Behind the Veil (Anthology)

Call for Volunteers (PG-13

This story contains :: Mild Language

A/N :: You know, I was really excited to watch "Bright". I love the idea of a modern world with fantasy elements out in the open, and I liked the orc character design. When I saw it, however, I was so disappointed. I'm cool if other people liked it, but I was left going, "Well hell, I could write a modern fairy tale" but I wanted to do it differently. I wanted the elves to be the bad guys, the ones who abused their power over us lesser humans, and the orcs were the ones coming in and saving us. 

So here you have the start of a Beauty and the Beast type situation, set after a war, when orcs and humans have to live together. This is a story I would love to come back to one day, but like I always say, for now I hope you enjoy this introduction to the world. 

The war ended over six months ago, but Erin still felt like any second the elfin lords would return and punish humans for siding with the orcs. It felt like everyone was still scared, even if they hid it under exuberant smiles and loud bragging statements like how they were there as the last statue of their old lords was torn down. Loud, but not too loud, that was.

That's how she knew. They were still too quiet when they talked about the lords and ladies of High Elm. Even as orcs and humans walked the halls of the old congress building, discussing ways to rebuild, humans always did so in low voices.

Erin shivered, the subway jostling her as the tracks clacked loudly under her feet. She didn't mind the hushed tones, however. She wasn't a rebel, she hadn't spoken out, she hadn't fought. She just kept her head down, worked for her elfin mistress, and went home to her family each night. The elves were in power, but were they really that bad? She'd never been hurt by them, not really. Sure they worked her till she collapsed from exhaustion and could murder anyone they saw fit, but at the same time, they were the devils they knew.

The orcs on the other hand?

Erin glanced around the subway cab at the other passengers. Any one of them could be an orc. Even worse than them being powerful, strong, and clever enough to be able to master magic the elves wielded, they could make themselves look human. At least when she saw an elf, the cold cruelty was always there. They were always monsters, albeit beautiful ones. Orcs, on the other hand, kept their monstrous forms hidden under a human-like face, with the only difference being they were slightly larger and had pointed ears. She couldn't help but wonder how many of the taller, more broad people on the train weren't human. If only they didn't have their hair covering their ears.

She shivered again, clutching her purse strap tighter. They said they kept themselves hidden because they wanted humans to have time to adjust, but to her that meant they were still hiding something. What were they planning?

The cab hissed as it slowed to a stop, the doors creaking open as she made her way out, her head down, a twinge of shame at doubting her city's saviors. They were free now, and there she was sounding like an elf sympathizer. As if she hadn't heard about the way humans were kept like pets in the inner city walls, or how some were bred like cattle to keep the work force up. She knew what they were capable of, she just didn't like not knowing what orcs could do.

The fear only rose as she walked past piles of rubble still needing to be rebuilt. Work was getting underway but during the final battle so much of the outer city had been destroyed so the orcs could break the inner city walls down. They were saviors, sure, but at what cost? There were casualties on every side, but it felt like the humans had suffered the most.