Chapter 1
Georgia
The hunger pains in my stomach were terrible today. I rolled over in my bed as the first rays of sunlight filtered into my bedroom window. The wild game had become scarce near our tiny home in the wilds of the small town of Helen. The city is located in what used to be the state of Georgia. Which also happens to be my name. My mother decided it was the perfect name for her child. So, it would always remind her of the state she called home.
My parents had four children. Mike was the oldest at 30, then Copper at 28, me at 23, and Sue-ellen at 12. Sue was born not long after the first incident. My mother always said she was thankful for that. As she couldn’t imagine giving birth without human technology to aid her.
Eventually, the world came to an abrupt end when lines of reality and fantasy merged together. No one was sure how it happened. After that, however, everything conceived by the human mind became real. Wars raged for years before things settled down. Then, finally, humans took a backseat, and other races became the rulers of Earth.
Human transportation became a thing of the past. Instead, you either rode a horse or used a magic carriage. Magical carriages were like model t cars but also looked like horse-drawn carriages. Unfortunately, my family didn’t own a horse or carriage. So we had to walk everywhere.
For nearly ten years, everything was good. People helped out where they could and even bartered with the Elves or Orcs for some magic stones to generate electricity. However, over time people began to drift farther apart. Food became harder to find, and wildlife harder to catch. So, the council body of our group of survivors decided it would be best to spread out. Then meet back at Helen every three months.
We hadn’t seen anyone outside of Curtis in over a year. Curtis was about six hours away if you went on foot. He was a kindly middle-aged man and had taught me everything I needed to know about hunting. None of my other siblings wanted to learn. Copper, she took up gardening and sewing with our mother. Father, Mike, and Sue did everything they could to bring comfort into our lives.
If those three weren’t creating something, they were bartering with the local Elves for magic stones. We tried trading goods for food, but the Elves often refused. This led to us preserving and conserving everything we could. However, it wasn’t enough. There were many nights we all went hungry. In addition, the wild game that usually frequented the area was becoming even more scarce than usual.
This all led to our current predicament. We are starving. Luckily it was now spring, and we could stock our stores again. But unfortunately, this meant I had to crawl my lazy ass out of bed and check my traps. First, I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. Then, I slowly sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Finally, I threw back the covers and dressed in my hunting clothes.
I grabbed my knives, bow, a quiver of arrows, and handgun as I left my room and went downstairs. No one was up yet, and that didn’t surprise me. They probably didn’t want to move out of bed until I returned with some fat rabbits or a deer. I would kill for a giant, plump deer. My mouth watered at the thought of being able to eat steaks or ham or, hell, even liver.
As I stepped outside and shut the front door, I took a deep breath of cool spring air. The songbirds were chirping as I walked the familiar path to the woods that surrounded our home. I checked my first trap when I was about fifteen minutes into the forest. I frowned as I saw that it was empty. The bait was still there, but no rabbit.
This repeated for every trap I had set. Which was about twenty. That made no sense. With as many snares as I put out, at least one should have caught a rabbit. My stomach complained loudly as a cramp went through my body. I was tempted to eat the bait I had laid out but knew that was the only thing between me and total starvation.
I was about to turn around and head home empty-handed when my eyes caught a familiar track on the ground. I knelt on the forest floor and almost wept with joy as I inspected the nearly invisible deer trail. The tracks were pretty fresh. They went in the direction that led deeper into the forest and into Orc territory.
My parents warned me not to go into Elven or Orc territories. Those people were never heard of again if they crossed into their lands. I chewed my bottom lip as I got back up to my feet. If I was lucky, the deer wouldn’t have gone too far. I reasoned that I could snag the deer and be out again before seeing an Orc.
Another hunger pain went through my body. That made my mind up. I quickly trailed after the deer as I went deeper into the forest. I could almost smell roasted deer meat as I focused solely on the path of tracks in front of me and not the surrounding woods. Which was the biggest mistake I could have ever made.
About an hour into my hunting, the deer trail veered off sharply. Like it had heard or smelled something odd and then took off running. That was my only warning as a hunter’s band swiftly surrounded me, blocking all my exits. The group of males was about twelve members strong, and each Orc was a giant. They were all easily over seven-foot tall.
“Fuck,” I said as I looked all around me.
“Why are you hunting in my woods, tiny female?” the Orc with the gray hair said as he crossed his massive arms and glared at me. Even his skin was a grey-green color.
“I-I was—trailing after a deer. I have not killed anything. Please, let me go. I didn’t pay attention to where I was heading until it was too late,” I said as my stomach let out a loud growl.
The Orc arched an eyebrow at me as he looked me up and down like one would inspect a horse. Then, he scratched his gray beard before giving me a curious look and said, “You’ll do.”
“Excuse me? I’ll do—for what?”
“You, human, will become my bride. Stone take her weapons and tie her hands. You three, trail after that deer. The rest of us will take the female back home.”
“Wait. Hold it there, buddy. I am going to be no Orc’s Bride. So, you can forget it.”
“I wasn’t asking, female. I, Storm Mistmark of the clan Silent Axe, claim you as my bride. Now, behave yourself. My men won’t hurt you, but they won’t hesitate to use force if you resist.”
I felt tears well up in my eyes as I looked at Storm and said, “I can’t be your bride. My family needs me. We haven’t eaten in days. I am their only hunter. Please, Storm. Let me go. I promise I won’t return. I promise!”
“It is too late, female. I have made my claim,” Storm said as he nodded to the gray-skinned Orc.
The tears tracked down my cheeks as I let the Orc, who I assume was Stone, take all my weapons away. He gently tied my wrists with a supple leather cord and then attached it to some rope. After that, he gave the lead to Storm as I watched three green Orcs head after the deer. I felt a soft tug as I began to follow the Orcs to their home.
“This fucking sucks. I hate you,” I said to Storm’s back
“Hate me or not, the ending will be the same, female,” Storm said.
We walked for several minutes before I saw him look back at me. Then, I noticed that his eyes were just as gray as his hair. I never knew Orcs could be his color. Most Orcs had black hair and eyes. So, when he looked back at me again, I stuck my tongue out at him. I knew that wasn’t the most mature thing I could have done, but it felt good to do it.
I heard him sigh before asking, “What is your name, little one?”
Part of me didn’t want to answer him, but the rebellious voice inside me blurted out, “Georgia. My name is Georgia Mathers.”
After that, he went silent again, and we walked for what felt like hours. However, soon we came upon a sizable Orc Settlement in a wide-open field. It obviously had been cleared to allow for growth and farming. My jaw went slack at how many Orcs were milling about doing their daily tasks. However, a few stopped and stared at us as we walked through the village. I felt a blush creep up my neck as a few of them came closer and were openly eyeing me with interest.
Storm stopped so suddenly that I had to catch myself before I crashed into him as he said, “This is Georgia Mathers, and I claim her as my bride. You will respect her as an Orc and member of this clan.”
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This is the first chapter of the re-write. I really like the start of it. I may add more later to it and give additional details, but I am happy with how it is going right now.
