The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

She looked at the sky, judging the position of the sun and moons. “We have rested too long, we should get going.”

As the sun set, the temperature cooled from the warm summer day to a cool summer evening. Tavorwen finally stumbled, exhausted.

“We’ll make camp here.” She declared, breathing hard.

“Do you think we are at a safe distance to make a campfire?” I asked, unsure of our enemy’s capabilities.

“Likely, but it isn’t worth the risk.” Tavorwen admitted reluctantly. “If Kathra had realized that I already made it to the temple and performed the summoning, she would already be pursuing us.”

This time, I caught it.

“Wait, this Kathra… is a woman.” I asked.

Tavorwen’s nostrils flared, “She is a SHE-ELF. She is no human woman.”

I lifted my hands in surrender, “I meant no offense. I will try to adjust my language.”

Tavorwen calmed herself, “I suppose the elves where you come from accepted that term.”

I swallowed, “The world that I come from… didn’t have elves. As far as we are aware, they never existed in my world. All we had were humans. So the terms “men” and “women” just meant all males and all females.”

Tavorwen gawked, “There is only one species of humanoids on your world? Oh, if only that existed here. We could finally have peace.” She was almost reverent at the idea. Then she saw my face.

“Your world is still at war?” She lamented.

“Yes, even with one species, we have divided ourselves based on national identities and minor differences and still fight one another.” I admitted.

Tavorwen sadly shook her head.

Then she sat back, bringing out jerky and bread again. “You asked about Kathra, however and I rudely diverted you. Yes, Kathra is a she-elf. She is the leader of the shadow elves. There are six species of elves here on Elendel. I belong to the species known as wood elves, or high elves. There are the sea elves, mountain elves, cloud elves, wild elves, and shadow elves. This is in addition to humans and other species. Though, these other species live far outside the range of our influence.”

She took a bite of the fruity bread. I followed suit and when she finished and swallowed, Tavorwen continued. “The shadow elves lived in the depths of the earth, so while all of the other races of the elves fought, they bided their time. They waited for the opportune moment and then they broke the armies of each of the other races. They waited for the largest battle of our era, and when we were exhausted and injured, even the victorious high elves…” She said that term with a mix of derision and despair, “they rose from the depths and struck, and their victory was swift and brutal.”

“All of the armies of the surface elves fell before the might of the subterranean elves, while they suffered so few casualties that each could be given a hero’s burial.” Tavorwen explained, “The shadow elves built a stronghold and have been trying to finish the work they did on the day of the fall of the high elves. Only our abilities at stealth and the way our homes blend with our environment have kept us from extinction.”

It was about what I’d expected. I had been told the people I was called to help would face extinction without me. Now to figure out my enemy.

“So these shadow elves… How do they fight?” I asked.

“They blend powerful magics, enslaved beasts of war and skilled soldiers on the battlefield.” Tavorwen explained, “On the day of the great massacre, the armies of each elvish people had clashed as the other elves sought to overthrow the reigning high elves, each seeking more power and influence for their own people, and the right to oppress the other peoples. We high elves had allowed too much freedom in these other nations, I suppose and the price came due. However, we were strong, confident in our soldiers, and we thought we knew the capabilities of the other peoples. None were unified against us. It was a melee with five nations clashing, each striving to be the only victor. We won, soundly, but our resources were spent when the shadow elves joined the fray. They rose from secret caverns and killed all in their path. The rode winged beasts in the air, raining down fell magics upon our peoples where our mages were already exhausted and could not reply. They brought great beasts with thick hides and powerful claws, and used them to break our formations, then used nimble mounted soldiers and versatile infantry to chase down stragglers.”

I nodded. They had some semblance of an air force, heavily armored beasts to break the enemy like tanks back home, and the mounted units and infantry all made sense, tactically.

“You spoke earlier of breaking an opponent’s morale, this is how we used to function as high elves. We’d keep the other elves in line, attempting to arbitrate and prevent imbalances between our various peoples. The shadow elves care nothing for that. All they desire is death for all those unlike themselves.”

