"Guys, seriously. You have no idea how exciting this is! We've found another elf!" Colin had been raving for the st hour about the mysterious elven girl as they trekked south through the Wind River Range, killing any monsters they ran across but continuing to work their way out of the mountains per the request of the strange woman.

  "We actually do know how exciting it is," Bridgette said, rolling her eyes. "You literally have not been able to shut up about her for the st hour. Just an absolute fucking word vomit about her clothing, potential css, her wolf, how strong you think she must be based on the fact she's hanging out here seemingly alone, her hair color, her eyes, the shape of her tits, -"

  "I did not comment on her breasts," Colin interjected angrily. "I would never!"

  "Okay, fine, I made up that st part. But the rest is all true."

  Colin shut his mouth, walking in silence for a minute. "You're right, but seriously! This is awesome!" Bridgette spped her forehead with the palm of her hand, sighing.

  "I think it's adorable," Alice volunteered. "I mean, yes, she was rude and kicked us out of her mountains, and we'll probably never see her again, but what if we did? That would be super cute if Colin found another elf, and they became friends."

  "Colin doesn't want an elven friend. He wants an elven fuck-buddy," Bridgette quipped. Colin turned red, sputtering in anger, while Bridgette roared with ughter. Alice patted Colin on the shoulder comfortingly.

  "Okay, B, that's enough teasing. Now we need to finish traversing these few peaks and hit the prairie beyond, then figure out where we want to go next. We'd put so much effort into getting to the Wind River Range that I'm not sure where else we could try. Maybe the Tetons?"

  "As much as I want to see the Three Big Titties, we're heading the wrong direction for them," Bridgette said. "Maybe next visit?"

  "Huh?" Colin said.

  "Oh, that's where the Grant Tetons got their name from," Bridgette expined. "Some horny French adventurers were traversing this area way back in the day and saw three huge mountains. They'd been away from their whores so long that they decided the mountains looked like boobs, and literally named them accordingly. In English, you get the Grand Teton - Large Tit - mountain. C'est romantique!" Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Although maybe I'll name a mountain range after Alice's boobs one day. They're big enough!"

  Alice sighed, "Oh, you. Keep it in your pants, B."

  "Hey guys, look at that," Colin said, pointing. They were just cresting the ridge line near Haystack Mountain, looking down the slope toward Deep Lake below. On the other side of the ke, about a mile and a half away and a thousand or so feet down slope, was a pack of people and creatures moving together. The trio peered at the group, trying to discern details. Colin pulled out a pair of binocurs from his inventory and took a closer look.

  "Those aren't people," he said slowly. "Or at least aren't anymore, maybe weren't ever, who knows. They look like orcs from a fantasy movie. And I'm pretty sure those are wargs they're traveling with."

  "Do they have a white hand print on them?" Alice asked, curious.

  "No," Colin replied. "That's only in that movie filmed in New Zeand. Or at least I sincerely hope there's no evil wizard controlling these guys."

  "Yea, I'd rather not fight evil wizards if we don't have to. But should we attack? Orcs are typically bad guys, right?"

  "Yea, typically. I think we're pretty safe to attack, or at least we should try to shadow them for a bit and see where they're headed before we decide. Not all orcs are necessarily evil. I knew a few people who always preferred to py that side of MMORPGs. But before we get all distracted about the morals of fantasy races, let's see where they're going and make up our minds."

  Over the next three hours, they slowly trailed the orc party through the mountains as they traveled south through the Wind River Range. As they approached the southern terminus, they could see Sweetwater Needles on their left and the pins spreading out before them. Bridgette motioned for them to halt, pointing to a column of smoke that was visible through the trees in the distance.

  "According to this old map, it looks like there was a ranger station and campground around that area. Could be people, could be the orcs. We should try to scale up the mountain a bit and look down on them, maybe? As long as we can avoid any earth elementals, it would give us a good vantage point to see what's up." Bridgette said, trying to pn their approach.

  The trio carefully picked their way across the river and started up the side of the mountain, their legs burning as they hiked up the steep mountain side, careful to avoid noise or silhouetting themselves on the slope. They also kept an eye on the campground below, trying to see what was going on as well as ensuring they kept track of the orc party. Unfortunately, the orcs had ducked under the tree cover and the heavy pine cover made it difficult for the friends to see them.

  They finally reached a spot where they could, with Colin's binocurs, get a good look at the campground. The trio used a small outcropping of rock as an observation post, gazing down on the scene below through Colin's high-powered binocurs.

  "I'm going to be sick," Colin said, turning away.

  "Well, uh. I think this makes them legitimate targets, right? No need to worry about 'what if they were people turned into orcs, and they're friendly,' right?" Alice asked, her face twisted into a grimace and fist pressed to her lips.

  The scene below was nightmarish to the three teenagers. The orcs had set up a fairly rge camp, with about a dozen huts pced around a central campfire. The huts were crafted of fallen logs and branches, giving a modest amount of cover, but very crude in appearance. They had rough thatched roofs with pine boughs spread over them for cover. One hut was rger than the rest and slightly more ornate, with a rge spear pounded into the dirt out in front of it. On the spear was a collection of what appeared to be human skulls, the spear point driven through the top of each skull.

  Nearby was a rusty metal cage, crafted out of what looked like salvaged rebar ties, containing two battered figures. They were covered in mud, clinging to each other at the back of the cage, and looked to be in poor health. They did not move. A rge pen crafted from fallen logs and railroad ties held a dozen wargs, while about twenty orcs wandered around the camp. A campfire in the center of the encampment burned merrily, an orc slowly rotating a rge spit to which a skinned human corpse was tied.

  As the horrified group watched, a rge orc with ornate clothing walked from the rge hut and strode over to the spit, talking to the orc in charge of the cooking detail. He pulled out a knife and sliced a few strips from the corpse, tossing the meat between his hands to cool it before chewing appreciatively and smming the cook on the shoulder joyfully. As he walked back to his hut, he pounded a fist against the cage containing the two figures, ughing as they trembled and screamed.

  Two new orcs, looking more dangerous than the rank and file of the encampment, rode in on their wargs, gesturing back north to the mountains and yelling. One of the orcs pulled a corpse off the back of his warg and dumped it on the ground, pointing at it and ripping two sticks from the body, snapping them and throwing them into the fire.

  "Huh, someone with a bow and arrows killed that guy," Bridgette mused, staring at the scene below. Colin's head whipped back around in surprise.

  WhimsicalLantern

  [colpse]Bridgette

  Spoiler

  [colpse]Deirdre

  Spoiler

  [colpse]