The Door

Chapter 8- History Lesson

“Okay,” I agreed as I followed her up the embankment.

“For thousands of years, all of the different races and kingdoms living on this world lived together uneasily,” Bel’Sheathe began as she reached for her corset and started fastening it around her waist, lacing it tight beneath her breasts, “There has always been hatred and suspicion between the different peoples of this world, but there has been love, admiration, and even cooperation as well. No one ever gets along all the time. Thankfully, though, this world is very large and the ones who do not get along live very far from each other. For a while, there were those who could mediate between those who disagree. As a result, there was an uneasy peace for many, many, many generations.”

“If there is peace,” I asked as I reached into my backpack and retrieved my underwear, “Then what happened to all of your men? And why were those soldiers chasing you?”

Bel’Sheathe smiled alluringly then gave me a look of disappointment. She was fully clothed once again. Her cloak sat upon her shoulders while the hood was drawn over her head, hiding her face and horns. She lacked only her loincloth, which left the soft, smooth garnet skin of her lower belly and s*x completely exposed. Not that she seemed to care in the least. Her people seemed to dress for utility, not modesty. Her pouches were once again secured to her belt by thongs tied to steel rings, and she wore the dead human brigand commander’s sword on her left hip. I, for my part, was dressed modestly, much to Bel’Sheathe’s dismay, which she voiced several times.

“I think I prefer you naked.” She was bemused as I pulled my underwear up over my privates.

“There are roughly twenty different ogre-like species living on this world,” she purred sensually.

“By ogre-like, you mean humanoid?” I asked.

“Yes,” She confirmed before continuing, “No one knows who was here first. Everyone claims they are the originals, but no one really knows, I think. Who knows, maybe humans were here first! They certainly claim so adamantly enough and, well, maybe they have good reason to feel this way since they make up half of the world’s population, with two in every three being female. I think their ratios would be closer if they were not always at war and always losing their men in those wars.”

“My mother prefers her men with their sword straight and openly bared and ready for thrusting.” She mentioned casually as I pulled my pants up and buttoned them.

Bel’Sheathe shook her head, obviously thinking the humans were wrong in their choices and worldview. As she did, she continued the history lesson, “The remaining half of the world's population is split between what some call the Seemly, and the Unseemly.”

I gave Bel’Sheathe a curious look, and she smirked, “It doesn’t actually mean that the Unseemly are unattractive. It's just another way for those who think they are better to feel good about themselves, and to segregate and demean those considered undesirable. The Seemly are composed of humans first and foremost, and then the fairer races such as the celestials, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, fairies, and arboreals. The Unseemly are composed of everyone else: the daemonae, amalgam, goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls, dragons, insectae, and animalian. The insectae and animalian being the most diverse species.”

“Do you know that females among the ogre clans choose their mates?” She purred sensually as I pulled on a t-shirt and tucked it into my pants. “We are not uncivilized like the other races who let their men choose their mates.”

“Anyway, the animalian include the aprum, avis, aquilam, bubonem, canis, cervus, equus, feles, leporem, lupa, mus, piscem, serpens, taurus, testudo, and ursa.”

“You might find this amusing,” She chuckled as I buttoned my long-sleeved flannel shirt over my t-shirt and tucked it in, “We ogre prefer our men ready to breed us at any given time?”

“The insectae are innumerable in their diversity. However, five tribes outnumber all the rest; the diatera, the aranaea, the colaeatera, the hymaeatera, and the lepidaeatera.”

“Here’s another interesting fact,” She purred as I pulled on my boots and buckled on my armor and weapons, “If you are chosen by an ogress queen to be her husband, you also become the communal husband of every ogress within her clan. Just food for thought.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” I replied as I settled my pack on my shoulders and hefted my shield. Bel’Sheathe was leading the way up the embankment toward the dead brigands while I followed and asked, “Who or what are the daemonae and amalgams?”

“No one knows for sure,” Bel’Sheathe answered. “The daemonae look like a hybrid mix of humans, elves, orcs, and ogres. They are divinely beautiful like the celestials, but their beauty includes a harshness that does not exist among the celestials. They are also given to egotism and hedonism. They live their lives purely for the moment's enjoyment. The celestials are no less egotistical or hedonistic, only they keep their excesses behind closed doors and portray to the public a more refined and conservative demeanor. As for the amalgams, no one knows where they come from. They appear to be a combination of several animalian subspecies in one. For instance, the gryphon and sphinx. The gryphon appears to be a mixture of avis and feles, while the sphinx are a combination of avis, feles, and humans.”

“Anyway,” Bel’Sheathe said as we approached the brigand commander and his lieutenant, “Returning to my history lesson. Three generations ago, the Unified Human Empire declared war on all nonhuman races. They declared all nonhumans were Outworlder invaders and began exterminating all nonhumans within the empire. Then, twenty years ago, they turned their attention outward, beyond their borders, and started expanding through conquest and genocide.”

“Really?” I asked as we started picking through the commander's belongings, “So, humanity is at war with everyone, including your people, the ogre?”

“Yes,” She replied as she claimed the commander’s dagger and clipped it to her belt on her right hip.

“So, why are you being so friendly towards me? Am I not the enemy?” I asked.

“Hmm,” Bel’Sheathe hummed as she looked at me as if I was a prize stallion ready for covering, “No, you are not our enemy.”

Then, smiling demurely, she continued, “The elves were the first to fall as a nation since they had enjoyed the closed alliances with humans for generations. The dwarves and gnomes were the next to fall when they closed and barred the doors of their mountain homes and caves. The humans brought down rockslides to cover the doors to the mountain halls and did everything they could to destroy as many air shafts as possible, thinking to entomb and suffocate the dwarves and gnomes. The halflings, upon hearing what happened to the elves and dwarves, fled into dangerous wildernesses where they have not been seen since. The fairy disappeared overnight while the arboreals disappeared within their forests; neither has been heard from since.”

Bel’Sheathe’s voice grew very soft as she finished; when she continued, her smile faltered, “That is what the humans did to the Seemly. The fairer races. As for us Unseemly. The dragons were a great and majestic race, and yet, their population was never large. They were slain en masse for their meat, bone, blood, and hides. Every male, female, and hatchling. All but the Great Ones who have not laid eggs in centuries. They too fled to far-away places to never be seen again.”

“The great equus and taurus herds who used to roam the great plains of Alaur’an’roe were slaughtered on the plains of Manastis. Every male, female, and child slaughtered and skinned for their pelts, then butchered for their meat. There are but only a handful of herds left. They too have left for lands so dangerous that not even the most zealous humans dare investigate them.”

“The gentle cervus were hunted to extinction within their forests. If there are any left, we ogre do not know where they are now.”

“What about your people, the ogre, and the other Unseemly?” I asked as I stripped the brigand commander and lieutenant of their armor and clothes.

“With the Seemly all but annihilated,” Bel’Sheathe sighed, “It has been left to the Unseemly to fight back against the humans. Then, twenty years ago, the humans unleashed a plague that wiped out nearly all males on the planet.”

“All males?” I gasped, “Even human males?”

“No,” She growled, “No, the only males to survive the plague were humans.”

“So,” I asked in a voice that said I already had a good idea, but I wanted confirmation, “Why were those men chasing you?”

“Aside from the fact that there are standing orders to kill all Unseemly on sight,” Bel’Sheathe sighed, “Well, they might be chasing me because I stole the Crown of Dualph Allus, the Sword of Uter Ipier Sing, and the Sheath of Lushova!”