[Physical Abuse, but not gratuitous]
My first memories and life as I knew it began after I had been sold into slavery. I could not remember one minute of freedom. I remembered a cart ride leading to the town, Greihold. The trip up the city streets that seemed like it took hours. And my fear as I first saw my former master, Carinus’ face. But it was not him I should have been afraid of.
Like most mages, he had a lean build, but he was taller than most and very young for a mage. His youth and his build hid his surprising strength. He was clean shaven in the early years, but, even in his youth, he was a grim man lacking even the slightest hint of humor. I never learned much about his past. But I heard the word spellsword being thrown around with a certain amount of reverence over the years.
Carinus was called a genius by his peers. A spellsword was the very rare individual who was a master of both swordsmanship and magic. It was rare to become one, because the time and talent required to master both rarely existed. Magic use was so taxing that by the time any opponent got within melee distance of a mage; the mage would be too exhausted to fight hand to hand, even if they knew how.
He wasn’t as rich back then. In those days, the city was very poorly controlled. Roaming gangs were a major problem, wealthy individuals would usually hire bodyguards. A gang wouldn’t fight fairly, and they would always bring considerable numbers.
Carinus had a kind of cold confidence in his own abilities. It took one close call, on a rare night he was out drinking, to convince him to employ a bodyguard himself. And he found a skilled mercenary named Taino.
In contrast with the humorless Carinus, Taino was always grinning about something. Despite Carinus’ near perpetual scowl, Taino frightened me more when I saw them both standing side by side. There is something unsettling about someone who smiles about nothing in particular. I would learn that Taino hated orcs. I would never learn the beginnings of his grudge until much later.
He had once considered himself the most unmatched warrior in the entire town. He was skilled, but one day challenged an orc youth to a duel, one of the first permitted within Greihold. According to spectators, the orc didn’t seem like much, unarmored and wielding dull weapons, and wasn’t even taller than Taino. But Taino was beaten, badly and swiftly. I remember his rage that night. My life became hell from that day onward.
It became something of a compulsion for Taino to challenge any orc who he met in town. Fortunately, there weren’t many of them. Every few months Taino would come back home completely mauled. Anyone else would have accepted that they outmatched him, but Taino was a prideful and stubborn man. His hatred of them would only continue to grow.
Because I was always around, he hated me specifically. It didn’t begin all at once, but Taino would take it upon himself to punish me for any mistakes or “rebellious behavior”. It began when Carinus was not around, and he would cover it by blaming me for stealing valuable items or breaking something important. Naturally, it would be something that he would steal himself to sell for profit or something he broke in a drunken stupor.
The injuries he would inflict would scale up until I had a new broken bone, concussion, or other injury nearly every week. Eventually he didn’t even need an excuse. Carinus came to believe any claim against me. I tried to avoid Taino, but he seemed to have a talent for hunting me down.
This would go on for years. I knew that I would surely die from this abuse eventually. But the opposite happened instead. Broken bones started healing faster. Concussions that should have left me unconscious for days, mended within minutes. At first I treated it like luck, but one day I realized that I could influence it with extreme concentration. But while I could repair the damage to my body; my will was completely defeated. It took a lot to make an orc afraid of anything, but I was terrified of Taino.
Around the time I turned thirteen, Carinus hired two new servants. They were not slaves, but well-trained, well-paid employees. Everyone realized, including me, that Carinus intended to sell me off.
Taino knew this too. He struck me down while Carinus was away from town on work, breaking my arm. I had blocked most of the impact, but was stunned from the blow. Usually a single injury was enough for Taino. It was hard enough to find a believable cover story. This time he raised his fist to strike me again. He meant to kill me this time.
Because if Carinus sold me, I would be free of him. I suppose the idea angered him. I was too dizzy to do anything more than lean away from the blow. But it never landed.
The new servant, Gilbert, had grabbed Taino’s arm. This initially surprised Taino, but he reacted quickly. Gilbert was not a large or strong man. It was easy for Taino to grab him in return and throw him to the ground. That same rage that he had been about to unleash on me was focused on Gilbert instead. Taino rained down blows on him.
I was probably more surprised than Taino was that Gilbert had stood up for me. No one ever had before. I had barely said more than two words to the man. He had no reason to help me.
My broken arm made me hesitate. I needed to stop Taino’s rampage before he beat Gilbert to death. But what could I do with one arm? It was a logical enough decision, but just the thought of accepting it made me furious. Not at Taino, but at myself. Had I become so cowed, so weak that I’d let someone take this beating so I could get away? No, I needed this arm fixed now!
