“I will openly admit, out of everyone I expected to oppose me heading out, I would've thought Dia was going to be the loudest voice.” Rick wanted to sit down but couldn't find the calmness in him for it, so he paced the room like some caged animal. “Not a proponent for it.”
“A Lord needs to be well-versed in strategy and battle,” she answered, with a smidge of amusement twinkling in her eyes. “What is improper is the Lord putting his safety before that of a maiden.”
“Yeah, we're not letting him get anywhere near the fighting,” Urtha nodded.
“Doesn't matter. Too dangerous,” Monica's harsh growl got everyone to clamp up. Her glare swept across the group and zeroed in on Rick. He could sense a deep fear welling from within her, one she hid behind the projected anger.
The morning air grew ever so slightly colder for it. They'd dispersed the tribe under promises of an update soon. Monica's staunch refusal to let him go had come out of left field, and though Rick had taken the warning with the seriousness he thought it deserved, it apparently wasn't enough.
“It's the bond,” At Rick's side, Kiara's brow creased, focused on Monica as well. “I'd normally suggest tying her up and keeping her bound until our return, but I doubt we'd contain her properly. That, and she'd probably hunt me down after.”
“It certainly misses the point,” Rick muttered. “Monica's certain I'll die if I come along.”
“Not just Rick. Everyone.”
He stepped forward. “Why?”
The maiden shook her head. “Not sure. Just know. Deep forest too dangerous.”
Eva stepped forward. “We are up against the Pinielf, the wildlings, and Golden Elves,” she glanced at the others. “The capabilities of the Pinielf are known; we beat her already, and there is no way she has amassed enough ferals for another rush,” she glanced at Embla. “As for the wildlings…”
They'd brought Embla as well. The dark-skinned maiden sat at the side, well away from everyone else, and flanked by four Orcs. She wore a simple set of off-brown linen clothes, appearing restless and with bags under her eyes.
“As much as I'd wish to claim my sisters to be a match to Monica, it would be a losing battle even with her being weakened as she currently is,” the Malumari shook her head. “I can only imagine the real threat she is concerned about are the Golden Elves. I certainly don't have any intention to fight them; I can disrupt their ability, but not being able to attack back means it'd be a bad situation overall.”
“Golden Elves are known for being able to make their arrows temporarily incorporeal,” Eva said, glancing at Rick as she did. “There are many records regarding battles against Elven Courts. Their arrows can only become incorporeal once, and only while traversing through wood. It is the reason why we are bringing the metal plates, combined with an Orc's incredibly tough skin and regeneration, it should be plenty to weather an attack.”
Monica didn't comment, eyes affixed on the ground, gripping her knees as her tail remained eerily still. She was fighting against the overwhelming concern and fear that was coming from within. The maiden clearly didn't think their preparations were enough to give them a chance, even when they included Rick's explosives into the equation.
The problem, however, was that she was going off of a feeling, one born out of half-remembered memories from her time under the feral curse.
“This is absurd,” Urtha stepped forward, looking at Monica firmly. “Whatever happened while you were feral, you’re stronger now. You can’t even be sure if what threatened you then is what we’ll meet.”
Rick couldn’t help but feel a little surprised at how things were unraveling. None of those close to him were questioning his decision to be a part of the war party. They were even encouraging it to some degree. Aside from Monica, the only opposition had been Kiara, and that had been for her own reasons.
“We can’t just stay at a standstill,” he spoke up. “We’ll make a compromise. If Monica thinks things are getting dangerous, we stop and assess the situation.” He focused on her. “Does that work for you?”
She grimaced but nodded slowly. “Monica needs… alone time.” Her frown deepened, and she turned to walk off toward the forest, clearly trying to mull through her thoughts.
As soon as she was gone, Kiara spoke up. “You should keep an eye on the bond,” she said. “There is nothing more dangerous than a maiden falling to their bond’s impulses. Friends can become foes in the blink of an eye, all for the sake of some loose interpretation of what’s necessary for their human’s survival.”
