《The Saga of an Orc》


 Chapter 1: The Beginning , Olikep, And Royalty:

    I wish I could have had a better story to tell than this, one that isn¡¯t about corruption, scheming nobles, and wars. It may seem epic, but rest assured, it¡¯s not. Alas, I must, for who will after I¡¯m gone? Will soldiers from wars I fought tell it on the streets of foggy canal cities or to kings in high towers and ballrooms? It must be me, and only me. I think it¡¯s time to begin.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°You see, the recent storm has killed all in our village except a select few. My fortunate son was the only child left alive, my king.¡± The king stood up, walking toward me.


    ¡°Is this true? Are you the last kid left in your orc town?¡± I nodded, plastering a smile on my face.


    ¡°Well, in that case, I will take this kid in. It¡¯s not out of pity, but for how lucky he is to have survived the recent storm. We can all agree that many people died out there, though I¡¯ve heard nothing like the story told to me. You will have a place in court, I assure you. Your parents, however, will be hooked up with a nearby home, right across from the royal square. If any trust is broken, I will send you and your family away, forever placing a stain upon your family¡¯s name.¡± The king took me in his arms and hugged me. Tears of happiness formed, even if I knew that a life like this would only bring me down more, and make me more lonely. I would be the only orc at court, except for my family, and have to be with the people I hated most. I know I should¡¯ve been happy, but how, in an environment as hostile as the court? This would be a chance to gain some power, maybe even get the throne if I get the trust of the king. And so, my life began as a courtier.

 Chapter 2: Murderers and Rings:

    ¡ª


    This part of the story is my favorite, to say the least. My life seemed great, even if it was partly a lie. The only issue was that my parents never came to visit me. I asked to meet up with them, but every time I asked to do so nothing ever came of it. This only showed the cruelness of the world, how they all pitied me for the tusks on my face and green skin. The sheer amount of whispered slurs was enough to make me lock myself away. I would get revenge.


    ¡ª


    I was beginning to get adapted to life in court. My favorite part was the food, though the copious amount of lessons truly drained me by the end of the day. I wanted a break, though it was never given. For months life was the same; wake up, change into a stuffy formal dress, eat breakfast as quickly as I could, and then lessons. My revenge plans were going nowhere. Who was going to die first? My first thought was the Duke of Winshire¡¯s wife, a woman who needed to be dealt with due to her attitude. She was the first one to scoff at us, at the pain and hunger that consumed my parents. One of the perks of being a courtier was the amount of attention I got. Servants would bask in my presence, most of them being orcs. I even gained trust with some of them, giving me connections that might be useful in the future.


    One afternoon, I was sitting on the terrace drinking tea. I planned to kill Duke Winshire¡¯s wife, whose name I had just found out was Avanise. The servants had told me her husband often drank late, entering the room most of the time at 12 PM. I knew that there would be a hunting party and that the women would be drinking tons of port wine and scoffing down sweet tarts. At night, I¡¯d enter her room and kill her, stealing some objects if needed. After all, she deserved it.


    Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t know why I continued to go through the plan. It would work from the beginning, everything being so predictable. Oftentimes, I thought that the Duke would have something of importance. Oh, how wrong I was.


    The hunting party would soon leave, and I was preparing for the deep. I¡¯d stolen a knife from the kitchen in the middle of last night. No one had seen me, nor heard me. The castle was ice cold, every hearth having a fire.


    When the time came, I would strike. After midnight, she walked into the hall where her room was located. I hid behind a high wall of tapestry. No guards were nearby as they were shifting rotations, so I would have to act soon. I put the knife in its sheath, covering it behind my tunic and puffed coat.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I knocked on the door yet no one came. After a minute or two I entered. Sprawled on the bed, her eyes were full of tears and a bottle of wine broken against the wall. She didn¡¯t see me then as her eyes were half open. I unsheathed the knife and prepared to strike.


    ¡°Hello, Avanise.¡± She let out a loud groan. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to business.¡± I smiled, placing the knife on her neck. ¡°You have mocked me the entire time I¡¯ve been in court, called me slurs. Here¡¯s my restitution.¡± I let the knife arch down, digging deep into her chest. She let out a rushed breath before closing her eyes completely.


    It was then that I saw what objects filled the room. Rings, and dozens of them. Some glinted while others shimmered in the candlelight. I picked one up and felt a magic course within me. The only possible explanation was¡­impossible. She was a mage, but¡­ I put a chair to the door handle and began to take whatever magical items lay about. The amount of power the rings had could change entire nations. With the rings, I would bring change.


    -


    I returned to my room in a rushed fashion. Heavy rain began. Soon the Duke would come and find his wife in bed with a knife in her chest. It was supposed to be restitution, for her disrespect. I felt somewhat guilty as the Duke entered the main hall. The rings glared at me. If I put them on, what would happen?


    Without any thought, I walked towards them. Putting one on wasn¡¯t enough. All 10 of them were enough. My heart palpitated. Wonder filled me. How did I do this again? From the books, you just put your arm out and imagined what ring you wanted to activate. It seemed easy enough, though it wasn¡¯t. For the next 10 minutes, I stuck my hand out in the air, imagining fire or water or at least something to come out. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. That was until I dropped my hand down in anger. The room went alight as a mix of fire, water, lighting, and the rest of the rings were activated. I swirled around in the air mesmerized as the elements began to gain momentum. The funnel became small, and I felt everything come near me.


