"Open the gates!"
A loud voice echoed from an orc standing atop a wooden tower.
Clank! Clank!
The sounds of chains and something rotating echoed out as a large gate rose from the ground.
Outside, a group of six orcs were walking towards the opening gate. Four of them were carrying an injured orc atop a makeshift raft-like bed that served as a stretcher. They had strung it together using wood and vines.
The one lying on top of the bed was of course none other than orc injured by the elf princess ; Morak.
Before the group of six could even enter through the gate, two scary looking orcs rushed outside and confronted them.
One of them was dressed in a purple tunic, and had leather apparel strapped on his arms and legs. He brazenly grabbed onto the chestplate of the leading orc and yelled furiously. "What is this Gatra! What happened to Lord Morak!"
Gatra sighed and slapped his hands away. "It was my fault for leaving him unattended. Some elves stormed one of our camps to rescue their people. Young lord wanted to have fun with two of their women but nearly lost his life instead."
"Are you saying that two women managed to nearly kill him?" That same orc yelled in frustration and surprise. He was slightly disbelieving of Gatra's words.
"Ask him yourself." Gatra remarked.
At the same time, the second of the two scary looking orcs was questioning Morak with a calm but concerned expression. He was only wearing a belted leather pant and had a strap going diagonal across his chest. The rest of his green body was exposed, advertising his chiseled and muscular physique.
After listening to Morak, the second orc rubbed his chin with a pondering gaze. "An elf capable of summoning a quiver of ten spirit arrows but only capable of firing two of them.
Hmmmm, quite interesting." He muttered to himself. Then he ordered, "Take him inside quickly and fetch doctor Oswald."
The five soldier rank orcs entered the village, leaving behind Gatra and the two others who came out.
The calm and composed orc was called Dyn. Although he looked rather terrifying, he was actually quite friendly and easy to talk to.
The other one's name was Ralfat. He was a completely tyrannical and unreasonable person. He was quick to anger and thought highly of his capabilities. Anyone who didn't rank higher than him in terms of status he would look down upon them. That went for Gatra who was only a lieutenant whilst Ralfat himself was a Blood Chief.
The Blood Chiefs were the highest ranking persons under the Chief himself, other than the vice chief of course. It was only natural that a few of them would be arrogant and prideful.
"I say we should replace Lord Morak's Protector with another. Gatra is too weak and lacks the proper intelligence to protect anyone!" Ralfat suggested in a harsh voice.
"Young lord has personally selected Gatra to be his protector." Dyn stated indifferently. "It's true that he isn't suitable for the task but there's nothing we can do about it. Young lord himself said that if someone powerful was always by his side he would remain weak forever. Don't you admire that, Ralfat?"
Ralfat scoffed coldly and cast a hateful glance at Gatra before turning around and leaving.
"Hmph." Gatra hummed in disgust as he looked at Ralfat's disappearing figure. Just the same, he didn't like anything about Ralfat.
"Ralfat may be bad with words but he means well." Dyn stated suddenly.
Gatra looked him in the eye and smirked. "That doesn't mean I need to like the bastard does it?" He asked rhetorically.
Dyn simply smiled and said no more on the matter.
"What do you think about that human the young lord mentioned." Gatra suddenly asked. "The humans and elves couldn't have started dealing with each other again have they?"
"That's highly unlikely." Dyn replied. "He was probably just thankful for being rescued by the elves and wanted to pay them back. Still I do wonder, why the elves rescued the humans in the first place. Was it to create a distraction, or something else?" He couldn't help but ponder. Then he looked at Gatra," Get some rest lieutenant." Afterwards he turned around and entered the village.
Some time later, inside a large hut.
Twelve orcs were sitting around a table having a discussion.
Dyn and Ralfat were there along with ten others, including the orc chief.
"This meeting has begun." Said the orc chief. His name was Zogriff. He was probably the ugliest orc in the room, having more than thirty piercings on his face. Just like Dyn, his upper body was bare but from the waist down he wore a long leather apparel, similar in looks to a sarang. In his hand he held a serpent skull staff; the symbol of the highest authority. The alternative to a King's crown.
At the opposite end of the table, was the vice chief, Gulmorn. He was in charge of handling all matters whenever the chief himself was busy. His authority was practically the same as the chief himself. He was also the chief's blood brother.
On the left and right sides of the table sat five orcs each. They were the Blood Chiefs responsible for carrying out the orders of the chief and vice chief.
"The first matter on topic is the condition of the young lord." Dyn stated as he looked at the chief and vice chief. "His condition has been stabilised but it will take some time to recover. The injury to his shoulder isn't a problem at all, it's the impact the magic had on his organs that needs to be treated."
Some of the blood chiefs nodded whilst others remained silent.
"What is your take on this incident Dyn?" Zogriff asked curiously.
