Clark wasn’t sure what he expected from a city in this world. Perhaps something similar to a fairy tale castle. What he found was something entirely different and yet the same. While Clark had expected to see formidable walls surrounding the city, instead massive berms of grass covered soil surrounded the city, raising much higher than the buildings within. There were a number of guards on the bulworks, watching over the road that came in from the south east and left from the northeast. The Western side of the city had a path that lead to a shallower rise in the bulworks, but it was nothing like the wide, paved roads of the east. They were under scrutiny from the moment they entered view until they passed under the watchful eyes of the guards and into the city.

Inside, every single building was made of wattle and dab, instead of wood, most of the support structures seemed to be made up of massive bones. The streets were hard packed dirt, worn to an almost sheen by thousands of footfalls over many generations. None of the buildings were more than one story tall and the streets meandered through the city with no sense of order. Clark had been looking around at the buildings, hardly paying attention to where his horse was going. The High Commander, riding next to him, chuckled.

“If you look any harder, your eyes may fall from your skull.” The grey bearded orckin said.

“I ain’ never seen a place like this.” Clark admitted. “What are the bones?”

“You are in the last city of the orcs.” Ulresh’s red brown eyes looked almost sad as he looked around.

“Ain’ all the cities in Ograkill orc cities?”

Again the old orckin chuckled. “Not by half, Ser Franklin. There are very few true orcs left and I believe most of them live south of the Infernal Path. All that remains in Charan are orckin.”

Clark’s brow furrowed. “What happened to ‘em?”

Ulresh sighed as he looked around the city. “War. It has been an end to many a people. Perhaps one day it may end us all.”

“Reckon I had enough of war fer two lifetimes already.” Clark said.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Yep.” Drawled Howard from his place on the other side of Ulresh.

“Is that why you volunteered to travel so far?” Blackfist’s tone was curious.

“Nah.” Said Howard. “Reckon we couldn’ leave Amien ta go herself. She’s been good ta us.”

“‘Sides, someone’s gotta do it, ya know? Might as well be us.” Clark added.

“That’s an admirable stance.” Ulresh said as he guided his horse to a long, low slung building close to the southeast road.

Most of the people Clark had seen so far were orckin, there seemed to be a lot of variation among the orckin, but the bottom tusks or fangs were nearly always present. A few young stable boys came out of the low building to see about the horses and Ulresh handed over coins in exchange. “Come, we will rest and supply ourselves here. It will take almost a fortnight to reach Reishada. We have a long journey ahead of us yet.”

“Why’re we headin’ east anyway. Weren’ we ‘sposed to go west to the Outlands?” Clark dismounted and stretched his back.

“We are heading to the capital to petition the councilmembers for resources, supplies, and manpower for your expedition into the Outlands. It will be a very long journey. Long and likely quite dangerous.”

“Yep.” Howard said as he joined them. “Reckon we’ll need some sorta weapon to replace our guns.”

Clark winced. “Reckon you’re right, we’ll run outta bullets sooner ‘r later.”

“Do you have any experience with other weapons?” Ulresh asked.

“Howard was always ready with his fists.” Clark nudged his brother with an elbow as Ulresh led them toward another of the low ceilinged buildings.

“What would you need for more of these bullets?” Ulresh asked.

“Gunpowder. Blackpowder. Explosives?” Clark shrugged.

“Perhaps an alchemist may be able to assist you. We shall find out in Reishada. Come, for now we will get you each a spear. To master one takes practice and skill, to use one is fairly simple.”

“Reckon we ain’ got any money to speak of.” Clark admitted, tucking his hands in the pockets of his pants.

“Consider it part of your equipment for the expedition. We cannot have you defenseless, besides. We have two weeks, I can teach you some of the basics before we arrive in Reishada.”

“We appreciate that, Ulresh.”

“It is the least that can be done for you and your brother, Ser Franklin.”

Howard frowned. “What’d’ya mean?”

“After all, if it weren’t for us chasing those imperial maggots, you wouldn’t be here now, would you?”