Page 8 of Mountain Orc Daddy

“Goodnight,” my mother says followed by her own yawn. She looks over at Uzul, still on the edge of our campsite. “Are you sure we can’t get you anything? A blanket? A sleeping bag? Some water?”

Uzul turns his head away from the stars. "No, thank you.” His head slowly returns to looking up.

My parents retire to their tent and it is just me, Uzul, and the fire. He lays down on the ground and keeps his eyes up at the sky. I look up to, and he’s on to something.

The sky looks absolutely beautiful. Thousands of bright dots litter the inky blackness of the night. We don’t ever get views like this in the city. I can’t believe my family went to bed without taking it all in.

My eyes move back to looking at Uzul. The moonlight illuminates every one of his bulging muscles. I am once again drawn to him. I want to know more about him, about his people. My family isn’t around now, I might as well sit with him. There is no one else around to outshine me with magic.

I get up from my seat and slowly tip-toe over to him. Although, I guess I’m not as stealthy as I thought because his eyes turn to me almost instantly. He watches me silently as I make my way over.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Of course not,” he says.

“Uzul, right?” I sit down in the dirt next to him. “Am I saying that right?”

“Yes, Uzul. Blair? Right? Am I saying that right?”

“Yes, yes you are.” I smile, I also never expected an orc to be this kind and charming. “What’s on your mind, Uzul?”

Uzul thinks for a moment. His face is expressionless, he’s keeping his thoughts to himself. I guess I asked that question too quickly. We really don’t know each other, he must not feel comfortable-

“I haven’t been around non-orcs a lot. It’s weird. It’s different. You and your family are not exactly what I expect from humans” His face is still expressionless, but I’m shocked he gave such an honest answer.

“Well, I’m sure I’m not so different from the other orcs back in your tribe.”

“Oh? How so, Blair?”

“Um…” I can’t believe he called me on that. I’m not sure how similar I actually am, that just felt like what you’re supposed to say. I just wanted him to think I was smart. “You know, regular humans tend to get scared of us too.”

“Really? Scared of you?” A little surprise manages to sneak through Uzul’s face.

“Well, more the rest of my family. Not so much me, since I don’t have magic. But regular people are often scared of what they don’t understand. Orcs, magic, most don’t even know where to begin with it all.”

“So, your whole family has magic, but you?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of the black sheep of the family in that way. We can trace our family lineage all the way back to the Witches of Mesopotamia. I share blood with some of the greatest magic users in history. But I have nothing. Yet, I still feel so connected to it all. I’m very proud of where I come from and I want to make my ancestors proud. I just have to do it without magic, so I must… work harder… and…”

Uzul’s eyes have not left me that whole time I’ve been talking. I suddenly am very aware of how long I’ve been talking. Not many people let me go on for this long, certainly not my family.

Being the one person without magic in a family of witches does not offer a lot of chances to be the center of attention. However, Uzul is giving it all to me. It’s strange and new, but I like it.

“Keep going,” Uzul says. "What were you saying?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I trailed off there. I’m not used to talking so much. The magical people in my life tend to dominate all the conversations.”

“Don’t worry. I’m enjoying hearing you talk.” He then adds with a small orc grin. "Even if you don’t have magic.”

I turn away and hope he didn’t see me blush. This orc truly isn’t like anyone else I’ve ever met. Human, shifter, or anything else.

“Is there anything you want to know about? Living up here isolated in the mountains, do you have any questions? Is there anything you want to know?”

Uzul thinks for a moment. “I guess, tell me whatever there is for you about magic.”

“Okay,” I say, he really has given me a lot to work with here. “Um, to start, how much do you know about the Veil?”

“What’s that?”

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