Chapter 1: Elokyte's Perspective: Hungry, Tired, Exhausted, Pained.

Hungry, Tired, Exhausted, Pained, my stomach pains for another day of food yet all we get is scrap, honestly no different from the slums. At least we have enough room to sleep. Elokytes looked at the tiny cages which she shared with a random stranger, She saw the orc's disgusting features up close as she was near the front of the wagon and currently, they were stopped by a campsite where she saw the horrid that was the Orc's face.

It was green, a pukish color of green and covered with months of uncleaned bodily fluids with a disfigured face shape which seemed like they were all dropped on birth multiple times to get the ugliest baby. Their eyes looked like that of a pervert constantly in an intoxicated state.

She saw how if it weren't for the value of an unharmed human she would suffer the nightmares and dangers which she saw on the last checkpoint. She saw that some of these same Orcs come back at night with a woman in their arms, a human woman with dead eyes and blood flowing down her thighs, then a scream would be heard as another human was eaten.

She saw some orcs looking at her the same way that they looked at their other victims but none of them took any action, Elokytes saw the dark of night at the last checkpoint, when she was with her brother before she was separated Screaming, yelling, tears nothing could stop her from becoming separated and her screams weren't exclusive.

Disobedient women and boys were taken as the Orc's playthings and their lifeless bodies would be placed in front of all the wagons, blood trickling down their legs as pained screams filled the night, they were forced to eat the soup made from their own kind's limbs that were already a mix of the Orc's bodily fluids and the humans' bodily fluids. Disobedient mothers were forced to drink the soup of their child's dead body or they would be forced to starve to death, some died out of rebellion, others drank the soup, some became the Orc's next plaything once they finished the mental torture, or they were forced to eat it.

Such an experience made the slums feel like heaven, the painful days of hunger, the constant fear in the slums felt like paradise compared to the hell she was in. Terrified she was worried about whether she'll live another day, she saw some women who were the Orc's playthings still live and yet their eyes were filled with an unaware sense of hopelessness, they slouched in their cells like dead animals with dried tears running down their face, broken will, broken human, broken sense of self.

Elokytes feared that she might be the next so she took very acute awareness of the types of women that the Orcs chose and then did everything to not be that. They liked plump women with breasts, a kind of boldness that they could break, hair that was easy to pull and a fighting spirit. The ones with a fighting spirit were always taken away first, then the ones which had fat on their arms and skin before the ones with medium to long sized hair which would always appear bald or with little to none patches of hair left after they were placed on the pile.

Thin, Malnourished, Defeated, very very dirty hair and a skin that was full of scars. She didn't notice it before but women with scars were oftentimes avoided, she tore her own skin with her teeth letting them heal as she did everything she could to survive and perhaps, see her brother once again. The Brutish Orc bastards were standing guard, protecting the merchandise that was behaving and Elokytes learnt from the slums that the easiest way to avoid any confrontation was to be like a ghost, so she used her ghosting skills here.

Her eyes empty of everything else, she was devoid of any emotion or life, tears welled up, she tried her best to act lifeless, a piece of meat. Another thing she noticed was that women with fear were always more likely to be chosen, so she hid all her fear behind her words and anxiety for her brother. To her, her brother was everything, it was the final memento that their parents gave her before they died. It was her only promise in life to her parents before they died, to keep her brother safe and if she couldn't fulfill such a promise then what kind of sister was she?

Elokytes clinged to the hope that they'll be sent as soldiers for the orcs, farmers, slaves, anything that can help them work together, live together as long as they can survive together but first they need to survive. So many, many, many times Elokytes thought it was easier to simply be a rebellious bitch and wish for death but her promise kept her from committing suicide.

Her panting sped up, she began to have another anxiety attack as she thought about the perils of her brother, she needed to survive, for him, but for any God out there please, please, please let him survive too. She prayed to whatever deity existed, that could listen to her, I'll give up everything just for him she began to cry silent tears, she couldn't be heard sobbing, the Orcs will pay attention to her, she cried a bit more in between muffled screams, Anything God please let him be alive when we get to the final destination. Then the howling of a wolf surrounded the forest, like an echo of a hoard of wolves.

Elokytes heard this multiple times before, but it seemed to be a lot more wolves. Usually wolves howl in the middle of the night, communicating to each other, it was a daily occurrence at this point in this forest they were walking through, wolves, once again. It seemed to be a lot more than usual she noted, passing it off as nothing. She's heard it before, Orcs come, Orcs go, Orcs bring back Wolf hides and meat and then maybe they could suckle from the bones.

She had a bit of hope for being able to eat more than the scraps of grass and pieces of dirt that they gave them, every meal was a torture now, worse than the slums. Her stomach rumbled again at the thought of suckling from the bones of some wolves, she found that if you break the bone and suckle from the middle there's a kind of meat that most of the Orcs missed, it was the dark of night as her body was already leaning to the side of the cage which wasn't drenched in piss laying her head on the cold bars with the cold winds flowing through her body.

Then the howls echoed once again, closer, with the creeks of the branches encircling the encampment. Elokytes smirked, perhaps one of the Orcs will die tonight. She smiled at the idea and hoped that the wolves could come into the camp to break them free, perhaps injure a few orcs, maybe it was her imagination but the prayer she gave earlier...perhaps someone heard it she prayed with her own thoughts.

She's been praying for the last 30 days ever since she was separated from her brother, each time she prayed she got more desperate, at times she would ask that the devil come so that she can offer her her soul to find her brother. It was the only way she could keep up sanity or hope, to not lose the light in her eyes, to not become another body of flesh merely waiting to die. Then out of her vision a hurried ruffle was heard followed by an announcement, Wolves to the southwest 4 packs of wolves I counted at least 60 I scouted them, they'll arrive in 15. Elokytes smiled, perhaps an Orc might die tonight, or they'll lose their manhood.

Elokytes entertained with a depressed smile, a smile made out of creating comedy out of the worst tragedy. She saw that the orc in front of her grabbed the weapon in his hand and was ready to fight, then another frightening thought hit her, by the time they came back they'll probably like to play with a few women if they can't get the alcohol, or the alcohol can force them to play with some of the womens in this encampment. Fuck, fuck fuck, she whispered underneath her breath, There's a higher chance that they'll use the ones already broken but there's a chance that if they do well they might feel that it's luxurious enough to take one of the unbroken girls and break her instead.

