The Best Man: The Good Man Series Book Three (Wattpad Preview)

Chapter Nine: Enidir

The group of mismatched races led by an Orc and a Guardian prodigy marched into the land. Their group sounded like a fictional tale from a storyteller. The Guardians and Dwarfs at least were eager to be walking again, hating the high seas. Morek and General Ashtenaken talked for a large portion of the journey. Morek came to find out that he had actually fought the Orc at the Battle of Uzdrag, the previous capital of the Orc Empire. When Borious and his army came to the aid of Morek, Ashtenaken admitted to running away and surrendering when found. After the war when the Orc Empire split, he followed his friend, the Master Lieutenant, to the East Orc Empire where he assisted him on his journies to The Empire. He recounted the fall of the two empires and his flee to Enidir where he met the Commander, who had also fought in the Battle of Uzdrag. Together they created the Orc Defense Militia, a group dedicated to protecting the city-states of the eastern half of the Orclands.

Morek shared his experiences, including those outside of their world. Of course, like most, Ashtenaken did not believe the story of their world as a small cube protected by Eternity Beings, but Morek enjoyed speaking to him. Morek spoke some with Casaris who was still uneasy about trusting the Orcs. 

"It is our only hope," Morek reassured him. "They seem friendly."

"You have had friends stab you in the back," Casaris fired back. 

Morek elbowed him in the side. "Trust me it will all be fine."

Casaris was about to protest when they were surrounded. Orcs holding spears and swords shouted at them in the Orc language. Ashtenaken replied in his language. He turned to Morek.

"These are just Orcs part of the Militia," he said. "They guard the points of entrance to Enidir, checking to make sure there are no breaks in the barrier."

"What barrier?" Morek asked. "We are not even close to the city. The road continues for straight for miles."

"So it seems," Ashtenanken replied.

He spoke to one of the Orcs who came to the center of the road and held a stone in front of him. An archway opened to reveal a highly fortified, walled city directly in front of them.

"A while back, before the Orcs attacked The Empire, the Orc shaman you killed, Uzat, created a barrier around this city to protect it," the Orc explained. "His grand plan was to take the Orc Empire for himself and make Enidir its capital. Of course, those plans failed, but we found it the perfect place to control the Orc Militia from. The Orc guards have stones that reveal archways into the city."

Morek and Cassaris were impressed. Ashtenaken said something else to the guards in Orc and then led them through the archway. Morek and Cassaris followed with their army behind them. They marveled at the structure of the city. It was older, more well-built architecture, built to withstand attack for long periods of time. It was smaller, making it able to be defended better. It had several turrets, allowing air to ground attack. Unlike the previous capital of the Orc Emire, it had several, well-guarded entrances at each of the roads that met the city. The walls were thick. 

Ashtenaken led them to the large wooden gate at the entrance of the city. Overhead, stood two guards with bows. Their Orc guide shouted something to them. In a few seconds, the gates swung inwards to another pair of large, wooden doors. The other gate opened inwards to a small pathway through a street of two-story stone buildings. The fort-like city was dark and cold. The streets were rather empty. Ashtenaken must have sensed their confusion.

"They are out securing the border," he told them. "We have been noticing the increased growth of Imperial soldiers in the border cities."

He led them down the path and through the city which modeled similarly to the first street they saw. Then, they emerged into a larger courtyard. A group of around 50 Orcs were training. They came to a stop at the sight of the large human, Elf, and Dwarf presence.