Chapter 15: Teaching the Fire elves
After eating in the loud and boisterous mead hall with all who lived within Vibhurik, Cyrus offered to help clean up along with elves Shireen, Laiex, and Zestari along with Durlag and the Orc Vayzek who challenged Malach during training earlier in the day.
Vayzek was quiet, wiping down the empty tables that filled the hall with Laiex, who was just as quiet. Cyrus was in the kitchen area cleaning the large pots and pans with Durlag who had to hold the large cookware for Cyrus as he scraped out what food remained in it.
"Heard you and Malach were gettin' real cozy up in his room." Durlag wiggled his thick brows.
Cyrus' head hit the inside of the pot with a thud, yelping as he scrambled to sit back and look at him, his face was flushed. "What-no! I was fixing his hem!"
Shireen looked over from where she was cleaning plates and bowls in a large bin. "You two would be cute together." She winked, Durlag laughed but nodded and agreed.
"Aye! Me thinks he warmin' up ta ya too." Durlag ruffled Cyrus' hair with his big hand, getting out some of the food stuck in it.
Cyrus huffed, swatting his hand away with a half smile. "You and Thera, and everyone else always send me to give him things. It's nothing beyond that. Plus I doubt he likes me more than anyone else." He dropped his voice a bit with the last statement, returning to ducking into the pot and scrubbing it.
Durlag exchanged glances with Shireen, in unison they shook their heads, saying "Nah."
Cyrus was embarrassed, wanting to change the subject. They talked about the upcoming winter, Durlag mentioned a garden behind the longhouse that would need to be prepared for it and many of the plants within it needed to be harvested before the winds got bad. It was a nice subject change. Cyrus wondered if he would be allowed to see the garden sometime.
Once they all finished cleaning the mead hall, Cyrus and the elves went to the Shaman hut as Durlag went to find Malach.
Cyrus, Shireen, Zestari and Laiex were allowed entry into the Shaman hut, Moiety welcomed them with the other Shamans inside. Not long after their arrival, the other elves soon joined, having spoken to each other earlier in the day about visiting the shamans in hopes to learn more about the place they now called home and the people within it.
"Children of fire! I sense you come with queries and curiosities." Moiety was as friendly as ever, letting the elves sit before her as she sat upon a rug. The other Shamans were moving about as they bundled herbs and crafted things in other rooms.
"Would you be able to tell us more about your culture?" Zestari asked, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.
"Hmm. I do suppose you may be allowed to know some things, seeing as though you have lived here for the past few sennights. Let us see.. Where should I begin?"
Moiety rubbed her chin thoughtfully, figuring a lot of their history would be too much to go over and wasn't exactly all that prevalent if they wished to understand how Orc's behaved and lived today.
"I'll try to keep the stories simple. No need to bore you with extreme detail. Now, let's touch a bit on the gifts bestowed upon the Orcs. We all know our own versions of the gifts Ashuura gave to us upon our creation. Every race has their own spin of it, their own view. Orc's were given abilities meant for surviving harsh climates, and we were some of the first self-sufficient races after the great split."
"What was the great split?" One of the elves asked, never hearing that term used before.
"What we call the great split is a simple term to refer to when all the races separated due to their diverse abilities. Some split because they believed they were better, more superior. Some left due to friction that formed between other races because of their gifts. In the teachings of Ashuura, we are told our gifts were meant to unify, not segregate. But, Orc's don't believe that. We saw it as, the strongest will survive, and of course, Orc's believe we are the strongest. We are durable, what we craft with our hands can last lifetimes. Our senses are unmatched, sensing predators miles away, there is no such thing as an untraceable trail. And, believe it or not, we can sense the emotions of others. No one can tell us a lie."
The elves were enamored, listening in awe to her speak. She wasn't boasting, more like theatrical storytelling.
"Of course, like every race, we have our brutal side. We are seen as savages, with good reason. We fight to kill, to protect, and if we die, that is the way of a warrior. Nothing is off limits on the battlefield for an Orc, some fight with honor, we fight to survive. I believe, it is because our kind was misunderstood from the beginning. We are one of the larger, more menacing races. Earthy, and powerful. The look of us is no doubt intimidating."
Moiety looked fondly over to the statue of Syaket. "This… is one of the reasons that people such as the Naga, became our closest allies. They too, were seen as intimidating, scary, and deceptive. When, in truth, anyone could be those things. It mattered not the appearance you had, or where you came from."
"I thought the Orcs wiped the naga out?" Shireen tilted her head skeptically.
