts but the ripple of the earth did not stop. Instead, as Lunora threw her arms forward to bring her maces up, the wave turned into a rumble that streaked towards the recovering chieftain. When it was beneath him, the ground exploded into a burst of sand and dirt that caused those nearest to look away to avoid hunks of rock and debris. When they looked back, they were shocked by what they saw.


A pillar of jagged stone spikes had jutted up from the sand, piercing up through Sandscraper’s left foot and into his body. A dozen more branches of the pillar pierced parts of his flesh, including where his heart and lungs rested. The look of shock and rage was still plastered on his face, but the light had gone out of his eyes. Lunora stood there, panting and glaring at the corpse of the chieftain for a moment before turning her head over to glare at the ogre touching her sister. He quickly removed his hands from her naked body and scrambled away, breaking through the crowd into a dead sprint towards anywhere that happened to be away from the murderous draenei in front of him.


It took a moment for the rest of the tribe to process what they had just seen, then a snarl went up through the crowd as the outrage took hold. Weapons were drawn and stances readied for a fight, as cries of “Cheater!” and “Magic!” were shouted over and over.


The trio readied themselves as well, as best they could when already surrounded. Nobody was ready to make the first move though, not after the display of power Lunora had just shown. It was enough of a hesitation for a pair of voices to be heard over the din, “Dunemaul, stand down!”


The ogres looked confused for a moment, not sure who was giving the orders now that the chief had been dispatched. Then, they parted and lowered their weapons as the smaller, two headed ogre approached the crowd. In one hand he held a long wooden staff, the other hand was raised for silence. Trix and Ethriel moved beside Lunora as he approached them, the trio getting ready to defend themselves against whatever attack he wanted to start with.


Instead, the head on the left said, “They are no cheats!”


“No cheat!” the head on the right affirmed.


The ogres looked confused, unsure of what their tribesman was talking about. The left head spoke up again, “The chieftain used ogre magic during the fight to increase his strength. He broke the rules first--”


“Rule breaker!” interrupted the right head.


“And his opponent simply matched his power with her own. She is victorious and deserves our respect for beating our chief,” finished the left.


“Kneel, worms! Respect her!” insisted the right.


The tribe did kneel, still a bit confused but complying to the command nonetheless. The two headed ogre smiled down at the trio and said, “Congratulations. You have won your freedom.”


Lunora looked over at her sister and smiled, before collapsing against Ethriel and passing out from the incredible pain in her side.