The Fulcrum

By Yancy Ball

Shauba, her companions, and their patron, the orc matriarch Lash, now have a map to the tomb of the evil wizard Wallamous. There is power to be found in the tomb - power great enough to protect the Red Tusk tribe from its enemies. But since Shauba believes the Wallams family might kill to get their map back, partnering with Wallamses on a quest to raid the tomb has its risks.

Ten skilled and courageous adventurers - humans and orcs, former rivals and lovers - could make the journey across a frozen landscape overrun by hostile orc tribes. But the two-century-old tomb contains a secret that no one expected. And that secret, once revealed, could shatter the balance that holds together this fragile alliance between humans and orcs.

Or it could make them into heroes.

The Fulcrum is a 60,000 word erotic fantasy adventure novel and sequel to The Heist of Highridge and The Half's Way, about a young woman's quest for love, and for a people she can call her own. It contains graphic sexual situations, violence, romance, queer and nontraditional relationships, grief, healing, pigs of preposterous size, and wholly exorbitant use of the f-word.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yancy Ball
• Release date: Jun 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005969042

Yancy Ball

As an amateur writer with a vastly overactive imagination, Yancy Ball has been writing sexy heroines into African-inspired fantasy realms for many years. During the day, Yancy enjoys cycling, martial arts, and conspiring to build a brighter future. Read Yancy’s Smashwords interview at https://www.smashwords.com/interview/yibala.

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The Fulcrum

by Yancy Ball

Published by Yancy Ball

Copyright 2022

Smashwords Edition

Cover Art by The Illustrated Page Book Design

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

The Longer the Path, the Deeper the Truth

Foolhardy and Ill-planned

Orcs Do Know How to Share

The Fulcrum, Bitch

We Are Made in the Darkness

We’re All in This Together Now

Ghosts of the Past

We Didn’t Kill Each Other

A Real Live Dead Wizard

Don’t Make Me Destroy You

Let Us See Who You’ve Become

A Handful of Bad Choices

Love You Until I Die

Honor and Love

It Feels Nice to Have a Home

About the Author

Other Books by Yancy Ball

Connect with Yancy Ball

The Longer the Path, the Deeper the Truth

The Blue Foal was more creek than river, crisp and swift as it cut east across the grassy plateau at the heart of Clearwater March. When she looked back, Shauba could just see the water mill that marked the sprawling home of Paval the Curator. Shauba and her friends had lived there for a month while Paval sent word to his patron, the orc leader Lash, about their discoveries in Highridge. Until yesterday, when the invitation had finally come.

It was time to return to Red Tusk territory.

For the others, that month of rest had been something close to idyllic. Danica had spent most of her time gathering wild herbs with Rash Girl and venturing into the town of Deephaven to shop for components for her spells. The aspiring alchemist had been so absorbed in her studies that she paid little attention to Paval’s sons, who had both been captivated by her honey-colored hair and pert little nose.

Mikel and Andrec occupied themselves swinging swords at one another. By day, the former Caddroch guardsman finally began teaching Mikel how to wield a blade. They availed themselves of a barn full of weapons Paval kept for sale to the Red Tusks and other customers. During the nights, the lovers put aside metal swords for swords of flesh.

Andrec possessed a heart for adventure, and an ear for Mikel’s story and songs. The affection that blossomed between them made Mikel happy, and that made Shauba happy.

Unfortunately, that left Shauba largely on her own. She spent some of that time near the house’s stone hearth, recovering from the bruises and cuts Quin had given her. She cut wood and brush for Paval’s family to stack for the winter. Mostly, she spent time in the disagreeable company of her own thoughts.

Would Shauba and her friends be accepted again in Esker? Or would they be sent away again, no longer of use to Lash and her plotting? Was the secret map Mikel had found so valuable that Lash might threaten them?

So it was a partial relief when Lash finally sent for them. Soon, at least, Shauba would have answers to her questions.

Paval told the companions to follow the Blue Foal into the hills and orc territory. Orcs from Esker would be waiting for their arrival.

