Rise of the Horde

"It's not bad as you assume it would be. I have witnessed how the chieftain led and merged different tribes of his kind, there were also those not of his kind like goblin, gnolls, trolls, ogres and minotaurs. And by far, he was fair in treating them all." Adhalia assured her cousin who had doubts with the price that they had to pay.

"Although the chieftain's way of ruling is starkly different from what we are used to, it's not that hard to get accustomed to. Though he gives more emphasis on military prowess than other sectors of ruling, he had done greatly in establishing a powerful force", she continued with a confident look on his face.

"I trust your judgment", Faynah nodded her head.

The two spent hours chatting with each other as they recount more of their experiences in the days that they have been separated.

*****

Faynah brought with her a significant piece of information. Not far from the fort that they were currently sieging, another army would make camp or are already camped there. The information came from the orders intercepted by her people.

After learning of that vital information, Khao'khen sent out the Warghen Cavalry to scout the place that was mentioned to verify if the information was accurate.

Lo and behold, just a little bit over an hour in their scouting, the Warghen Cavalry discovered a camp not far away from the fort. And according to the number of tents erected, there were more than ten thousand of them. Just patiently waiting for the right moment to strike.

"How many?" Khao'khen asked again as he didn't expect the Ereians to lay out a trap for them. Although the horde is strong, he wanted it to suffer the least possible number of casualties if possible.

"Over ten thousand chief. Maybe even twenty since the camp stretched over a vast area and we didn't want to risk being discovered which is why we refrained from moving closer." The rider reported.

Khao'khen dismissed the scouting party then headed towards the table that contained a map of the battlefield and its surrounding areas. 'Perhaps they are waiting for us to fully commit into the siege and they would strike us in the rear where we are most vulnerable", he gave it some thought and that was the most plausible plan of their enemies basing on their movements in the previous days.

They were using the fort as bait. This also explained why there were no sallies or any attempt of counter-attack from the soldiers holding the fort. Even a single night raid or an attempt to do so would have been understandable but there was none; the defenders just turtled inside the walls.

A smirk appeared crept up to Khao'khen's lips, "Two can play that game," he mumbled then went out of his tent to give his orders. After receiving his orders, the camp began bustling around with activity. Three quarters of the horde began moving out of the camp and started heading back towards the city of Alsenna.

"Time for you to do your part," Khao'khen directed his gaze towards Faynah who nodded his head then began communicating with the shadows to spread rumors in the settlement that surrounds Baron Ragab's home. The rumor was that the city of Alsenna rebelled against the people that the orcs left behind to guard the city.

"Now let's wait for the fish to bite," Adhalia had an expectant look on her eyes as she stared at the fort that they were currently raiding. The entirety of the Drakhars remained with a quarter of Ikarush to accompany them.

Confusion engulfed the minds of the Ereians who were defending the fort after seeing the massive movement from the opposing camp. They were on high alert after their scouts informed them of the movements from the side of the attackers. All of them expected a massive attack from their foes but that attack never came which resulted in their confusion.

Commander Barika in his full gear was wary and doubted that they could delay the orcs very from taking the fort if they decided to commit a full assault on the walls and disregard their number of casualties. The ones assigned to send out the signal were close-by and were waiting for his orders.

There were more than a dozen of them since they didn't want to be in the situation where they needed to send out the signal but the one who was supposed to was already dead which is why the numbers.

Hours after hours of being vigilant started to wear out the defenders. Even Commander Barika began feeling tired after being on the walls.

Exactly when the heat was at its peak. The siege engines began their work as they hurled rocks towards the fort and the Drakhars began assembling their battle formation.

The defenders began scurrying for cover as the siege engines of their foes began another round of devastation against the walls. Knowing what they were going to do, the Drakhars were at ease and began their march towards the walls of the fort.

Commander Barika began barking out orders towards his soldiers after seeing their enemies advancing towards them. He was glad that the standard being flown by the advancing army was only that of the Darkhariss and not of those of the orcs. He was glad that the orcs stayed their hand and seemed to have no plans in joining the upcoming fight.

The storm of rocks finally halted and the defenders sprinted back towards their previous positions. Although worried, the soldiers under Commander Barika were pretty confident in dealing against their foes.

The Drakhars purposely marched on a very slow paced towards the walls of the fort as if they were out on a trip and not headed for battle. Their turtle-like marching unnerved the soldiers who were eagerly waiting for them.

Just outside the range of the weapons outside the walls and the mages of the defenders, the snail-paced moving army halted. The paused of the Drakhars in their march caused confusion in the ranks of the defenders who were already pissed off by their marching pace.

"Cowards, come out if you dare!"

"Weaklings, don't hide behind your walls!"

"Come out and be a man!"

The Drakhars began hurling insults towards the defenders. Bewildered, the defenders stared at the Drakhars who refused to move forward as they continued to hurl insults at them.

"Come closer, if you dare!" someone among the defenders retorted.

"Are you an idiot!? Or do you think I am one!? Don't put me in the same league as you!" a Drakhar enthusiastically replied.

"That's right, that's right!" the rest of the Drakhars echoed, and then laughter followed.

Stumped by the reply that he got, the defender was rendered speechless. Seeing that their comrade being insulted and laughed at by the enemy. The other defenders began hurling insults back towards their foes and a battle of insults began.

Commander Barika stared at the two armies insulting each other with wide eyes and confusion. This was not the battle that he expected but what can he do if the enemy didn't want to come any closer than they already were.

"Hey you! The big pompous one with shining armor!"

"Come down here and fight like a man!"

"Do you have the balls!?"

Barika was baffled after being called out and insulted. It was fine at first but then the other side started specifically targeting him in their insults which infuriated him as he joined in in the battle of words.

It didn't take long for his short fuse to be gone and he almost jumped down from the walls to smack the sh*t out of the ones who were insulting him if not for his men restraining him from doing so.

The farce continued for hours and some of the Drakhars even began lazing around as they hurl insult. As if it was just a proper battle, the Drakhars rotated their battle formation like they were in a real battle. They were taking turns at being at the forefront and hurl insult at their enemies.

The sky was starting to get dark and orders were soon being shouted among the ranks of the Drakhars which in turn made the defenders go on high alert. After being sent into disarray during the battle of insults, the officers of the defenders began reorganizing their men to defend the walls.

Contrary to what they expected, the Drakhars just turned around and headed back towards their camp.

"They just left…" a defender can't help but mumble after seeing their foes just turn around and leave. The actions of the Drakhars greatly baffled the defenders and while they were in that state, rocks began dotting the sky.

"Oh sh*t!" the defenders exclaimed as they ran towards the nearest cover to avoid being directly hit by the rocks. Although there was a low chance of being directly hit by those rocks, a low chance still means that there was a chance of being hit and no soldier was willing to test out their luck.