    ¡°STOP!¡± I yelled, the world turning black.


    -


    I awoke on the floor of my room. No one found me there, which was the best outcome of my recklessness. The room smelled of smoke, my carpet scorched and my clothes covered in ash. Immediately as I saw this, I changed into something more reasonable. The feast was still going, I was assuming. It couldn¡¯t have been long before I passed out. Oh how wrong I was. The hallway was empty, and the sun was rising. The main hall had the smell of cold meat and cherry wine. The tables were full of half-eaten food and spilled drinks as if a group of peasants had ravaged the place. No one must¡¯ve heard me, I assumed then. The king reached the corner and rushed to me.


    ¡°I was wondering where you were.¡± The king looked genuine this time, not full of pity or doing a publicity stunt. ¡°One of the dukes¡¯ wife was killed. Part of her ring collection was stolen. Poor thing.¡± King Elrop looked at me and then left muttering something. Was he delirious? The king didn¡¯t see that the rings were still on my hand. After that realization, I rushed back to the room.


    Once inside, I put them under my bed, wrapping them in a wash towel. No one would find them.

 Chapter 3: Magic and More Magic:

    ¡ª


    Dear god, I wish that I¡¯d never picked up those rings, now that I really think about what happened. It wasn¡¯t worth the pain, to see as the world began to crumble around me. Mentally, I wasn¡¯t there. Lessons bled together and tests became pieces of drawing paper.


    ¡ª


    The next few months went by quickly. I got a month''s break, where I lounged around, did fencing lessons with the servants, and ate to my heart''s content. Even when every day was packed with a new adventure, from wandering the gardens to climbing the castle¡¯s towers, I couldn¡¯t help but feel solitary, as if I was the only person in the world who could feel it. Where were my parents now? I couldn¡¯t tell you then or now. They never told me if mom and dad died well or in the streets, or where the house was located. The only thing they wanted was for me to be happy and somewhat successful. I¡¯d reached the top, it felt like.


    The rings started to become boring to me, more like a danger than a wonder in the world. Magic came at a cost, I realized. Every time I used them, my mind would be drained of energy, always making me pass out immediately. That wouldn¡¯t work in a fight. The investigation wasn¡¯t going well either. With only a knife as a clue and suspicions, there was nowhere to base anything off of. Naturally, people thought it was me, but the king had dismissed it. I never got why Elrod took me in. He glared at my father like a drunkard, but to me as a god.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    There were many realizations as I grew up at the court; that everyone was insecure and did not care about others. The world needed to change, but how? I was a pitiful orc taken in probably as a publicity stunt or out of pity. My head kept on telling me this as if it was going to help me. However, I didn¡¯t give up. Over time, I got better at the rings, most of the time at midnight.


    After my 16th birthday, there was change happening around the castle. Economically and politically, the country was changing. Sumariya had become torn in two. One side wanted to gain more land, colonizing the nearby small country of Garsiona. King Elrod disagreed with the war, aiming for a peace treaty instead so more riches would be pumped into Sumariya. It was a stupid disagreement, I realize now.


    With the chance of war, I started to learn magic from an official mage. It came to me naturally. The king¡¯s mage would sit me down in the castle basement, by the dungeons, and make me repeat after him. Personality-wise, he was a recluse. His name was Jurin, born in the Fenarino Isle. Oftentimes, he would wear a purple shawl over a pristine white tunic and gray pants. Jurin wore no shoes but washed regularly, he¡¯d told me. There¡¯s nothing much to say about the lessons themselves. It was a lot of reading and barely any magic itself. When we did do actual magic, however, I felt like a god. The channeling fire was my expertise. This only furthered my practice on the rings. I never had felt so powerful. Everyone could do magic, though people rarely activated it. I had activated it with the rings, though even now I don¡¯t know what had sparked inside me. I now think it was fate that activated the magic, that I was supposed to become the powerful person I was then. War had arrived then, and I was ready.

 Chapter 4: War on the Horizon:

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 Chapter 5: Destruction, Ruins, and the Countryside:

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 Chapter 6: Mayhem and Magic:

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 Chapter 7: Training and War:

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 Chapter 8: The Nurse and Love:

    The next few days were a blur, and all I truly remember was the kind nursemaid, a woman who was kind, checking in on me often. I was so happy when I awoke, knowing that she would come and attend to me. When I finally gained strength, I stood up and looked around, trying to find where I was. It was a hospital, as I expected. The time of day was night, and night light shone into the room. There were 12 beds in total, and everyone was asleep except for me. Then the nurse came, and I lost control. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    I rushed to her side, bodies colliding. I began to kiss her, grabbed her waist, and rushed to the stables. We fell into the hay and began to undress. Her body was beautiful, with an hourglass waist and smooth, silk-like skin. Her hair was the color of wheat, with no tangles or anything. She purred as I did her, stroking my body like a cat. I thrust my body towards hers, We did this for hours until we saw the light of day. I gave her one more kiss before leaving, riding into the distance.