Alex attempted to sprint towards the source of the smoke, but his body still felt heavy, and his energy was still in recovery. After a few steps, he felt his legs clumsy and stumbled.
"Don't worry, young one, we're not just here for show. We can help fight your battle, especially if it's also the gnolls' fight," declared the matriarch.
"Attention to all the gnolls who have followed us, especially those of the Ra clan. The time has finally come to show our valor. The young human has achieved great merit for us, and now we will demonstrate the courage of the gnolls with 'Gnall Thur Thu Kaz!'" shouted the matriarch, waving her staff in the air, enchanting the gnolls around her.
With Thorel's help, Alex got back on his feet.
"In the settlement, there should be spare weapons I brought from a previous expedition. It won't be enough for everyone, but the best among you can equip yourselves to help," Alex shouted to the gnolls before gesturing to the matriarch.
The matriarch made a final symbol and sent the gnolls into battle.
"Thorel, go to the settlement and inform Atasha of the reinforcements. Otherwise, the sight of troops from the rear could panic them," Alex said.
Thorel, who had barely participated in any fights since his arrival, though always present, had no intention of seriously committing to the cause. Alex wasn't upset with this attitude, but in situations like this, having a messenger capable of freely moving through the terrain was a great advantage.
"Alright," Thorel reluctantly agreed and disappeared into the wind.
Behind, only the matriarch and Alex remained, slowly advancing towards the settlement in question.
The settlement had a mix of different species, mostly resh and gnolls. Both species were fighting intensely against a large group of goblins and hobgoblins, with a small group of orcs acting as a wedge.
The village had been under siege for at least a week, and with its pathetic defenses, it was impossible to hold off the invaders outside for much longer. There was only so much you could do with a simple palisade and a few towers.
For the resh, the arrival of the gnolls was almost a gift from the heavens, a blessing from their gods. Without them, the resh would have been wiped out long ago. Alone, they wouldn't have had the chance to resist.
The gnolls, on the other hand, were extremely confused about why they had gotten involved in this conflict. They had had enough time to flee as soon as the enemies had started appearing near the village. However, Atasha knew, to a limited extent, what Alex intended to achieve in the south and what they had to do. Thus, the conflict with the opposing force was impossible to avoid for much longer.
"Matriarch, terrible news. The enemy has reinforcements approaching from the north. A large number of troops is coming from that direction," a gnoll reported.
Atasha put on a grave expression. Currently, she had no more troops to mobilize since most of her assets were occupied in keeping the ogres under control to prevent a massacre among her troops. If she called some back, the casualties would quickly pile up, and the ogres might finally break their defenses, leaving the rest of the civilians vulnerable.
"I have no more troops to mobilize. Maybe Calarock's mercenary band could lend us a hand," Atasha informed the second part to a fully equipped dwarf standing nearby.
"Matriarch Atasha, mercenaries don't fight for free. You know our price very well, and if you pay, we'll be more than willing to help," said the leader of the mercenaries with a smirk.
In their precarious situation, hiring them was not unreasonable. Atasha had seen them in action and knew the mercenary band was skilled. However, the price they asked for was essentially everything Alex had obtained for them, including the Fheres. Atasha was reluctant to give up all her possessions because, without them, it would be challenging to move forward after this situation. Yet, if the dwarves died, the ogres would take them anyway.
Just as the matriarch was about to start negotiating with the mercenaries, Thorel appeared out of nowhere near her.
"Hello, young matriarch. You look radiant as always," greeted Thorel.
The mercenaries went on alert and drew their weapons when an elf appeared out of nowhere.
Initially, the matriarch also showed fear at someone appearing out of thin air. Still, when she recognized Thorel, a small spark of hope ignited in her heart.
"Thorel, is Lord Alex back? Did something happen?" asked the matriarch.
"Yes, he's back, though still a bit far. I'll help him get here soon. A lot of crazy things happened, to be honest, but I think there's no time to explain them all. For now, it would serve you well to prepare weapons and armor for the reinforcements," said Thorel.
"Reinforcements?" asked Atasha eagerly.
"That's right. Somehow, the boy managed to get more gnolls. They'll arrive soon, and all of them are ready to fight," Thorel replied.
The matriarch nodded and looked at the mercenary captain, returning the smirk.
"Your services won't be necessary after all," said the matriarch. "And you better start preparing to leave the settlement. We can't afford to harbor idle hands in our current situation," she emphasized, raising her voice for nearby mercenaries to hear.
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In their previous situation, they had no way to deal with the present mercenaries, with the dwarf band being the largest among them. They had caused quite a bit of trouble, and without control, it was best to expel them from the place.
Atasha wasted no more time on the mercenaries and turned her attention back to the battlefield. They were currently at a stalemate, so she decided to use what she had – a mixture of resh and gnoll soldiers who had left the battlefield due to their injuries. Although not fit for combat, all they had to do was hold the troops attacking from the rear long enough for the reinforcements to enter. Then they could equip them and send them back to sweep their enemies from back to front.
When the order was given, the soldiers had bitter faces. However, the gnolls hesitated little before rising and walking towards the armory to prepare again. The resh were much more challenging to convince, but with the help of a local resh leader and Atasha's explanations about the reinforcements, they soon yielded and prepared as well.
Despite the simplicity of the task, casualties began to pile up quickly. However, the mission was carried out successfully, and the new gnolls were pleasantly surprised to confirm that what the human had told them was real – there was another matriarch in the settlement and many more free gnolls.