Rick nodded solemnly. It was a consideration they’d built around when it came to the expedition itself. The bulk of the maidens that were to come on this expedition were going to bond with the least number of non-Rick humans they collectively could. The goal was to always have a rotation such that there would always be a handful of them unbonded. This lack of a bond put them under the pressure of the feral curse, but it also kept them from being easily coerced into compliance by a blade to someone else’s throat.
And it made it easier to have at least some voices that wouldn’t be influenced by the bond’s imperative to keep their human safe.
It was also why Rick himself couldn’t just up and bond with everyone and call it a day. A little bit of collateral could end up causing the whole thing to collapse into itself.
For the humans they were bringing along, Rick had set up a hefty monetary reward for anyone volunteering for the positions. They got themselves three humans from the tribe and eighteen from Sinco. The people from Sinco leaned closer to the “desperate” part of the equation, but their job was to keep out of the way. In total, those twenty-one humans were meant to keep a force of roughly eighty maidens bonded.
“Unless someone has anything else they’d want to bring up, let’s get things going. Don’t want to burn any more daylight than we absolutely have to.”
Everyone set off back to work.
Rick didn’t want to pretend he knew the nuances of the whole endeavor, which was fortunate because the tribe had their fair share of experience with it. It gave him room to learn at his own pace and trust that people better prepared for this were handling their share.
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And his job right now was to make sure the explosives and handful of other chemicals they brought would be handled adequately.
The following two hours consisted of pulling aside one Orc after another and explaining the proper utilization of the items within the red boxes. Once they were passably familiar with them, they would get their own red box. Each of the warriors was meant to be armed with their own set of explosives to use at their discretion (or Urtha’s). The Hobgoblins they were bringing along could aid by making their own explosives and explosions, but they were meant to be in a supplementary role since there weren’t enough maidens to go around.
The whole plan revolved around striking once and striking hard.
The sooner they were out of that forest and back to Sinco, the better.
He was mildly bothered that he could sense Embla’s eyes on the back of his head whenever he wasn’t looking, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. It was Kiara’s job to keep an eye on the prisoner. The Succubus kept herself always within arm’s reach of the Malumari, and never in a way that wouldn’t let her get in between Embla and Rick.
When they were reaching mid-morning, it was finally time to set out.
Urtha approached him. “Now, time to get on to the chair.”
It was the “human travel chair,” a piece of wood meant for someone to sit on it, while they were carried by someone else like a glorified backpack. The Orcs that didn’t get to carry supplies and gear were the ones in charge of taking the humans, most doing so two at a time. Rick already loathed the idea of being glorified luxury luggage, and Urtha’s smirk didn’t help any.
“Don’t be a baby, dear,” Kiara spoke with ample amusement as she was hefted up by one of the Orcs that was keeping close to Embla.
“Yeah, yeah.” He grumbled, sitting down on the offered plank of wood. It felt almost like getting on a roller coaster seat; the fit was snug, with little room to roll off unless Urtha let go.
“I could take twelve of you easily,” the Orc boasted, wiggling her shoulders to fit the straps comfortably, shaking Rick like he was a maraca along the way.
“I believe you.” She wasn’t just carrying him but also her normal massive piece of metal she called a club, and the special explosive weaponry they’d made for her.
His fingers gripped the armrests tightly.
“Monica and Eli set off earlier; they will be taking the lead,” Eva said as she was hefted alongside Dia. “The Neigixes will give overhead protection and scouting until nightfall.”
He nodded. “Can’t let them know we’re coming.”
“To war!” Urtha roared.
They set off, each of the Orcs moving at a healthy jog that bordered on a sprint. Their height made moving at higher speed a simple matter, at least fast enough that Rick was sure he wouldn’t be able to catch up even if he ran with everything he had.
Not that he could fully appreciate the elegant, powerful stride of the Orcs, nor the impressive display of stamina as they moved without even straining their breath. No, his main concern was that every time Urtha took a step, his whole body would shuffle slightly upwards, and immediately fall back down against the wooden plank that was his seat.