I took what she was saying with a grain of salt. The defeated people rarely spoke kindly of those who had beaten them.

“How long ago was this masacre?” I wondered, I needed a time reference.

“It feels like yesterday, but it was almost one hundred and fifty years ago now.” She lamented, “The youngest of our warriors do not even remember a time when we high elves ruled.”

I almost spat out my bread, but caught myself. That statement told me several things. I now remembered how in a lot of sources, elves lived far longer than humans. A hundred and fifty years and she said she remembers it like it was yesterday.

“So, were you there for the masacre?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

“I was on another assignment, so I only saw the aftermath.” She lamented.

Confirmed, she was at least a hundred and fifty years old, though who knows how old she was when the event happened. Looking at her, I would have guessed she was in her early twenties as a human.

“So, forgive me, how long do elves live, assuming they live to the end of their natural lives?” I asked.

Tavorwen looked at me in surprise, “Well, most elves who pass on of old age do so between the ages of two thousand and two hundred years and two thousand and four hundred years.”

I couldn’t keep the wonder off my face.

“Why? How long do humans live where you come from?” Tavorwen demanded.

“Well, an eighty-five year old human is old, and a human that has reached a hundred and five years old is about as old as you get.” I admitted

Tavorwen’s jaw dropped, “Only a hundred years? How are you not extinct?”

I shrugged, “Well, your average family has two or three children, and some have more, so despite the amount of death, our population is actually still expanding there are close to seven billion humans on my-”

“BILLION?” Tavorwen gasped.

I realized I was blowing her mind, “Yes… Most of our countries have populations in the millions, though the largest nations have populations in the billions by themselves.”

“How do you have the male population to support that kind of reproduction rate?” She marveled.

“Male population?” I wondered, “Well, there are about the same number of men and women in the population, so that isn’t a problem. Wait, do you have a lack of male elves in your cities?”

“Well, honestly, each of the elven species only has one major city and maybe a few smaller hamlets, and… well, elven males are rare.” Tavorwen admitted, “Only one male is born for roughly every twenty to forty females. You are saying that where you are from, every female gets her own male?”

I nodded, “They get married, or bound by vow, to each other and live in an exclusive monogamous relationship. So, how many she-elves does each he-elf get?”

Tavorwen laughed, “We don’t call them he-elves. They are just elves. And it depends on how many matrons the elf can support. Most can support at most six she-elves. Any more than that and the elf struggles to support them. Some elves can only support four matrons, and there have been those who could only support three matrons.” She had sobered by the end of the statement.

“What is an elven matron?” I asked, wanting to make sure I was getting my terms right.

“A matron is a she-elf who has the privilege of bearing the next generation of elves.” Tavorwen explained.

My mind was blown. “Wait, so if only one male is born for anywhere between twenty and forty she-elves, and only three to six of those females get to give birth to the next generation of elves, then that means you have fourteen to thirty-seven she-elves that are not bearing children for every single male. Are my numbers right?”

Tavorwen nodded, “It is just the way it is.”

I stared, “How many high elves are there?”

Tavorwen shrugged, “We don’t keep a running count, but there were nearly twenty thousand of us before the massacre.”

“I’m sorry, how many… Do you use the word children?” I asked, trying to be sensitive.

Tavorwen chuckled, “Yes, a young elf is called a child. So a group of young elves would be children.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Okay, thanks. Sorry. How many children does an average matron have?” I pressed, my mind struggling to wrap around the implications of what I was learning.

Tavorwen tapped her chin while she chewed her jerky. “Well, she-elves reach the age of adulthood and are capable of bearing children at approximately the age of one hundred and twenty years old, and can bear children until they are just over one thousand and three hundred years of age, give or take one hundred years. Each matron has one opportunity to be impregnated every two years, with each failure to become pregnant being a cause for mourning. Once pregnant, it takes two and a half years to bear the child, and a year before the child may be weaned. Last I was told, matrons bear between seventy and one hundred and fifty children each.”

I sat back and whistled.