Fuck fuck fuck, Elokytes whispered underneath her breath once again and ruffled her hair to hide her face, in the slums she was called pretty but to her, she knew that the word pretty was a deathcurse and purposefully made herself uglier than usual, and she was damn good at it. She knew that the Orcs hated the smell of piss even if they themselves were covered in it, they hated human piss, so she used two fingers to wipe up the stains of piss and wipe it on her neck, cheek and wrists to avoid the orcs from choosing her.

Everyday was an uphill battle, then for extra measure she made herself look like a boy that had too much hair, she closed her knees towards her breasts to keep her breasts from showing but showed her malnourished ribs and belly so that the orcs won't' pick her if they wanted to eat her. Men were more likely to be picked for the eating at joyous occasions so she hurried herself.

Then an echoing voice was heard, the chief's voice. The captain of this cargo's voice was heard, "An extra jug of alcohol for anyone who comes back with a wolf head or you will get additional meat, anyone who stays will need to do cleaning duty the next time we stop." The Orc in front of her was brutish but all orcs hated cleaning business, and they all loved alcohol and meat. The boss wasn't this kind usually but the orcs just took their weapons up and headed to march down the southeast to encounter the wolves. Most of the orcs didn't question it and picked up their weapons, the one in front of her grunted at the idea of cleaning duty and then slowly trudged his way to the southwest leaving a rookie orc to guard the wagons. They were usually gone for 30 minutes or so, other prisoners tried to escape during this time but they were caught by the orcs once they came back and became the stakes which were made into examples. They all died with fear or lifelessness in their eyes atop the fire.

Elokytes sulked once more into her cage with the smell of piss covered in her body. She prayed that she wouldn't be chosen, it seemed that she wasn't going to be chosen for the festival after this hunt but she didn't want to take chances. She rested back into her cage cell with the already asleep stranger in the cell that she shared with, she leaned on the cage looking outside the wagon in a lifeless manner, she's seen this scene multiple times before. They come back with a deer in their hand, they cook the deer while the warriors that come back with the most heads got to choose a woman of his choice as a prize as they bathed in alcohol, They would eat the women afterwards or if she was really good become their go-to doll.

She waited for a bit, then as she looked outside she saw an inexplicable scene. She rubbed her eyes, then she rubbed them once more, the smell of her own piss didn't matter to her, she saw an orc was handing the keys to an elven prisoner who seemed to radiate happiness. He looked like he was in his early twenties and the last time she saw him he was rather lifeless. I don't fucking believe it Elokytes whispered underneath her breath, an orc was actually giving the key to a prisoner? Then the most bizarre thing happened, the elven prisoner snapped his fingers and then the orc guard disappeared into a mist of black, quiet as the night the other guards didn't notice, Fuck, holy shit, Elokytes didn't believe what she saw, she looked around frantically, but also trying to hide it, an expression of hope and panic, all at the same time as she turned to look at other people.

They were all lifeless and it seemed that she so the only one that seemed to pick up on this anomaly, the the prisoner walked out with a demeanor of a noble, cuffed his imaginary sleeves as if it was a force of habit, then walked back into the wagon silently like a barn owl flying then helped another silhouette out, she wanted to shout, let us out, please let us out, as she saw that the elven prisoner was helping this silhouette of a girl out.

Then the next miracle happened, the girl he let out gave keys to everyone in their wagon, and before the rummaging sound of the unlocking of cages could be heard she saw that the orc guard, the undefeatable brutish thing that has slain and played with so many humans get gagged by a shadowy vine, like the tendrils of death he was pulled into the earth then she saw something she couldn't even imagine. Fear, fear in the eyes of the Orc guards. The same kind of fear she saw in so many of their victims.

She looked towards the other caravans and she saw that all the orc guards were being suppressed into the ground as well, tendrils stuck into their hearts or grew out from them, they all wore the same expression, fear. The kind of expression that Elokytes never thought could appear on the faces of these orc, they were invincible, like the ultimate warden made out of steel that built this fortress, no, no, no way no freakin way that the wardens that made her last month hell was now dead. Fear entered her eyes as well as excitement, perhaps, perhaps she could see her brother but she needed to play this right.

She needed to play this correctly, or else she would end up dead. Her mind raced, fuck, then she saw the inexplicable, the silhouette that the elven male rescued came to their wagon, picked up the key from the dead orc guard and nonchalantly created duplicates which she threw to all the prisoners, then she moved on and did the same for all the wagons. Scrambled, fuck fuck, I need to get one, She picked up a frost key and suck it in her cage, YES the clicking sound worked and the hurry of prisoners stepping over each other ensued, they all began to ransack the camp and some started running away.

Elokytes saw that the Elven prisoner just came out of the captain's house with no blood on his hand, like he just came in there to serve a cup of tea, he came out as if nothing happened, and as far as Elokytes was worried, a death without a sound is much scarier than the loudest scream. The elven male stood in the middle of the camp and then the women which he rescued finished replicating and releasing the final batch of prisoners before regrouping at the middle of the camp, panic and rush and excitement filled the camp. YES!! We're finally free, So many prisoners ran, they started to run away, they ran as fast as possible away as she began to hear words enter her ear.

Aren't you worried about finding your loved ones? Who will the Orcs direct their rage to once they find that the prisoners have left? You better run, There is food in the forest, and reassuring words like this, her heart was telling her to run, to run as fast as possible away from this encampment but as she was being stampeded by the crowd of smelly prisoners, some were going for the food while others went directly for the forest, some were so frightened that they took a few stabs at the Orcs before running away.

In the midst of this chaos the Elven boy that now as I look at him had black hair with turquoise blue streaks lightly running from his head and the women who now had amber eyes and white hair stood in the middle of the chaos, watching it all. Elokytes was very keen about the kinds of animals that the Orcs brought back, they were animals, deers, sometimes monsters but nothing that she could take up alone. She would surely die if she tried to survive in a forest of beasts alone. She began to approach these two individuals, one of them made all the orcs disappear while the other could replicate anything, she breathed a hurried breath and as her mind was hurried with the thoughts of escaping, a single factor stayed the same.

