Rise of the Horde

Chapter 224: Chapter 22

The howls of the desert echoed upon the ears of the Drakhar, the Skallsers and the Yohan First Horde while also showering their faces with fine grains of sand as they headed south towards their destination. The trolls were the most annoyed among the bunch as they really hated the inconveniences brought by the desert but the thing that annoys them the most was the never-ending torture of tasting grains of sound every single time that they want to talk. Trolls very much-loved talking as how ogres very much love to eat then slumber. They would rather grudgingly taste sand in their mouth than keep their mouths shut.

The Verakhs were ordered by Khao’khen to enjoy a rare opportunity to have a long time to rest and enjoy themselves since they are now moving in the open and in massive numbers at that. And the since the terrain is not favorable for them to fulfill their role as scouts for the time being unless it’s during the dark, the Warg Cavalry took on their role till they reached a favorable place where their expertise would be utilized.

The journey was quite uneventful for Khao’khen and his companions except for the occasional howls of the desert wind and the grumblings of trolls that had tasted sand again, they crawled their way through the desert.

After an uneventful day of travel, Khao’khen and his allies began setting up their camp. As always, the Yohan First Horde quickly built a fort before darkness fully fell. The orcs didn’t know how to set up a proper sturdy wall upon the grains of sand and they were in a dilemma because of it but with the help of Adhalia and the Ereians, they finally managed to set up the defensive wall for their fort. Rows of tent were neatly arranged around the rectangular shaped fort, supplies and necessities were distributed and the latrines were set up and placed in good places since you wouldn’t want to accidentally step on something squishy and slippery that also stinks.

Grogus began preparing dinner which only few had the privilege to enjoy such as the scary glutton Aro’shanna, the human female leader Adhalia, the other glutton Drae’ghana the Horde Chief Sakh’arran, the War Chiefs Gur’kan and Trot’thar, the show off and narcissist Dhug’mhar and of course the Chieftain of Yohan, Khao’khen. The rest inside the camp were divided into their own groups like the group of Skallsers who were divided into a few groups depending on who they get along with, the trolls and ogres had their own groups, the Drakhars had their own also but the warriors of the Yohan First Horde were divided into groups based on the warband and squad that they belong to unlike the others.

Holding a knife in each hand, Grogus began to chopped up the ingredients that he was going to use after washing them for a bit. His customers were either busy having a conversation or strolling around the camp. The blades in his danced in the air and kicked up a weak gust of wind, his cutting skills were nearly perfect as the ingredients that he had cut were almost of the same size with each other depending on what the ingredient was. The superb cutting skills that he had displayed would make the jaws of some bladesmen dropped if they got to witness his display of skills. The little goblin continued with his display of skills without holding anything back, his precision, his speed and the specially sharpened knives of his continued to do their work.

The goblin cook had no idea that someone was in deep thoughts after witnessing his insane prowess in the kitchen which could be use in combat. Grogus had no idea that instead of being protected and only using his knives for food ingredients and preparing meals in a kitchen, there would be a day that he had to stand in the battlefield and protect others but that is somewhere still in the future.

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Deep into the night, the sentries braced themselves against the harshness of the desert as the chilly winds of the night accompanied by grains of sand slam against their faces. On some occasions the sentries had to really keep their guards up as massive grains of sand flying all around hampered their visions.

“Tsk I really hate this place; I’d rather stay in jungle than here.” The bigger of the two sentries along the southern wall near one of the gates complained as he shielded his eyes with one of his bulky hands from the desert sand that was being hurled all over the place by the cold winds.

“Very hot during the day and chilly during the night, it’s a harsh place to live in.” his buddy added as he hid behind his shield. Suddenly, the bigger of the two jerked his ears up and listened more carefully to the distinct sound that he was hearing.

“Do you hear that?” he turned his head towards his partner who was busy hiding behind his shield for protection against the sands.

“Hear what?” his companion looked back at him with eyes full of confusion. ”

“The sound... You don’t hear it?” he asked again.

“What sound exactly? I hear nothing except for the sound of the wind passing by and the grains of sand scraping against the walls and at us.”

“Loud footsteps...many at that. Probably a group of riders basing on the frequency of their footsteps.” He explained in a hushed tone as he strained his ears to listen more carefully.

“Damn this annoying sand... Prepare to sound the alarm just in case... and also alert the other sentries to be ready.” he continued.

After the other sentries were informed about the current situation, they all readied themselves for the possibility of engaging in combat and an eager look was on their faces.

In the distance, fast-moving silhouettes appeared upon the sights of the sentries. After a few moments, the sentries finally confirmed who were approaching and they let out a sigh of disappointment almost at the same time.

“Open the gate, let them in.” the one in charge of the southern gates commanded. The thick wooden gate slowly opened. The riders of the Warg Cavalry charged inside the camp and made a beeline towards where the chieftain was at to make their report and also asked for permission if they can annihilate them to relive themselves of boredom.