The Ties that Bind by Hoglorfen

The Grace Of Elves

Whindaër slowly came to. Her entire body ached as she had never before experienced. The first things she saw as she opened her eyes were the beautiful reflections of the crystals in the dying torchlight, and she smiled; a weak, small smile.
”You'll never forget this place now, will ya?” Graznikh murmured in her ear. She screamed as his voice brought memory and a horrifying vision down upon her.
”Skai!” Graznikh wrestled the flailing Elf to the ground and covered her mouth. ”Don't do that! Fuck, my poor head.” He let her go and groaned. ”I feel like I got clobbered by a fucking Olog. Skai...” He stumbled over to the bag, pulled out a drinking skin and took a swig. ”Here, have some wine; it'll calm ya down.”
Whindaër sat up, took the skin, sniffed the contents and proceeded to drink in long gulps.
”Hey, hey, hey! Not all of it!” He tore the skin from her hands. ”Now you'll get a headache too, then we can both be miserable.”
”Elves cannot get drunk on common wine,” she said with a forlorn voice.
”Seriously?” He scratched his head. ”Is there anything you Elves can do? Ya can't drink, can't fight, can't fu-...” He paused to grin at the memory. ”Well, you CAN fuck, I'll give ya that. Oh wow.” He sat down as his knees gave out. He looked at Whindaër. ”Why the sad face? And don't tell me you didn't like it, I heard ya back there.”
”Stop.”
”Say what?”
Whindaër took a deep breath. ”Stop mocking me! Stop ridiculing my despair! Stop hurting me with words when I have done nothing to deserve it!”
His eyes narrowed. ”You want me to stop mocking ya? Then earn my respect, Elf! Stop sniveling like an idiot snaga and start fighting!”
”Elves do not do that! I have done nothing to hurt you and yet you threaten me, imprison me, violate me; you are selfish and cruel!”
”'Elves do not'..! I'll tell ya what, Elves don't fuck Orcs either and they definitely don't like it! What were ya doing back there? And aye, I'm selfish and cruel. I'm a fucking Orc, what did ya expect? Flowers and poetry?” Suddenly sober, he walked over to her and squatted in front of her, face twisted into an angry grimace. ”You know what I think?” He poked her chest as he spoke. ”I think you liked the whole damn thing. You wanted it, and you want more of it! But you're scared 'cause 'Elves don't do that' and o' what your mummy and daddy's gonna say when ya come back unharmed and stinking of rut and Orc spunk. And don't you fucking dare throw 'violation' in my face like that; you're still alive!”
”Certainly not through any doing of yours!”

Graznikh roared, and Whindaër clamped her hand over her mouth. He threw himself at her, pinning her to the floor and snapping his fangs shut close to her face. ”Ya wanna know how many of your precious folk survived the raid? Huh?! YOU!!! Of all your brave warriors an' quick hunters an' wise sages, one little girl made it out unhurt because of a stupid-as-fuck Orc who can't get his priorities straight and suddenly decides to fuck 'er gently instead of draggin' her back with his band, havin' a nice evening of drinkin' and rapin' and movin' on!!”
They stared at each other for a while. Whindaër stared at him, eyes and mouth wide, as if she had never seen an Orc before. Graznikh desperately tried to calm down before he did anything even more stupid. He looked deep into her eyes. How can there be stars inside someone's eyes? he wondered. The stars came closer and grew bigger, brighter, his eyes stung like a thousand needles of silver and ice pierced them but he could not look away. Mingled with the pain was something else; a promise of balance, connection, a steady point that did not waver in a raging torrent of time. A softness that could not be broken. Something reached out to claim him, white light filled his vision and he screamed.
Whindaër, on the other hand, saw fire. The flames of Udûn danced in Graznikh's red eyes, mingling with the darkness of the Void and pulling her in, throwing barbed meathooks into her fëa and dragging her into him, or him into her. In the fire there was strength, change, the joy of being, living in the now without worry or care. She screamed as the vision she had upon waking came true and spears of Shadow and Flame pierced her.

