“But it's my birthday….” Aaron said in a low tone

Standing above him was a petite girl with golden blond hair and long pointy ears staring down at him with a scowl

“Look….your 18 now and there is no time for this sort of childish behavior” she said crossing her arms and puffing out her non existent chest in an attempt to sound as tough as possible.

“Whatever, fine, just wait till your birthday comes around…” Aaron said with mild annoyance

Suddenly amongst the quiet of early morning

*Knock Knock*

From the door at the far end of the room a small voice could be heard (sarcasm)

“AARON, WE’RE GONNA BE LATE FOR WORK! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED, YOU KNOW WHAT MR. HUNT DOES TO SLACKERS!”

Currently standing outside the door was Colt, a long time friend of Aaron who currently works at the same bakery and put simply….Mr. Hunt is a scary man to work for

Aaron, now suppressing the sudden overwhelming feeling of dread was now clumsily dashing around the room desperately throwing on whatever clothing he could find tripping many times in the process

Suddenly just as the door was about to be thrown open, a small hand tugged at Aaron’s backwards shirt. Turning to face his sister Aaron saw a sad look in her eyes.

“it’s Dad’s birthday too” she said, using her other hand to point at one of two Urns on a shelf also occupied by small flowers

Aaron and his sister, Elora were orphans. Their Dad, a Human, died in the war against the Demon lord not long after they were born, Aaron’s mother one of the last elfs to exist at the time died during childbirth.

Luckily Aaron’s Uncle, Dale or as Aaron and Elora had come to know him, Deadbeat, happened to be passing by took them as children and handed them over to the church of Ilithyia the Goddess of fertility and childbirth who’s followers run the longest chain of orphanages in the world with great efficiency.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Why not just take care of the kids yourself” you might ask, and the orphanage did, however Dale had never stayed in one place long and didn’t plan on starting now considering he was on some insane quest to, in his words “...taste a woman of every race and nationality!” so just like that he left.

Realizing his mistake Aaron turned back to the door “I’m gonna be a little longer, go on ahead without me”

“Pfffft Mr. Hunts gonna have your balls, just don’t tell me I didn’t warn ya!” Colt said as his hurried footsteps faded into the silence.

As soon as the footsteps completely faded Elora promptly began dragging her brother to the back of the room where they both kneeled in silence over the two urns that lay before them as well as some very cheap candles and incense.

Elora had used her savings to acquire incense and a couple candles for their yearly prayer of mourning. Usually these insignificant offerings would be considered an insult to the dead But this year something changed.

A gentle breeze flowed from the singular window at the back of there room, the breeze was very faint but somehow, it carried a strong, ancient power.

Aaron was in shock, everything seemed to go silent when a voice as sweet as honey yet somehow as intimidating as a Tiger, it spoke just two words, “prepare yourselves” and just like that the wind dissipated leaving no trace of the mysterious power.

Almost simultaneously Aaron and Elora looked to each other “What the Fu….”

Scall pov

Nearby In a vast expanse of grassland a lone orc donning a twisted smile standing amidst the lifeless bloody corpses of what was a merchant caravan

‘still can’t believe I have to deal with these fucking Humans’

“Please I have a wife and family, I don't want to go yet! Please!”

‘Oh what the hell, Humanity needs to suck it up and grow a pair, whatever, let’s get this over with’

“Shhhh Shhhh it’s ok, i'm not going to kill you yet. If you would simply tell me where the nearest human city is, i’ll let you see your family one last time. It’s a good deal no?” I said with ernest

“Really?! W-what do you plan to do once you reach the city!”

“Well, to be honest I’m probably gonna kill every man woman and child. Look regardless of whether you tell me or not, i’m going to get there no matter what.”

“W-what?! Please no, my family live in that city! I can’t do this!” Yelled the injured man hysterically

The demon’s voice quickly invades my ears “Scall, why keep him alive for this long, when you simply need to expand your Aura’s influence to find the nearest settlement.” the Demon said with audible confusion

‘If you really must know, I find this way to be far more fun, and if you don’t like it get the fuck out of my head.’ thought Scall as he continued faking a smile to the injured man.

“I suppose that is Understandable, I like to play with my food as well haha. farewell...for now.”

‘Damn…..edgy bastard’

Pulling him out of his trance was the injured man who had just collapsed. He had managed to acquire a nearby knife and stab himself.

“Shit! This is the third time today” said Scall flustered

Oh well, shit happens, Scall turns around and behind him traveling down the road was yet another trading caravan

“Looks like it’s time for round four” Scall once again donning his twisted smile begins walking down the road