Rise of the Horde - Chapter 346:

The retreat of Duke Hanbal’s army allowed Khao’khen, his horde and their allies to delve deeper into enemy lines. Panic spread among the landed nobles who were in the path of the enemy army and those who were nearby along the route.

Letters of complaints and insult came one after another to the duke, admonishing him for his failure to contain the enemy army. The duke just skimmed through the letters and threw them to the fire without much care. He had his own plans.

“I suspect that the enemy commander is luring us into a trap…” Cledus voiced his opinion about the current situation. The leaders and commanders of the orcish horde and the army of Adhalia gathered together to have a discussion about the proceedings of the war. With how the enemy is currently acting, he had all the right to suspect that the enemy commander had set up a trap somewhere along the way.

“Trap or no trap… we will move forward and destroy them.” Sakh’arran scoffed at the words the young commander. Khao’khen trusted Cledus more with the arrangements of the battle instead of the commanders who were his own kin. Although Khao’khen did it for another reason, Sakh’arran and some other orcish commanders perceived it as something else.

“We should advance forward with caution as not to fall for whatever the enemy had prepared for us… Our forces can’t endure being weakened since we are too far away from our allies to seek reinforcements…And…” Cledus words were cut off as Sakh’arran pounded his fist upon the table.

“Coward!” he raised his voice and eyed the young Cledus who looked at him full of confusion as the young man had no idea what he had done to anger the second in command of the orcish army. Without the presence of Khao’khen, Sakh’arran was exerting his dominance over their human allies as he deemed it necessary in order to make them know where they actually lie within the hierarchy of the horde.

“We orcs will not back down to any challenge… No matter what it is we will break them apart like we always do.” Anger can be detected from the tone of voice of Sakh’arran as well as a trace of hate as he stared down the young man.

“But we can’t afford to lose more of our warriors…” an adjutant of Cledus tried to join in the discussion when a threatening growl from Sakh’arran forced him to shut up. The adjutant forced down a mouthful of saliva down his throat as he was stared down by the powerful orc with menacing eyes.

“Calm down… They do have a point…” Gur’kan tried to ease down the situation as he went beside Sakh’arran and patted him on the shoulder to make sure that he was aware of his presence. The clan chief of the Arkhan Clan just glanced at him before turning back to the commanders of their human allies.

“We broke apart many of your kin’s armies despite being vastly outnumbered by them… Orcish strength will triumphed over trickeries! Deception is rendered useless in the face of absolute strength…” Sakh’arran stated with all confidence. He believed that all their victories were because of them even if was their Ereian allies who fought the enemy forces.

“Winning a war takes more than just strength in the physical sense but also of the mind…” Cledus answered sounding disappointed with the way of thinking of his ally. He was fascinated by the way that their orcish allies fought who made him think that they were more advance than the other orcs in their way of thinking, he considered the orcs that they were allied with to be more intelligent or at least on par with them but Sakh’arran’s current actions and words proved him wrong.

Sakh’arran went silent for a few breaths trying to understand the words that were said by the young man.

“Let’s just wait for your chieftain before we will proceed with this council…” Cledus stood up from where he was seated and his fellow Ereians who were around the table followed suit since they deemed it utterly useless to debate with the orcs without the presence of the actual commander of the entire horde.

After a few moments, Sakh’arran finally understood or thought he comprehended the meaning behind Cledus’ words. “Are you implying that we are stupid!?”

The words of Sakh’arran caught the attention of all the other orcs who were around the table and were keeping silent since they didn’t want to be involved in such a meaningless battle of words. Most of the orcish commanders deemed it unnecessary to talk since they were just there to listen to the arrangements of their chieftain and receive his orders

“He isn’t wrong about that… Your kin are proven to be less capable of thinking than us… And you are a great example of it.” A captain from the side of Cledus snapped and answered the words of Sakh’arran. Although he didn’t really mean it the way that the orcs perceived it, it was all too late.

“So we orcs are nothing but just mindless brutes who only know to make use of our advantage in strength…?” a warband master sarcastically stated as he stood up from where he was seated at which was followed by the other silent orcs as they all gathered together to stare at the humans who were stating that they were nothing but strong idiots.

“Technically speaking… That is the truth.”

The exchange of words became even more heated as it went on. Both sides were unwilling to back down.

Gur’kan and Trot’thar who had suspected that the situation much get much worst decided to head out and call for the chieftain less there be bloodshed between the leading figures of their forces. The two spilt up and scoured the entire camp to locate their chieftain as soon as possible.

“Chief!…”

It was Gur’kan who managed to locate Khao’khen first who was speaking with those who were in-charge of their logistics as he was checking the current situation of their supplies. The shout caught his attention and those of who were with him. They all collectively shifted their attention towards the source of the voice and there came into view the exhausted figure of Gur’kan who was huffing and puffing for some air and with a face full of sweat.

“Chief….huff….They…huff…need…huff…you…in….huff… the commander’s… huff…tent…huff…huff..” Gur’kan tried his best to say what he wanted to but he trying to catch his breath was in the way.

“What do you mean?” Khao’khen was uncertain of what the slim orc was trying to tell him since his words were being cut off by him catching his breath.

“The…huff…Sakh….huff…arran…huff…huff… Cle…huff…dus…huff….fight…huff…” Gur’kan once again tried to tell the chief of the situation as much as he can despite his exhaustion.

“Sakh’arran and Cledus are fighting?” Khao’khen had confusion written all over his face as he asked the war chief of the horde. A continuous nod was the answer that he got from Gur’kan who then pointed towards the direction of the commander’s tent where he requested all leading figures of their forces to gather at for a council. He was supposed to be there but he was held back by the logistics.

‘The two are fighting? What for and because of what?’ that was the question that popped up in the mind of Khao’khen but the expression on the face of Gur’kan that was telling him to hurry made him throw all the questions on the back of his mind as he rushed towards the gathering spot.

As soon as he arrived, Khao’khen was able to hear spicy words from both sides as they exchange words. He was all confused on what might have caused such a commotion and what the root of it all was. The sound of weapons being drawn alarmed Khao’khen as he drew his own weapon and slash towards the flaps of the tent.

“What is the meaning of this?” the booming voice of the chieftain echoed inside the tent and caught the attention of all the combatants inside who all had their weapons drawn and were ready to fight. The flaps of the tent fluttered with the wind as they were dislodge from where they were connected with the tent because of Khao’khen’s slash. The figure of the most respected among the horde and the Ereians who were on the side of Adhalia was revealed as the flaps hit the ground.

Weapon drawn and his imposing figure accompanied by his wrath-filled face froze all those who were about to fight. Stepping forward with momentum, Khao’khen’s imposing aura surge and all those who he stared at in the eye were forced to look away. Nobody wanted to be the one to receive the chieftain’s wrath.

“I ask again… What is the meaning of this?” his voice sounded more like a growl than anything else as he moved his gaze from left to right then back.

Orcs and humans alike loosened their grip upon their weapons.