(Written on my iPad so plz excuse the typos and autocorrects in advance ^^)
A cold wind swept over the dunes as Keesha'Ugluk made her way through the deserts near San'Orka. She carried nothing but a large stone axe that drug behind her, leaving a slithering trail in the sand. The fe-Orc was certainly no shaman, but she felt as if she were drawn here by a spiritual presence. The only question was, why? The desert remained silent almost as if in response as she came to a halt, blood red eyes trailing up towards the full moon overhead.
There had been a full moon that night as well, the last time she had found herself in these deserts. She could still remember the shame and dishonor, the day the Grandmothers cast her into the wastes... Feeling she was to weak to be of any use to the clan. Perhaps she was, but her wits had guided her safely to Gronkkston when at last she had almost given up.
Not many knew of the dangers that lay in wait under the sands until the moon had reached the full of its peak, but Keesha remembered all too well. Death... It was here in these dead wastes that the corpses of fallen orcs, whether in honorable combat or starvation as an outcast, would rise to meet the silvery beams of night.
And then it came, the sound of old bone and crumbling armor that quickly reached the fe-orc's pointed ears. She crouched down low as she raised her axe in response, ready to meet the corpses of her past brethren with tusk and blade. Was this why she felt called here, to redeem her honor? She would never get her answer as a hooked arrow sliced through the thin leather between her shoulder guard and chest plate. A pained roar ripped from her lips as she charged towards the bits of animated bone and flesh. Her axe came up swiftly from under the abomination's rib cage, scattering dusty remains across the sands.
Already five others had sprang up from the earth, retrieving their weapons to put an end to the living. Keesha ripped the arrow from her arm, pulling pieces of flesh with it before plunging it through the skull of the closest zombie. With her free hand, she flung her axe through the chest of another, watching it momentarily as it fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Her shoulder bled profusely as she tried to press her hand against the wound to cut off its flow. Armed with the opportunity from her distraction, one of the corpses caught her in the back with the jagged end of its sword. A red haze blurred Keesha's vision as pain erupted from her back, causing her to stagger to one knee.
Three corpses remained and the young fe-Orc felt her strength failing her. "Dis iz it den? Dis bi dah end ub mi?" She whispered quietly to herself. In the moments before death, the fe-Orc felt something she hadn't felt since the Grandmothers cast her from the clan so many years ago... A will to live. Honor be damned. Keesha didn't want to die, honorable or not. She grabbed the ankles of the zombie in front of her as he raised his sword to swing again, ripping them out from under him before knocking him into the brittle skeleton a few feet away.
She pushed herself to her feet, her injuries searing up her skin as slowly sunrise began to filter across the empty expanse of desert. Almost immediately the three remaining undead burst into a flaming blaze, their screeches of pain echoing across the dunes with an unearthly sound. Not but a few minutes later only ash remained. Keesha stumbled to grab her axe but her arm had numbed to the point that she couldn't close her fingers around the handle. She tilted her head to see the faint outline of San'Orka in the distance. Despite the injuries she had suffered, she was still an Orc and would be able to make it to a healer in time before she succumbed to the pain.
Hope filled the fe-orc's spirit as she pushed her sore joints to trudge along the sands home.
(Lol JK, she lives... Jokes on you guys.)
Keesha's boot suddenly clicked against a small stone in the sand as the ground beneath her began to shift. With a yell the earth ripped open into a small pit of lava, the loose sands falling into its gaping mouth and taking the young fe-Orc with them.
(Or not, I had to be cool like everyone else. /suicide)