Page 3 of Loved by the Orc (Hidden Hollow #4)

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HARMONY

W hen I woke up, I was in a dim room and for some reason I was lying almost horizontal instead of sitting up. Something hard and warm was pressed against my left side but I couldn’t see it clearly—the room was too dark and my vision was blurry.

“What…where am I?” I blinked and tried to look around, which made my head ache. “Ohhhh,” I moaned, clutching at it. “What’s wrong with me?”

“You ran into me and bumped your head,” a deep, rumbling voice informed me. “Then you blacked out.”

“What…? Who…?” I peered up towards the source of the voice and saw two golden eyes looking down into mine. “Oh my God—who are you?” I demanded, my voice coming out in a gasp.

“My name is Tark—I’m a Creature—an Orc,” he rumbled. “Please don’t be afraid—I would never hurt you. It’s just that all you humans are so small and breakable!”

“Breakable?” I didn’t know what to think about that but I had other questions. “An Orc? Like…from the Lord of the Rings?”

I wasn’t much into fantasy, as I said, but a friend of mine from college had gotten me to watch several of the movies with her. The guy leaning over me didn’t really look like the Orcs from the popular franchise, though. He wasn’t covered in oily goop for one thing and his face wasn’t all misshapen and weird for another.

In fact, aside from the tusks, the glowing golden eyes, and his green skin, he looked like a normal, handsome guy. Well, if a normal guy was over eight feet tall and extremely muscular, that was. Also, he smelled really good—a kind of woodsy, spicy, masculine scent that drew me to him almost against my will. I was pretty sure the ugly baddies from the LOTR movies didn’t smell like that .

Tark frowned at my words.

“I’ve heard of those movies but I haven’t seen them. They don’t paint my people in a very good light, I don’t think.”

Oh my God, had I just offended him? Were the Orcs in the Lord of the Rings like some kind of racist caricatures of his people? I immediately felt bad and guilty.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that you’re the first Orc I’ve ever met, er, in person,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No offense taken,” he said mildly. “I hadn’t met many humans either—until I moved to Hidden Hollow.”

“Hidden Hollow?” I asked and put a hand to my head again. “Ow! Is that what this place is called?”

“That is the name of the town. But for now, you are in my office.”

The new voice startled me and I looked up to see a woman in a doctor’s coat standing there beside me. She must have walked over when I was busy talking to Tark, because I hadn’t seen her earlier.

Except when I looked at her more fully, I realized it would be impossible for her to walk anywhere—because the bottom half of her, from the waist down, looked like an enormous snake!

“I am Madam Healer,” the snake-woman said to me. “I take it you have never been here, to Hidden Hollow before?” she added dryly, probably because my eyes were getting bigger and bigger as I looked at her.

“N-no,” I stuttered. “I…I’ve never been here before. Or seen an yone like you—either of you,” I added, looking back at Tark. The huge Orc was still cradling me like a baby in his arms and I had never felt so helpless—so vulnerable—in my life.

Madam Healer made what sounded like a hissing sigh and I saw a forked tongue flicker out from between her perfectly lipsticked lips.

“Ah, she is a virgin human,” she remarked, clearly speaking to Tark. “The town is drawing in so many of them lately!”

“Er, I’m not a virgin,” I said quickly, wondering if they were looking for some kind of virgin sacrifice for some reason. Of course, I hadn’t been with many guys either—I had a grand total of two ex-lovers, though the last one hardly counted since he had gotten drunk and passed out halfway through. However, the first one had been successful—I most definitely was not a virgin.

But Madam Healer was shaking her head.

“No, my dear—that wasn’t my meaning at all.”

“Madam Healer means you’re a human who doesn’t know anything about magic,” Tark explained. “And you’re probably surprised to be here, in Hidden Hollow.”

“Surprised is an understatement,” I admitted. “I was trying to get to the ladies room so I could have a good cry!”

“And instead you ran into me.” Tark smiled down at me, (a surprisingly friendly expression considering the tusks.)

“Um, yes. I guess I did,” I said cautiously. “Look, I really need to get up.” I tried to sit up and he helped me, lifting his arm to raise my head.

I promptly groaned.

“Oh, why does it hurt so much?” I moaned, touching the lump on my forehead with my fingers.

“Probably because of the pain and damage spell on my armor.” Tark sounded apologetic. “Sorry—it’s supposed to hurt enemies only. I guess it mistook you for one, since you came rushing at me through the magic door. ”

There was too much going on in that statement for me to even form a question about it, but I tried anyway.

