Rise of the Horde

Khao'khen slowly rose up and started removing the tent that covered him. 'She sure hits hard', he thought as he stared at his numb hands that were a bit blue due to how hard he gripped his weapon. The scene that welcomed him was the least that he had expected.

There she is the fearless and powerful woman who knocked him away with a powerful strike, on her knees silently sobbing with tears sliding down her cheeks as Adhalia hugged her.

"It's nice to see you again Fey…" Adhalia whispered as she patted the back of the sobbing woman.

"What the…" that was all that Khao'khen could mutter as he laid his eyes upon the crazy woman who managed to knock out all the guards that were on post with ease. Right on cue, rapid footsteps came after the warriors of the camp heard of what happened.

Equipped in their full gears, the warriors of the horde was a scary sight to behold because of the bloodlust that they were emitting as they draw nearer.

As if rehearsed, they all halted in their tracks after seeing Adhalia comforting a sobbing woman. Not everyone was aware that there were captives in the camp. The first thing that came to the mind of the others was that their camp was infiltrated by the enemies and they were expecting a full on proper fight, but there was no such fight to be fought.

"Chief, what happened?" Sakh'arran approached Khao'khen who was standing still and staring at the odd sight that was in front of them. Gur'kan and Trot'thar needed not say a word but there faces were saying the same thing. The chieftain who had no idea what happened after being blown away by the crazy woman just shrugged his shoulders in response to the query of the three.

"Tell everyone to continue on with whatever they were doing. Wait for further instructions." Sakh'arran shouted towards the warriors of the horde who had disappointed looks on their faces after learning that there was no battle to be fought. The orcish warriors receded faster than they came and the Drakhars went back towards there quarters.

Adhalia gave Khao'khen a knowing glance that conveyed 'I will explain everything later' to which the chieftain nodded his head. There were a lot of questions that were popping up inside his head and he was curious about her identity but he suppressed them all for now.

He then directed the three busybodies who seemed to waiting for his explanation about what just transpired towards the patrols and shooed them away.

"What do you think happened?" the skinny orc directed his gaze towards Sakh'arran who was staring at the back of their chieftain as he moved away. "How should I know…But I sense danger when I tried to gauge the strength of that mysterious woman."

"That's impossible…" Gur'kan had a disbelieving look on his face after hearing the words of the Horde Chief. He doubted that the human woman was dangerous as Sakh'arran had stated. In his own reasoning, the human men that they have encountered so far were all nothing but weaklings in both body and mind and what more of their women.

The skinny orcs was not underestimating the strength of the humans but so far, he believed that his kind were the stronger ones when up against the dark-skinned ones and he is yet to be proven wrong.

"Then how do you explain the two squads of guards that were knocked out when he arrived?" Sakh'arran's voice was lace with annoyance as he stared at Gur'kan. "Don't tell me that they all decided to have a collective nap while on duty?" he snorted. "T-that…" the skinny orc was rendered speechless after he was presented with obvious facts.

*****

The next morning Khao'khen was lost in his thoughts when he sensed the presence of people right in front of his tent. "Chief, it is Adhalia," even without her talking, the chief was all too familiar with the shape of his figure. "Come in," he replied.

"Make yourselves comfortable", he gestured towards the padded flooring of his tent with beast furs.

"Before anything else, let me introduce her first." Adhalia directed her gaze towards the crazy woman managed to send Khao'khen flying with a single strike. "This here is my cousin, Faynah Darkhariss.

Although we are but just cousins, I consider her as my own sister." She introduced then directed his gaze towards the orc who was staring at her cousin, "This here is Khao'khen, Chieftain of the Yohan Tribe, Lord of the Southern Orcish Lands."

"Nice to meet you, chief" Faynah greeted as he lowered her head a bit as a sign of respect to the orc warrior who was blatantly observing her since the beginning.

She then directed his gaze towards her cousin and whispered in a hush tone, "I think he hates me after what happened last night…" Adhalia was confused on what her cousin was talking about and she was suddenly cut off by the chieftain's voice when she was about to answer.

"I don't hate you… Not even a bit…Forgive me for staring at you; I am just amazed by your strength that's all." Khao'khen spoke in the local tongue which came as a surprise to Faynah who had no idea that the orcs in front of her could understand and speak their language.

"You didn't inform me that he can speak our native tongue…" Faynah glared at Adhalia who gave her an innocent smile, "You didn't ask."

"Now, let's talk about the main issue at hand," the mood inside the tent quickly turned serious as Khao'khen directed his gaze towards Faynah. "What were you doing near the battlefield and that to in the night?"

Faynah stayed silent for a little while to gather her thoughts before answering the orc's query. Although she already knows that the warrior in front of her was an ally to her cousin, she can't easily ignore the fact that he was an orc, a creature that has always been portrayed as bloodthirsty and evil battle maniacs.

"We were escaping from the clutches of the mad prince's people. The people who were with me are the family of Baron Ragab who protected me all this time from the claws of that damn prince," her voice was laced with anger every time that she is reminded of the prince. "The baron tasked me protect them as he blocked the people of that crazy man.

We travelled lightly and were on our way to the city of Alsenna to seek refuge there until we were discovered by your kind," she answered after some consideration. Faynah withheld a lot of information special the most important ones.

Khao'khen scratched his cheeks as he pondered over her answer. He knew that there were a lot of details that was omitted from her answer but he decided to not pursue it. What else can he do if she wants to keep those details a secret; it is not like she can force her to spill them out. He'd rather have another potential ally than another enemy.

"So what are your plans now?" Khao'khen asked as he leaned back a bit.

"My cousin said that you are willing to aid her in her quest for vengeance," Faynah had a questioning look in her eyes. To which Khao'khen nodded his head in response. According to her cousin, the horde would help in taking down that crazy monarch but in return, Ereia would come under the protection of the Yohan Tribe.

They had argued about this topic last night but Adhalia had already explained to her everything about the arrangement.