Rise of the Horde

The Second Warband was itching to get some action. Their hands gripping the shaft of their spears so tight that their knuckles turned a shade paler. The large round shields that they have reflected the rays of the sun as they bounced back towards their chasing foes. Feet firmly planted on the ground, they waited for the order to be given.

"Second Warband! Forward!" Arkagarr shouted and pointed his sword towards their incoming foes. The Second Warband was spread out in a long line ten men deep as they marched forward with their spears still pointing proudly towards the sky.

"Halt! Ready javelins!" Gur\'kan bellowed again and the Fifth and Seventh Warbands stopped in their tracks, turned around, took their javelins, raised their throwing arms and hurled them towards their pursuing enemies. Their actions earned howls of pain and a barrage of insults from their enemies. "Give them your last gifts!" Gur\'kan commanded, and his warriors hurled their last javelins towards the Skalsser orcs.

The close to three thousand pursuing orcs had their numbers reduced by close to a thousand as Gur\'kan and the Yurakks showered them with their javelins as they applied hit-and-run tactics on them. Xok\'nath charge his way to the frontline as he deemed it safe enough for him to stay there. 

They are already far away from the tribe where the hidden enemies lurked in the shadows, ready to take him down anytime that he lowers his guard down.

They found themselves in a flatland surrounded by trees and hills on all three sides with only the path that they are taking as the best way out. Xok\'nath smiled as he believed that he already had the invaders cornered and they still have the advantage in numbers, despite only by a measly number of probably a hundred.

"We have them cornered! They have nowhere else to run to! They are out of throwing weapons! Let them have a taste of Skalsser\'s wrath!" Xok\'nath shouted his lungs out, as he was the first to charge forward. The Yurakks turned tail and sprinted away again, which blocked the sights of their foes and hid the movements of the Second Warband that was coming forward.

"Halt! Prepare for engagement!" Arkagarr commanded, and his warband stopped in their tracks. The first three lines had their spears all pointed forward, the next two lines had their spears angled about thirty degrees up from the spears of the first three lines. 

The

The

The and seventh lines had their spears pointing sixty degrees up while the rest at the back had their spears still pointing at the sky. The Rakshas at the forefront had their feet firmly planted on the ground. Left leg forward, knees pointing inward and slightly bended as they prepared to meet the incoming enemies.

"Hold! Hold! Don\'t break formation! Hold!" Arkagarr kept on shouting as the Yurakks charged at them in full sprint. The battle band attached to the Second Warband was ordered to be silent, as they don\'t want to let their enemies know of what was hidden from their sights.

The Rakshas were having second thoughts at maintaining their postures as their Yurakk allies came charging in. They are worried that they might kill their comrades instead of their enemies. The distance between them was less than fifty meters already, but they are still sprinting forward towards them.

Forty

Thirty

Twenty

Ten

"Split off!" Gur\'kan bellowed as he changed directions and headed to his left, the Fifth Warband following tightly behind him as the Seventh headed to the right. The Skalsser orcs were just right behind them and were surprised by the sudden change of directions of the ones that they were running after.

Xok\'nath was at the center and he was about to bring down his weapon on the back of the Yurakk that was only an arm\'s length away from him. He brought his weapon down, but he missed by a few inches as his target veered right out of nowhere. His pupils enlarged as he saw a forest of spears pointed at him and a solid wall of overlapping shields.

*****

When darkness still reigns, Ikrah finally managed to reunite with his father and the rest of their group. There were six of them in total who have the same thoughts, \'Xok\'nath isn\'t worthy of their loyalty\' and they all wanted him out. The young brave orc informed them of the deal that he had with the commander of their visitors.

Ikrah\'s father Pelko thought that it was nothing but empty promises, but when he learned that Gur\'kan took an oath with his ancestors and the gods above as his witness, he was swayed. They guided their steeds to head for the tribe as fast as possible, running with the chilling winds of the morning.