I need to find my brother, I need to make sure that he's safe. A hurried breath and a focused mind broke through all the voices and she realized she needed the help of these people to get her brother back. They were, frankly powerful, but as she kept looking at them they were becoming more and more like a haze, they were becoming, mirages but she couldn't let that happen, she focused harder, and then the necklace that she was wearing which was given to her by her mom glowed a small glow of jade and then her thoughts became clear.

There were no more thoughts, no more sounds, she saw them clearly like she was looking at the reflection of a still lake. More still, more clear than anything else, then she noticed that the necklace had a small jade crack on it . I need to find my brother, but first she thanked her mum, she kissed the necklace, and felt a bit at peace amidst the chaos and walked up to the pair with a clear mind and then the elven male looked at her, she felt like she entered the wrong room, a kingdom which shouldn't be there, she entered a forbidden land.

Her breathing hurried up and then she rationalized her thoughts, she's prayed for this multiple times before, she was willing to give up everything for her brother, she took a deep breath but the suffocating stare of the Elven male suffocated her words choking her on the air around him, her mind raced!

What kind of being could make you choke from looking at you? Perhaps this was the God that answered her, she thought in desperation, after so many weeks of a grueling experience this became nothing less scary but it wasn't as scary as anything else she encountered. The Elven male broke his sealed lips and uttered a few words, "Why aren't you running? Aren't you afraid of the Orcs catching you, making you their plaything as they eat you from limb to limb?" His description made me shudder in fear. If I was the only one left here, that might as well be my fate, then I saw the visage of my brother sitting alone in his own cage drenched in bodily fluids with no good food to eat.

If I can't ask them for their help then maybe I can ask them for a swift death, without the light of my life in my life how can I go on? I've already been traumatized far more than anyone else can imagine simply talking to this person shouldn't be that hard, and then the female ice mage looked at her, then extended a single finger. The noise of the prisoners were slowly quieting down as they began to run farther than before, they kept running and made their noises into background noise.

Her index finger extended into an icicle made of ice, she saw her reflection on it and it slowly extended to Elokytes' neck, her breathing was faster but she was paralyzed in fear, and hope, these were the only people that could possibly help her find her brother, the longer she took the higher the chance that her brother was dead. If she waited too long, he'll surely be dead by starvation, then the icicle stopped touching the bottom of her throat, "Spit it out" the lady said in a tone that resembled an icy tundra, uncaring.

I breathed in and then the icicle inched a bit closer cutting my breath short, "I-I-I" fuck my brain went numb, "I think the safest place would be with you". Elokytes spatted out an innocent reason, she knew that you shouldn't ask too much from the street life, and you should be honest when dealing with especially powerful people. It's hard to lie in front of powerful people, and she wasn't lying either.

"What makes you think that girl?" The frosty lady asked

I paused, fuck did I miscalculate, are they not nice people, fuck fuck, she saw that the time between running away and now was way too far, she had to bet everything on this pair if she ran now it would be too easy for the orcs to catch her. She cursed underneath her breath that she was so stupid, she could've run but she had to bet on everything now. Looking around for a good reason I looked towards the woods, then remembered the Orcs.

"If I tried to run into the woods I wouldn't survive a week without getting out, then I would still go back to my life in the slums."

The male elf looked at me now and I felt a confusing pressure, it wasn't the type of pressure that came from being underneath a powerful person, it was a kind of pressure that was the worst, it was the kind of pressure from a powerful person telling you that someone is going to stab you and then doesn't tell you the time. There's an invisible amount of pressure as you look everything unaware where it'll come from then he placed his hand on top of my head in a calm manner. I felt that the jade necklace I wore from my mother was heating up before another crack happened and then I felt like I was falling, falling, falling, and then I woke up.

I was inside a bed, a comfy bed, I never felt such warmth, comfort before, I looked at the sheets, triple layered, what? I was confused, then looked at the window outside my room. This room was eight times as large as my normal room. I used to live in the slums and as I looked out of the window I saw the castle, the garden and the world from a castle? I was in a castle?

I looked at my skin, beautiful, perfect, pure, like the Orcish raid never happened, my skin was never torn by my own teeth and I smelled my wrists, no piss, it rather smelled of perfume of the royals then I saw a makeup boutique, I went to it and I saw myself. I didn't need to hide, I was in casual clothing but I was as beautiful, my hair was soft and elegant…like a princess.

A knock was heard on a door too big for her own good, with an elaborately designed door that seemed to hail from a different country entirely, Elokytes reached for the door and as she opened it a maid was startled with breakfast ready, on a tray plate. "Oh Princess, Good Morning!" The maid curtseyed and a scent of morning stew, flowers and tea came to Elokytes' nose.

"How was your sleep last night?" the maid asked. Elokytes was more startled at the size of the halls that she came from, the castle halls felt like they could fit a few alleyways and breached her notion of a big hallway. She ignored the maid for a bit and then poked her head out looking at the bright red carpet, the pictures of her predecessors, the butlers that would come at her beck and call, then she felt a furry feeling on her leg.

Looking down she saw a dog, a bright dog with golden hair that seemed to have an aura of joy.

"Come in", Elokytes told the maid before offering to help her with the tray instinctively which the maid slowly pulled away, "Please Princess, leave such things to me."

Elokytes finally noticed the word, "Princess. Princess?" She whispered

"Yes, Princess Elokytes Myriad Engulfun, how may I serve you?"

"S-sorry I had a bad dream last night."

"That's ok young mistress," the maid told her, "It sounds like you had a terrible night."

"Yeah I imagined that I was part of the slums, and it felt so real, like I was starving."

"It sounds like you have a heart of compassion for those in the lower socio-economic bracket" the maid tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, I just need a moment to be with myself."

The maid nodded, "If you need anything to call out to me, I'll be waiting outside."

Then she promptly left the room leaving only her dog and the princess. Elokytes looked at the dog, it was happy without care, it really was a pet. She petted the dog, the fur felt unreal, she only felt such things on the back of rats when she was still a commoner and then she looked at the food.

