Duality

"I heard you were demoted." An orc said quietly after Taen jumped off the stair landing. She was in a rush to get home to check on her wife and daughter, but stopped as though frozen. She slowly turned and saw two people she had not seen for nearly two cycles.

"Momma." Taen whispered. The older orc woman reached out, grabbed her daughter by the back of the neck, and pulled her close. She infused manna into her, and sighed. She pulled back, sniffed, then slapped her.

"You stupid tusker." She said as tears rolled down her cheeks. The woman behind her fanger mother didn't slap her.

"I'll beat you later, Taen." She said through grit teeth. "Guide us to your wife, the one to cause all this sap, and tell us what in the name of Duality you were thinking!" She reached out and grasped her shoulder with such a firm grip that Taen groaned at the pain.

"Now."

* * *

"Taen, you're finally home!" Lyra stood up from the living room bench, and carried the still weak Merla towards the platform. She froze as she saw the two orcs behind her wife.

"Oh sap." Lyra said as she paled. Merla stirred, and lifted her face.

"Momma? What wrong?" Merla asked, and looked behind Taen. She frowned and looked at her mother. "Momma hurt!" Her eyes began to blaze with frightening intensity, and a fog poured out of her body.

"No! Baby, you've already done too much today!" Lyra cried out. Taen rushed forward.

"Baby, these are my mothers. Your grandmothers." Taen said and gently rubbed Merla's cheek. Merla calmed down and the fog dissipated.

"Gran...grammies?" She asked. Taen smiled gently.

"Yes, your grammies. They couldn't visit for a long time, but they heard you came back, and wanted to see you." Taen said gently. She felt Merla's hands wrap around her tusks, and a gentle manna invade her body.

"Still hurt. Use manna too much? Momma know better. Merla young. Merla not know. Momma know better. Told use veins. Not that much." Taen sighed as Merla berated her, and gently circulated her manna in her veins to heal the damage she did that day.

"What is she talking about, Taen?" The tall tusker came up behind her.

"Merla, this is my tusker mother, Tazaa. My fanger mother's name is Laenda." Taen introduced the two orcs to her daughter and rolled her eyes. "Mom, you should sit down. This will be a long story."

"We already heard about how it happened from Lixiss!" Tazaa said angrily. She gripped her shoulder and spun her around. "I want to know about what she just said! Did you do more damage today?" Taen lowered her head.

"We were attacked by five elder stone boars." she said in a soft voice. Tazaa groaned and rolled her eyes.

"So that pit was your work?" She asked.

"No, that was Merla." Lyra said firmly. "Taen attempted to sacrifice herself by infusing her weapon with all her manna. She was going to crack her core and take as many out as she could." Tazaa's eyes blazed and she grabbed her daughter by the throat.

"Are you stupid or something?!" She yelled. "Your Mother Queen is an advanced master of expressions! If it's beyond your ability, she could save everyone! She doesn't interfere because she wants you to grow! She doesn't want her children to suicide!" Laenda grabbed her wife's arm.

"Tazaa. I think you're missing the important point. That pit is a unique expression. It was Merla who did it. A child." Laenda looked at Merla closely, and she could see the anger in the child's eyes as she stared at the arm that held her mother by the throat.

"Take your hand off my daughter, Tazaa." Laenda said firmly. "If you need to fight, do it later. Not in front of my grandchild. Little Merla doesn't know that our actions are not of anger, but of love and concern." Tazaa growled, released Taen's throat and swung to punch a wall.

"Her and Lixiss are my children! Between her and Lix, they drive me to step off the branches!" Tazaa said in exasperation. Merla giggled.

"Lix smart. See not see. Lix happy now." Merla grinned and reached out with both her arms. "Grammy." Lyra smiled gently, and handed Merla to Tazaa. Taen took her mother fanger's hand and pulled her into the back room.

"She looked so scary just now, Tae. What's going on?" Laenda asked her in a whisper.

"It's Merla, our real child. Years ago, when Lyra lost Merla to the sword, Duality took her to another world, to live among humans." Her mother growled. "I know, but as far as we can tell, it's because the death weakened her, and she couldn't be reborn on this world until she stabilized. She's still weak, but her manna veins and core are strengthened by Duality themselves."

"So that means she has a lot of power. But she's still a child, and quick to react." Laenda said.

"Yeah, very quick. She didn't think today. She wanted to cause those boars pain. Lix said the expression was 'Agony of Stone'. Deliberately designed to cause pain to the ones that fell into it." Taen sighed. "She doesn't know her limits, which scares the sap out of me."

"And the manna vein damage?" Laenda asked. Taen blushed and lowered her gaze.

"Lyra would have died. You know my heart when it comes to her. Mother Queen banned her from approaching the gate, and she is never allowed to leave the town while pregnant, or Merla is young and under her care." Taen said.

"Would you have died?" Laenda asked.

"No. It might have gone through a thigh, or the lower belly at the most. Easily healed. The sword pierced her belly, womb, intestines, and severed her spine." Taen said quietly. She had never spoken about the damage she had to heal, even when questioned by Vanya.

"She would have died. I can't blame you, but you didn't report the damage?" she asked.

"She was ready to walk into the forest." She said in a small voice. "Would you do that to momma?" She was crushed to her mother's chest.

"She healed you?"

"No one was capable. She scoured, realigned, and repaired my manna veins, and re-crystallized my core." Taen felt her mother's arms tighten.

"How much did you suffer for the last two cycles?" She whispered. "How did you keep it to yourself?"

"It wasn't easy, momma. If not for finding Merla, I wasn't far away from walking into the forest to lay down." Taen admitted.

"Never tell Tazaa that. She'll break your arm for giving up. You know how much she loves you and Lix. She would give her last ounce of manna to help, if it would have helped." Laenda said.

"Such a wonderful granddaughter you've given us." Laenda said fondly. Taen smirked a little. "What?"

"She can make artifacts." Taen was pushed back and her mother searched her eyes.

"You're serious? Artifacts?" Taen nodded. Laenda stepped away and folded her arms over her large chest.

"You need to tell Vanya. She needs more guards around to make sure she stays safe." Laenda turned quickly as she heard Tazaa yell.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE ALREADY MADE AN ORC SUBMIT?"