Aruna. The Queen of the Orcs

Chapter 1

A strange sound and laughter burst into my pain-fogged mind. Not immediately, but I felt a strange pressure and felt my head sink into something cold, soft and... smelly.... I opened my mouth to scream, but only choked on the sticky mud. An imposing paw continued to hold me in a humiliating position... The size of the creep's foot was as big as my skull.

For a few moments I tried in vain to free myself: my body was as if it were not my own - sluggish and weak.

- Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! - There was mocking laughter from a dozen loudmouths.

Gritting my teeth, I clenched all my will into a fist and jerked again, but to be honest, it was bad.

- Stinker, - snorted from above, - lie down. If you get up, blame yourself.

Even if I wanted to get up, I couldn't, a panicky thought flashed through my mind and my body relaxed, saving the rest of my strength. Fine, I'll just lie here and think.

It didn't take long to think. My consciousness floated away and left me, giving me a blessed respite.

The next awakening was more bearable. Someone was humming a tune I didn't recognize. I tried to focus my eyes on my surroundings, and when I finally did, the first thing I saw was a hole in the ceiling. Through the smoke from the fireplace, I could see the glorious blue sky. I turned my eyes to an obscurely designed brazier, and then to an imposing woman in a baggy dress up to her heels. She stood with her back to me, tearing off bundles of herbs that hung from the ceiling in unimaginable quantities.

I tiredly closed my eyes, trying to process what I was seeing. The panic I felt immediately quickened my heartbeat. This wasn't going to work, I had to calm down. OK, this is definitely not a hospital. I'm lying on a low couch in a spacious hut. OK. Next, the woman is clearly not a doctor, more like a richly built witch doctor or whatever it is, but here! - An herbalist! That's settled, too bad it's so dark in the tent, I can't see any details.

- Are you awake? - Aruna, your mother told you not to go out alone, how many times do I have to tell you? I have less and less desire to bandage your wounds and save your life, - the monster grumbled, moving away from my face and towards the hot, burning hearth in the middle of the hut.

I could see enough of it to make me sick. My first instinct was to scream and run, but my tongue refused, and so did my body.

A few seconds ago, a real monster had loomed over me, with powerful lower fangs sticking out, one of which was broken. Eyes slightly yellowish and shimmering in the shadows, a ring of shiny white metal in its nose. Skin was sagging, with many scars and a network of wrinkles. Her hair was in a heavy, tight braid of indeterminate color.

I'd probably died on Earth and my soul had been transported here. The thought almost made me vomit. A strange reaction. My brain, unable to cope with the overload, shut down...

- Daughter, - someone said, shaking my shoulder for some reason. - How are you?

My eyelids fluttered open and I stared at the woman sitting next to me, white fangs jutting up. As soon as I looked at them, the memories came back to me. .

- Who are you? - I asked hoarsely, trying to move away from the strange stranger.

- O great Heimdall! - How could you give me back my daughter's body and take her memories?

I listened and noticed that she was not speaking in my mother tongue, but in Norwegian, though I could be mistaken. But that's not the most important thing. What is remarkable is that I understood her perfectly, but my reply was in the same language. It turned out that during the transfer I had been left with this important and necessary thing to survive in a new environment. Thank God for that.