Parallel Vol. 4 [LEGACY EDITION]

Chapter 22.2: To Trap an Orc

Half an hour later, Rhatheth's hunting party solemnly stood around a mountain formed from all the corpses in the village. Smoldering embers burned in the orcs' eyes as Grovitch and Durst approached the pile with a torch in their hand.

Durst's eyes gleamed with hardened resolution as he knelt in front of the hill. "We failed to protect you. But rest easy, I swear we'll bring those responsible to you for judgment. Until then, sleep for a bit."

Durst placed the torch at the base of the hill. Elephant grass caught the flames and spread it up the mountain.

"Wait for me," Grovitch muttered in a grave tone and threw his torch onto the mountain.

Grovitch and Durst walked away, and two orc shamans took their place. The shames uttered chanted a spell and stomped their staffs on the ground. A flaming rose fower sprang up from the field and engulfed the mountain within its petals. Plumes of black smoke rose to the skies, and if one listened carefully, they could almost hear the wailing of unresigned souls.

Similar scenes played out in numerous villages around that region, the wails of the deceased creating dense dark clouds that hung over the region and blotted out the sun.

The orcs in Rhatheth stood still amidst the crackling of flesh. Smoke and ash burned their eyes, and the pungent stench of burning flesh stung their sensitive noses, but the orcs did not move a muscle until the hill crumbled into a pile of ash.

The orcs, led by Grovitch and Durst, rubbed the ash all over their skin. They would carry their family's vengeance with them until those responsible lay dead at their feet. Only then would they be free of this debt.

Durst and Grovitch shared a look then led their brothers out of the village. They mounted their warboars and pushed toward the only city large enough to hold all the orcs in the region, the great Orkish City, Oerbora.

***

Oerbora

The Orkish city, Oerbora, was a testament to the evolution of the orcs as a city and culture. The city's ten meter stone walls were built brick by brick by their ancestors who sought a safe haven for the tribe in this deadly land. Over time, it grew from being a simple hideout to a trade city for the orcs.

Orcs in the region traveled from far and wide to trade spoils from their hunts for medicine and other provisions. The city, in turn, sold the items to the wisben from Ederwood in exchange for precious materials required for the production of these goods. The wisbens even had a special district allocated to them. It was markedly much more beautiful and stylish than the rest of the city.

In prime orkish fashion, the city also housed an arena where orcs battled against each other and captured beasts. After all, no matter how 'civilized' orcs got, they would always put strength above everything else.

Today, a grave atmosphere hung over the usually boisterous city. The typically rowdy orcs wore hard glares and had their hands tightly gripped around their weapons. The news of the massacres had spread to the city's public. Many orcs here had family in the attacked villages. Words could not explain the rage boiling within them. They only needed the name of the responsible party, and they would immediately launch an attack.

The orcs had no idea that within the wisben district, a young woman sat at a table and nodded as she received reports of a particular successful mission. The contemplative wisben, dressed in a set of plain brown robes had a pair of deep-set eyes the color of ripe lemons and peach-colored, thick, straight, neck-length hair that she wore in a severe style.

This young woman was Nakahara Akiko, tactician for the Silver Spear guild. Her in-game persona was a wisben mage that went by the name, Honne Onna. She was the woman in charge of their latest operation, and she was more than pleased by the result.