Rise of the Horde - Chapter 347:

Considered as the mightiest of the horde and with intelligence comparable or even greater than the Ereians, Khao’khen managed to halt the squabble by just letting them know of his presence. Sakh’arran can’t disobey him as he is both the redeemer of their clan’s honor and the chieftain of the tribe.

Cledus was also in the same situation but with a different reason.

*****

It was Khao’khen who saved him from being executed after he was identified by the family members of his now dead comrades after living peacefully within Alsenna for a few weeks. He possessing the belongings of his deceased comrades further worsened his case as he was accused of murdering his former comrades and robbing them of their possessions.

Cledus tried to state his side of the story but no one was interested in the words of a suspected criminal. He was locked up in the dungeons and was tortured by his fellow Ereians to get him to admit to his supposed crime but with all his might he denied it.

Days of being subjected to constant pain and suffering, Cledus held on with an iron will as continuously denied the crime. Although he was being tortured, his tormentors seemed to have a bit of mercy left in them as they didn’t opt for the most painful methods to get him to admit.

A month of constant agony, his savior finally came in the form of an imposing figure with bulging muscles. Of all the possibilities, Cledus didn’t think that an orc would be one to come to his aid.

After he was freed from his shackles, his wounds were tended to by the best who were available in the city which he never thought would be possible in his entire life. Cledus spent more than a month recovering from his injuries that he had endured.

When he was finally able to move on his own, his orc savior came in his room. Although he was thankful towards the one who had saved him, Cledus still felt instinctive fear towards the identity of his savior. An orc saving a human prisoner is nearly impossible to happen, especially if they didn’t know each other before and him being of the same gender as the creature set the alarms in his head crazy.

He knew of the existence of some people who had interest in doing the deed with the same gender and he was totally scared of the possibility that the daunting creature had the same interest as those people. Cledus knew that he is far off from being beautiful as he know of his own appearance very well.

It also didn’t help that the first sentence spoken by his savior was “I like you…” accompanied by a proud smile. The sentence nearly caused Cledus to bolt out of the room and risk it all just to get out of that damned room. Thankfully what happened next was not what he had expected.

The orc threw two books towards him which he instinctively caught with his hands. Confused and unsure of what is going on, he directed his gaze towards the books that was tossed to him and he recognized them immediately. It was the books that he always read and tried to understand as he was interested in its contents.

The books contained the experience and knowledge of a commander in the past that helped his monarch in maintaining peace and prosperity in the lands that he rules. Although the identity of the commander, the king that he served and the kingdom that he protected were all not stated in the book, it still contained a lot of things that were useful to those who read it.

He was often scolded by his superiors in reading and trying to understand the contents of the books but he just can’t resist them. Most of his sleepless nights were spent on the books. By coincidence or fate, it was because of him reading the book throughout the night that saved his life and allowed him to survive the ill fate that had fallen on his comrades.

“The army of the Darkhariss family needs a commander…” That was the words that the orcs told him before heading out of the room.

‘What did he mean by that?’ that was the question that suddenly popped inside the head of Cledus but then he suddenly realized that the orc was speaking their tongue fluently which was extremely rare… at least by what he know and heard.

“How did you learn our language?” his curiosity got the better of him.

His savior glanced back at him and just smiled before heading out of the room but before he fully went out, he said “I have great expectations of you.”

After fully recovering from his wounds, Khao’khen gave Cledus access to all the books that are available pertaining to military. This event was considered by Cledus as one of his happiest moments in life as he spent almost all his time buried on the contents of the books. It didn’t take long before a huge responsibility was shoved into his hands and from a lowly soldier; he became the highest commander of the Darkhariss’ army.

*****

Khao’khen placed his blade upon the table which gave off a metallic clank. “Sheathe your weapons.” He growled and all those who were inside did as he commanded.

“You are all adults… Why are you behaving like a bunch of children…” he grumbled in a low voice. He didn’t know if someone heard him or not but that didn’t matter as he spoke in his own language not Ereian nor Orcish.

“Now…What seems to be the problem here?” he eyed each one of those who were inside the tent from left to right then back. He was waiting for someone to tell him what exactly transpired while he was gone but there was just silence.

Annoyed by their silence, “Any further escalation of this conflict will earn my ire and the one responsible for it will receive punishment from me…personally.” Although it was a threat, Khao’khen had to do it as he didn’t want any infighting among his forces.

“Now everybody go tend to your warriors. Cledus and Sakh’arran…both of you remain.” Irritated by their recent behavior, Khao’khen had to solve the issue quickly before it gets much worse. He knew that there might some slight mishaps between his kin and their Ereian allies but he just shrugged it off as he deemed it as something minor and nothing to worry about. But the recent conflict alerted him that he must resolve it quickly or else his forces might destroy themselves.

“So what was the reason behind your argument?” Khao’khen questioned as he sat down on a chair that was closest to him.

After a few moments of silence, Sakh’arran finally answered, “He called us stupid.”

“Is that all?” Khao’khen raised an eyebrow as the reason was nothing but stupid by itself.

dα- |m

“His kin implied that we are nothing but mindless brutes that only has strength in the physical sense but not of the mind which is a great insult to you chief. Weren’t you the one that trained us and them…” Sakh’arran pointed towards Cledus. “You were the one who taught them how to fight properly…We helped with their training, we taught them things that they should know and what do we get in return…Words of insult…” his words were laced with anger and he was grinding his teeth together to hold back himself from murdering the young man that was in front of him.

“Is what he said the truth?” Khao’khen turned his attention towards Cledus.

The young commander nodded his head slightly, “It was almost the whole truth.” He quickly followed up. “I expressed my opinion that the enemy seemed to be luring us into a trap with the way that they are acting based on my observations and he expressed a different stance to mine. With differing stance, I opted to continue to council with your presence but then things went out of control too quickly as some of commanders joined in with the exchange of words.”

Khao’khen nodded his head after hearing the words of the two.

“I will not hold anyone accountable for this useless argument but I hope that this will be the first and last of it… If you have differing stances and can’t come into conclusion…discuss it with words not with a damn fight…” The commanders listened in silence to the continued scolding of the chieftain.

After he felt that his throat was already dry from all the scolding, Khao’khen turned his head towards the entrance of the tent, “Gur’kan! Get me some water…” he shouted but there was no reply.

“Don’t try to act like you are not there! Get me some water or I’ll drag you out for a personal training.” Khao’khen clicked his tongue in annoyance. “And for you lot who are eavesdropping…. Better scram before I come out and catch you all.” He warned which was quickly followed by a lot of rapid footsteps that went further and further away.

After a few breathes, Gur’kan with a huge container of water showed up in front of the three with a sheepish smile on his face. He didn’t know how the chief found out that he was among those who were eavesdropping but being singled out by the chief with a threat left him with no choice but to comply.

After telling Gur’kan to go out and guard outside and make sure that are no more busybodies around, the three discuss some things pertaining on how they would proceed with the war.