revealed the depth of his fear that she’d been hurt.
Their gazes locked, and he watched her desperately shake her head as if she were pleading with him not to fight. He sent her a smile that he hoped was reassuring before turning his attention to the orc across the wide canvas mat.
Frack was a monster. Not a fairy tale creature with blue fur and googly eyes. He was a seven-foot mountain of pure muscle, thick hide, claws, six-inch tusks protruding from his lower jaw, and crimson eyes. He was naked, although various spots were covered by armor that had been magically embedded in his skin.
It left way too much hanging in the breeze for Javad’s taste.
“Hello, Frack. Long time no see,” he drawled. “Although I’d like to see a lot less. Did you forget your pants? I’ll wait if you want to go and find them.”
As expected, Frack bellowed in fury and recklessly charged. The orc’s sense of humor was as lacking as any amount of intelligence. It was depressingly easy to provoke him.
Javad stood still as Frack barreled toward him. There wasn’t much finesse about the way the orc fought. He was all muscle and primitive instinct. Above him, Javad heard Terra cry out in fear, but he waited. It wasn’t until he could smell the orc’s foul breath that he finally leaped straight into the air, kicking Frack in the face. The sound of crunching bones echoed before Javad flipped over the demon’s head and landed lightly on his feet.
“Bad leech.” Frack growled, whirling to reveal the blood dripping from his snout.
Javad wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d actually wounded the demon, but he had Frack foaming at the mouth. The more he infuriated the creature, the more likely it was that he would take stupid risks.
“I see you have a few more armor bits attached,” Javad said, pretending to admire the metal while he judged the best way to get through it. The only way to kill the orc was to cut off his head. An impossible task without a magically enhanced weapon. Or to cut through the heart that was located in his lower stomach. “Getting soft in your old age?”
Frack snarled and charged again. Javad waited for the orc to get close before he kicked out. This time, however, he didn’t bother aiming for the head. The demon’s skull was as thick as a brick wall. Instead, he smashed his heel into the armor covering the demon’s lower stomach.
The satisfying sensation of the armor denting beneath the blow traveled up his arm. Unfortunately, the price of getting so close to the beast was being unable to avoid the arm the size of a tree trunk that slammed into his side.
The blow cracked Javad’s ribs and sent him flying across the cage to smack into the iron bars. Another bone snapped in two.
Javad hissed in pain, ignoring the roar of the crowd as he regained his balance and started to circle the orc, breathing through the agony. He needed a few seconds to heal his wounds.
“When was the last time you bathed?” Javad taunted. “You smell like a rompo demon after feasting on a rotting hellhound.”
Frack scowled as he awkwardly turned to keep his wary gaze on Javad. “Stay still, leech.”
Javad flashed his fangs in a direct challenge. “You want me? Come and get me.”
On cue, Frack bent low and lumbered forward. He intended to use his skull as a battering ram, but Javad easily skipped to the side, once again kicking at the armor. This time, the metal split, the sharp edges digging into the orc’s thick hide. Frack howled in pain, but with surprising speed, he slashed out with his claws, scoring deep gashes into Javad’s side.
Javad grimaced. He’d managed to injure Frack, but he was incurring too much damage in return. His hours wrapped in the silver net had drained his strength, making it harder than it should be for him to heal.
If he were going to try and make an escape, he had to do it now.
Pretending to charge toward the waiting orc, he used his momentum to leap up and grab the top of the cage. Then, with sheer brute strength, he pulled apart the iron bars to make a wide enough space to crawl through.
“Javad.” Terra struggled to move toward him, only to be jerked back by the troll holding her captive.
Fury raced through Javad, distracting him just long enough for Frack to grab his leg.
Shit. Javad tried to pull