Chapter 3
Thavros
Khuldruk has returned with his mate. Her name is Callie, and he has brought her to our mountain from the human realm, though she does appear to have some siren lineage.
The crystal glows bright.
The night they arrived, we performed a private handfasting ceremony before they went into the mating dens to complete the bond.
With so much still unknown, we decided to keep the mating secret until we know the bond is complete and the magic is stable.
Our clan has been through so much. We do not wish to raise their hopes before we are certain.
Upon his return, he reported an attack made against him and Callie in a neighboring inn. Three orcs from the Westerly Clan attacked them. Callie had defeated them with her siren song.
While they have been in the mating dens, the crystal’s light has remained steady and strong.
The strength of our warriors grows, and the skills of our healers are returning every day.
I still have many questions, but I must wait until Khuldruk returns from the mating dens to ask them.
It had been a week since Khuldruk’s return.
With the return of the magic and the first fated pair in our clan in over a decade, I was still at a loss for what direction to take my research.
Maybe when I could finally have a long talk with Khuldruk, I would get a lead.
But right now, I was just as lost as I had always been, but I was hopeful, and that was a change I would take gladly.
I only wish I knew when Khuldruk might return.
When couples completed the mating bond, it involved a rut and an intense need to be near their mate.
Because of that, pairs would stay in the dens for weeks to months.
I hoped Khuldruk would not stay quite that long, given that so many questions remained unanswered.
Before the crystal went dark, the clan had thrived, finding mating pairs both in the mountain, in other orc clans, and even in the fellow creatures of the realm. It had filled their mountain with magic for years, keeping their warriors and healers strong.
In the past decade, the warriors had lost their orc strength.
Once, our clan’s warriors had been filled with immense shield-splitting strength.
It kept us safe. Now they relied on the strength of their own bodies, which was still stronger than many species, but nowhere near the strength when our crystal glowed bright.
And our healers had lost their magic, too.
In the old days, they could heal with energy and touch.
But now they have turned to the ways of humans and other creatures who used herbal remedies.
While this had been enough to get them by, the loss of their magic was no longer going unnoticed by outsiders.
So, I sat once again, with my journal, making note of everything I've learned since the crystals' glow and Khuldruk's return. There were even more questions than before, but many new avenues for research.
Yet, even as I sat there with so many unanswered questions, I still couldn't take my eyes off the statue before me.
I took off my glasses and rubbed the bridge of my nose.
Focus had never been a problem for me before, not like this.
I should be researching, but all I was doing was staring at a statue.
Every night for the past week, I've been visited by the statue in my sleep. Every morning I've woken up hard and wanting. Maybe my brother finding his mate has awoken something in me with no outlet, so I've taken to fantasizing about a statue. That was the only thing that made any sense.
The great door below me opened as his sister's voice filled the air.
"Thavros," she called.
"I'm up here."
"What are you doing?" she asked as she climbed the stairs to the sacred library.
"I'm devising a new research plan."
"Are you? Did you move that statue?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. “Wasn’t it over by the railing?”
“I just thought it looked better here… the, uhh, light is better.”
Frema just looked at him blankly.
"Did you need something?" I snapped at her. While Frema could easily overpower most orcs, she was still my little sister.
"Touchy. I just wanted to check in. Have you heard anything from Khuldruk?"
"No. He just went into the caves a few nights ago. He could be in there for quite a while longer."
Frema was absent-mindedly looking through the books on my desk, but when she reached for one of my journals, I snatched it out of her hands.
"You need to get out more. Maybe find a rutting partner. You're tense," she said.
I leaned forward, pinching the bridge of my nose as I blew out a breath in irritation. "Was there something else I can help you with?"
"I just wanted to tell you, I just finished a morning round of training. Our fighters are splitting shields with ease. It would seem our strength is growing."
"Well, why didn't you lead with that? That is good news."
"It is. I also just got back from the healing wing.
I had to take Gragnar there because he didn't know his own strength, but it seems some of the old healing is working.
They were asking me about it. I told them I would check with you.
But the mountain is buzzing because of Khuldruk's return with his new mate.”
“What? I thought I told you not to tell anyone,” I snapped at her in unearned irritation.
“Easy. I didn’t tell anyone, but news travels in this mountain. If you ever left this room, you would know that too."
"I leave this room," I protested.
Frema just raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe not often, but I do have work here."
"I know, that's why I came here to check on you and give you news."
"Thank you."
"Well, I'm going to go. I'll leave you alone with your statue."
I shook my head at her while she left. Khuldruk and I were born a year apart, but then Frema and our other brother, Drax, were born nearly ten years later. Which meant she only had seven years with our parents, so she doesn't remember the old ways as much as Khuldruk and I do.
As much as I wanted to think she was wrong about my newfound obsession with this statue, she was right.
I became increasingly obsessed as the days went on.
There was just something about the stone woman that I wanted to understand.
She seemed so real to me, but that was nonsense.
She was just a marble statue. Quite possibly the most beautiful statue to have ever existed, but a statue, nonetheless.