I had done it before, now I just needed to mend it much faster. I snapped the bones together with a pained shout and focused all my energy on the break. I saw the magic in the air at work for the first time. It lit up with luminescent green around the injured arm. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced, far more than any of Taino’s injuries.
Remaining conscious while feeling the intense pain of bones fusing in real time, was a challenge. But it was also a feeling of relief that I can’t describe. I howled a sound towards Taino that I’ve never uttered since. It wasn’t a word, but a feeling built up over five years of abuse.
I charged him and leaped onto his back. He tried to shake me off, but I locked my arm around his neck. He tried to pull me off. I tore out the side of his neck with my teeth. I remember the taste of his blood, it was disgusting.
The ragged wound didn’t immediately kill him. In terror, he tried to shake me off, and I briefly lost my grip on his neck. I locked my feet around his waist and bared my teeth to finish the job.
A shockwave of wind caught me and threw me off him, slamming me into a nearby wall. Wood shattered and a loud crunch echoed in the room. The massive blow reverberated down my spine, but I was so full of violence that I got up immediately. The same arm as before was dangling and broken, waves of pain shot up it.
Carinus had come back early and was standing in the doorway. He still had his palms raised towards me after blasting me off of Taino with the power of a wind-cyclone spell. I’d never raised my hands against him before, but I saw him approaching Taino with a healing spell primed in his hands.
I clenched my fists, but I could only lift one of them. For the second time that day, I mended the broken bone back into place. The delay prevented me from stopping Carinus from healing the ragged wound in Taino’s neck.
I stared at Carinus with pure hatred on my face. It was an expression I had never shown him before. I fully intended to tear into him next. But Carinus looked at me with a distinct look on his face that day. He was looking at me in awe. I advanced towards him with two fists raised. A moment ago, one arm had been dangling and broken.
I charged towards the pair once more, and once more Carinus blasted me with his wind spell, but only with enough pressure to hold me back. I tried to fight it and move forward, but extensive use of my healing abilities to mend broken bones twice had exhausted me. My rage subsided and I found myself just standing there panting, wavering on my feet from exhaustion.
“How did you learn magic? How long have you had the ability?”, Carinus demanded.
“I think I’ve always had the ability. I learned how to control it recently.” I answered, my voice betraying how drained I was.
“Why did you attack Taino?” The businesslike way he asked seemed to suggest that he didn’t really care about the act itself. It was the chaos that had unfolded in the house that bothered him more.
“Because he attacked me, like a coward, while I turned my back. Because I hate him. And because he has hated me for as long as I’ve known him.” I had never stated it out loud, outside of this moment. I realized my fear of Taino was gone. I began biding my time until my energy returned and Carinus was distracted. I fully intended to finish what I started. I gritted my teeth in anticipation.
“She’s telling the truth.” Gilbert had risen unsteadily to his feet. His face was half swollen, one eye was shut, and his lip was bloody. “He approached her from behind and struck her without provocation, as a coward does.”
“That’s a lie!” Taino’s voice was still raspy from the damage I did to his neck.
Carinus flashed him a look, “Now is not your time to speak. It seems obvious you attacked my servant Gilbert as well.” Taino seemed about to say something more, but stopped as Carinus’ fist crackled with blue sparks.
Carinus paused then. He glanced at the ceiling and made a sound like a low growl. It was the angriest I ever heard him. Then he looked once more at Taino with an expression that terrified the other man.
“I realize you’ve been lying about Rhunal. Which means you’ve been lying about the thefts in my house. I suppose I was a fool for believing that a young she-orc was sneaking out of the house with my valuables and selling them on the street. Even as I say it out loud, it sounds ridiculous.”
He looked right at me. “It was a mistake to believe Taino for so long. You show a magical talent that your race has never demonstrated before. I intend to train you and see how far it can go.”
It wasn’t an apology at all, but the idea of learning magic excited me so much that, for a moment, I forgot about my twice broken arm. I forgot about years of abuse, pain, and fear. I would learn how to perform the same miracles that I had seen Carinus do? All I could do was nod vigorously in response. I still blamed him for much of the abuse, but if he was going to train me, then I would go for it.
Carinus fixed his eye on Taino and pointed towards the door. “I should have the city guard drag you off in chains, but honestly I’d rather just be rid of you. Knowing your connections, they’d probably release you within a day anyway. If I see you again, I’ll burn you to cinders from the inside out.” Lightning danced around his fist to emphasize his meaning.
Taino started towards the door, and I stepped towards him, surprising myself. “I won’t just let it go. I will kill you.”
His expression at this was strange. He gave an impudent shrug and whispered with the same raspy voice, “I won’t underestimate you next time.”
Despite my bold words, I never expected to see him again. I was a fool.
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