She took a deep breath, and felt the richness. These were eggs of fishes, baby cavaliers, this was an entire stew made from such delicate flowers, a solid formed from the freshest flowers, Atlantic fish as a desert and an appetizer.

Each of these pieces of food would require Elokytes to save up for an entire month before even getting in touch with the cheapest option but it seemed that they're all of the highest quality. She took the fork that would be a month's salary for her and plunged it into the caviar that sat happily on top of an egg that looked like clouds swirled into looking like a piece of ice cream.

As it entered her mouth she felt the delicate touch of the eggs, cooked to give it the consistency of heaven while the cavaliers tasted like there was gold strained in the air, it tasted like it was the beginning of life, in her mouth. She tasted life amongst the clouds, like she could feel the sensation of the new life of a cloud fish, such fragrant tastes, she couldn't be in a dream.

Then she took another bite of each of the dishes introducing her to a world of new, a world of flavour, a world of life, a world of fantasies and dreams, yet each dish tasted so delicious that it didn't feel like a dream. She saw herself in the mirror, she saw herself, she was aware that she was conscious, then she pinched herself. The pain transferred and then she realized, perhaps this wasn't a dream, she looked outside the window.

The detail in every building, this couldn't be a dream, it was too clear, too vivid to be a dream, I'm so glad I woke up from that nightmare. She wanted to get accustomed to the life she lived, she called the maid and then asked for a really delicious drink which only came a few seconds later where the chefs personally presented her with a dish, a drink that seemed to be combined with the colors of the winterland, it came with the colours of the blue and the shade of the pinks of the sunset while it tasted like the mountain of the norths, that even if she couldn't taste it she felt the cold, the blizzard, and the ever-so fragrant pops and fluffiness of the snow.

She breathed out a misty breath as she looked at her dog again, it was her dog and then she petted it. She smiled at the new life she lived, and it seemed that she finally woke up from that terrible dream. But the dream felt so real, but her mind was beginning to forget about the dream, it mellowed into the fog of the past as she knew that she'd been woken up from the nightmare.

The more she looked into it, the walls felt real, she could touch everything and speak to all the people without a single thought or breath, sometimes accidents happened and then she realized that inside the castle there was life that happened beyond her eyes and then as she was about to go down the staircase she was just about to see her family at the lunch table after her morning lessons, each lesson was fascinating and the teachers constantly taught her more about the world.

They taught her about the seas, skies they taught her about the economics of the nation which she took great interest in and then several maids would come up to her and ask about which dress would she want to wear. As she was about to travel downstairs for lunch and meet her family, she saw her mother, father and a brother she never met.

Fear struck her mind, and then she slipped on the steps and as she heard the frighten scream of her mother and the rushed steps of her parents and siblings and the servants that echoed in this grand palace she slowly opened her eyes to the smell of piss on her neck, and the unruly hair she wore, then she saw the eyes which seemed to know everything and she felt the elf's hand depart from her head and it felt like he was taking away the world of grandeur, pleasure, everything she dreamt of as he tucked his hand away behind his back it felt like he just took the only thing that she has been fighting for, for all her life.

A life where she didn't need to fight so much, a life where she could give her brother as much as possible, a life where she had parents. A life where she didn't need to starve, a life where she didn't need to kill, a life that she didn't need to be kidnapped by orcs, cover herself in her own piss and every every every fucking day wake up and go to bed so hungry, where the pains of the hunger woke her up.

She couldn't imagine the kind of world that her brother had to go through. Fuck, Fuck, Why did we have to be born like this she complained to herself and as if the male elf could hear her, in the gentles voice he said.

"Is this what you want?" He teased showing me his hand, playing with it, but to me it felt like he held my dreams in his hand. It felt like he had everything I wanted and so much more, the food that I crave for, I wanted to stop fighting for everything, I just want to live a peaceful life, as it seemed to be wrapped up all around his fingers.

"I can give it to you, all the riches, power, beauty, fashion and prestige." He continued then closing his fist like he was showing how he could take it away or give it, I knew he could do it, I was just there, that wasn't a dream, I could see everything, I wanted it so bad, I wanted to live a life where I can just be happy, I didn't, I didn't want this life, I didn't ask for it. Tears began to stream down a bit at the idea of how much she's lost.

The male elf went on, his words smelled like the sweetest nectar of honey, "It sounds like you're tired of being born incorrectly, that if you were only born as a princess then the world would be better for you, that it's unfair for you to be born in the slums where you had to fight for every scrap of food rather when a princesses can do nothing and act pretty and get wherever they want. The princesses didn't need to fight for anything, yet you have to fight for everything and that's unfair, you want that to change. It sounds like you want to be born correctly."

My heart wavered, Everything he said, it sounded so correct. I didn't want to fight anymore, I didn't ask to be born this way, and yet the princess can be born like that. I had a chance here, to be born correctly. He said everything in the words that made sense, he understood me, he understood my desires, and he can provide my desires, all I have to do is admit it.

It felt like someone dropped bars of gold, then asked if I wanted it, that you worked hard for so much, you deserve more. He understood that the world is unfair, that it doesn't have justice, he understands me...yet I can't accept that world. I look back into the final scenes, finally I can have a father and mother in my childhood but that was a brother I never knew.

He wasn't the brother I promised to keep safe, those weren't the parents that I was born from or knew, I- I want to be in that world so badly, I want to be born correctly but then a single image filled my head. My brother, in the same cage, in the same caravan watching people die, my heart was still. I looked directly into the Elf's eyes and it felt like the world of beauty felt meaningless.

"I don't want that sir", I just want my brother back. I trembled but was determined

The elf smiled a cunning cold smile, like he was proud of something. Like the kind of smile you would see from a thief once they got away with stealing a large sum of cash, an impure kind of smile, a kind of smile that had an innocent boy's happiness in it but yet the cunningness of the smartest prince. He directed his eyes to the forest in front of him then asked a question.

"And where is your brother's little miss? "

"He was also captured by the orcs but we were separated at the last checkpoint. I just want him back."

He paused, silence filled the campsite, I looked at the women but she had an amused look on the elf like she was watching him play with a new watch. His mouth parted like a butterfly's wing and then the horrid words I dreaded came out,

"We're no charity organization, What can you give us?"