“Haven’t had a proper raid since we got rid of the blood-suckers. It’s good to pound dirt under my feet,” Urtha spoke confidently, not even short of breath.
“Wish the skies were clearer!” someone else added, getting a round of affirmative grunts all around.
“If you think this is bad now, wait until you get deeper into the forest. Barely any light at all,” Sheel’s proclamation was accompanied by her hands igniting. “Night’s going to be a hassle.”
“Not with the Chieftess it won’t!”
“She’s a damn nightmare when it gets dark; who’d have the guts to try anything while she’s around?”
“Someone who thinks she’ll get all the fun fights?”
Raucous laughter spread amongst the green-skins, and Rick tuned them out as he tried to focus on minimizing the impact from his seat. So far, his best bet was to use his arms as shock absorbers, at least a little bit. There was no way he'd be able to keep it up until night fell, but it would at least make it more bearable.
Maybe what he needed was to create something like a saddle for Orcs, some sort of harness that would let the "carriage" use their legs as suspension. There was no way in hell it would be comfortable for either, but at least it ought to be more bearable than this?
Once they passed the treeline, the group spread out to give each other the space to maneuver. The bumpiness of the ride became more erratic, and Rick's efforts for self-stabilization now had added side-to-side movement to compensate for.
For the remainder of the day, the Orcs didn't stop.
The only time they slowed at all would be if they were traversing particularly tricky terrain, or if the group was going through a "meal break." And every step of the way, they would banter, joke, and amicably share stories with one another. It was a glimpse into Urtha's life that Rick hadn't expected to get. The whole thing had the same feeling as if they were heading out on a hike and barbecue.
If only he could stop thinking about what was to come.
If fighting broke out, as it was intended to happen, not everyone would make it back.
The idea that this was happening at his command was… it wasn't an easy pill to swallow. It was the very reason why he'd been willing to fight Kiara over his presence here. He wouldn't be able to keep his sanity if he remained in the city, knowing and waiting.
The hours ticked by, and as the lights dimmed, the Hobgoblins took the lead, illuminating the way until it was properly nighttime. Only then did the group come to a halt, and just to allow the maidens to dismount so that they could begin work on setting up camp and some basic defensive structures.
"Once we're cleared out and ready, we'll get the softies unpacked too, gotta be ready in case some nasty surprise is waiting," Urtha promised, shifting her shoulders slightly. "You doing alright?"
"I think my arms will fall off," he answered. There were other comments he wanted to add, such as his rear feeling sore to high heaven, but he'd never hear the end of it. "What about you?"
"Excited." The single word came with a lilt to her voice, one that made very specific kinds of promises.
"You can keep your tits in your shirt for a couple of days. This is serious business," Dia complained as she put on her spiky armor.
"You clearly have not been in a raid before," Kiara laughed from her seat, having twisted around so she had a finger tracing circles on the shoulder of the Orc who had been carrying her. The green maiden was blushing, pointedly avoiding meeting anyone's gaze.
Rick kept his voice carefully neutral. "What about the others?"
"That's their problem," Urtha chuckled darkly. "I've got my husband with me; I plan to take advantage of that."
Eva glanced at her for a moment, then at Rick. "Then, maybe—"
"No," Kiara cut her off, jumping off her seat and walking up to her. "I've tolerated your incompetence enough. You're going to learn how to keep yourself from drawing the attention of every maiden on the continent."
Her first reaction was an open glare, taking a full step away. Eva's lips thinned.
"Take the offer," Rick stepped in before anything else could be said and tempers could rise. "You can keep hating her later; this is not the time to turn down help."
With some hesitation, she nodded, allowing Kiara to lead her off toward Embla of all people. The trio of maidens didn't look too happy to be with one another, but Rick hoped it would at least work out.
"Glad that was resolved before it went bad. Let's go rest," Urtha didn't drop him off, instead heading straight toward the largest middle tent.
Rick had no escape.