MysidiaDrakkenbane

Orcs are no stranger to torture. Many of the different races regarded the Orcs as nothing but ignorant war loving animals. And in partial, they were right. However, they were more intelligent than most would believe, and as long as the rest of the world thought this way, they could go undetected on what they were doing.

Days in the darkness had changed Mysidia’s vision, and suddenly being slammed into the light caused her nearly to go blind. The immediate headache shot behind her eyes and caused her to tear up. She tried to blink away the sudden shock and pain, but the only thing that she could distinguish were several moving blobs around her as her vision was blurry.

“Leave her.”, she heard a voice say. She looked up sharply as she couldn’t tell who or what was talking to her. The voice was deep, rough, like an orc’s, but held no lisp or typical garble due to overgrown tusks and teeth.

“You will have to excuse me if your vision is under par. It keeps our captives docile while we conduct our interrogations.”, the voice said.

Mysidia said nothing but continued to blink away the tears and blurriness. The only thing she could hear was the roaring of torches and scent the rank of orc sweat and dirt around her. There was also a faint scent trickling through the air that she could almost place, but due to the overhanging orc smell around her, she couldn’t focus on it.

“Where am I?”, she decided to say. The moment her mouth opened however, she felt the distinct pain of something smacking against the back of her skull. Whatever vision she had gotten back, was quickly taken away by the intense pain of being hit. She could quickly feel the lump being formed.

“I will be asking the questions for now.”, the voice said. “Who are you?”

Mysidia didn’t answer as the waves of thudding pain washed over her head. She then caught a good back hand to her mouth enforcing her to speak. She felt the shot of blood enter her mouth and spray on her tongue.

She growled and looked up sharply, “Mysidia!”

There was a small pause as she heard another orc laugh. “Der ish a lot of fight in dish woo-man.”

“There always is… at first.”, the voice replied.

She heard a quick shuffle on the ground as someone approached her. She felt a strong hand grab her chin forcing her to look up at them. She opened her eyes and saw the muscular blurry figure standing before her. She couldn’t make out anything else.

He turned her head from side to side to get a better look at her and she heard him grunt and return from where ever he was.

“Stand her up.”, the voice said.

She then felt two orcs on either side of her, squeeze her arms, pinching her underarm, jolting her up on her feet. She nearly tripped and fell over, but regained her footing.

“I was told that you, and a few others managed to take out most of my raiding party.”, the voice said. “When I first saw you, I couldn’t understand why. Now that I’ve had a closer look… Well, I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own two eyes.”

Mysidia peered into the fuzziness before her and began to make out the figure that continued to speak. There was no mistaking it, the voice belonged to an orc.

“You are not an elf.”, the voice nearly accused. She wasn’t sure if it was a question, but decided to answer anyway to defuse whatever hit would come her way.

“No.”, she answered softly.

She heard him give a soft chuckle. “You learn quickly. So tell me, unless my eyes are deceiving me in my old age.”

Mysidia struggled with the answer a bit, as she remembered the battle with the orcs her people had. “They do not deceive you. I am Rydian.”

She heard several of the orcs grunt and growl in her direction. She held her ground, refusing to show her fear.

“Well, now, you do place me in a predicament, don’t you? I could sell you off as a slave to the Iksar. I’m certain the irony isn’t wasted on you. But I imagine you wouldn’t last long, with the Iksar I have in mind…”, the voice said in amusement.

Mysidia shot a look at him, fear draining the color out of her face.

“Ah, so you think the old traditions died with the past?”, he said noticing her expression. “For the most part, yes. But there are a few tribes that still remember their roots. Pity. That was one of the only reasons I had standing to like them.”, he said in a mocking tone. She heard a few of the other orcs snicker at the comment.

“But what to do…what to do…”, he said thinking. “What say you, bretheren? Do we sell her? Or… keep her for our own amusement?”, he said. And she could hear the grin coming through his voice.

A thunderous roar surrounded her causing her to flinch under such a sound. They began to chant “Keep her! Keep her!”

He snickered. “My bretheren have spoken. It looks like you stay.”

By this time, Mysidia’s vision had returned to her and she could clearly make out an older orc sitting on a rather ornate wooden throne of some sort. He wasn’t a king, she was certain of that, as he wasn’t wearing anything royal. But with the way he was dressed, he was held in high regards.

She was in a chamber deep within where ever she was and the floor was gore covered and blood stained. No doubt from previous interrogations. Several orc guards lined the walls and all seemed to be looking at her, frothing at the mouth.

She looked down at her shackled wrists and noticed a rather crude but distinct rune carved in each one. She surmised this symbol was the reason why her magic didn’t work. She then noticed several of the same symbols lining the walls and on the door. The whole compound was protected.

The older orc observed her looking around and nodded slowly. “You’ve been trained very well. Even now, you are still looking for a way out. I am rather surprised to say that I look forward to watching you.”, he said nodding to one of the guards. “Take her to the holding chamber. We’ll pair her up later.”

The guards picked her up and one of them pinched her underarm again. Raising her ire, she turned to the guard and headbutted him in the face, causing his nose to break. Green black blood gushed down the front of his face and sprayed on the front of her already stained slave’s clothes.

The elder orc grinned evilly at what he had witnessed. The other guard slammed his hammer into the back of her leg, causing her to fall. They quickly escorted her out of the room.

“Dis one hash more fight then the rest of dem.”, the massive orc said, as he stood beside the elder orc’s chair.

“She does, doesn’t she? There is something about this woman… Something I cannot place.”, the elder orc said, his voice drifting. “Place a guard on her to watch her. Bring the dwarf to the adjacent chamber. You said they were talking, yes? Perhaps she will reveal more with a more suitable…companion.”

The thought of having a Rydian in his grasp gave him new possibilities. He could break her and force her to teach his ranks the lost warrior secrets of her race. He thought about making her a breeder and creating a powerful half orc, half Rydian race to join in the army. It wouldn’t take much to convince a few of his men to [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] the woman. He already noticed how a few looked at her. He even toyed with the idea of keeping her as his own personal slave.

He thought it best, however, to just keep things as they were. He wasn’t about to change her status until he learned more about the violet eyed creature. She had the courage of a fully trained warrior, there was no mistaking that.

With what he did know, he began to piece together the woman’s past. Mysidia… The Empress Mysidia?? Impossible. She died on the battlefield over five hundred years ago. Her daughter, maybe. Either way, he was greatly amused at his recent stroke of luck.

Rydian.. Wait until the king hears of this…

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