"Hmmm." Dyn hummed in thought. "It was a basic rescue mission carried out by the elves. I think young lord's injury was just an accident. Nonetheless, this elf girl has me quite interested. The ability she used brings only one thing to mind." He said in a mystifying manner.
"Go on?" Zogriff edged him on.
The other blood chiefs were all looking at him.
"The forbidden index." Dyn said with a heavy tone.
"What!?"
"Nonsense!"
"Hmmm."
...
The blood chiefs all had different responses to Dyn's suggestion. Some were surprised, others disbelieving and the rest remained ever silent.
It was the vice chief, Gulmorn who settled the room by speaking. "Although I agree that elf's ability is quite something, I don't believe it has something to do with The forbidden index. The forbidden index has been lost for over a thousand years. Not to mention the fact that no one knows its whereabouts, but also no one knows if it truly exists."
Some blood chiefs agreed with Gulmorn and nodded.
Dyn however, didn't change his opinion. "The forbidden index has truly been lost for a long time. Still, that doesn't mean it cannot be found. It holds great knowledge over the control of magic and methods to increase magical prowess. Tell me, have any of you seen what Morak described before?"
Dyn's question put everyone in a thoughtful state. Indeed, none of them had never seen such potential in anyone, anywhere. If this was natural talent it would be one thing, but what if, just what if it was the forbidden index.
"In other words, it would mean that the elves probably found the forbidden index and are using it to train their people. If that is truly the case then our plans to take over their kingdom will be a bit problematic." As Zogriff said this he frowned deeply and tightened his grip on the staff in his hand.
"We should properly investigate this matter before making assumptions." Gulmorn stated as he looked at Dyn from the corners of his eyes. He was slightly displeased that the chief had taken Dyn's words so seriously. He didn't think that they would bare any fruit and Considered it a waste of time." Let's move on for now. Next is the tribe gathering taking place soon. Our five tribes will be coming together to start a war with the elves and the humans."
"I've been waiting for this for so long." Ralfat exclaimed.
"It's time to take back what was rightfully ours." Another blood chief exclaimed.
Zogriff calmed down his emotions and focused on the new topic.
Like so, the meeting went on as they discussed their plans for the future.
***
On the road to the Elvenwood City, the carriage had come to a stop near a forked path. One road led to Elvenwood City whilst the other led to a place called Greenwich. Two signs were pointing down each path respectively.
Craig and Maeli were standing outside the Carriage bidding farewell to Dawrgo and Rikkle.
"Until we meet again." Rikkle said as he waved goodbye.
Dwargo also waved at them as the carriage moved away. It didn't take long for them to disappear from sight on the long dirt road.
"I'm gonna miss those two." Craig said with a feigned saddened expression. Along the way they had talked about many things and gotten to know each other better. Craig had learned a few things about the Dwarves from them and even promised to visit their kingdom one day.
Maeli didn't bother with Craig's comment. "Greenwich is close to the forbidden territory. It is basically a small village of guards tasked with guarding over the forbidden territory. I've never been there before so I don't know what to expect. Like I said before I also don't know the location of the lotus pond so we will need to gather some Intel."
"It's good that your conceal is only weak against the dwarves or we'd be in a bit of trouble." Craig was rather happy about that. If her conceal was just as easy to see through by the elves it would be difficult for him to blend in.
"Let's get going, we don't have a lot of time before the sun sets which leaves us with one more day to get to our destination. We'll only have two days to find what we're looking for which isn't lot of time." Maeli said as she led the way up the path leading to Greenwich.
Craig followed after her, but as soon as he stepped onto the path to Greenwich, his ears started ringing and he felt a stabbing pain in his head. Then he collapsed to his knees and felt his vision getting blurred. When he raised his head to call out to Maeli he was shocked.
Before him was a large lake covered in lilypads and filled with lotus flowers. The lotuses were six different colours: white, pink, yellow, red, purple and blue. They formed a concentric circle starting with white as the outer ring and a single blue lotus being the center. They were situated at the centre of the lake.
Even more bizarre was that there was a woman floating above the blue lotus.
A Goddess!
She was dressed in a white silky dress emitting a dazzling bright light. On her back were a pair of sliver and white wings with strange flower-like patterns. As if she could see Craig, she looked at him and smiled a very sweet smile.
Craig was at a complete loss for words or actions. He didn't know or even care what to do. The only thing that passed through his head was the possibility that he had died without knowing how it happened and this goddess was about take him to the life beyond death.
"-aig... Craig... Craig!"
Maeli's voice shattered the world before Craig's eyes and the surroundings returned to normal. He was on his knees, with both hands holding his head in agony.
"Are you okay? What happened to you? Why were you screaming in pain just now?" She said to him as she held his shoulders with her hands. A deep look of concern plastered on her face.
"Screaming?" Craig didn't recall screaming at all. "I don't know what happened, but I think... I think I just saw the lotus pond."