Brothers of War

CHAPTER 2

Situated in the middle of the valley, where river Gaa forked in two, was the orc village of Vur-Paan. Completely surrounded with the six foot tall palisade, made out of thick logs from the Chaygor pines, it was a home to several hundred families. Or at least Thorin thought so. He was told as such. And by somewhat perplexed expressions on the faces of other soldiers, he was not the only one.

Besides the group of females greeting them, the village was seemingly abandoned. That became even more obvious, once the eerily uncomfortable silence fell over them. At first no one was deciding to move. Let alone speak. They simply stood motionless, staring at one another. As if they were waiting for some sign.

And it came in the form of one of the girls, who perhaps accidentally decided to move. She barely made a step or two, but that was just enough to spur the rest to do the same. Slow and timidly at first while trying to figure out which soldier to approach. But then with ever growing haste as they finally reached the decision.

Two of the females simultaneously decided to head towards Thorin, but immediately and abruptly stopped as the third one did the same. Either out of some respect, or from some other reason, the young lieutenant could not know. Neither he had time to think about it. The orc woman was already in front of him. Barely a foot away. She measured him from head to toe, as if that meant to give her some additional assurance she made the right choice.

"You'll do just fine, soldier." the orc woman said, momentarily turning around "Come with me."

Thorin obeyed without a word, as he pulled the horse by its reins. Four identical, main roads stretched from the square. She led him some hundred meters further, into the street left from the gates. Once there, they turned right into a narrower one crammed with dozens of simple one story houses. Thorin couldn't help but notice every single one of them was shut. Empty. Although it was obvious someone recently dwelled in them.

Fifty meters further they turned left again, and through the small gate, entering an enclosed front yard. It was some twenty meters wide, dividing the main two story house from the small garden full of various vegetables to the right, and a simple stable to the left.

"You can tie your horse there." she waved towards the stables "I don't want it in my tomatoes."

Thorin did as he was told, before joining her inside the house. He had at least a thousand questions on his mind. Mainly those regarding the unusual situation in the village. As well as fact the only inhabitants of it were young females. Exactly fifty of them, if the lieutenant counted well. Identical to the number of soldiers, the humans send here. What exactly was going on here?

"What's your name?" she asked him, realizing he was standing still in the middle of the room for more than a minute now.

"W-what?" Thorin replied confusedly, still deep within his thoughts.

"Your name?" the orc female retorted "I presume you have one."

"Yes...of course." the lieutenant said shyly "My name is Thorin. Thorin Lutir."

"I am Marsakh." she said "Welcome to Vur-Paan. Now, would you allow me to show you the rest of the house?"

"What is going on here?" Thorin asked as he followed her up the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Marskah sounded confused.

"Where is everyone?" Thorin asked "What's the deal with all of the abandoned houses we passed by on our way here?"

"It's all because of the deal. What else?" Marsakh answered "Everyone was forced to leave when our tribal elders picked this village, my village, for the most ideal location."

"What deal?" Thorin asked "Location for what exactly?"

"What do you mean, what deal?" Marsakh sounded a tad annoyed "The deal between you and us. Why else would you come here?"

"To get to know your race. Your ways of life and customs." Thorin answered "To try and help in healing the broken relations."

"You have to be kidding me?" Marsakh couldn't believe her ears. "You actually mean you don't know?"

"I presume you were told something else entirely." Thorin said.

"Besides looking strong, it seems you are also quite clever." Marsakh smirked.

"Why did they send us here?" Thorin asked more for himself.

"Come on now, I just praised your intelligence." Marsakh said "I think you already know the answer to this question."

"They've sent us here to see if our races can coexist." Thorin said "To see if we could form relations."