What can I give you Elokytes thought to herself, she looked at her rags, her smelly attire, her messy hair, her unwashed self, how she wasn't prettier than the woman next to him, her empty pockets and if he could make an illusion of that great a capacity he definitely had more knowledge than I did. I saw the image of my brother and then remembered what I told myself every night. I cried tears, I didn't want to go out this way, I didn't want to die, but if this is the only route for hope then so fucking be it. I felt the tears roll down my face as I wept and looked down, before looking at the Elven man, ready for him to say no.

"I can't offer much sir, I can offer my life."

The corner of the elven man's eye rested a bit like they were comfortable with such an answer, and then he paused and was stuck in thought, his lips parted again as if he has no concern for when the Orcs will come back and in a gentle tone that you would think came from a lover said.

"An exchange of your life for your brothers?"

The ends of his lips smirked in amusement, like watching a play unfold before him. I knew this was perhaps the best offer I can give to him, I nodded my head in defeat and gave up my life for him just like how I always said in my prayers. Maybe this is the unknown God I was praying to answering my prayers.

I looked at my wrists, smelly, wretched up, filled with scars. I wasn't even good as a toy, I made myself unfit for being used, I chuckled at the irony of my situation. When I tried to make myself unfit to be used, who knew the irony of this entire situation, perhaps I would be rejected because of my scars, my hair, I was ugly then I looked at my rags and saw that I really had nothing.

This was my only bet to get my brother back and I had no leverage, I saw the image again. My brother trapped crying in the cage, I wanted to save him, but I might die in this forest, I cried at this tragedy, fuck, born unfair in life, died unfair in death, I choked out a laugh on my own predicament but I suppressed it with the sobbing of tears. I felt defeated, hopeless, his silence felt like rejection, then I looked at the forest, waiting for the Orcs to end me, then I heard a whisper from a lady's voice, and then as I was about to look up I saw a hand, a soft elven hand that reached out to me.

It gave me that bright shining dawn of hope. I didn't' care who it was, the devil, the angel, the beast, I just wanted that glimmer of hope, yes, I clasped at his hand in a hopeful sigh of relief as I tried to avoid crying in his hand, I- If it was these two then I might actually be able to see my brother. The Elven male seemed to hold the power to alter worlds while the Lady I didn't know but if she can create ice keys from thin air and hold the respect of the Elven male she must be extremely capable too.

"Well why not first give us your name?" The Elven male asked me

Through my sobbing tears I coughed up my name, "Elokytes Myriad Engulfun", tears streamed down my face as I could finally meet my brother once more, then her fears came to real life as the rustling of leaves grew louder and louder and the steps of these beasts were much much heavier.

My heart dropped as I realized what was coming to us, Orcs. From the visage of the black forest I saw silhouettes like Giants with disfigured faces and weapons that seemed to be capable of turning humans into puddles of flesh. I felt my heart run, my breath became ragged and then my natural instincts of fight and flight turned on, panic rushed through my brain and then a soft hand covered my mouth and then another hand comforted me despite the fear that was ingrained into my brain.

A soft voice whispered into my ear, "Be quiet, they can't see us" and then I saw that they couldn't see us, they thought we were invisible and then I controlled my breath, my breath became controlled and the the women bent down and whispered "Breath in, Breath out, Breath in, Breath out" I following her orders.

I felt my chest become softer and calmer and then she held my hand and then walked past the Orcs who were clearly enraged. They all passed us and I couldn't believe it, it's like we're under an invisibility spell and then the women lead us to the outskirts of the camp. She rubbed my dirty hair and smiled a compassionate smile. The elven male conjured two seats of shadow, after he sat on his chair I began to sit on mine.

He began to talk an a business tone, a matter-of-fact tone, "Elokytes, pay attention. This is the kind of man you're working for now."

I saw the same Orcs which would kill us like livestock becoming enraged they went from wagon to wagon and then as they exited the captain's tent they shouted in Orcish louder than their warcry. I heard the same words I usually heard when something bad happens, I think it was a curse word.

They went through the food supply and cursed louder, they checked through all their remaining supplies the elven male asked me a question, the same way that you would ask about the weather.

"Elokytes, I hope you know what they call me in some realms."

"What is it sir?"

"They call me the devil. "

Then the first swing of the axe cut through the air. The same Orcs which traumatized, killed so many of our own, that ruined the lives of so many, the same ones that kidnapped and raped children, ate them too, made us eat our own family and laugh while doing it all was now...killing each other without remorse, for the person I'm now under, without any of them knowing it.

I saw the grin on his face, an innocent grin you would get from a child, a kind of grin that many women want in a man, a grin of adventure, yet when you saw what he was grinning at it I began to understand why some realms called him the devil. The exact same perpetrator which she lived in constant fear of were now nothing more than the scared individuals that they were fighting each other, killing each other for the man beside her, without any of them knowing.

The women added in, "Some also call you an angel in other realms."

The Elven man laughed, "Perhaps, but you can call me Sky, whether I'm an angel or a devil is up to you to decide after observing me but your life belongs to me now."

The woman added, "You can call me Vera, child, I'm Sky's partner."

I smiled, knowing the names of my new bosses, then Sky added in a few expectations.

"Ask any question you want, questions you can answer yourself, try to answer them yourself before asking me."

Elokytes didn't think that he would be the kind of person to be a kind of academician, nor would she have thought that he would be teaching her something. Elokytes looked at the blood flurry that was caused by the Orcs and Sky's schemes. She wanted to know, she wanted to know how he got all of them to fight for each other, to kill each other without laying a single hand on them. She wanted to know, "Why are they killing each other?"

Sky smiled, and then leaned back on his chair in a reclined manner before he explained his own thinking, "They're smart veterans and they realize we're pretty deep in the middle of the forest, the rations are limited and sooner or later they realize that it can't feed them all so they're killing each other for survival, the Orc's mind isn't too different from a human's in the state of panic and unrest they seek for familiarity and stability in their reality. Something they're stable with is the rations that they know of, and killing for survival. During times of panic they turn to what they know, plundering and killing."