It was winter now, and the high grass along the stream crunched with icy rime and a dusting of snow. Each of the companions had well-made sheepskin jackets and wool cloaks, along with lined boots and layers of gloves to dull the season’s bite.

As the Blue Foal wound its way into the hills, the banks became rockier and narrower. The four friends stretched into a single file, with Shauba and the keen-nosed warpig Rash Girl in the lead. Danica followed, while Mikel and Andrec took the rear, leading their mule, Grape.

Snow-frosted pine and juniper trees marched up the slopes, stiff soldiers in their hundreds. In the distance, clouds carried stark shadows across the terrain. These hills were much like those of Shauba’s home, in the forest where she’d become a woodcutter.

When they reached a stretch where the path leveled out, Danica quickened her pace until she was close enough to Shauba that the two women could easily talk over the babble of the river.

Am I the only one who thinks that what we’re doing is a bit mad? Danica asked.

Certainly not, Shauba reassured her.

It was one thing to go to a sage in Caddroch when we were getting paid for it. But now - if I understand correctly - we’re going back into the territory we were exiled from. We’re carrying a secret map that people we’ve met so far would kill for, at the invitation of an orc who has already betrayed us once. I think I have that right, yes.

Rash Girl ventured along, snout mostly to the ground, but occasionally sniffing the air, which put Shauba at ease. She had learned that, in the boar’s constant search for roots and mushrooms, he also scanned the air, both for threats and for familiar scents he linked to his favorite places. With a favorable wind, the warpig could sense danger well before Shauba spotted anything.

I want to go back to Esker, Shauba said. "I’ve had enough of the Marches, at least for a while. After Caddroch… Quin is out there somewhere, and would probably kill me just for the satisfaction, even if we didn’t have the map.

But it isn’t just Quin. Whenever I try to fit in with humans, it eventually turns to pigshit. So I figure that with Lash’s blessing, maybe I can make it work in Esker.

And Mikel’s just following you, Danica guessed.

No. Mikel really wants to see this thing through, Shauba smiled sadly. I think he believes we’re doing the right thing.

And he has Andrec convinced.

Shauba didn’t want to touch that one. If she and Mikel were just slutting it up together as usual, she wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Andrec to fuck off, for his own good. But now there was something special between the two men. Shauba wasn’t about to ruin that, even if she thought Andrec was in over his head. Mikel deserved this happiness.

But Dani, you don’t have to be here. You know that.

I know that. Danica said. She sighed. My folks put me out when I quit my apprenticeship. That’s how I ended up in Esker. You and Mikel are the closest thing I have to a family.

It was remarkable what four days in a cell awaiting death could do to bring people together.

I don’t know if we’re doing the right thing, Shauba said. But I agree that we should see this through to the end. If it gets us back into Esker, I’ll take that. If we end up fighting for our lives again, well… we’ve done all right so far.

The river began to descend, gradually, into a ravine, dropping below their level. The water grew more frothy and rapid in its narrow channel. Though they weren’t following a clear track, Shauba could tell that it was either a game trail or a rarely used footpath.

I also wouldn’t mind seeing Alog again, Danica said, in a small voice.

Shauba gasped, pretending ignorance. No! You and Alog?

The other woman flushed. It’s not like we have history or anything. But you didn’t see him fighting off Druk’s warriors. He was magnificent.

He is my cousin, Shauba agreed, not caring if her chest puffed out more than a little. She remembered the talk she and Danica had had about orcs and love, their first morning in Caddroch. And I wouldn’t mind seeing Bashukk again.

Even if he thinks less of you?

Shauba shrugged. I want to know for sure before I give up on him.

The longer the path, the deeper the truth, Danica recited.

Huh?

It’s one of Jonah’s proverbs. He told it to me when he urged me to do research on my own.

Shauba nodded. She glanced back at Mikel and Andrec, who shared an easy laugh over whatever it was the men were discussing. The bard looked so odd with a scabbard hanging from his belt.

Let’s get to the truth, then, she said. However deep it is.

