Against Expectation by chrissystriped

His eyes won’t open, sealed shut by dust. Earth is in his mouth. He can’t move. 

He can’t breathe! 

Something heavy lies on his chest, holds him in a crushing embrace. He fills his lungs with effort, ribs creaking. He can move his head, a little, but flakes of dirt fall on his skin and he stops, afraid that the little cavity that made him survive will break down. 

Collapses happen all the time in the mines. He’s been lucky until now. 

He is dead. His heart is still beating, but he is dead. 

He hears sounds, voices and the rumble of stones. So close. But he is dead. 

They won’t dig him out. The thralls hate him as they hate all his kind. And he knows, what they don’t: If the quota is not fulfilled, the soldiers are in trouble, too. His comrades are forced to make the thralls continue their work. 

He knows this, he is resigned to his fate.

A breeze tickles his nose. There is light shining red through his closed lids. Against all odds, he is still alive. He groans, when he is moved, pain exploding in his body. 

“Careful!” a thrall’s voice says. 

Water runs over his cracked lips and down his parched throat. Someone washes his eyes and he opens them to look into the face of a thrall. He does not know how this is possible but he accepts the gift of life. 

“Thank you”, he croaks. “I am in your debt.” 

Then his comrades are there and the elf leaves him to their care. 

Later they will tell him that they struck a deal with the thralls. He is not the only one rescued this day. They worked together to get all their people out, orc or elf. 

He will not forget it.

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