Vera continued Sky's sentence and explanation, "It isn't a matter of what is actually happening, it's a matter of the world that they currently see. Imagine in the slums you probably worked at a place which employed children. If you go back to your hideout with your friends and you see the place ransacked by the boss with the money gone and only a few gold coins left, you guys will fight for the money. Even a more lucrative option is banding together and then say that this is an opportunity for you guys to monopolize the market since you guys already have the distribution routes, and you can replace the person who left, but in heat of the moment humans don't act as rationally as they wish."

The concept was a bit too complicated for Elokytes to understand, but she understood that Sky was using the panic from the escaped prisoners and the fear to urge them to fight each other, from Vera's example she kind of understood. It was like when you slapped someone's head on the bar then blamed it on the other person causing a big fight. [Note: This isn't what Sky meant, Elokytes is still very naive. Vera is very adept with politics and Elokytes has barely done any politics, Sky is talking about the human mind but Elokytes has only been focusing on surviving and not understanding the human mind]

Sky looked at the spectacle and then asked me a flurry of questions

"How old is your brother?"

"12"

"What happened to your parents?"

"They died"

"How did you guys survive?"

"I worked and took care of him at the orphanage."

"What did you work as?"

"I would connect with the main people at the slums really well, distribution channels and sometimes...killing if we were desperate."

I fell into silence as I remembered the first time I planted a knife inside someone's chest. This time it was Vera who asked a question,

"What kind of people did you kill?"

I-I wanted to lie but I felt completed to tell the truth. "I've only killed once, someone tried to kidnap my brother so I took my knife and...killed him. I took his money and then ran away."

I was looking at Sky's expression, he looked confused, which was worrying. Did I say something wrong? Oh no no no no, fuck, fuck, fuck, Should I not have mentioned me killing someone?

Sky then opened his mouth and then nonchalantly asked,

"Why didn't you kill more?"

W-What? I told myself in my mind. I was silent, shocked, I thought that they would hate me for killing for some reason, killing is bad is what went in my mind. Sky saw the confusion and fluster on Elokytes' face and explained his thought process.

"I know the slums, it's kill or be killed. Why didn't you kill more? It should've given you the trust of the organization you worked for, given you power, and it was very easy money with high risk."

I-I looked at my hands. They felt bloodstained, and I looked at the other people on the streets that I knew of. They killed, they had power, they controlled the drug trade and distributions...W-Why didn't I kill more? Then I remembered the look of fear from my brother's eyes after I killed my brother's kidnapper, I saw the look of fear and shock in his eyes and then I didn't want those eyes who looked up to me, to be the same eyes that looked at a killer.

"I didn't want my brother to look up to a killer" I told him honestly looking at my fingers, "I wanted him to grow up in a life I didn't have to"

Sky looked for a moment at the bloodbath happening in front of him and then this devil-angel being told me a confusing question, "Are you willing to kill for your brother?"

My resolution was astute, I didn't only want to save my brother because I made that promise to my mom, but also because I really fucking love him, he's the shining star in my life and it pains me to see that if he has to go through what I did to survive he might not be the brother I know of anymore.

"I'll kill if I can get my brother back"

The devil-angel man smiled, then from the shadowy chair he reached inside the mist and pulled out a sharp knife. It's glimmer of steel reflected in the moonlight, a dagger like this would give her a month's worth of food if she sold it in the market. She took the dagger by the handle and felt the cold steel, the dagger was around the size of her forearm from her elbow to her wrist with an extremely sharp edge. She ran her finger underneath the blade instantly drawing blood on contact.

"Show it to me later. This team is particularly smart and has a strong kinship." Sky pointed towards a group that was hiding behind a wagon. "It's either this team that will win or that strong orc that will win or a lucky third party. I want you to prove your resolution to me, Are you capable of killing to get your brother back?"

I held the knife in my hands, I'll kill those bitches without batting an eye if I had to. I grabbed the knife harder, stronger, resolute and determined to avenge those who've died wrongfully in the hands of these cruel orcs. They deserved to die, I...was willing to kill these Orcs. I grabbed the knife harder as I stared at the orcs killing each other.

Sky had a look that was familiar to someone forgetting to turn off their oven, "Also I just remembered, try defying me, your soul is already mine."

I was shocked, wait what, when did we have a deal? How did he grab my soul already, what the fuck, I was confused, because that meant that could he jut grab anyone's soul? Or is this just a bluff?? Then Sky had a look of pity and rolled up his sleeve extending his arm over towards me. W-what? I thought to myself, I was confused, What did he want me to do?

"Try to cut it," he said in a nonchalant tone. I-I didn't want to, I held the knife, he was the only hope for me to get to my brother. I didn't want to try to defy him, at least not yet. "I'm just showing you a practical example of what would happen if you try to defy me, It'll be painful but shouldn't be something beyond what you can take"

I-I didn't want to defy him, but his orders were to defy him. Maybe, if I just added a bit of a slice he might see me off, I won't get the punishment. I slowly placed the knife on his skin gently holding it right above so I won't harm him, then I carefully let the knife fall. Right before the skin tore I felt like the knife weighed like a building pulling me towards the ground but instead of hitting the ground I kept falling, in and out of the world, in and out of the ground like I was falling in the mirror but each time I fell through again I saw distortions, my brain didn't match my thoughts,

W-what was happening, I held onto the knife harder but I couldn't feel the knife, I saw the knife and how I was holding it but I couldn't feel it then void boxes appeared in her world, the world was getting destroyer, these boxes of pitch black spread like the plague, eating up her world and as she tried to run away the black plague of geometric boxes came to her, eating up her arm, and slowly turning her brain into a mental puddle of soup.

She screamed, but no one heard her, for the world she was in was eaten up as the black box infestation came to eat at her mind, the pain felt so instantaneous and felt like it was also forever, these little boxes acting like termites that ate at reality as quick as they ate through a piece of wood.

