Observing the End, Volume 3: Protagonism

Chapter 16: Children

This book is basically indestructible. At least it hasn’t gotten wet so far and I can’t rip the pages at all. Even the pen and ink are magical. Probably not ‘Divine’ instruments, but at the very least, they will last a very long time.

I made sure to write this all down, because I’ll be leaving this ‘Orcheim Bible’ behind when we go to Hell… Sorry for the bad pun. Anyway, I’m hopeful that before we go, I should be able to teach some of the orcish kids to read and write in English. Maybe I should try to have some children before I go?

Nowhere near as much as last time, but at least a few of them would be nice. Then they’ll be able to enhance the genepool for the rest of the orcs. In a few hundred years, the whole world might be populated by my descendants.

Honestly though, if those dragons keep wrecking s**t, then it might all be pointless in the end. Still, if they’re lucky, then they might be able to survive and even thrive. Tell ya what though, once they read this ‘religious text’ in its entirety, they’ll probably end up creating the most ironic, sarcastic and ridiculous religion possible.

However, since I’m doing this, I might as well do it right. I’m running out of pages though, so I won’t be able to say everything I need to say. Plus, I wanna leave a few pages behind for the later generations.

Let’s just call them ‘Lorekeepers’. Eventually, they’ll be able to mass-produce books, then have computers, so they won’t need too much space. Still, if my kids are anything like me, then they’ll probably end up writing journals too. They’ll also be addicted to reading as well.

By the way, don’t tear down statues, monuments or other ‘symbols of oppression’ just because you don’t like them. They’re important pieces of history that should last a very long time. Whether they’re for an evil piece of s**t or an amazing saintly person, don’t be a d**k. Preserve your history when you can, because if you don’t, you’ll be doomed to make the same stupid mistakes over again.

Also, don’t burn books, even if they’re total trash. Unless you’re literally freezing to death and need to keep yourself warm. Then do what needs to be done. Don’t blame me if you were dumb enough to risk your life because of sentimentality.

***

Anyway, it’s been a few days now. Not Earth days, but Orcheim days. Yeah, I’m still awake. It’s probably been about twenty hours since my last entry though. A lot has happened since then.

As I’ve mentioned before, regular orcs aren’t like me and Talia. They sleep at night and wake up in the daytime, when it’s bright out. Yeah, basically, they take naps. I ain’t much of a napper. I need to sleep for at least six to twelve hours at a time. I can stay awake for twenty or thirty hours if necessary though. On the other hand, these orcs can barely keep their eyes open after three or four hours.

Considering that they’re only awake for such short periods of time, if they were left to their own devices, they’d never accomplish anything. What little they had achieved, was already impressive to me. But still, living in tents and roaming around ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s fine sometimes, but most people prefer stability.

Thus, I’ve started teaching them how too build houses. I’m gonna work on making a bunch of big saws to cut down trees and chop lumber, while Talia is going to teach them how to train animals to hunt. Oh, and I need to show them how to fish. Right now, they use spears and it’s kinda inefficient. Get it? Never mind, I’ll stop with the puns.

Essentially, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done and not much time to do it. I still have to work on that wagon and gather up a bunch of relatively non-perishable food supplies. Who knows how long we might get stuck in that Chaos Valley place?

Aside from that, there might end up being a portal leading to another world. Even if we return back to Orcheim after only being in there for a few Earth weeks or months, who knows what this world will look like once we come out? Ten thousand Earth years could pass on the outside and this world might not even be habitable any more. Hell, it could also be more vibrant and full of life than before. It’s too hard to predict.

***

Aside from the people who died from stupid s**t, these past hundred or so days have been super productive. Rather than a shack and some tents, this plot of land is actually starting to look like a rural village. We’ve only had to cut down a handful of trees, since they’re absurdly large, in order to build forty houses.

These ain’t your typical ‘human’ dwellings either. Orcs are generally between seven and nine feet tall. Race factors into the mix a bit, but I’ve noticed that it actually has more to do with nutrition. The better food they get while they’re growing up, the bigger they’ll be at adulthood.

Greens are typically one of the shorter races of Orcs, while the Obsidians and Greys are on the taller end of the spectrum. They’re all giants compared to humans though. I don’t think that Talia will be able to outgrow them either. All my children are probably going to be shorter, yet stronger than the average orc.

Ah, not that I’ve been able to have any kids since the castration fiasco. Even though it’s been over a hundred Orcheim days, that’s only like umm, I don’t know how many Earth days. Maybe less than a month? It’s hard to keep track without any accurate units of measurement.

Only one testicle was completely destroyed, while the other one was still severely injured. It might be awhile before I can ‘reproduce’. I have been getting laid recently though. Which is nice.

Nothing too crazy. There are just a few really horny women who ‘offered themselves’ to me and I would’ve felt awkward declining. Yeah, I’m a slut. So what? It’s not like I’m capable of catching any kind of STDs from them. In fact, just having s*x with me will pump them full of nanites, which heal their injuries, make them feel younger and overall, improve their health. The nanites don’t last long before they shut down and get flushed out of the girls’ systems, but it’s still a good enough reason for a lot of the ‘older’ orcs to seek me out.

When I say ‘older’, I don’t actually know how old they are. They just look like they’d be middle-aged if they were humans. A few facials, creampies and naps later, then they look like they’re young again. For all I know, they could be suffering from radiation sickness or something else, which limits their potential lifespans… Whatever, it’s not my problem.

Speaking of problems. I’ve started having those nightmares again. Chaotica is calling me ‘home’. I’m starting to wonder if maybe… Maybe I should just go there on my own? Leave Talia with Silvia and venture into the valley on my own.

She’s a teenager now. Okay, she’s like less than a year old in Earth time, but her appearance is what the orcs would consider the beginnings of adolescence. In a few hundred more days, she’ll probably become an adult. I won’t make any crazy decisions until then.

If she still wants to go with me, even after she’s an adult, then I’ll let her… I already feel guilty enough over leaving Adam, Jane, Rebecca, Jacob, Kara, Conor, Caleb, Ophelia… Okay, I can’t even remember all of their names off the top of my head!

I’m sorry for abandoning you all! I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but if you do… I’m sorry. There are probably lots of things I could’ve done differently. If I would’ve taken you with me though, it’s almost guaranteed that you would be dead by now. I’m not sure what kinda lives you’ve had, but I can only hope that you’re happy and healthy.

Maybe we’ll meet again someday, on some far-off planet or some distant time. It’s possible that we could have already met already though, like in some alternate reality or past lives? Adam could literally be the reincarnation of my brother, while Jane was a cousin and a character in a few stories…

I’m sorry for killing both of you off in those stories. It wasn’t my fault! I just had to do it for the plot to progress! Alright? It wasn’t personal!