Guardian core (Book 1 of: potentially many)

'til someone loses an eye

Auriel

I looked down at the shirtless orc in my lap, gently running my fingers through his hair. He only had a single strip of it, starting at the center of his forehead, along where a normal person's hairline would normally start, and it to the nape of his neck. I'd undone the wrap that kept it in a tight bun on the back of his head, and learned that it was surprisingly long when he let it down.

It came down just past his shoulders. His skin was mostly grey, except where it was marred by one surprisingly extensive red tattoo, and a shocking number of scars. Looking at them, I wondered how he'd got them, tracing them with a finger as I tried to think of what weapons had made each.

We had made it back to the large cavern, and were now waiting on Alcor to wake up. He'd been unconscious for hours now, and we'd had to drag him back here- not an easy feat for us three smaller elfinoids. He was far larger and heavier than he looked, and once we cut away his shirt to check on what the demon did to him, well... he was far more muscled as well. I was confused at first, since I could see how oddly mal-formed his muscles were, but then I got an unexpected explanation from Stephan.

It seemed like Alcor's charisma never fully developed for whatever reason, leaving him less well-shaped than most of his race, and it also meant he'd never actually been trying to seduce me... he would've known he had no chance of success and given up before he started. Which meant that every single imagined offense- every time he'd been unnecessarily kind or understanding, or adorably naive... It had all been real.

I blushed as I realized I was about to stop tracing scars on his arms and move on to his chest. I huffed, crossing my arms and looked at the pedestal, refusing to look at him anymore. I was an elf, after all... my parent's had taught me from a very young age that children of parents who mixed between races never did well- they rarely found people that were willing to marry them, and for more complex reasons, often ended up dying without any children.

No, I was an elf... I couldn't afford to end my line just because some bumbling, baboonish... adorably nice orc happened to have a crush on me... I closed my eyes, breathing in and then out, trying to think of what Ashera would want. I had too low of a faith score to understand her will, lower by far than the average elf, and ashamedly unimpressive in general.

No, I wasn't the most religious elf, but I was obedient and thoughtful despite that. I looked at Alcor again, biting my lip nervously. I'd finally cleaned up, blushing and praying he wouldn't wake up the entire time and thinking the heavens that he didn't, but part of me wished he would. Part of me wanted someone like him to love me, and to both take care of me, and let me take care of him.

Admittedly I didn't want to be in charge alone, I was more... looking for a partnership. something equal between me and my lover. Alcor would give me that, I knew, but... to go against the wishes and teachings of my parents, family, and society in general? I just wished Ashera would give me some sign- anything to make my choice... easier...

Pausing, I looked back at him. I nervously reached into his bag, easily finding and pulling out a necklace with a white and green gem. I looked at it, considering what exactly I was doing. This was an item- and home-made item. There was no way that... someone with the ability to be influenced by his own god would be influenced by another? What was I thinking... there was every chance.

I carefully looked around the gem, finding a sharp section and cutting my thumb on it- pressing some of my blood onto the gem before carefully placing it around his neck. The gem managed to end up magically in the center of his chest, and... it glowed softly. Not brightly enough to be my goddess telling me I needed to be with him, but... enough that I knew I could. She would approve of it if I chose this.