The madness was painful, like these were thermites that ate at her sanity as slowly as possible, time felt immensely long and each stroke of pain felt more painful than the last. The pain felt like a hurricane of sword being stabbed through her brain but she wouldn't die, each time a black box covered a piece of her vision it felt like ants were slowly taking pieces of her brain apart, and forced forever in a limbo between pain and silence without ever being able to be given the option of rest inside the pain, and after what seemed like an eternity in an eternity she was finally given the mercy to rest, she lose consciousness, and passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wetness, Crack thunder boomed through my ears, then thrift pitter patter for the rain filled my world's view. Breathing in, breathing out, I felt a pain in my head and felt like I just woke up from a nightmare. H-How much time has passed I wondered, I felt like it has been forever for some reason. I breathed in, then breathed out, eyes still closed. I could only smell the gushing rain and then I felt the soft mixture of dirt and water behind my back. Mud, I thought to myself, my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton making it hard to open. They felt like they were glued shut then I felt a hand, soft, cold like ice was touching my forehead. I slowly moved my hand but they felt like they were being chained, yet I could move them ever so slightly, then I heard a voice.

"Are you awake yet, child?:

"V-Vera?" I croaked out a name I remembered.

"Yes, that's me. Rest of now, How are you feeling?"

"Tired, like I just went through a hurricane." I told her

Her voice felt like the spring daisies my brother would get me after the snow melted. I felt calm, peaceful even amidst the thunderstorm.

"How was your experience?" Vera asked

I tried to remember what I went through but it felt vague and painful, like a nightmare that I can't really remember, like someone was hiding a picture of my brother's corpse behind a veil of mist hiding what I dreaded to see. "I can't really remember, but all I remember is a lot of pain."

"That's good" she ran her hand through my hair in a playful manner then I felt that her hands ran through them like the river. My hair was dirty, did she clean it?

"Did you clean my hair?" I asked her, still blind

Vera giggled, "Yes, it looked dirty so I went ahead and cleaned it, I also cleaned you up."

I was a bit startled, "Thank you Vera"

"Don't mention it, can you move your arm?" she asked

I tried lifting them but it still felt like they were chained to an invisible wall. I pulled as hard as I could until it was fully outstretched in front of my chest, constantly fighting the desire to put it back down. Vera's chilly hands touched my wrists, then examined the rest of my body. I gritted my teeth, because she must've seen all my scars by now, I made sure my hands looked like the jerky you would find in the Orc's rations, no, wait that's an exaggeration, I didn't look dried up wrinkled like a raisin but for every wrinkle there was a scar from a self inflicted bite. I had to make sure only the skin tore and be careful to not let any infection get in as I did this, so I had to only do it on the sides which I can be really careful with making it look like I was gashed up by a dog on only my forearm and not the underside.

She touched and checked up on me with gentleness.

"Where did you get all these scars?" Vera asked

"I-I made them myself because I noticed that the Orcs don't pick women with scars. They tend to pick women with smooth skin."

"Smart Girl" Vera commented

I smiled, because I felt like I found a place of comfort after all those weeks living in fear of the orcs inside those stinky, inhuman cages, I just...I just wanted to rest after going through so much pain. I just wanted to sleep…

"Elokytes? Elokytes, Can you try opening your eyes? I need you to open your eyes." Vera's hand patted the side of my cheeks. I felt her cold hand then it became warm, then it became really warm, then really really hot and then I opened my eyes in surprise, then I looked at Vera. She was wearing a casual set of clothes with a t-shirt and short pants that didn't seem to have any traces of being a prisoner.

I looked down, then I felt chilly, then I felt embarrassed, then I knew why. I was stark naked, butt naked, lying on the floor with mud on my back, I immediately got up, tucked my knees together covering my most important part as I was now blushing red looking around me. Vera was there, warry but practically calm, she almost seemed like a moon spirit then I saw around us we were in the black forest in the midst of a thunderstorm. Somehow miraculously the rain didn't touch me but I felt the chilly air brushing on my skin.

I covered my breasts and then sat in a way that covered my lower area then once I looked around, a dreaded reality dawned upon me. I looked down, I didn't see any penetration but I didn't want to face such a reality. After fighting weeks on end, I lost it just like that. I stared at Vera, I heard my voice filled with desperation.

"D-Did Sky", my voice gagged in the wind catching itself from imagining the worst possibility.

Vera shook her head to remove the worst possibility. "Nothing happened, you can rest assured. After you passed out I took you to the eye of the storm before washing you up, Sky's currently culling the last remaining Orcs. You're safe now."

I let out a breath of relief but I wanted to check it myself, I opened my legs and checked and thank god nothing happened. I let out another sigh of relief before trying to look for my clothes.

"Um...Vera have you seen my clothes?" Then a swirl of panic breezed through her mind, "Have you seen an emerald necklace!?"

"I still have the emerald necklace, it's a rather fine object but nothing worth much to me." Vera threw the emerald necklace to Elokytes then continued, "Those rags? I threw them away since if you're coming with us you're not wearing that. I asked Sky for something and this is what he has, they should fit you." Vera turned around and took out a neatly folded pile of shirt, jeans, underwear, bra and boots, gloves and a knife on top of the pile. "You better change soon Vera told me, Your first task is to kill an Orc."

Orc. That word haunted me, it ruined me, it petrified me. It built an instinctive fear inside of me that wanted to run away as fast as possible as soon as it heard Orc. I looked at the dagger in front of me and then I steeled my resolution. Vera got up then pointed to a side of the mountain, we'll be heading there so change quickly. Crack, the thunder spread through the valley. I nodded and then began to change in this miraculously dry spot of land. Vera looked impatient which made me change faster until I was wearing all the pieces of gear, they fitted pretty well making me wonder how did Sky manage to find clothes like this. Vera asked me rhetorically

"Ready?"

I grabbed my knife, "Yes Ma'am"

"Good, follow me and be quick," then she ran into the distance.

It felt like she became a ghost, a mist or mirage that you would barely see in the rain. My eyes shrunk and then I pumped my feet into running as fast as possible. I huffed and puffed, each step felt heavy but the boots seemed to help me with the uneven terrain. I ran faster trying to follow the misty breeze which I thought was Vera, I followed her to the cliffside of the mountain, and then the mist flew straight up. I arrived at the cliffside with my breath heavy and my lungs contracting involuntarily, my legs felt weak but the freshness of the rain kept me alive, I panted, stopping by the wall for a short break before the mist came back down slowing down and becoming Vera. "Come quickly, we don't have much time. Sky likes to do these dramatic entrances and they take so much more time than they should."

