He’s going to come back for me someday. Helena laid her cards out, communing with a mysterious force. Her relationship with these cards had been a double-edged sword since that fateful day many years ago, on which she had first gained her power.
The sun had been as hot that day as a blazing inferno. It had been that which had torn her from her sleep. As she had searched for some water to quell the intense heat in her body, she noticed them there. It had seemed like they were calling to her, and, instinctively knowing what to do, she had heeded. She’d laid them out in front of her just like she was doing today, and she felt exactly what it was they were telling her. It’s going to happen tonight. Trust in me, and you will survive it.
And so, she trusted. Whatever magical contract was formed that day, its initiator had not lied. Something big had happened, and here she was, having lived to tell the tale.
However, like any other member of her kind, she was not without scars. Physically and mentally, that day had left its mark upon her.
Abeni, her orcish mother, had run away from her tribe long before then and met the love of her life, a human who’d lived in the city of Lunette. In this loving union, Helena had been born and raised. Her father was a kind man who had treated them both like royalty. No matter how much the rest of their community loathed the orcish woman and her daughter, and ridiculed their beastly appearance, he had always made sure they knew he believed that both women were as beautiful as the night sky, inside and out.
She refused to lose the people she loved so much in whatever tragedy was set to take place.
“Papa… The cards said something bad’s gonna happen tonight,” the young half-orc told her father over lunch. “Promise me you’ll be alright, okay?”
“The cards… I see. Well, my darling, I will promise you. I will be okay, because there’s no way on this earth that I would leave my queen and princess,” the man smiled a weak smile. His dark hair slid into his eyes as he went to his daughter’s side. Something about his body language that day had made her feel like he hadn’t quite believed her.
Later that night, he paid with his life. As the orcs barged into their small home, the tallest one among them grabbed the man by the neck, crushing his trachea. The agony in his eyes as he’d died was a sight that haunted her to this day, but the horror of that night had only just begun.
“Scrawny, but will grow… Might make fun toy someday,” the orc who had just murdered her father was closing in on her. “Your daughter, Abeni?”
The orcish woman had stood from her seat. “Helena… is no toy.”
Trust in me. Use that spell we talked about, darling. Get just out of his reach, and use the spell.
She backed away carefully, as not to provoke the large orc. She wanted to cry for her father, but at the same time, she knew he would not want his Princess in danger. He would want her to do everything in her power, for both herself and her mother. Holding back a sob, she grabbed the first of the cards from her pocket with a shaky hand. Gesturing with it in her hand, she conjured a thick mist and started to run. “Mama, let’s get out of here!”
She trusted her mother to be behind her, running from their aggressors, but when she finally stopped to look back, panting, her mother was not there. “Mama?”
The sun had been as hot that day as a blazing inferno. It had been that which had torn her from her sleep. As she had searched for some water to quell the intense heat in her body, she noticed them there. It had seemed like they were calling to her, and, instinctively knowing what to do, she had heeded. She’d laid them out in front of her just like she was doing today, and she felt exactly what it was they were telling her. It’s going to happen tonight. Trust in me, and you will survive it.
And so, she trusted. Whatever magical contract was formed that day, its initiator had not lied. Something big had happened, and here she was, having lived to tell the tale.
However, like any other member of her kind, she was not without scars. Physically and mentally, that day had left its mark upon her.
Abeni, her orcish mother, had run away from her tribe long before then and met the love of her life, a human who’d lived in the city of Lunette. In this loving union, Helena had been born and raised. Her father was a kind man who had treated them both like royalty. No matter how much the rest of their community loathed the orcish woman and her daughter, and ridiculed their beastly appearance, he had always made sure they knew he believed that both women were as beautiful as the night sky, inside and out.
She refused to lose the people she loved so much in whatever tragedy was set to take place.
“Papa… The cards said something bad’s gonna happen tonight,” the young half-orc told her father over lunch. “Promise me you’ll be alright, okay?”
“The cards… I see. Well, my darling, I will promise you. I will be okay, because there’s no way on this earth that I would leave my queen and princess,” the man smiled a weak smile. His dark hair slid into his eyes as he went to his daughter’s side. Something about his body language that day had made her feel like he hadn’t quite believed her.
Later that night, he paid with his life. As the orcs barged into their small home, the tallest one among them grabbed the man by the neck, crushing his trachea. The agony in his eyes as he’d died was a sight that haunted her to this day, but the horror of that night had only just begun.
“Scrawny, but will grow… Might make fun toy someday,” the orc who had just murdered her father was closing in on her. “Your daughter, Abeni?”
The orcish woman had stood from her seat. “Helena… is no toy.”
Trust in me. Use that spell we talked about, darling. Get just out of his reach, and use the spell.
She backed away carefully, as not to provoke the large orc. She wanted to cry for her father, but at the same time, she knew he would not want his Princess in danger. He would want her to do everything in her power, for both herself and her mother. Holding back a sob, she grabbed the first of the cards from her pocket with a shaky hand. Gesturing with it in her hand, she conjured a thick mist and started to run. “Mama, let’s get out of here!”
She trusted her mother to be behind her, running from their aggressors, but when she finally stopped to look back, panting, her mother was not there. “Mama?”
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