**

By late afternoon, they’d reached a point where the Blue Foal split. The main channel veered southeast, while a stream continued in an easterly direction. The bridge that crossed the shallow gorge before the split looked as if it might collapse at any time, its planks fissured with dry rot.

Fortunately, they did not need to cross. Paval said that most trade with Esker followed the main channel - called the Blood-bearing by the orcs - which flowed past the hillfort. But the companions were to follow the lesser channel. The stream that tumbled into the rugged, forested terrain to the east.

They weren’t going to Esker. But where were they going? The eastward path was overgrown and icy in patches, but passable. Someone made that trail. Someone lived where they were headed.

Andrec and Danica took turns leading, prodding the ground ahead with their spears. Shauba trailed behind with Mikel. She spotted spiral-horned tur and red deer that scampered along on the slopes above them. The guttural cry of a crow echoed through the valley.

Are we still in Clearwater? she asked the bard.

Mikel shrugged. I can’t say. I don’t know of human towns east of Deephaven. A few years back, I recall some fighting between Clearwater and Red Tusks about where the border was. It happened around here, I think.

Andrec pointed ahead. The valley they were in was as dark as dusk, but the sky ahead was still bright. A thread of smoke curled up against the clouds.

Ho! Stop there, fuckwads!

The challenge, spoken in a guttural Doric, caromed off the valley slopes, making it difficult to pinpoint where it was coming from. Andrec tensed, brandishing his spear. Rash Girl, panting, made a series of excited barks and grunts. Shauba ran up to help Danica with the leash to keep the warpig from dashing into the woods.

Of course, if Rash Girl had a mind to, both of them together couldn’t hold him back. But Shauba’s warpig was eager, not afraid or aggressive. Happy, even. And that voice sounded familiar.

Alog? Shauba called back. You block-head fuck, is that you?

Who wants to know? came the response.

Shauba grabbed the warpig’s leash tightly and hurried ahead. She spotted movement in the trees, and then her cousin Alog emerged onto the path.

She seized him in a tight embrace. Orcs didn’t actually hug, but Alog had some experience with Shauba’s habit of grabbing and squeezing those she loved. She drank in the pungent, onionish Red Tusk smell she had missed for so many weeks.

Alog wore a skullcap with a topknot headdress. A new wolf pelt hugged his rangy frame, but his arms and legs still seemed too exposed for the chill.

He bestowed a toothy grin on her. Ho there, Cousin. Alog eyed the others. I think I know the rest of these fools too.

They introduced Andrec to the Red Tusk scout. Andrec tried to hide his apprehension, but his stammer and darting eyes gave him away.

You’d better get used to this quickly, Andrec. You’re going to be seeing a lot of orcs.

How is Esker? Danica asked Alog. The honey-haired girl was normally aloof, but she hugged the orc affectionately. Meanwhile, Rash Girl slobbered on Alog’s bowed legs.

Raw and achy since you left, Danica, Alog replied in a sober voice. His Doric had improved. Before, he had always preferred to speak Orcish. But they’ll never admit it. Come on. It isn’t far. Everyone is waiting.

The path led down into a twilit hollow, and what appeared to be a mostly ruined human settlement. The stream ran level with the ground here and was shallow enough to ford. The collapsed remains of a wooden mill stooped alongside the water, overgrown with thicket. A barn with a hole in the roof was the source of the smoke they’d seen. More smoke issued from the chimney of a house that looked intact.

Four hogmounts were tied to trees, rooting around in the snow for food. One of them was Iris, Alog’s hog, who snorted a loud greeting. The mounts’ leads were long enough that they could forage and take shelter in the remains of a storehouse. Andrec and Danica unloaded Grape and tied her nearby.

Shauba had not seen a hogmount since Esker. She’d forgotten just how formidable they were. The fruit of millennia of orcish breeding efforts, Iris and the others stood as tall as Shauba at the ruff of bristly hair atop their hump. Behind the shoulders, the back sloped sharply down to low-slung, heavily muscled hindquarters. The hogmounts’ snouts, hooves and tusks were all that resembled the pigs they’d been bred from. The powerful beasts were much stronger than a horse, though not as swift.

