There was not a hint of wind and the smell of smoldering hairs spread around the hovercraft without hesitation. Jade sat herself on the other side, so that she wouldn’t have to watch the orcs eat the large beast they had hunted to fuel their baby production. The little clump of meat was as small as a songbird, but had started to form little limbs. It was an interesting process to watch, but after holding hands for a day, Morn insisted that the goodberries were not doing the trick and that they should go hunting to find a little more mass. Burning the beast alive with one of Morns fireballs seemed to have been sufficient cooking and Jade had excused herself while the two orcs started to feast on the medium rare desert dog.
Jade sat on the floor with the soles of her feet together, so that she would be relatively oblivious of what was happening on the other side. The sounds, however, not to mention the smells, were unmistakably upsetting her stomach. She started drawing in the sand. Lingua. First she wrote “Jade was here” in Lingua. It was difficult, because the sand was quite dry and it fell in place almost immediately after she wrote a character. She pushed her hand into the sand and started digging around, perhaps she could find some stones. But to no avail.
She got up and picked up her water barrel off the hovercraft. She did her best to ignore everything that went on on the other side. She opened up the barrel and turned it so that the water gushed out. Lumira, who had been on the lookout for a less gruesome activity, walked up to her and said:
“What are you doing?”
“Hmm?” Jade responded absentmindedly while watching the sand darkening with the unlimited supply of water. At first a pool of water formed, but then the water steadily drained. Jade put the barrel back atop the hovercraft and stepped into the mud. She got sucked in up to her knee, before stopping herself by putting her other foot atop the mudpool and pulling herself back up again. That was scary. Perhaps this had been a bad idea. With her magic, Jade made sure she could walk on top of the mud, but when she noticed Lumira wanted to follow her she threw up her hands.
“No, wait,” she said. “It is not safe.”
Lumira remained where she was as Jade wrote her own name in the sand.
“There,” she said and returned to the hovercraft where Lumira had beheld the ritual.
“What is it for? Some kind of spell?”
“Nah,” said Jade, “I just wanted to feel the sand between my feet.”
She smiled as she remembered a feeling. It was a warm feeling, a memory perhaps, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. It felt similar to how she had been with her brother, but with her brother she lived on the ice, never in sand.
“It’ll be gone tomorrow,” Lumira said.
“I know, doesn’t matter. I hope they’re done eating.”
They were done eating, but to Jade’s disgust they had heaved the carcass onto the hoverboard with the help of Acantha and Kevins. They were ready to leave. It took the two orcs another five days to eat the rest of the beast. Every day the clump of flesh between their hands changed. First it formed a set of arms and legs. It had a green, sturdy looking, skin. Morn beamed. According to them, this was the best color. After the first day, it looked like a miniature version of their parents. The days after that, it only grew in size. Jade considered the process of producing new elflings, which was a lot more invasive. Perhaps she should have her brothers soul be reincarnated in an orc instead. But something about that idea felt inherently wrong and she quickly rid herself of the thought.
On the fifth day, when the child was almost Iratus’ size, the two new parents removed their hands and the green orc opened their eyes.
“Welcome, Jac,” said Iratus. The newborn looked from Iratus to Morn with a kind of recognition or realization. It said nothing, but seemed to wait for something to happen.
“Sit down,” Iratus continued, “We have to talk.”
And talk they did. The journey required another fortnight during which Iratus told Jac about morals and manners and Morn taught their kid how to fight. As far as was possible, the orcs would spar on the deck of the hovercraft.
It was on the fifteenth day that Jac seemed to be a little distracted during one of the wrestling matches and Iratus asked them what was wrong.
“Why are you going to kill the Sun?”
Iratus’ eyes widened. After a moment he answered:
“Well… They’re hurting people.”
Jac frowned. “But you’re also hurting people.”
The young orc was right, of course. Iratus threw a hopeful glance at Morn. Morn looked lamely at their hands and said:
“The Sun has broken the world.”
Jac frowned and Acantha, who, like everyone else on board, had been watching closely how the new parents were raising the child, offered: “The difference is that we want people to choose, we want them to have free will. The Sun wants everyone to do as he tells them to.”
Jac thought about this for a moment and then replied: “So you want people to have freedom.”
Iratus nodded gratefully.
After another day, they arrived at the northernmost of the Sun’s territory. It was time to say goodbye.
Iratus took his kid by their shoulders for a moment.
“Look after yourself. Remember what we have taught you.”
Jac nodded, first to Iratus, then to Morn. Morn took advantage of the opportunity to shove Jac off the hovercraft.
“Hey!” exclaimed Jade, “Lumira, slow down.”
She ran towards where Jac had fallen off and saw the orc dust themselves off.
“Where do I go now?!” he shouted after them.
“Go find some Chroma!” Morn shouted back.
Jac responded, but they were too far away to make out any words. The orc then turned and started walking back from where they had come.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.