Moiety tsked, shaking her head as she looked back at them. "Now, if that were true, why would we worship a Naga god? No, despite what legend says, the Naga were seen as our own. You see, long ago during a wide spread war, the Naga sought refuge with the Orcs because at that time, we had claimed neutrality. And due to our prowess in battle, we were unbeatable. The Naga taught us medicine, they taught us a wealth of knowledge. Had it not been for them, we would have been nothing more than brutes."
"What happened to the Naga?" Cyrus asked curiously.
Moiety hummed, sighing softly as her multi-colored eyes drifted.
"The Naga, even with their extensive knowledge of medicine and healing arts, succumbed to a type of disease that made them unable to have offspring. In the texts of Syaket, he believed it was a disease crafted by humans. But, we will probably never know for sure."
There was an odd silence that filled the room, Moiety sighed, smiling as she continued. "Now, there were other races that allied with us at that time as well. The Azure in fact, sought refuge with us as well from humans. And before you ask, yes, the Azure were human and elf hybrids. But, that wasn't what made them special."
The elves listened intently, the Azures were widely spoken about. But due to their extinction, many people believed they were nothing more than legend. Powerful mages who appeared, and disappeared, or most likely, fairy tales to give people something to fantasize about.
"The Azure themselves came from a village of humans and elves that lived in harmony, but as a plague took over their village, they begged the Goddess Ashuura for salvation. During this time a star rock hit one of their mines, and miraculously, the plague had all but vanished. Believing that Ashuura had sent the rock, they created a massive monument out of it in honor of her. The following months after, every child born, had deep blue skin, much like how Ashuura had been depicted. The villagers were horrified, believing they had been cursed. The priestess of that time said she got a vision of Ashuura telling her that the blue skinned children were made in her image and they were sent as 'gifts' of their devotion to her, claiming they would grow to become the most powerful mages in existence."
"If they were the most powerful mages, why would they need to seek refuge with the orcs?" One of the elves asked.
"Well to put it simply, people learned how to negate magic. We are naturally immune to most magics, and most poisons, so our alliance only made sense as they couldn't really harm us. But despite them being made in the goddesses image, the Azure were feared, and treated quite poorly by their own kin. They lived with us for quite some time, our recorded history tells of portions of them venturing off on their own. And of course, of the many hybrids that were born of Azure and orcs, that we now call Nightshades."
She smiled widely, letting the elves soak in the information she was giving them before continuing. "You see, this is not a commonly known thing outside of our own. We promised many years ago to keep the azure safe, and though many died from various reasons, and even left of their own accord, we honor their bloodlines. Every Nightshade has at least 1 child with another Nightshade. The Nightshades that first came to be, were much like Malach. Teal or blue skin, purple or black hair, and eyes that usually were blue. But there are times their eyes were gray or purple. Quite the difference between the more common orcs. Then, there was another type of Azure, at times they were called Nightwalkers because they had gray skin and orange eyes. The orcs who carry the gray skin, were more likely to wield magic, but even with that possibility, it is incredibly rare. As you can see, I have the features of both."
She held out her hands as she referenced herself. "I cannot wield magic, there are very few Orcs who can. But, Nightshades like myself have many traits that make us different from our pure blooded brethren. Azures were not immune to magic, they could withstand it, or even absorb or redirect it. Orcs are almost completely immune to poisons and toxins, while Nightshades do have weakness to certain herbs. Even with these differences, Nightshades have often earned their place as our chiefs and kings. Nightshades heal exceptionally fast, and can survive things that quite really no one else could. We can handle harsher elements, frost, fire. Orcs are durable, there is no doubt about that, but a Nightshade has a much higher tolerance to pain. We also have a much longer lifespan due to the Azure blood in us. See, Azures were fabled to live a couple of hundred years if they were not slain, Orcs live roughly the same as humans do, just about a hundred years if they're lucky."
The question she was expecting was indeed asked, Juniper spoke up. "How old are you then? If that isn't offensive to ask."
Moiety smiled, "I have lived almost 230 summers." This gained a response of wide eyes and gasps.
Nostalgia filled her eyes, recalling some of her earliest memories. "I remember as a young pup, Syaket's statue being made after he died. I cried, even though I was so young I understood death… he was a dear friend, my parents mourned him, our people mourned him. He was the last Naga to die, and it was an exceptionally painful day. We immortalized him, worship him. And I still hear him as clearly as I did when he was alive."
The elves were quite astonished, looking at the statue of Syaket. Cyrus felt a strange feeling, his ears burned and his back had a sharp chill run through it. He heard a whisper, it was hard to understand it. The whisper got louder, and closer to his ear, hearing the slithery voice of Syaket, "Chalach'kael."
He had heard this name before, a shortened version of it briefly. He sat silently as he looked back at Moiety, her eyes were locked onto his. The name was repeated. With a smile, Moiety inhaled deeply.
