Sitting together at a table in the bar, Scarlet couldn’t help but slightly shudder as her gaze for the umpteenth time fell on the orc sitting across from her. He was stinking after liquor from ten meters across the wind and his gate seemed slow unsteady but all that was nothing but a façade.
Looking at the battle scars of the orc called Thurrock as he had called himself, Scarlet felt as if she could visibly see the killing intent wafting of from them.
The greatest of warriors had a presence about them, an air or an aura of absolute dominance. The aura of the one in front of her was well hidden to a degree that Puck likely hadn’t even been able to sense it, but she herself was just powerful enough to feel it.
Monster. The aura contained in his body and the lingering intent of his enemies in his battle scars told a story of carnage and madness unlike anything she had ever seen before.
This was no random orc worrier that could be found in any second village, neither was it a normal soldier of the imperial army, no, this was a true warlord, somebody capable of domineering vast regains if willing to do so.
As if listening to the thoughts cursing through her head the orc briefly smiled at her, showing his tusks. For any bystander it would seem like a normal smile, if one was given by an orc with a fearful visage.
Scarlet though could see more than that. For but the briefest of moments she felt as if she was shown something in those eyes of his, a boundless ocean of blood, rolling and crashing, ready to devour all and everything in it’s path.
Scarlet shuddered again. Finally noticing the tense silence coming from Puck, she could imagine that even if subconsciously, perhaps he could make out more than she gave him credit for.
Trying to smile reassuringly, she felt grateful as Taron took over the job of distracting Puck as he purred from below the desk.
Shit, she had forgotten how it was to feel like a small fish in a big pond. Yes, she had her own worries to fight with over the years in the Gremlin village, but those had been bottled up and been well hidden. Of the Gremlins, everyone felt like a toddle compared to what she was capable of.
Here it was different.
First the heart of darkness had awoken many of her old memories and fears and then Zephyrian had started to show her the true depths of his power. She had been shocked when he finally showed her visions and memories of his past, mixed up with his ever-greater regained knowledge, she felt that his origins maybe even surpassed that of the orc in front of her.
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Of Zephyrian though, Scarlet at least felt she could be sure that he was on their side, and he was only a shadow of his past anyway. There was no such guarantee for the orc before them.
Sitting there across from her and taking up a complete side of the desk himself, she herself felt oh so small. Having to stand on her own chair to even be able to see him over the edge of the table, the physical difference couldn’t be greater between them.
Why had he invited them oh so graciously to his desk? Was he really so interested in Taron? No, that shouldn’t be it. Thurrock seemed like somebody just like she had been, being consumed by bad memories. He just had found a different solution, drowning everything in alcohol.
Wincing from a sudden guttural sound, Scarlet took a moment to notice that it was Thurrock who was talking. Trying to listen as closely as possible she still only managed to get a few words at first as he spoke fast and harshly.
“… coming … receiving … I …”
Signaling her understanding, Scarlet tried to bring herself under control again and regain her self-confidence. It wouldn’t help if she got consumed in her own world again.
Instead of slowing down, the orc started to speak in a new language, and then another one and another one until Scarlet finally understood one. It was one of the most common languages on the surface and even though Scarlet hadn’t heard it for a long time she could speak and understand it far better than the local speech of the orcs.
Starting again after Scarlet answered him in the new language, the orc seemed a little rusty with the language that wasn’t even invented by his own race.
“War is coming. Kartorok will soon be calling to arms, and I won’t be able to deny his call. You will all be coming with me.”
Taking a moment to understand and interpret what had been said, Scarlets eyes went wide as saucers, as she demanded an explanation without even thinking about the harshness in her own voice.
Folding his massive arms above his chest, Thurrock smiled mockingly but showed himself ready to explain his motives.
“I like the beast, and I like the boy, that’s why you’re not already dead.”
Punctuating his statement with a wave of killing intent, everyone in the whole tavern froze up. Suddenly it seemed like all the booze had been pushed out of Thurrocks in a single moment.
“When Kartorok calls to arm I will be required to follow orders, and if I need one thing apart from more booze for the war to come it is a new weapon. Your little friend is holding that weapon right there in his hands.”
Swiveling her head over, Scarlet realized that Puck indeed had drawn Zephyrian. She had been so drawn in she hadn’t even noticed. Looking on as he lowered the sword at Thurrock, Scarlet wanted to jump up or shout a warning. But it was already too late. In an instant the orc had gripped Zephyrian by the edge. Being unwilling to let go, Puck had been lifted in the air right along with his weapon.
Holding the two before his eyes, the orc examined them for a moment as Puck finally also froze up. Then, out of nowhere the orc threw his head back as he began to laugh deeply out of a rough throat in an otherwise completely silence tavern.