An eternity passed. They simultaneously pushed each other away the moment they could finally let go. Whindaër hyperventilated, hugging herself as if that could shield her from the inevitable. Graznikh reeled, head to the ground, his hands twitching. He could feel something deep inside, something that hadn't been there before, something that both was and wasn't him at the same time. ”What..? What..?”
Whindaër slowly sat up and Graznikh barely dared to look upon her for fear of the painful light returning. After a moment of steadying his nerves, he decided to risk it to get some answers.
”Alright,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. ”What the FUCK just happened?”
She shook her head, hugging her knees. ”I... I don't... Know...”
”But... ya have a clue, right?”
She nodded. After a moment of silence and a deep breath, she said: ”Do you remember when we talked about... making babies?” She blushed.
”What do babies have to do with this?”
”I told you what my mother said about Elves and love, that-”
”Yeah, everlasting bond and wanting babies and all that. It's a pretty story, but I still don't get what that has to do with anything.”
”If you would let me finish speaking,” she said with a touch of ice in her voice. ”It is not simply a story. The bond is real, it is everlasting and it cannot be broken, even beyond death. Although... It is not supposed to happen like this, or hurt like this...” She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, sobbing quietly.
For the first time since he fought that bear, Graznikh felt afraid. ”So... What you're claiming is that...” He didn't dare go on. Didn't dare put his fears into words. ”But... But I'm no Elf, I'm a bloody Orc! A selfish, cruel, murderous Orc who kills and steals and rapes! This is fucking ridiculous! We're different bloody races!”
”Then... you do not know?”
”Know what?!”
She looked away with tears in her eyes. He walked up to her and forced her to look at him. ”What is it I supposedly don't know that I should be knowing?”
”That... Orcs were once Elves.”
Graznikh let her go and took a step back. Then another. Then he snorted. Then chuckled. Then laughed, an insane, hysterical, desperate laugh. When the laughter faded, he let out a low howl and sunk to the ground.

”No one truly knows how Orcs came to be,” Whindaër murmured in an attempt to comfort with knowledge. ”The wise believe that when the Elves first awoke at the waters of Cuiviénen, the Dark Enemy haunted the surrounding woods and took captive any who strayed too far from those starlit waters. They believe He subjected them to torture and mutilation, and corrupted them into Orcs. His slaves, tools of His destruction.”
Graznikh snorted. ”I'm no one's slave,” he said wearily. ”I fought my way outta the mines, I earned my freedom, I...” Then he sighed. ”And apparently I'm enough Elf to get chained up like this.” He laid down flat on his back with an arm over his eyes. Whindaër opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind when she saw the Orc's tortured face.
Graznikh lifted his arm and eyed her as she slowly got to her feet and returned to the basin to wash the stains of their encounter off. This was supposed to be fun, he thought with dismay. A fun little rut, to see if she was as fancy as she looked or if I could make her cry out in something other than fear. Just a little fun, then I'd be on my way and so would she. He admired her backside as she sat down upon the basin's edge, soaping a black-stained thigh. If a chain stretches far enough, it breaks. Maybe if I run far enough, this one will too. He tried to focus on something other than the miserable situation he found himself in.
”That's a real nice arse ya got there,” he murmured as she stood up. Graznikh couldn't help but grin as she blushed. He could feel her strong confusion through the little ball of her inside him. Then he frowned. If I can feel her so strongly, can she feel me in the same way? What if..? Whindaër gasped and clutched her hands to her chest as the wave of lust hit her through the bond. She looked at Graznikh, who winked and leered at her. He was rewarded with a small frown as she swallowed. This is sick, he thought. just plain sick. Fun, but sick.
He beckoned at her and she approached after a moment's hesitation.
”I am sorry I yelled at you,” she said as she sat down beside him.
”Why? You probably had a good reason.”
”But I upset you.”
”So? I'm a big boy, I can take it. You do have a voice that the Dwarves could use to cut gems with though, so stay away from those crazy beardies. And their pigs.” He muttered something about ham and mad stumps.
She gave him a reluctant smile. ”You are not upset with me then?”
”Nar. You can yell at me whenever ya feel like it.”
”But you will yell back?”
”Aye, I let ya hit me back there but don't expect me to be that generous again. I'll never hit ya though, you got my word on that. Whatever it's worth.”
After a moment of silence, Whindaër sighed.
”Do you know what I miss most about my home?”
Graznikh shrugged.
”It may be silly, but... I had a special creme that I put in my hair after I washed it. I love the fragrance, it always made me feel so calm and safe. I miss that.”
”...Me too.”
She glanced at him. ”What do you know of that?”
”Smelled it on ya when I caught ya. It was faint, but there. Sorta sweet an' sour at the same time. I liked it.” After a while, he asked: ”Ya wanna go home?”
”I do not know. You were right, earlier. I am afraid of what will happen. Of what questions will be asked. Of what change in me will be noticed and wondered about. But I cannot stay away forever. I could not give my family the grief of believing me dead when I am not.”
”You Elves really are tight, huh? It's probably for the best anyway. As much as I'd like to take ya with me to Dunland, I can't. I have to go back to the band, I'm fucked if I get a rep for going rogue. And they wouldn't keep their paws off ya.”
She laughed a little. ”You could teach me how to use weapons so I could defend myself.”
”Har! I would, but I doubt we'd have time to go through more than the basics. And basics wouldn't last ya an eyeblink.” He rolled over and propped himself up on an elbow. ”I'll teach ya how to use weapons if you teach me how to read.” They stared at each other for a moment. The part of him that didn't want to care about consequences, the part that wanted to just grab her and run and never let go, let out an internal groan. Fuck, just say yes already! But Whindaër only smiled sadly. Graznikh shrugged, trying to quench the disappointment that welled up against his will.
”Skai... I'm hungry. Let's get outta here.”