As Naguk and Amukelo finished their enemies, they looked around to see the situation, it was clear the ambush was over. Some of the attackers had fallen, while some had managed to flee into the surrounding alleys. Naguk's forces were regrouping, checking for casualties and injuries. The crowd of orcs remained, many of them were still present in the plaza. Orcs were not a people to flee at the sight of conflict.
Naguk stepped forward drawing the attention of the crowd once again. He raised his bloodied axe-arm high, his voice booming across the plaza.
"You've just witnessed the cowardice of my opponents!" he roared. "Instead of standing here, before you, to connect with you and present their values, they hide in their mentions conspiring and scheming to strike me down. Where are they now? They send others to do their dirty work!"
"I am here, risking my life, not hiding behind walls or sending others to fight in my stead. If you believe that this is true bravery, if you believe that leadership means standing for your people, I ask you one question!" He paused for effect, raising his axe-arm higher. "Who is with me?!"
The crowd erupted into a deafening roar. Orcs shouted their approval, pounding their fists against their chests or raising their weapons high.
After a moment, he lowered his arm and bellowed again, "Twelve days! In twelve days, you will have a new, strong leader who will guide you to peace—not just among ourselves, but with others! Together, we will build trust and honor!"
Another wave of cheers broke out. Naguk, though bloodied and visibly fatigued, descended from the stage with the same stoic presence as always. He motioned for his team to gather at a distance from the crowd.
When they were finally out of earshot of the commoners, Naguk let out a harsh cough. A small trail of blood trickled from his mouth. His mages immediately moved closer, one of them asking, "Are you alright?"
Naguk wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and waved them off. "I'm fine," he said. "This isn't the first time. As long as this doesn't become a daily thing, I'll manage." He retrieved a healing potion from his belt and drank it in one go.
"That should hold me," he muttered, then straightened and looked around. "What about the others? Any casualties?"
Tidgug stepped forward, his expression grim. "One man from my group is dead," he reported.
Naguk gritted his teeth. His gaze hardened as he nodded solemnly. "We'll honor him later. For now, we need to keep moving."
Mor spoke next, her tone measured but tinged with concern. "I've got one injured in my team, but he'll pull through."
Xulgag followed. "I have three injured, but they're still standing. With some attention from our healers, they should recover enough to keep going."
Naguk's eyes flicked to the mage standing nearby, who gave a brief nod. "We'll do what we can for them," the mage assured. "But they'll need time."
Naguk exhaled heavily. "We don't have time," he said, glancing back toward the crowd that was now dispersing, still abuzz with the excitement of the speech and the ambush. "We can't stay here long enough for our enemies to regroup. We need to get moving."
Mor hesitated before speaking again. "If we run into another ambush too soon, those injuries might turn into casualties."
Naguk's expression darkened. "Then we pray they don't," he said grimly. "And we stay prepared for whatever comes."
"We have no time to waste," he said firmly. "There is no turning back now. Let the lord decide whether we will be ambushed again or not. If they can travel with injuries, we move."
The orcs nodded in unison, and the group began their march. This time, Amukelo and Eliss stayed closer to the middle of the group, engaging with orcs conversations.
As the sun climbed higher, Mor fell into step beside Amukelo. "It's thanks to you that we had only one casualty today," she said. "If not for your early signal, we might not have reacted so smoothly. And that moment—you stepping in to protect Naguk—you might've saved his life."
Amukelo laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "We're just doing our job," he replied humbly.
Mor's gaze shifted to Eliss. "And you, Eliss," she added. "Your water spells stopped some of the attacks that might have broken through to him. You protected our leader, and that's no small thing. Thank you."
Eliss's reaction was different from Amukelo's. She turned her head slightly, lifting her chin as she spoke. "You know, it's only my job. I did what I was expected to," Then, with a faint smirk, she added, "But if you're thanking me, I'm not going to reject it."
Amukelo shot her a look of disbelief with raised eyebrow. Mor chuckled lightly and nodded. "Good job, both of you," she said simply before moving back toward her position.
Sometime later, their travel was broken by a sudden, sharp chittering noise. Naguk stopped in his tracks, raising a hand to signal the group. Everyone drew their weapons instinctively.
Several enormous scorpions emerged from the rocky formation ahead. They were nearly as tall as an orc.
The uninjured orcs surged forward, forming a line to engage the scorpions. Amukelo and Eliss joined them without hesitation.
One of the scorpions charged at Amukelo. He ducked below it's tongs and swung his sword upward, aiming for the softer underbelly. The blade cut through, but only partially, forcing him to sidestep quickly as the tail lashed toward him. Before it could strike again, a water spear from Eliss pierced the joint of the tail, causing the creature to screech in pain.
Meanwhile, Naguk swung his axe-arm cleaving through the pincer of another scorpion. Tidgug and Xulgag's teams worked together to defeat another scorpion.
Not long after, all scorpions were defeated. Naguk wiped venom off his axe-arm with a grim expression. "Good work," he said gruffly. "Let's move."
The group continued to their next destination. The town was much larger than Blazewatch.
Naguk moved to the town's main plaza, and raised his voice to gather attention. "I am Naguk from the Thunderjaw tribe!" he declared, his voice echoing through the streets. "Tomorrow morning, I will be giving a speech right here. If you wish to know the future of our nation, come and listen!"
As before, his people moved to distribute flyers, ensuring every orc in the town knew the time and place. Amukelo and Eliss retreated to the inn with the rest of the group. This time, Eliss didn't bother trying to clean the room she was assigned. Exhausted, she focused on her grimoire.
The next morning, the group reconvened early, each member taking up their positions. Naguk stepped onto the platform as the crowd began to gather.
He began much like before, outlining the potential of the alliance with humans and recounting the history of the last war. However, this time, he leaned heavily into the events of the previous day.
"My opponents' cowardice, their desperation to stop me. They hide in shadows, sending others to attack me while I stand here, before you!"
The crowd murmured, their attention rapt. Naguk continued, using the ambush and his injuries as evidence of his strength, resilience, and commitment to his people.