"Is there something bothering you Cyrus?" She knew, Cyrus could tell by the way she looked at him. But she waited for him to speak. The elves around him just looked at him with curiosity.
"Can… We know about Chalach'kael?" The shamans who were busy with their herbs stopped to glance over, the hut became quiet, making Cyrus feel a rise of heat within himself at the embarrassment. The elves were a bit confused, not familiar with the name they whispered between each other, asking if any of them knew.
"Chalach'kael, hmmm.. I suppose I can tell you about him. However, there are some things… You will have to ask the king about." Cyrus nodded, perhaps with what she said he would understand why they had such a reaction about him.
"Let's see… Chalach, and Malach, were twins. Chalach resembled their father, Mahlagash, and Malach, resembled their mother, Rask'heni. The two brothers didn't always get along, which, most children don't when growing up. But even so, they were inseparable. They complimented each other, Malach was a better fighter, and Chalach was creative and always came up with strategies. Malach was kind, eccentric with a free spirit. Chalach was more quiet, but he was a sweet boy who took an interest in studying warfare. They trained together, and even though Malach usually won, they didn't let that ruin their bond, at least, that is how it seemed…. Being Nightshades, we can sense others emotions, but not other Nightshades. We can mask our scents, hide our emotions, or use our pheromones to control orcs and even animals. I bring this up, because Chalach… Well, he in a way betrayed Malach when it came time for them to duel for the right to be King. Any orc can join the trials, which I could go more into depth about them another time. They both made it through to the end, I cannot say what exactly happened, Malach had disappeared. But Chalach unfairly won the duel, and he was King after his Father."
They all listened in suspenseful silence, Cyrus had a knot in his stomach, he clasped his hands together in his lap and anxiously fiddled with his fingers.
"Chalach was more or less a tyrant. He immediately started trying to wage wars with Yaarlarth, and our Orcish cousins in the North and South, wanting to expand territory and merge the orc's under one rule, his rule. Many of our brethren actually followed him, and respected him. He was brutal, killing any who opposed him without any kind of mercy. He and his mate Olatir were feared, but respected at first. But he was greedy, and even though he was smart with his strategies, he acted more on impulse than anything. Our alliances with elves and humans all fell, and the chiefs and kings of our cousin territories joined him in his battles he would have with our neighbors. Chalach refused the council of the shamans, and the council of his parents. His actions put his people into peril, too busy with battles he didn't pay attention to our crops."
Taking a moment to breathe, she crosses her arms and recalls the memories with a sour expression. "That was a hard winter, we barely had enough to eat. Luckily, the winter wasn't as long as the previous one, but with his lack of care, our people began to resent him. That was until Malach finally returned home." She hesitated, unsure exactly how she should continue.
"Malach returned, different. After his brother's betrayal, Malach was not the kind, happy, eccentric person he once was. He.. Was broken, full of rage and pain, and hate. He returned not to become king, he never really had an interest in leading. But, once he saw what Chalach was doing, he took his revenge.. So to speak. I can't say specifics. But, Malach's oldest children, Rasu'zara and Zezach, were his brother's children." Moiety cleared her throat, wiping away a tear.
"I loved Chalach, I was the one to welcome them both into the world, and I laid him to rest. But he should have never become our leader. Malach had to clean up his mess, he had to do many things he didn't want to, but he made us prosperous once more in the short span of 3 years. That isn't to say he isn't a lout at times, or foolish. But I would have none other to be my King right now. And I feel he is healing." She sighed, looking at the elves who were getting tired, even if they were listening with great interest to her every word. Though, even if they were bustling with questions and curiosities, she felt it best to stop here.
"Now, you all must go and rest."
An elf with a mousy voice spoke up named Lilium, "Before we go, I want to ask…Have you ever met an Azure?"
Moiety chuckled, her frame towering over them as she stood up. "Yes, My grandmother was an Azure named Frinya, she died fighting in a war, but she was small, like you elves and would disguise herself as an orc." With that she began to shoo the elves out, insisting they go to bed.
Moiety then urged the Shamans in the hut to head to bed as well, staying awake to finish what needed to be bundled of the herbs. All the while, she spoke with Syaket and the other God's she paid respects to.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
King_Murder
King_Murder Kind of a shorter chapter than I usually make, I really just wanted to use this chapter as like, a lore dump for the Orcs. Hopefully it helped clear up some of the confusion on some areas of the story, while also giving some insight on why some characters are the way they are, such as Malach.
Of course more things will be revealed in time, but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! As always if you have any questions feel free to ask, or if you have any critiqs that is also welcome!
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