East

The cave yawned wide before her like the mouth of some slumbering beast. Deorla stepped into its gullet with blade in hand and eyes sharp in the dark. The scent of old fire, unwashed bodies, and rotted meat clung thick to the air. This was no mapmaker’s den. It was a nest.

Orcs. And not few.

Deorla stood at the threshold of their new house, her heart fluttering with excitement as the early morning light streamed through the trees. The house was smaller than she'd imagined altho still much bigger than the previous one, there was something about it that made her chest swell with pride. The stone walls gleamed in the sun, a clear sign that the work was good, even if the cost had nearly drained their savings.