They were sprinting atop their steeds with great haste, but the laughing howls made them stop in their tracks. Many pairs of bloody red glowing eyes stared at them from the shadows of the trees. Their wargs snarled at the creatures, eyeing them from the shadows.

Baring their fangs, the wargs crouched down and prepared themselves to pounce on their uninvited guests. The furs of the wargs stood as they readied themselves to fight off one of their most hated foes.

\'Hee-hee-heee... Hee-hee-hee\'

The strange laugh of the creatures in the shadows was unnerving the wargs, as many more pairs of bloody red eyes stared at them. The silhouettes of spikes at the spine of the creatures made them discernable even in the darkness and the thickets that they are hiding in.

*****

Back at the Skalsser Tribe, those who still believed in Yakuh carried his body and started to trek through the trees. They don\'t where they would be headed to, but they had to get away as far as possible from the tribe. Their numbers increased as more of their tribesmen joined them who run away from the tribe after their internal conflict took place. Hundreds of them marched through the trees with only a few of them having weapons in their arms.

"Halt! Stay where you are!" 

A voice suddenly called out to them fr out of nowhere. They looked around but can\'t find who shouted at them. Thinking that they must be hearing things, so they continued on their way.

"Halt! Don\'t move!"

The voice called out to them again. One of them stepped forward and an iron bolt flew towards him, striking the ground a few feet away in front of him.

"Who\'s there! Show yourself!" an elder orc who supported Yakuh shouted. He was clutching his right arm, which had a nasty gash on it and still dripping blood, but he paid no heed to it.

A figure walked out of the shadows. It was an orc. He was dressed in a leather armor and in his hand was a weapon that the Skalsser orcs weren\'t familiar with. They all looked at the iron bolt that was at the tip of the lone orc\'s weapon, then towards the iron bolt that was impaled on the ground. 

"Who are you?!" the elder orc stepped forward bravely and readied his weapon. If things turn south, he was ready to die just to protect the others.

"I am called Bakrah, Captain of the Third Squad of the First Verakh Company, Rikon attached to the Yohan First Horde, Ikarush." the orc identified himself.

"That\'s a very long name! But I don\'t care! Are you a friend or foe!? If you\'re a foe, then my blade shall taste your blood! I hope you can satisfy it!" the elder orc replied as he gripped his weapon tighter with just one hand. His other arm is trembling so much that he can\'t find the strength to use it.

"I come here to accept your surrender." Bakrah calmly states as he stared at them with all seriousness.

"Bah! Surrender! Hahahaha! You must be out of your mind, young one." the elder orc chuckled as he pointed his weapon at him. "You!... Alone!... Make us surrender?" he continued as the other armed Skalsser orcs stepped forward. 

The armed Skalsser orcs slowly approached Bakrah, even those without weapons joined in as they prepared to tear the preposterous, strange orc with their bare hands. They might not want to be involved in the struggle for power in their tribe, but surrendering to a stranger was out of the question. They won\'t yield unless they are overwhelmed. Strength only thing that they respect and in order to earn their surrender, the one asking must show strength.

"I wouldn\'t do that if I were you." Bakrah confidently muttered as he grinned. Right behind him, wargs came out from the shadows and snarled at the Skalsser orcs. Hundreds of them showed up from behind the trees and Haguk, atop his trusty partner, stopped right beside Bakrah.

"I am called Haguk, Commander of the Warghen Cavalry of the Yohan First Horde, Ikarush, Clan Chief of the Warghen Clan." Haguk introduced himself.

The ground was shaking, as well as the trees and plants around. From behind the Skalsser orcs, enormous creatures began taking down the trees with their heads and just ramming through them. Well, the smaller ones, that is. The bigger trees, they just moved around them.

"Dug\'mhar, Commander of the Rhakaddon Cavalry of the Yohan First Horde, Ikarush, Clan Chief of the Rumbling Clan and we are here to rumble if needed be." Dug\'mhar introduced himself as he flexed his muscles and kissed both his biceps one after another.