Fated To The Orc King

Chapter 1

▪️I Z A R A▪️

I had always been told to stay away from monsters.

Fiends of all types, from the nefarious fae to the forest goblins and mountain trolls. But most importantly, we humans were to keep our distance from the Orcs.

Which to me seemed absolutely ridiculous especially since they provided protection to our village and the surrounding areas. But then again, in all my years of living on the isle, humans had shown me nothing but how selfish and unkind they could really be.

Well, not all, but enough to warrant caution.

I often wondered why the humans of my village did not have a better relationship with the Orcs beyond the mountain. In my mind, I had never seen them as the monsters that were whispered about in the night, stories told to scare children into behaving.

Orcs were large and imposing creatures and often varied in appearance. They usually had greyish skin with muscular bodies, and unpleasant-looking faces that featured lower canines resembling boar tusks.

No matter the story, Orcs were always portrayed as miserable, crafty, and vicious beings, even more so after they had defeated the mighty Fae Queen, Nissa, and took over.

But I knew different, because one had saved my life.

Orcs were not the real monsters on the Isle of Wrobel. No, the real monsters were humans, and my kind had been known for their cruelty, using their magic to oppress and torment others. Their disregard for nature was also something that I could never fully understand, for the way they would abuse the land was just unfathomable.

Supposedly the Gods had been angry with the things we had done because one day, our magic just disappeared and no one knew how.

Unfortunately, this allowed for our kingdom to be ravaged by an invading fae army lead by a powerful fae Queen named Nissa. The humans had been forced into slavery and it had been difficult to accept that they were no longer the rulers of the Isle of Wrobel.

Though the fae had been cruel to humans, they had been good to the isle, their magic restoring a lot of the damage that had been done to the land.

It would seem that the Gods were not finished with us humans though.

About five hundred years ago, a large Orc army sailed in and decimated the fae. The Orcs' magic had not been stronger, but their proclivity for war had been more advanced. Coupled with their larger bodies and formidable strength, the fae stood no chance, especially with the Orc riders that flew on the backs of large feathered serpents known as Amphiteres.

When the war was over, the remaining fae survivors had scattered, living within the thick isolated forests and the Isle of Wrobel was now ruled by an Orc King and his vastly expanding horde.

The current Orc King was supposedly part fae, seeing as his grandfather had had an obsession with both human and fae women, resulting in him siring many halflings.

"Izara, are you listening to me?"

The sound of my step-mother's voice grated on my nerves.

I placed my cup of tea down on the small table before glancing at the willowy woman sitting across from me. Lady Orylla was known for her high-pitched tone and more importantly, for her obsession with pearls.

Under the reign of the Orcs, humans had been able to carve out a living for themselves on the isle. Once we paid the yearly tributes and taxes, they provided us with protection and left us more or less alone.

As a result, humans were able to rebuild much of what they had lost. Of course, without their magic, they could never regain full control of the isle. But that did not hinder some from dreaming of the possibility, of us returning to power one day.