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  The water exploded.

  MurDuel surged from the pool, iron armor streaming. His axe caught the bioluminescent light as he rose. The copper earring at his jaw gleamed.

  "Crimson Ruby claims your lives!"

  KarGrum stumbled backward.

  Warriors scattered, reaching for weapons. Roar'Z shoved Kyklaw behind him.

  RiaDaa leaped forward, cleavers already drawn. "Back!" she roared. "Get back!"

  She placed herself between MurDuel and Roar'Z. "Face me, murk-dweller!"

  MurDuel's boots hit stone. He didn't slow. His axe carved toward her in a brutal arc.

  Steel met steel. The impact rang through the cavern.

  "You'll need more than that," MurDuel said as RiaDaa's dagger sailed past his head.

  She lunged, cleavers slashing. The blades grazed his armor, sparking but finding no purchase.

  MurDuel's roar thundered through the cave. "Is this the best Roar'Z can muster?"

  RiaDaa drew her sword. She attacked in a fury, blade slicing.

  MurDuel deflected every strike. "Your defeat comes with each swing of my axe!"

  A fierce warble from a seashell conch cut through the chaos. "Now the real fight begins!" KyKlaw's voice carried across the stone. "Rally to me, warriors of the deep!"

  Roar'Z barreled forward, hurling a blazing stone dart toward MurDuel.

  MurDuel seized RiaDaa's wrist, wrenching her sword up to parry the flaming projectile. "Your blade, my shield!" he barked. His laughter mocked as her sword burst into flame and ricocheted toward the water's edge. "I wield your weapon better than you!"

  RiaDaa's hand dangled uselessly. "I'll not yield to pain!" She charged forward, cleavers raised. "Victory or death!"

  MurDuel's axe sliced through RiaDaa. She catapulted backward and crashed into the pool. Blood bloomed where she sank.

  ScuzNails' ears snapped forward. His amber eyes locked on the blood cloud spreading in the dark water. Chief-friend RiaDaa in danger. Down there. Bleeding.

  MurDuel pressed forward, axe swinging. He advanced toward Roar'Z.

  ScuzNails dropped to all fours. His claws scraped stone as he launched forward, a blur of matted fur streaking between the assassin's legs. His dagger flashed, finding the gap between MurDuel's knee plates.

  MurDuel roared, leg buckling. His axe swung wide.

  ScuzNails didn't pause. His momentum carried him toward the water's edge, but Roar'Z's bellow stopped him.

  "SURROUND HIM!" Roar'Z slammed his fist against his chest. The sound echoed through the cavern. Beculum gleamed hungrily in his grip. Warriors who hadn't fled formed a tightening circle.

  Roar'Z bared his teeth. "Face me, traitor! Prove yourself against true Orc strength!"

  ScuzNails' whole body trembled. Chief-friend RiaDaa bleeding. Sinking. Must help. Must go now. But the warriors closed ranks, blocking his path to the water.

  "Surround me? Fools!" MurDuel laughed. "Witness true strength!" His axe carved arcs through the air. "Come, claim your end!"

  Roar'Z stepped forward. "Orc-blood betrays us! Speak, traitor, before your end!"

  MurDuel snarled, unwavering among the encircling warriors. "Forsaken by the Silver Ears for loving a half-breed whelp, I'll spill all your blood for retribution! Your kind took everything!" His axe swept in a deadly arc. "Crimson Ruby's bounty on your head is mine to claim!"

  He scooped sand from the cave floor near the water's edge. "Back in my gladiator days, the sands blinded many foes. A dirty trick, once my favorite, now beneath me." He flung it aside and lunged.

  Axe met sword.

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  MurDuel's nostrils flared. "Poison courses through your veins, the same that weakens your horde!"

  Roar'Z answered with Beculum's edge. The dragon-bone sword whistled forward. MurDuel twisted, but not quickly enough. The blade bit through his armor, drawing blood.

  MurDuel's muscles coiled, then struck. His counterattack slashed Roar'Z's shoulder before the chief's grunt had faded.

  "Beast! Your poisoned kin wither while you flail!" MurDuel spat.

  Beculum slashed in wild arcs, forcing MurDuel back step by step toward the water.

  Roar'Z's wrist flicked. Something glinted in the bioluminescent light.

  Too late, MurDuel spotted the hidden dagger. It spiraled through damp air, erupting into flame mid-flight. The blazing metal punched through his ribs with a hiss of searing meat.

  His fingers weakened. His axe clattered against stone as strength leaked from his limbs. "Your tricks won't end me, Roar'Z!" Blood dripped between his teeth as he pressed his palm against the wound, skin sizzling.

  MurDuel plunged backward into the pool, disappearing beneath the surface.

  Warriors stood ready, weapons raised.

  Then KarGrum's voice cut through. "Where's RiaDaa?"

  Roar'Z spun toward the water.

  He dropped Beculum on the stone and dove.

  The murky depths swallowed him. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. Two forms drifted in the crimson haze.

  MurDuel struggled weakly, the flaming dagger's poison spreading through his veins.

  Beyond him, RiaDaa's body floated, suspended in crimson. Gone.

  Roar'Z's jaw tightened. He swam past RiaDaa toward MurDuel.