“Are you saying your armor knows if you have an enemy after you?” I demanded weakly.

“That’s just the way it’s spelled,” Tark explained. “Like I said, if you hadn’t come running at me, it never would have hurt you.”

“Enough of this—let me look at the girl. Bring her to my exam room,” Madam Healer demanded.

“Yes, Madam Healer,” Tark rumbled. And before I could make any moves to get out of his arms and stand on my own, he was lifting me and cradling me to his chest as he followed the snake-lady further into the dimness.

At last we went into a slightly brighter area. There was a counter and sink with some open-form cabinets on one wall. The cabinets were filled with all kinds of bottles and jars, some with mysterious, sparkly contents and others with murky dark liquid inside. There was a rectangular, unpadded exam table in the center of the room.

“Sit her here—unless you prefer to hold her?” Madam Healer said, looking up at Tark.

“I’ll hold her,” he said firmly, without even asking me.

I started to protest, but the exam table didn’t look very comfortable and I wasn’t sure I trusted the snake-lady. Oddly, I did seem to trust the huge Orc who was holding me, though I couldn’t have said why. He just seemed… safe. I know that doesn’t make any sense, considering how he looked, but that was how he felt. So I didn’t make a fuss as he cradled me in his arms.

Madam Healer leaned over me and produced a light which she shined in my eyes.

“Hmm, pupils are normal,” she pronounced and frowned at me. “How are you feeling now? Do you still have pain in your head?”

“Only when I touch it.” I pressed my fingertips lightly to the bump on my forehead and winced. “Ouch!”

“Hmm…a lingering effect of the spelled armor, I think,” she re marked. “Let me get a counterspell healing potion—that should take care of things.”

She slithered over to the cabinets and looked through them thoughtfully before taking down a slim bottle that appeared to be half full of sparkly purple liquid.

“Dear me—almost out,” I heard her murmur to herself. Then she poured most of the contents of the bottle into what looked like a martini glass and brought it over to me. “Here—drink this,” she said, trying to hand it to me.

But I refused to take the drink.

“I don’t think so!” I protested. “I’m not going to take anything until you tell me exactly what’s in it. I’m training to be a pharmacist—I know better than to take unknown substances.”

“A pharmacist, is it?” Madam Healer gave me an interested look. “I believe that is the human version of an apothecary or an alchemist, is it not?”

“I don’t know—I guess maybe,” I said guardedly. “But the point is, I’m not drinking it until I know what’s in it.”

Madam Healer nodded graciously.

“Very well—as you are not in grave or immediate danger and I have no other patients to treat at the moment, I will explain the ingredients and the spells that went into this particular potion.”

She made a gesture and suddenly an old-fashioned chalk board about as big as a white board appeared beside her.

I gasped at the sudden appearance and felt Tark’s arms tighten around me protectively. But Madam Healer only smiled and let her forked tongue slip out—which I later learned was her version of laughing.

“Please don’t worry—I don’t have much magic that isn’t of the healing variety, so I had one of the witches in town make this spell for me. It comes in handy whenever I need to explain something in writing,” she said. “Now please—attend to me.”

What followed was the most complex and fascinating chemistry lesson I’d ever had. Only it wasn’t actually chemistry like I’d learned in any of my classes at USF back home—it was magical chemistry.

Madam Healer started out simply by listing the ingredients of the potion and then she got more in-depth, writing out their chemical formulas and explaining the spell that was used to weave each one together before they were all added to a single pot and “melded” as she called it.

She seemed surprised when I kept up with her lesson and asked pertinent questions.

“My…no one has ever understood it so well before!” she said. “You must be at the very top of your class back home in the Human Realm, my dear.”

“I have a 4.0 GPA,” I said, unable to keep the pride out of my voice. “But this isn’t like any chemistry I’ve ever learned before.”

“Of course not—but you’re doing quite amazingly well anyway.” She sighed. “Much better than the last apprentice I tried to train. That boy simply could not get his head around the material.”

I could see how someone might have a problem with the potion formula. It really was complex—which was what made it fascinating, as far as I was concerned. It also made Madam Healer’s next question easier to answer.

“Now that you understand it, will you take a sip of the healing potion?” she asked. “I promise it will take away the magical ache from the spelled armor. Your headache will be gone like that.” And she snapped her fingers—which were covered in tiny scales, like the rest of her body—dramatically.

“All right. I’ll take a sip,” I agreed. “Er, but can I stand up first?”

