Page 3 of Mountain Orc Daddy

“Again? Didn’t I tell you all that yesterday?” I laugh as the children all nod their heads. “Another time, maybe at dinner. Besides, his stories are much cooler than mine.” Elder and I nod at each other as the children all hang their heads in disappointment and sit back down.

My round of our encampment takes me next to a vantage point over our fields. I look down at the orcs tending to the crops with pride. The harvest this year is the best it’s been in years. After a few harsh winters, it’s good to know none of my tribe will be going hungry.

The sound of weapons clashing pulls my attention away. I follow the noise to my next stop, the training fields. The next generation of our tribe’s warriors are sparring with perfect form. I dare say some of them may even fight better than me someday.

I return to the central part of the encampment just as a group of orcs returns from a patrol. I make my way over to them as they emerge from the thick wood. Their energy is joyous, laughing and jumping around. I’m not too worried about anything they may have spotted, based on their exuberant mood.

“Anything to report?” I ask anyway.

“Nothing, Chieftain,” says Rogar, the leader of the patrol and an orc I consider to be a good friend.

Nothing to report is an expected state of affairs. We’re well isolated up here in the mountains. It’s been a long time since anything out of the ordinary has happened. We hardly even have weather we aren’t expecting.

“Except...” A huge smile breaks out on Rogar’s face. He looks back at the woods as one last orc emerges with a huge moose draped over his shoulders. “It walked right in front of us. I think it wanted to be dinner.”

“Amazing! Hurry, get it to the chefs!” The patrol group follows my command and runs back to help carry the moose. We’ll be eating well tonight.

If only my father could see this tribe now. I assume he’d be proud of what I’ve accomplished. How I picked up right where he left off as Chieftain. I couldn’t ask to lead a better tribe. The Broken Maws Tribe is thriving.

“Actually, Chieftain?” Rogar says, stepping up next to me as the moose is carried away.

“Yes?”

“Can we talk?”

“Of course! What’s on your mind?”

“Can we talk as friends? Not as Chieftain and… not Chieftain?”

I chuckle. I always assume we’re talking as friends. It’s easy to forget how much weight my title carries. “We may.”

“Do you…Ithink it might be time for the tribe to expand.”

“Rogar --”

“Just hear me out, Uzul!”

“We’ve been through this, time and time again.” Every few months, Rogar brings this up again. And every few months I turn him down.

“Just think about it. The tribe is so cramped here. We’re only growing larger. If we expand, there is more room for everyone.”

“It’s shocking to me how quickly you’ve forgotten my father’s words.”

“I have not forgotten. But the times have changed.”

“He always warned against expanding. The cities below are far too dangerous.” My father was always adamant about avoiding the human cities. Ultimately, this led to our tribe isolating ourselves from everything. Still, you can’t argue with the results.

When I first became Chieftain, I promised myself to lead in the same way my father did. This includes keeping the tribe to ourselves. We protect our tribe first, above all else.

My father never gave many specifics as to why we need to avoid humans. But I remember the look in his eyes when he first told me about the humans and how they react to our kind. Whatever the original motivation was, my father made this rule to protect us. I won’t be the one to defy it.

“There is a huge difference between expanding our territory and strolling into a city,” Rogar continues. “If we’re smart, if we’re safe about it, I --”

“That’s just the problem, Rogar. There is no safe way to do it. If we expand any more in any direction, we risk being discovered. If that happens, there is no telling what we’ll have to face.”

Rogar hangs his head. I know he knows I’m right. The Broken Maws Tribe has a good thing going here. It’d be foolish to risk it all now.

“Listen, friend,” I say, clasping my hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate you looking out for the tribe. We’re lucky to have you.I’mlucky to have you. But we aren’t expanding. I won’t disrespect my father’s wishes like that. That’s final.”

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