  MurDuel's eyes widened as Roar'Z's hands closed around his throat. MurDuel tried to fight, but the poison had done its work. He was weak. Dying already.

  Roar'Z didn't care.

  He held MurDuel under. Stared into his eyes. Bubbles exploded from MurDuel's mouth. He struggled.

  Die, traitor. Die for RiaDaa. Die for my clan.

  MurDuel's hands clawed at Roar'Z's arms. The gladiator's body went slack. His eyes glazed. The bubbles stopped.

  Roar'Z held him there, counting heartbeats. Making certain. The body floated limp in his grip.

  He released MurDuel's corpse and turned to RiaDaa. He gathered her in his arms, cradling her against his chest as he swam upward.

  He surfaced with RiaDaa. KarGrum and Chief FirRam waited at the water's edge, weapons drawn. KarGrum's face crumpled as he saw her.

  "No," KarGrum whispered.

  Roar'Z placed RiaDaa gently on the stone. Her eyes were open. Empty. The wound across her torso had bled her dry.

  "She fought. She died a warrior."

  KarGrum dropped to his knees beside her. KyKlaw was already there, hands trembling. Green light gathered between her fingers, collapsed, gathered again. She pressed her palms to RiaDaa's wound.

  The magic sputtered. Died. RiaDaa's chest didn't rise.

  KyKlaw's hands fell away, still glowing uselessly. Her face was wet.

  ScuzNails crept forward on all fours. He pressed his nose to RiaDaa's cold hand. His ears flattened. ScuzNails struck true. Pack-ScuzNails was fast. But not fast enough for RiaDaa-friend.

  Roar'Z stood. "The traitor still waits below. I'll bring him up."

  He dove again.

  The murky water closed around him. He swam to where he'd left MurDuel's corpse.

  Light exploded from the depths.

  Copper-colored brilliance erupted from below, flooding the underwater chamber. The light pulsed once, twice, painting the blood-stained water in sick amber. Roar'Z shielded his eyes.

  Then darkness crashed back.

  Roar'Z dove deeper, searching. He found the spot where MurDuel's body had been.

  Gone.

  There. On the cave floor. The copper earring, or what remained of it. Rust flakes drifted in the current like dead skin.

  A blood trail led away from the remains. Dark smears across rock. Leading to a crack in the cavern wall barely wide enough for a body.

  Roar'Z swam to the opening. Peered into the darkness beyond. The blood trail disappeared into black water.

  He surfaced.

  The warriors looked up as he climbed from the pool. They saw his empty hands. Saw the rust staining his palms.

  "He's gone," Roar'Z said. "Escaped through a crack in the stone."

  In the shadows beyond the bioluminescent light, the other orcs remained still.

  ScuzNails’ nose touched the water's edge, sniffing. His ears flattened against his skull. He looked up at Roar'Z, amber eyes huge.

  "ScuzNails could track," he whispered. "Could follow poison-blood. Could catch coward-traitor."

  Roar'Z looked down at him. ScuzNails had struck true. Had been fast. Had been brave. But not fast enough to save RiaDaa.

  "No." Roar'Z placed a hand on ScuzNails' head. "Pack-chief needs ScuzNails here. For fire-ceremony. For RiaDaa-friend."

  ScuzNails' tail curled tight around his leg. He nodded.

  Roar'Z turned to the others. He retrieved MurDuel's axe from where it had fallen. The weapon was heavy. Well-made. Stained with RiaDaa's blood.

  He turned to KarGrum. Extended the axe.

  "You dove into death to reach us. You are worthy."

  KarGrum's hands shook as he gripped the weapon. He looked at the axe, then at Chief FirRam standing nearby. The three silver pins gleamed on FirRam's chest. One for each child lost to Ruby's dragons.

  "Chief FirRam. Your children fell to Ruby's servants. You should carry the weapon of Ruby's agent. For your three."

  FirRam's hand touched the silver pins at his chest. Then he reached out and took the axe.

  "You are wiser than your years, KarGrum."

  Roar'Z struck his chest with his fist. "Wisdom earns respect. Size means nothing." He looked down at RiaDaa's body, his trusted shield. "We carry our dead with honor. Prepare her for the flames."

  The warriors moved to obey. ScuzNails remained curled beside RiaDaa until they lifted her body. His small hand touched her arm one last time.

  KyKlaw stood slowly. She looked at Roar'Z. At the cold fury in his eyes. At the water still dripping from his armor.

  "Where does safety lie for us, my love?" she whispered. "When even victory brings only loss?"

  Roar'Z crushed the copper rust between his fingers. It stained his palm like old blood. MurDuel had drowned in his hands. The body had gone slack. The eyes had gone dark.

  And Ruby had pulled him back.

  ScuzNails pressed his nose to the crack in the stone one last time. His ears flattened. "Walking-death," he whispered. "Not breathing. Still moving."

  Roar'Z looked at RiaDaa's body, wrapped and ready for the flames. She had died to protect them. MurDuel had died too.

  But only one of them stayed dead.

  "What manner of enemy makes corpses walk?" KyKlaw asked.

  Roar'Z had no answer. He retrieved Beculum and sheathed the blade.

  Somewhere beyond the stone, something that had been MurDuel swam without breathing toward its mistress.

  The hunt had just become worse.

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  Breach of Balance ---