Duality

There are 14 chapters on Patreon for first tier patrons. One chapter a day until chapter 5 so you can get an idea of the story.

A small gathering of warrior orcs stood inside the main chamber of the Queen. Their most beloved ruler, Queen Vanya, the mother of all orcs in the old forest, waited patiently for her words. The Priestess of their tribe, a magic user, stood nearby.

"Report, Lady Lixiss. What have I sensed recently?" The Mother Queen asked her advisor. The priestess of their gods, Duality, clad in a black robe, with long silky white hair, smiled a little. At nearly eight foot tall, her massive figure would frighten regular humans, while her kin felt she was quite graceful and feminine.

"There is someone in our forest." She said softly. "I have requested a few warriors to retrieve this person, to find out why they are here." The Mother Queen frowned slightly.

"That is an odd choice." Her voice had the soft rumble that was common for someone so large. She was the tallest of the forest orcs, at just over ten foot tall, and completely proportional in all ways. Massive breasts, wide flaring hips, long thick muscular legs, smooth muscular arms and shoulders, and the softest blonde hair to crown the most attractive of orcs. She was also the only orc that had both lower tusks, and upper fangs.

"They didn't wander through the barrier. They were placed there from out of the air." Lixiss said and watched her reaction. She got what she expected.

"Interesting. There are only a few ways into the forest. Cross the barrier with strong magic. Get brought through by other orcs so the barrier doesn't recognize you as a threat. And finally, they are teleported in with magic, but that magic has never succeeded through the barrier." Queen Vanya said, and pursed her lips. "Unless it was our goddesses?" She asked.

"I do not know as they will not speak to me. This is for us to figure out." Lady Lixiss smiled and gestured to a warrior, most were called acolytes as they also worshiped their Mother Queen, to come forward. In her arms was what looked like a small human.

"Report, Gendran Taen." Lady Lixiss said quietly.

"Mother Queen, Lady Lixiss. We found what appears to be a small human female inside our forest." Taen said and gently placed the young woman down. She looked confused, unsure, and helpless.

"You said 'what appears'. Explain." Queen Vanya said softly, so as to not scare the child. The girl looked around with seemingly blank eyes, and a soft confused look on her face.

"She has not come of age yet." She lifted the girl's gums, and showed a set of canines that had not yet been able to pierce her gums. "She's not grown into her first set, plus she is small and physically weak. She feels abandoned." Queen Vanya gestured, so Lixiss stepped forward and did a magical examination.

"Weak physically. Young, barely two." That made a stir as orcs measured their long lifespans in decades, rather than years. "Surprisingly strong magical core and manna veins that she's not yet adapted to. She has been entrusted to our care, my Queen." Lixiss suppressed the shudder.

When she did the magical scan, she felt two pairs of hostile eyes focus on her with a warning that only she could hear. Those eyes were ones that all acolytes wished to see in their dreams, even more so herself as she was the tribe's spiritual leader. She was also the tribe's oracle, as Duality only spoke to her.

"Entrusted. I see." The Queen said. "Such a young orc, most likely abandoned by humans who found her, and needs a mother to nurse and nurture her." Not to her surprise, Gendran Taen knelt down before her, her large breasts bouncing as her knees came into contact with the wood of the Great Hall.

"Speak, Taen."  Vanya's voice rumbled softly, as she left off the orc's rank, and only used her name.  That drew the attention of the young girl considered a child by the orcs, but a woman by human standards.

"My own sorrow I rip wide open. My mate and I lost our daughter two cycles ago. My wife was injured in battle when she attempted to deflect a blade meant for me." Her face showed a sadness that made the child reach out weakly. She felt a need to comfort, and ease that sadness.

"My wife discharged the infant in a lifeless state on the battlefield We were unable to retrieve her for burial. This haunts my mate, and though she is able to conceive again, she refuses to. She doesn't want to forget our daughter." Taen said sadly.

"Your mate, Lyra, volunteers to help the warriors who lost their mates? She helps to feed the lost ones?" Taen nodded. Lost ones were orphans who had no mother to comfort them, and Lyra was perfect as her sad eyes brought them comfort. "Will she still share her offerings if she helps the child?"

"She has a large heart, my Queen." Taen said softly. The Queen nodded.

"Agreed. Summon her, Taen. Let her see the child, and decide." The Mother Queen smiled gently when Taen ran out of the area, and the child looked at her helplessly. She tried to hold out her hands to have Taen pick her up, but she was still too weak, and confused.