“Better not—what if you get dizzy?” Tark rumbled. It occurred to me that the Orc was extremely strong. He had been holding me patiently all this time, though the lecture had taken almost thirty minutes, but he still seemed reluctant to put me down. And, as I think I mentioned before, I’m not exactly skinny so it couldn’t have been easy to hold me like a baby all this time—though he certainly made it look easy.

“Tark is right—just take a sip for now.” And Madam Healer held the martini glass filled with shimmering purple liquid carefully to my lips. “He can put you down when you feel better.”

I took a careful sip and was surprised at the light, delicious flavor that rolled over my tongue.

“Oh—it actually tastes good! Like some kind of candied flower petals.”

Madam Healer smiled and her forked tongue slipped out from between her perfect lips for a moment.

“Ah yes—I take great pride in the flavor of my potions. It’s not always easy finding non-magical ingredients that won’t react with the magic ones to create a pleasant taste. Now try touching your head, my dear,” she added, gesturing to my forehead. “Does it feel better?”

Carefully, I put my fingers to the lump on my forehead…only to find it was mostly gone.

“Oh—it does feel better!” I exclaimed. “Wow—I’ve never had any medicine that worked that fast!”

“That’s because it’s magical ,” she reminded me. “But having said that, I don’t want you leaving Hidden Hollow right away. I need you to stay close just in case there’s any kind of delayed reaction either to the potion or to the armor.”

“Why—do you think there will be?” I asked, feeling suddenly anxious.

She shook her head.

“Almost certainly not, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I let you leave the Magical Realm right away after having your very first sip of a magical potion.”

“I can watch over her—she can come home with me,” Tark offered quickly. “I’m close to your office so if anything happens, I can bring her right back over.”

“Very well.” She nodded. “Just keep her for an hour or so, will you? If she feels fine at the end of that time, she can go back to the Mortal Realm.”

“An hour?” I exclaimed as the implications of what they were saying hit me. “But I’ve probably already been here at least forty-five minutes—if not longer. If I stay another hour, my boss is going to be so mad at me! I mean, he already hates me. I need to go back right now!”

“Hates you? How could anyone hate you?” Tark rumbled, looking down at me with a frown.

“Don’t worry my dear—I’ll give you my spare time charm,” Madam Healer remarked. She went to the shelves again and this time she came back with a slim golden band that looked a little like a watch. It had a face with all the numbers of the clock marked on it and two black hands. The time it was telling seemed correct, but there was no glass over the face to keep the hands protected.

“How does it work?” I asked, as she wound it around my wrist.

“Just push back the hour hand to reset the time to when you wish it to be,” she explained. “Then you’ll go back to that time. But I’m afraid it can’t go further back than three hours,” she added. “I use it when I have a lot of patients and I’m running late. That way I can see everyone at their appointed time and no one is inconvenienced.”

I couldn’t help wishing that doctors in the “Human Realm” as they called it had access to that kind of equipment.

“But if I turn back time, does that mean I’ll forget everything that happened here in, er, Hidden Hollow?” I asked uncertainly.

As bizarre as this experience was, I wanted to remember it, I realized. Literally running into Tark and meeting Madam Healer and the strange but fascinating magical chemistry lesson—all of it was something I never wanted to forget. It was weird but amazing—I wanted to think it over later when I finally got home and slipped into bed.

“That’s an excellent question, my dear,” Madam Healer said approvingly. “But since you apparently have magic in your blood, no, I do not believe you will forget our encounter. ”

“Magic in my blood?” I frowned. “No, you must be mistaken. I don’t have any magic at all.” If I had, I was thinking, my life would probably have been a whole lot happier and a hell of a lot easier.

“Ah, but you must,” Madam Healer said earnestly. “Otherwise Hidden Hollow would never have called to you and the magical bubble that surrounds the town would not have parted to allow you entrance.”

“Magical bubble?” I asked, frowning. But just as Madam Healer was opening her mouth to answer, there was a tinkling sound from the front room.

“Ah—I’m afraid I have another patient,” she said. “But I would greatly like to talk to you again, my dear…er, what is your name?”

“Oh—Harmony. I’m Harmony,” I said.

“Harmony. I believe your magic may lie in the same vein as my own,” she said. “Come talk to me later and we can discuss it.” She looked up at Tark. “You will watch over her for at least an hour?”

“Of course.” He nodded. “I’ll bring her right back if there’s a problem.”

“Do that.” She nodded at me again and then slithered out of the room, leaving me still cradled in the massive Orc’s arms.