She picked up my body by the belly and then I felt weightless for a second, and then I felt the push of gravity pull me once again as we arrived by the entrance of the cave. Sky was sitting in a chair, or I think it was sky. It was a silhouette of a man sitting in a chair, a throne to be more exact with tendrils like plants arranging the orc heads on top of stilts, the same way that the Orcs used to spike the heads of humans into their spears. She was used to seeing this sight, the looks of fear, resignation and despair on the human faces that were used as an example, but one she saw them again, but this time it wasn't the faces of a human. It was the faces of Orcs, they were showing, very human emotions. One of them had the emotion of fear on his face in his final moments. One of them seemed to be asleep and comfortable as he was killed giving a peaceful look to his face and the final one wore a face that screamed despair and disbelief with his mouth hanging wide open in shock and terror. Such human emotions, I-I never imagined that I would see them on Orcs.

"Welcome!" Sky cheered happily, "How do you like my spectacle?"

"It looks fine dear", Vera commented before walking to the side of Sky and forming an Ice throne fit only for a person of incredible status.

"How are you feeling? Are you doing ok Elokytes?"

I nodded my head more startled that the person who freed her from her captors, the ones that petrified her with fear just yesterday seemed to have so much fun, like a kid excited for a show or a doctor diagnosing a patient unaware of the dead heads above him. A calculated grin spread through his face before he turned into one of an inquisitive doctor looking at me.

"Do you have any pains in your body?"

I shook my head still confused, I couldn't figure this person out.

"Any sores our muscle tensions? Irrational fears or hallucinations?"

I shook my head again, "I think I'm fine I responded."

He turned to Vera, now in a professional cold demeanor. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary with her?"

"She seems perfectly fine"

Sky nodded his head then looked at me, then looked at his chair then giggled a bit.

"Apologies if this may seem extra but I like to add a bit of style to my schemes at the end. I hope you don't mind the spectacle though."

"No, not at all sir."

"You don't need to call me sir since we'll be together from now on. Just call me Sky, I'm not a fan of formalities. Elokytes, Do you know how to fight?"

I grasped my dagger, "Only a bit, not enough to defeat an Orc."

"A final orc will come soon, fight him to the best of your ability." Sky tapped his shadowy chair, "I'll protect you, so fight till your final breath, but if you fight depending on my protection and not to your best abilities don't expect that I'll protect you to the best of my abilities as well."

I nodded in resolution, and then kissed my emerald necklace like a lucky charm. It was Mom's final gift, if Mom's still watching me from above, I hope she can see me. She whispered a small prayer and then she heard it.

The sounds of a walking house echoed the caverns, it came from outside. The silhouette of the Orc filled the entrance of the cave and as the Orc turned the corner, his face shone brightly against the fire displaying it in all of its ugliness the final Orc reared its ugly head to the look of fear, despair, anger and hopelessness were reflected in his eyes. The very same emotions that so many humans that he killed wore, looking at the thing display such emotions made me hurl and almost puke. He took a step back, and then I saw a large ice wall erecting from the ground. The Orc stopped his footsteps by the wall and as he turned around the most bizarre series of events unfolded.

The Orc's reflection acted by itself, pulled an Ice Machete from the air and then handed it to the Orc. He took it, then he looked at me. Those same eyes that killed so many humans, I prepared my battle stance and at the first breath I heard the warcry of an Orc who screamed of injustice to his brethren screeched through the cave and in a single breath he stepped towards me, with the intent to kill.

He flew at me with the speed of an arrowhead and carried the weight of a house on his shoulders. My blood pumped, I could feel my adrenaline rush and I saw that from his shoulders he was going for a wide swing, an undercut. Instinctively I ran toward the right shoulder which was holding the machete then as he was about to swing but I was already underneath his shoulder. His eyes locked onto me and then he shifted his weight to stop his charge but during that time I aimed for his ribs. His body moved as fast as an arrow making me tear his skin open by a beat. His feet shifted, he's going to turn around I realized, then his weight stopped right in front of Vera and Sky, he seems to ignore them entirely but I needed that. His hand went through with the swing and this time his right shoulder was going for a backhanded swing to slice me open. His eyes shone a blind fury, his movements were obvious but they left cracks and slashes on the cave walls. I wasn't going to survive any of his attacks and his skin was as thick as blubber. I needed to either penetrate a weak spot in his skin or a vital organ.

He was swinging with his right hand from his left shoulder a downward slash, his eyes. I needed to target his eyes. I took a few steps back, as many as I can to avoid the killing swipe. The air pressure from his swing felt felt like a large rock was just shot right in front of my face. My eyes fluttered from the dust and air pressure that came from the blow and as I opened my eyes I saw that he was ready for another kind of blow, one from the direct top, an overhead swing. I rolled to the left then the machete struck the cave ground sending a shockwave to my bones that touched the ground. I dashed right into his legs aiming to stab right at his ankles to remove his movement, then I looked up and saw the Orc grinning. He lifted his foot and stomped it to the ground, throwing my balance off, then he used his other feet that looked like a tree stump preparing to kick me into the ice wall.

My pupils dillated, he wasn't as dumb as I thought he was, he was waiting for this. My body felt weightless for a split millisecond and I saw his other leg coming straight for my ribs. I panicked but I wasn't finished, as the foot was getting closer I stabbed my dagger into his foot and then embraced the world of pain that I was going to enter. My lungs caved in, I felt my ribs breaking, my eyes felt like they were about to pop out and I tasted the coagulated blood forming at the back of my throat.

Crack. My back struck the cave wall and I felt the instant where my back ribs broke right after my front ribs were broken. My lungs were broken, I couldn't breath, I kept coughing out blood laying on the floor, I struggled for air because all the air was going out of me and none came in. I felt pain in every part of my body, my chest felt broken like an animal that was kicked to the door. As I moved the tiniest bit my lungs would scream in pain. Fuck. My bone fractures stabbed my lungs, probably my organs too. I was losing air faster than ever, I was losing consciousness faster than ever, it was a constant struggle to keep my eyes open with the embrace of death luring me in its gentle grasp. I tried holding my breath before the dark light of death came over me. I let out my final breath, letting my mind drift into the darkness before the immediate dusk of life.