Chapter 236: Orcish Pride (2/2)
”That is because you Ashborn have long held the eastern mountains. You need not face the Tainted Dead every year like us.” Huthar commented solemnly.
”All I hear is the complaining of weaklings too incompetent to secure better land for themselves. Besides, there is a world of difference between those cursed corpses and an undead army led by Lacotian necromancers.”
”How could he know and not tell us?!” Morris's sudden exclamation prevented any further provocation from the orcs.
”Are you talking about your father?” Mike asked, suspecting that his second task had just gotten more difficult.
”Of course I am! He set this all up so that our forces would be right here when the Lacotians attacked. He even wanted me to stay on the defensive to preserve our fighting strength! And yet we...” He turned his furious gaze towards the surrounding field, which was still littered with dead and dying. ”Argh! If he had just told me in the first place, I could have done more to prevent all this!”
[While I'm sure that someone as devious as the Count had his reasons for keeping this quiet, I can't help but wonder if it was the right decision in this case.]
Unsure of what to say, Mike simply patted Morris's shoulder, in what he hoped was a sympathetic manner. It somehow seemed to help, since the older man calmed down almost as quickly as he got angry in the first place. A cool, razor-sharp focus replaced the fury as he began speaking in a commanding manner.
”Now's not the time for this. I will have a long and in-depth discussion with my father the next time I see him, but for now, we need to concentrate on our next step. I presume that both Marshals are bringing their forces north in order to reinforce our position here, rather than have us fall back to the city?”
Mike nodded, ”Yes. They deemed that giving the enemy free passage into the rest of the country was too risky when considering how easy it would be to swell their numbers with Almiran civilians. Our best hope at victory rests on containing them in the western half of the continent. To do that, we need to hold them here.”
”We brought about twenty thousand, all told. Even combined with what remains of the Tenundians and their allies here, we'll still be outnumbered ten to one.” Morris said with a frown. ”That will be steep odds for us to overcome.”
”Pah! You expect us to fight with you!” Jurtrik exclaimed. ”I don't know about you, Huthar, but I've had enough of these manlings and their nonsense. I'm taking what's left of my people and going back to the mountains. You all can fight it out with the corpses.”
”Is that head of yours for show?” Talgratha demanded. ”Do you really think that the Lacotians will tolerate your existence if they win? Your people are just as much in danger as the rest of us.”
The larger orc whirled on her, eyes filled with simmering hostility. ”Then you'd have me fight alongside the people who were killing my warriors not ten minutes ago? I'd rather die than see the Bloodtongues reduced to such a state! If the corpses come for us, we will make them pay for every inch of ground.”
”Death in this fight would be worthy of respect. It would earn us a place of honor at Angrosh's table,” Huthar started as his ally began walking away once more. ”But I cannot ask my warriors to stand shoulder to shoulder with their enemies, regardless of the situation. I too will take my people and return to our homeland. There we shall face our destiny.”
”Are you two serious? The entire continent is at stake here! Maybe even the entire Inland Sea Region!” Morris yelled. ”We'll need every soldier we can get, if we want to survive.”
”I don't care. I'm done with all of this.” Jurthik replied while walking away.
”As am I.” Huthar echoed as he moved to join him.
[And I thought the elves were stubborn and bullheaded. Well, I guess its time for Plan B.]
”The both of you are cowards who are unfit to lead your tribes!” Mike intentionally spoke loud enough for the surrounding onlookers to hear. He used the orc's language to allow his target audience to understand him, and infused mana into his voice to ensure his words had their intended effect. ”You weaklings don't deserve to be in charge. Therefore, I challenge both of you to Kal'thelk.”
They were silent for a few moments, as if processing the sudden change of events. Jurtrik, as usual, was the first to respond. ”...Ha....HAHAHAHA! Alright brat! I'm going to teach you the definition of suffering!”
”Fighting you two on one is dishonorable, but refusing your challenge would be more so. Therefore, I will have to assist in Jurtrik's lesson.” Huthar commented dryly, however there was a fire in his eyes that suggested he was also feeling the sting of Mike's insults.
[So I have to fight them at the same time now? How does that...Whatever. It doesn't matter at this point.]
Mike pulled his spear out and held it at the ready. ”Alright, lets get this over with. We still have a lot of planning left to do before the real enemy arrives.”
”Ohh, I'm going to enjoy this.” Jurtrik muttered murderously as he unlimbered his warhammer.
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Huthar slammed into the ground next to his unconscious ally and laid still, evidently too injured to keep moving. And with that the Kal'thelk came to an end, with Mike as the obvious victor. Truth be told, it was the most one-sided beat down Morris had seen since watching his father train his older brothers in martial arts when they were kids. The truly sad pare was that it wasn't even a matter of skill, Mike was simply too fast and too strong for the orcs to keep up. They never even stood a chance.
As the mockery of a duel came to an end, Morris couldn't help but feel conflicted. On one hand, he was glad his friend had improved to this point, and showed every indication of living up to the potential of his title. On the other, he couldn't suppress a certain degree of jealousy over how easily Mike managed to become strong. The speed with which he reached his current, dominating level of power was disheartening to anyone who spent years training to accomplish even a fraction of what he did.
[Something to get used to, I suppose.]
Glancing around, he noticed that he wasn't the only one affected by the results. The crowd of orcs from all three tribes had initially rooted for their kinsmen. Even the Ashborn seemed to favor their own race, despite political lines. However, the cheering had quickly subsided, leaving only sullen silence as the two chieftains were literally beaten into the ground.
Talgratha, for her part, stood with arms crossed, a faint look of disbelief on her face. She was watching Mike, unscathed after his brief confrontation, as he moved over and began healing his two opponents with a brief touch of his hand.
It was enough to make you want to complain to the gods about fairness.
”Still want to challenge him?” Morris asked the woman at his side.
She didn't answer at first, too busy staring. Finally, she shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned an angry gaze on him. ”So what if he can crush those two fools with ease? He'll find me a much more difficult prospect. Actually, this is better. When I win, it will prove I am not only superior to him, but both of the other chieftains as well.”
[Is she in denial?]
Mike started speaking loudly to the leaders he'd defeated. ”Alright, you two have lost, and therefore your tribes will be assisting us in stopping Lacot. Are there any other individuals who wish to question this course of action?”
After a few moments of silence, he continued. ”No? Okay, then lets get to it.”