Rise of the Horde - Chapter 334:

After the previous battle between the two sides, a rare tranquillity prevailed over the battlefield as both sides restricted themselves within their camps and to their immediate surroundings. Both armies suffered casualties that are deemed heavy but the side of General Trakaros suffered more than their counterparts.

The rare peace was enjoyed by the Drakhars and their comrades as they tended to their wounds to have faster recovery for them to be able to get back into action as soon as possible while on the side of the enemy, the old general was reorganizing his troops to deal as much damage as he can to their adversaries as possible.

The assigned commander of Adhalia to her army was doing his best to tend to his soldiers and fulfil their most needed request to uplift their morale. They had suffered in their previous encounter and if not for the success of their cavalry, they wouldn’t be the ones who triumphed during their previous battle.

“Any sign of movement from the enemy camp?” Cledus directed his gaze to his closest and most trusted aid. He didn’t want to remain passive but the threat of the unknown still lingered within the back of his thoughts. The giant creatures that accompanied the enemy army was still nowhere to be seen and even their scouts weren’t able locate them within the enemy camp which then gave them a hard headache on what is the identity of those creatures and what are they use for. “Are they just beast of burden or they are to be used upon the battlefield?” these were the questions that plagued the minds of Khao’khen and Cledus.

“Nothing, it seems that our foes turtled up inside their camp with just their scouts heading out to gather information. There is also a sudden influx of what look likes fast riders heading to the west, perhaps to request for more reinforcements or to inform the opposing side of the situation that they face.” The aid of Cledus responded while reading the scroll that he had written which contained the summary of all the reports that was passed onto him by the scouts and their allies who were roaming the expanse of the desert.

“Although it might be rude but why are the orcs still to join in battle?” the aid suddenly questioned as he walked beside their commander heading towards the central part of their camp to meet with the other commanders of Adhalia’s army.

“It’s because we still don’t know what our foes possess in their sleeves. We revealing all our cards to our opponents would do us more harm than good. The more that they don’t know about us, the more that we can be flexible upon the battlefield.” A heavy voice suddenly came from one of the tents and Sakh’arran made his way out of his abode and stared at the aid of Cledus who trembled upon the sight of the Horde Chief who is menacing as ever, well at least by his own considerations.

“Apologies— I didn’t have any ill intent.” The aid bowed his head towards Sakh’arran in fear that the orcish leader in front of him would find fault with his words and punish him for it. They were allied with them but the new soldiers of Adhalia still had some reservations with their new friends unlike the first members of the Drakhars who would gladly fight alongside their orcish friends.

Sakh’arran scoffed at the following words of the aid of Cledus, “The orcs are more eager to join the battle if they were just permitted to do so. To u orcs, watching a battle but being denied the right to participate is infuriating but what else can we do, it’s the words of the chief and we must follow.” He grunted in annoyance then went towards the walls.

“Did I do something wrong?” the aid of Cledus questioned their commander in fear.

“Nope… It’s just that the orcs are annoyed because we kept all the fun to ourselves.” Cledus responded while patting the shoulder of his aid to ease his worry.

“Fun?”

“Well, doing battle is considered a fun activity for the orcs and they would gladly join on the fray if they were allowed to.” The young commander explained then directed his gaze towards the group of orcs who were lazing around seemingly too bored of their current situation.

Two days went by without any action from both sides except for the usual fight between the scouts and the sentries which was getting out of hand as more time passes by. Because the situation was escalating, four squads of Verakhs were needed to play with the scouts of the enemies since the enemy commander had enough of him losing all of his scouts without them being able to provide any useful information in return.

Unlike before, the enemy scouts now prowled the desert during the day after they realized that the darkness of the night was not their friend because of what happened to their allies who were assigned to infiltrate the enemy camp and gather information about them during the night. Any group of scouts that was sent out and operated during the night, greenhorns or experts of the trade, none of them was able to return if it was during the night.

Coping up with the espionage activities of the enemy army was getting harder and harder on the side of the Drakhars since they have become more active during the day rather than during the night. And with the absence of darkness to conceal their presence and identity, the task of dealing with the enemy scouts was delegated to the members of the Drakhars who weren’t used to such kind of battles since they didn’t receive any kind of training that is related to it unlike the Verakhs.

*****

Far to the north, near the banks of the Garthum River, the horde of orcs under the leadership of Var’bukk son of Sarod, Cheiftain of the Raging Bear Tribe were having their rest after yet another successful raid against an enemy fortification a half of a day’s march to the west. The prestige of being one of the Raging Bears helped Var’bukk in establishing a powerful army of his own which gave a lot of headache to the pinksins who were invading their lands. His consecutive victories against their foes also help boosted up his fame among his kin and there were even goblins, trolls and orcs among the army that he now led.

“The long-ears disappeared for a long time already and not even a shadow of them could be spotted anywhere. We have extended our search till the far north near the forest but we still can’t locate their whereabouts.” One of the trusted commanders under Var’bukk reported as stared at their chieftain who was wolfing down upon the meat that he was served.

“Find those bast*rds— We will be in deep trouble if they suddenly show up upon the battlefield without us knowing. There magic and arrows are too troublesome to deal with.” Var’bukk continued to feast upon the food that he was served since it has already been four days since he had a proper meal.

“The Black Spear Tribe refused your call to battle same with the Green Bones Tribe. Their chieftains said that you don’t have any authority over them and they will fight for their own tribe’s survival.”

A grumble of dissatisfaction escaped the lips of Var’bukk after hearing the report about the two big tribes that was close to where they were currently camped at.

“The threat of eradication is already near their tribe’s doorsteps and they still dared to maintain their pride as chieftains. Tsk… If they don’t want to join us then let us make use of them to give us some more time.” There was a dangerous smile upon the lips of Var’bukk as an idea came into his head.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Get the entire horde to march south as soon as possible. Let the two troublesome tribes deal with our enemies since they think they can handle themselves on their own. There is no use in defending the path to their tribes if they won’t lend us a hand.” Var’bukk nonchalantly stated then shifted his gaze back to the food that was in front of him.

This was but one of the many trouble that Var’bukk had to deal with. Chieftains of some big tribes are refusing to join hands with them especially after they find out that they are not the leading chieftain that will lead them to battle. The chiefs refused to acknowledge being under the command of someone who they thought to be weaker than them but that isn’t always the case, leading a bigger doesn’t always mean that you are stronger than the chieftain of the smaller tribe.

Under the command of Var’bukk, the army of orcs that blocked the path leading to the Black Spear Tribe and the Green Bone Tribe was left unguarded and he left the two arrogant chieftains to fend against the pinkskins on their own.