"Surprising. She's already formed a bond of sorts." Lixiss said quietly. They waited for only a short minute when the pounding of footfalls could be heard. The tall heavy chested orc known as Lyra came to a dead stop just outside the gathering, and walked into the hall. She saw the child on the floor, and got down on her knees.

"You would be her age now." Lyra whispered. "Merla." She said sadly. The child looked at her and a little confusion cleared.

"Meerrllaa." She said, in a drawn out way, as though the way of speech was unfamiliar. Since she could not speak their tongue, it was unfamiliar. The only covering she possessed, the thin t-shirt, barely covered her body even though it had been repaired before she was placed in the forest.

"That's right. You like that name?" Lyra said and in slightly happy voice. The child slowly nodded. Lyra crawled closer, and heard the child's belly gurgle. "You're hungry. I can be your mother and take you home, if you wish." Merla looked into her eyes, and saw kindness, and affection.

"Momma?" She asked. The Mother Queen smiled gently while Lyra cried a bit.

"Yes, Merla. I'll be your mother from now on." She embraced the child, and slowly stood up. She placed her on her hip like a toddler. "My Queen, I must take little Merla home and feed her properly. She's so tiny, it breaks my heart."

"Go, and nurture her well. She is your daughter now." Lyra sniffed, and bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from sobbing when Merla put her head on her shoulder.

"Momma." Weak arms slowly slipped around her neck to hug her. Lyra turned and left, while Taen bowed deeply.

"Forgive her lack of manners, Mother Queen." She said, but she showed some happiness in her eyes that hadn't been there in many years.

"No forgiveness necessary. Go see to your wife and child, Taen. Since she has been entrusted to the care of the tribe, we've entrusted her to your family. Guard her, guide her, and raise her up to be a good orc, a proud caretaker of the forest." Taen bowed deeply again.

"Yes, Mother Queen." When Taen left, the Queen grimaced and held her large pregnant belly.

"Lady Lixiss. Gather the next generation of families. I must bestow their progeny upon them." The Queen said, and dismissed the gathering.

"I shall send out the word now, my Queen." Lixiss leaned down and kissed the Queen's large belly. "My sisters feel eager to be born this year, Mother. We've lost fewer sisters this year, and the forest feels healthy. The tribe will finally be strengthened."

"I tire of losing daughters." The Queen said sadly. The sad look was replaced by the firmness her daughter has always known.

"We can have the warriors train harder and longer. If they can expand their skills, they can keep their kin safe." Lixiss said. "Damnable humans."

"They don't realize that if we pulled back to let them have the access they want, they will be annihilated." Vanya said with her deep rumbling voice.  She growled, which made other orcs also growl along with her. Their Mother Queen's mood affected all their moods.

"Then maybe we should do just that, Mother." Lixiss said with a slight snarl. "Why should we risk our lives to cull the beasts when they don't attack us unless we attack them? We should pull back for a turn, and see how much they are pushed back." The Queen sighed a bit.

"If we do, and the humans are pushed back from the forests, what will happen to the beast populations? Will we be safe from them ourselves?" She asked. Lady Lixiss blinked.

"Oh. I did not consider that part. Let me ask the goddesses." She closed her eyes. "So fast?" She whispered.

"An answer already?" The Queen asked.

"Yes. They expected us to ask long before this. The answer is as uncertain as the beasts are. They may not attack, but they are wary. If they are wary, when they grow in number, they may be less wary. The question we need to ask ourselves is do we feel more comfortable fighting beasts, or humans?" Lixiss said. The Queen thought for a moment.

"Right now, we fight both. We fight both humans and beasts. If we pull back, and let the humans fight the beasts themselves, they will either pull away from the forests, or they will die." The Queen paused.

"Meanwhile, we know what the beasts are, and already fight them. We just won't actively cull their numbers until it becomes necessary." Vanya thought for a few minutes.

"Alright, we should pull back from the forest edge, and into our lands again. Use the beasts as training for the warriors, but do not cull the numbers in organized actions. Hunt, train, and let the remainder live." The Queen didn't realize it but this was the proper course of action in the short term.

After a lot of celebrating, as their thoughts would lead them to believe they had won against the giant orcs, the human rulers will realize what they have actually won. The beasts will surge out of the forests, and they will be forced to deal with them in their fields, attacking their walled cities, and towns.

At that time, the orcs will cull the number of beasts in the forests again, but the beasts will have already spread out into the countryside.

They will get what they want, but it will be fool's gold.