Maui stood frozen when she witnessed what Byung had done, axe hanging loose at her side, eyes wide as she watched Byung finish the last of the three orcs with the same casual brutality he might use to swat flies.

The first had died before he even knew the goblin was there, knife through the throat, a wet gurgle, body dropping like a sack of stones. The second had turned just in time to catch Byung's fist in the jaw; the crack of bone was louder than the orc's scream, and he flew backward into the wall hard enough to leave a dent before sliding down dead. The third managed a single desperate swing with his axe, but Byung caught the haft mid-air, twisted, and drove the orc's own weapon through his chest with a sound like splitting firewood. All three lay crumpled in seconds, blood pooling thick and black in the darkness.

Maui's breath caught. She had known he was different right from the start which made him strong, stronger than any goblin had a right to be, but this was something else. This was effortless. This was terrifying. If she had truly understood the power humming under his green skin, she never would have suggested training him because he was stronger than even the average orc. One misjudged blow from him and any orc would be on the ground.

The element of surprise was a powerful advantage

She said nothing. Not here, not now. Questions could wait until they weren't standing in the middle of a siege.

Byung wiped his knife on a fallen orc's cloak, chest heaving, eyes still bright with that strange, hungry light. When he saw her, the manic edge dulled a fraction.

"You were supposed to stay with Naz and Naruz," Byung said, voice low and edged with fury.

"We agreed—you hold the point with them so you can protect the other goblins," Byung reminded her of their hasty plans. Maui's tusks flashed in a humourless grin.

"I heard the noise. Thought you might need help," She glanced at the three dead orcs, then back to him. "Clearly I was wrong," Maui added. Byung's jaw tightened.

"They're exposed now. Three orcs on our side in a goblin mine? They're targets the second Kraghul's dogs sense them. I tried my best to conceal the goblins' scent but I couldn't with Naz and Naruz. You left them vulnerable," Byung told her.

This would explain why Kraghul stumbled upon this mine by chance, he didn't pick up the scent of the goblins he slaughtered. Maui met his glare without flinching.

"And you just painted a bigger target on your own back, Byung. Look at you," She gestured at the blood-soaked goblin standing over three broken warriors.

"Next wave that comes, they'll know exactly who to hunt," Maui reminded him he was a target and just became an even bigger target with what he did.

"Vrognut will take the blame for this, not me," Vrognut was violent with a reputation that would support such an act. The fact that all witnesses were dead already gave him a clean slate.

Maui nodded once, slow and grim. She stepped over the corpses to stand beside him, shoulder to shoulder seven feet of orc muscle next to a blood-drenched goblin who had just become the most dangerous thing in this mine.

Byung sniffed the air, there was a potent smell that invaded his nostrils, there shouldn't be this much blood.

"Do you smell that?" Byung questioned her but Maui raised a confused brow because her nose wasn't registering any strange smell.

"What are you talking about?" Maui questioned.

"It is blood! And a lot of it!" Byung told her, sniffing franctically as he turned towards the mine where Naz and Naruz was, fearing for the worse.

However, his nostrils caught wind of it, it was coming from there.

"Fuck! They are attacking the others!"

-

The study was warm, candlelight glinting off polished silver goblets. Lord Rodell sat behind his desk, immaculate in black velvet, smiling like a man greeting an old friend rather than a spy who had spent weeks in his dungeons.

Lira stood on the thick carpet, wrists still raw from manacles that had been removed only an hour earlier. She expected chains, screams, maybe the headsman's block. Instead she found wine and praise.

Lira was a criminal who was accused of being a witch, a crime punishable by death but Rodell gave her a chance at freedom.

"You played your part perfectly," Rodell said, voice smooth as oil.

"They trusted you completely. The goblin, the orc woman, they spilled secrets to you they would never have told another human. When they come here again, when they grow desperate, they will seek you, Lira the friend." He raised his goblet in salute.

"Trust is rarer than gold in these lands, and you just became the richest woman in the kingdom," Rodell commented but this was good news to Lira because it meant they needed her alive.

Lira forced her face to stay calm, but her stomach twisted.

"Thank you, my lord," Lira bowed her head to show her gratitude. Rodell's smile widened.

"A risky gambit, letting them think you suffered for their cause. Failure would have been… expensive," Rodell said in a suggestive tone.

His gaze drifted to the corner of the room. A small silver tray rested on a side table. On it lay a single severed finger with mesh of brain. A dark pool had seeped into the wood beneath.

Lira's breath caught. She knew that finger. The quiet male prisoner, who had accompanied her, the one Maui had dismissed with a sneer days ago. He had vanished the night of the escape.

Lira knew right away the reason for his disappearance was because he had been killed. Rodell followed her stare.

"A loose tongue costs more than a finger, my dear. The hounds were… thorough," Rodell said, all but confirming her theory.

The fire popped. Somewhere deep in the manor, muffled by stone and iron, beasts began to growl.

Lira swallowed hard, tasting iron. The same fate had waited for her if Byung and Maui had not swallowed her story whole.

Rodell lifted his goblet again, eyes never leaving hers.

"To trust," he toasted softly.

Lira raised her own cup with trembling fingers and drank, the wine bitter on her tongue.

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