Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 92: Hardship

It took them a few more days to reach Weeping Woman's Rock, and with each passing hour, Erinne was regaled with tales of her husband's victories. It left a bitter hole in her heart until she grew numb to the pain, the grief, the questions tormenting her mind. She couldn't think of it and she couldn't think of him.

When the field around Weeping Woman's Rock came into sight, she held fast to the numb wall she'd erected around herself. She didn't want to think about the last time she was here, brokering peace. There had never been peace for her. Not for her heart or her life or her soul.

The field that stretched out before her was filled to the brink, even more so than when she'd been here for the treaty. It was bustling with activity. She could hear armor repairs being hammered out near several tents as black smith's worked hard. She could hear blade's being ground against a spinning wheel, sharpening them to deadly precision.

A hundred canvassed tents were pressed so close together that she could hardly distinguish any particular paths through the encampment, and every so often there was a fire with orcs gathered around. As they walked closer, she could hear bellows of laughter, orcs babbling about battles they'd just been in.

And there were so many orcs.

She'd never felt more human than in that singular moment as she realized she would be walking into the middle of that, in a war. She was stupid for coming. She was stupid for thinking this was simple. Find Cold Hammer. Find her son. Her task felt bigger than ever, and terrifying.

"Sheobulf?" She'd stopped walking and the orc leading them looked back at her. She clenched her hands into fists and hoped the female didn't notice she was shaking.

"What in the Underworld is this?" Someone nearby snapped and Erinne knew she'd been spotted as five orcs lumbered to their feet and moved her way.

Her escort threw out a hand, "Stay where you are," she called to them.

They pointed at her, "It's a fucking human!"

That served to draw more attention. "Form a line around Sheobulf. Now." The orcs that had brought her this far closed ranks around her immediately.

Erinne lifted her chin. She'd never been more ostracized than in that moment. A wrecked homecoming that soured her heart. This was not how she imagined her life, this was not where her path was supposed to lead. She hurt, deep inside. But she was here. It was time to find Cold Hammer.

Erinne started forward and the orcs stayed so close that they brushed against her as several more lunged forward towards the group, snarling at her. She was a human amongst the enemy. "Stay back! Move! Leave us be!"

"Human!"

"Kill it!"

"Get that human out of here!"

"She is for Lohke!" One of her escorts shoved another orc back and several more shouts rose up all around them, drawing a bigger crowd. She felt like an outsider as they turned on her with vehemence and for the first time since she met Lohke and Cold Hammer, she felt apart from the orcs. It hurt her heart deeply and by the time she marched through half the camp, the orcs she'd come here with were shoving others back, forming a barricade around her. She walked onwards while they insisted everyone stand back, escorting her forward.

She kept her chin in the air, her eyes defiant, but she didn't look at any of them. She stared through them. While some tried to outright shove through the barricade and attack her, others tried to intimidate her, throwing insults and objects at her. It was a mess. She was mere seconds from another mob attack, but this time it would come at the hands of orcs, not humans.