Stew’s simmering, and a fire’s going in the barn there, Alog said, leading them to the house. But she is waiting for you, so let’s see her first.

Lash? Shauba asked.

"Warchief Lash." Alog corrected. He gave his cousin a look of caution, then turned to pound on the door.

Come! said a female orc voice from inside.

They filed into the house, Alog and Shauba first.

The floors were dirt but had been covered with fresh straw. A fire burned at a stone hearth in the rear of the main room. The room was mostly empty, except for hogmount tack and saddle bags piled against the wall.

Lash stood in the center of the room, her lips curled into what might have been called a smile. Her dress was plain, but the sparkly, dark-beaded necklace that covered most of her chest was decidedly not.

Behind her, against the wall, was another orc female. Younger and smaller than Lash, she was about Shauba’s height and build. Her headdress was a raven-colored strip of wavy, shoulder-length hair that sprouted from the center of her scalp. The skin she bared below her neck - of which there was plenty - was etched with dark runes.

It satisfies me to see you all, Lash said in Doric. Shauba, Mikel, Danica, and…

Andrec, said Andrec.

I am Lash, the orc leader said, for his benefit. This is Yarukka, my daughter. I hear that you prevailed against many obstacles in Highridge. But you are alive and well.

It turned out to be more than just talking to the sage, Danica said.

But if we had only talked to Jonah, Shauba added, we wouldn’t have found the map. Well, Mikel wouldn’t have found the map.

Lash eyed him, expectant. You have it for me?

Shauba glanced at Mikel. The bard produced the wooden pieces from a pouch. He knelt in front of the orc leader and put them together in the straw. Black lines, etched in the ancient wood, detailed the map.

This could change everything, said Lash. But we shall not speak of it now. There is beer and stew for you, and plenty of space in the barn to rest after the day’s journey. Yarukka and Alog will show you. Tomorrow we shall speak of the future.

Shauba wanted to know if she would be allowed back into Esker. Now that Lash was the warchief, it seemed certain that the exile would be lifted. But Shauba was also tired and hungry, and she knew the others were too.

Yarukka led the way across the ruins to the barn. Her short skirt was slit up to her waist, exposing a painted, sculpted thigh to the hip. Shauba seemed to be the only one who noticed, as Alog fell into casual conversation with the others behind her.

Those are a shaman’s markings, Shauba said. She’d seen orcish priests and priestesses on rare occasions since she was a child, but never spoken to one. Even in Esker. I don’t remember you from the hillfort.

I was in Yakka’s hillfort, Scarp, while you were in Esker. I learned from the shaman, Kazul-atba.

What brought you back?

Yarukka stopped at the barn door and turned. Her eyes were sullen chips of blue ice, stark in contrast with her green skin. Destiny, she said, pushing the door open.

Fire blazed in a stone-lined pit in the center of the barn. Most of the wide open space had been laid with fresh straw and sleeping furs. Two large wooden tubs and pails of water from the stream heated beside the fire.

The orc warrior tending the fire and cauldron rose and left, nodding to Alog and Yarukka on his way out. He didn’t acknowledge Shauba and the others, though she recognized him as one of Lash’s Boss-meet faction.

Shauba felt oddly like a pig being fattened up for slaughter. Lash clearly wanted something from them. The fact that she had requested nothing yet suggested her fear that they might refuse.

But Alog was involved, and he would not betray them. Much had happened in the weeks since she’d seen her cousin, but she knew he would not willfully lead them into a trap.

Danica’s furrowed brow showed similar concern, but then the alchemist spotted the warm water. Mikel seemed completely at ease. He and Andrec had soon doffed their boots and laid down their packs to sit near the fire. Rash Girl grunted and rolled around on the straw.

You worry, said the shaman, eyeing Shauba. Do not. My mother thinks highly of you, and wishes to repay you for all you have done for the Red Tusks.

What will she ask of us? Shauba asked. She watched as Alog began helping himself to stew.

I will let her explain, Yarukka replied. But I know she will offer you much in return, for you will have earned it.

Danica sighed, gazing at the tubs. "Well, if