Page 5 of That’s My Orc, Tusk Off

Drogar lifted the crate and carried it down the hall, leaving us to continue with my orientation.

We’d just started on another page in his document when the phone rang.

“Can I?” I asked, reaching for the handset.

Traig nodded.

I picked it up and projected a warm, clear voice. “Creature Rescue League, this is Willa.”

The woman on the other end sounded lost. Ten minutes later, I’d logged her inquiry, answered six questions, and scheduled a follow-up. When I hung up, Traig was staring at his tablet with what looked like relief. He tapped the screen without looking up.

I’d passed a small test. I was sure of it.

“I’m going to need to use this,” I said, gesturing to the file cabinet. “So I want to make sure I’m reading it right.”

He walked me through everything. My face must’ve shown my thoughts about the unconventional system.

“You’ll learn it,” he said.

“Or I’ll just ask you every time?”

The corner of his mouth twitched into an almost smile that was gone before I could be sure. “That works too.”

A blur of yellow and pink streaked through the entryway.

I gaped at it scampering down the hall. “What is that?”

“That’s Nix,” Traig said, without looking up.

“A nix?”

“No, his name is Nix. He’s a fizzling. He’ll be back.”

A few minutes later, Nix zipped back through.

Traig stood, set his tablet down, and strode after it. He returned a short time later holding the striped, ferret-sized creature that started glowing the moment he saw me.

A static shock jumped from Nix to my arm.

My hair stood up.

“Sorry,” Traig said, stroking the fizzling.

“Does this happen a lot?”

“Yes.”

He stepped out the back door with Nix, returning without the creature, and picked up his tablet, continuing where he’d left off as if nothing odd had happened.

Brovish reappeared around noon, stopping by the desk. “Willa, do you want to join us for lunch?”

“Um…” I glanced at Traig.

“We should probably finish this section of the orientation first,” Traig said.

Brovish gave him a look that either made Traig squirm, or there were microscopic orc creatures I hadn’t met yet and he was sitting on one.

“Of course we’ll need to eat,” Traig finally said, the words dragged out of him.