Everyone quickly equipped themselves and joined the fray, breaking the power balance between both sides. The gnolls began to gain ground on both flanks and started to surround the ogres.
At that moment, Alex finally arrived at the settlement.
Atasha was ecstatic to see the human, but it didn't last long. Firstly, Alex's weakened state was evident, not only because he needed help to walk, but Atasha could feel the thinness of his aura. When she looked at the human she felt like she was looking at a candle that was about to go out.
"Is it okay, Lord Alex?" asked the young matriarch.
Before the human could respond, Atarra intervened. "Of course, she's fine, little one. He's accompanied by a matriarch," said Atarra.
Atasha frowned at the defiant attitude. "There's no little one here, old woman, just a matriarch of the Sha clan. You can feel it in your own skin if you wish," replied Atasha.
Alex was confused in his place. Naively, he thought gathering the matriarchs would be easy and without problems. How wrong he was. There was a reason why each clan had only one matriarch. While there could be several apprentices, none became a matriarch without the previous one dying or being helped to retire.
"We'll have time for internal disputes when we finish with our external enemies," said Alex, ending the dispute. "What do we know about our enemies? Where do they come from? How many are there?"
Atasha brought one of the remaining high-ranking officials from the village and asked about their enemies. Unfortunately, to the dismay of those present, all the scant information could be summarized as nothing.
"We've been on the defensive since hostilities began. Also, our efforts to unite the tribes of the Resh have failed. I wouldn't know why, to be honest," said the large lizard.
"The battle is about to end. Our troops managed to surround all the ogres, so you must go there to support them in finishing the battle. We can continue with the planning after verifying our troops," Atasha said, though it wasn't a question; she still waited for confirmation from Alex.
The human, in turn, pondered his options for a few minutes. They had no knowledge of their enemy—no information on numbers or composition, not even who their enemies were. They needed to start clearing doubts from the beginning.
"It would be prudent to leave space for some to escape," replied Alex.
"Why would we do such a thing with our..." Atasha stopped mid-sentence.
"It would be quite useful if you had a spell that allowed us to follow our enemies back to their bases. Do you have any of that?" Alex directed the question to both matriarchs.
"The Ra clan has one," answered the old one.
Alex's assumptions were correct. The Gnoll clans didn't communicate as smoothly as he had thought. Initially, he believed the Gnolls would form kingdoms or large hierarchies where the matriarch could be the mayor of a village or community. However, the reality was that the matriarch was usually the highest authority. The few times they had accepted a war chief were in desperate times for the Gnolls.
"I understand. Please help me with that matter. Atasha, inform Tharoh of his mission. We need to follow those who manage to escape and find out where the enemies stay, their numbers, and composition," ordered Alex.
"I understand," replied Atasha, who immediately began giving orders to prepare what was necessary for the scouts, and then proceeded to assist the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Atarra went to the battlefield to prepare her ritual. She had to choose weak individuals who wouldn't notice her mark, which would be complicated in the middle of the battlefield. These actions were usually taken in different circumstances, but time was pressing, and she had decided to follow the human's commands for now.
Alex sat alone for a few moments to reflect. He had nothing to contribute to the battlefield, so he had nothing else to do. The initial hostility between the matriarchs had made him rethink many things.
Although, for the moment, he hadn't had any problems commanding the Gnolls, he had realized that whenever there was a conflict of interest, the Gnolls would seek confirmation from the matriarch. So the final voice was the matriarchs, not his.
It was impossible for him to become the central figure. However, Alex knew that it wasn't necessary. To govern, he needed the support of the elites. So from now on, what he had to do was keep the matriarchs in check. They would be the cornerstone of whatever government emerged from what they were doing.
A little laugh escaped Alex. When he arrived here, he had imagined claiming land for them, and then naturally, the creation of a republic that would take into account the interests of its citizens and be based on equality, solidarity, and fraternity.
"Hahaha, of course, La République une et indivisible - Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité ou la Mort," Alex murmured to himself. He knew very well how that had ended.
Months of arduous struggle, continuous nightmares, and the stories of other groups; Alex already knew the truth. Long before everything ended, sacrifices would have to be made—many sacrifices. There would be rivers of blood and mountains of bones, and by the time it all ended, there were still unanswered questions. Who would be the elites of this new world? It would be too naive to think that there wouldn't be any, that everyone would simply accept being equal.
For now, he had to ensure that things followed the course he had planned. Perhaps having the matriarchs at odds wouldn't be a bad thing for him; they would be easier to negotiate with individually and keep them under control.
The battle slowly came to an end, and the arrangements ordered by Alex were carried out. A couple of distinctly different-looking ogres escaped from the encirclement, as well as a crowd of goblins, many of whom were marked. Almost all who fled did so in different directions, but this didn't worry Alex because he had confidence as for Tharoh's abilities.
"Kid, why didn't you join the fight?" said a blood-drenched Raknar.
"I needed to leave something for you, otherwise, the other Gnolls would think you lost your appetite," replied Alex to Raknar's taunt.
The Gnoll warrior simply grunted.
"Kid, the ritual went well, just as you asked. Soon, we'll know where those vermins are hiding," said the matriarch of the Ra clan, with a slight disapproving grimace.
"Alright, the next step is to talk to our hosts. I need to learn more about our surroundings, the other Resh villages, as well as the Gnoll situation in this sector," said Alex.
"The village elders are waiting for us in the great communal house. Follow me," responded Atasha.
With Thorel's assistance and both matriarchs, Alex headed to the great communal house, where an unpleasant surprise awaited them.