Rise of the Horde

Chapter 235: Chapter 23

Four days further south, the Warg and Rhakaddon Cavalry along the Troll Hunters finally have the towering walls of Alsenna in their sights but they encountered a small problem, behind them was a small army that was adamant in pursuing them. Their pursuers seemed to have mistaken their refusal to engaged them in combat as a sign that they were a weak bunch and are easy targets.

“Are they still following us?” Haguk suddenly questioned as his warg continued moving forward. They have been slowing down their pace last night since their steeds were near their limit already and it won’t do them no good if their mounts under them would buckle during a battle because of exhaustion.

“Yes, chief. They are still chasing but they are now a bit further away from us.” The closest warg rider to Haguk replied after taking a quick glance behind them.

*****

Around late morning yesterday, they spotted the small army that seemed to be camping nearby, Dhug’mhar suggested that they should go on and attack them so that they could get some excitement and get rid of their boredom. Even Skorno agreed with Dhug’mhar’s suggestion but Haguk refused sternly as he steered their group away from the enemy camp.

Maybe the sentries of the small army noticed the clouds of dust that they were kicking up during their march and sent out scouts to investigate. Dhug’mhar and Skorno who were denied their fun were grumbling as they marched but then someone noticed the five possible hostile riders that were heading their way. Haguk ordered everyone to focus on the march and ignore the riders but Dhug’mhar and Skorno had other plans.

The two sagged behind their marching formation as they set their sights on the riders. Since they can’t stop moving and must keep up with Haguk and the rest, they would be competing in accuracy. Bolts of iron and a throwing spear would sail through the air and strike through an enemy. The two got rid of the scouts that were coming after them fairly quickly without breaking a sweat.

.....

“Perfect aim for a perfect warrior!” Dhug’mhar declared as he proudly puffed his chest out and flex his arm muscles towards Skorno to which the troll just responded with a shake of his head and a heavy sigh before speeding up and returning back at the lead of his kin.

*****

“Let them be for now, we’ll take them out at the flat plains up ahead.” Haguk shouted, his gaze never leaving the distant towering walls of Alsenna. He ignored the possible hostile camp that they encountered since he thought that even if they get discovered, they won’t be able to pursue them for long since he was confident with their marching pace. But he never expected that the camp that they discovered was filled entirely with riders.

A few hours later, they finally arrived at the flat plains which Haguk chose to be the battlefield.

“Whose army do you think it is?” a warg rider questioned the one beside him as they leisurely waited for their foes to reach them.

“Its hard to say but it must be an army of the darkskins.” The one behind him replied as he stroked the fur of his warg. The orcs call the humans of Threia ‘pinkskins’ instead of Threians and following that logic, they refer to the Ereians as ‘darkskins’.

“I doubt that it is a proper army since they don’t have even a single banner up. A proper army would always have a banner in display, no matter how small their numbers are, unless they aren’t.” one of them mumbled as he kept his gaze unto the incoming enemies that seemed to be moving into their formation.

The two sides were finally close enough with each other that they can distinguish the basic features of their adversaries. Those who were pursuing Haguk and his group were surprised when they finally saw who or what they were actually chasing after.

“Tsk...bandits...” Haguk clicked his tongue as he observed their enemies. The equipment of their foes was all over the place and judging by how rowdy they are, he was sure that they were bandits.

‘Absence of banner, equipment all over the place, differing attires, fast-moving and rowdy... Definitely bandits’ the chieftain of the Warghen Clan thought.

One of the bandits moved forward atop his steed and shouted something towards Haguk and his group but he was replied with nothing but stares and the sound of the wind passing by. Even if he was going to shout all day long at the orcs and trolls, they wouldn’t understand a word of what he was saying.

Embarrassed, the leader of the bandits turned around and spurred his steed to sprint but not at the direction that Haguk and his peers were expecting.

“They fled!? Just like that?” one of the Warghen Clan blurted out in surprise as their supposed to be enemies retreated like the wind, they came rather slow but they sure flee fast.

“What just happened?”

“Huh?”

“Where are they going?”

Questions came one after another but no one seemed to be interested in the answers since for all they know, their enemies retreated without a fight.

“That just happened...” Haguk muttered to himself as he turned his steed around and headed towards the direction of Alsenna. Things that he didn’t expect came one after another which rattled his mind a bit.

A camp filled with nothing but riders who adamantly chased after them in great distance but were quick to flee once they saw who they were pursuing.

Following the task given by their chief, the riders of both cavalries and the trolls started raiding the surroundings of the city. They assaulted settlement after settlement, slayed all those who dared to fight back and burnt everything that can be burnt. Panic and fear spread among the Ereians who were close by as they fled towards the City of Alsenna. Haguk and his companions weren’t interested in slaughtering the helpless women, the old and children since there was no honor in doing so. They even ignored the men who also turned tail faster than the others.

Survivors or a lot of survivors flocked towards the city which caused panic and fear to spread after they brought the news of monsters attacking the surrounding areas. As expected, the alarm bells went off and the gates were closes. The garrison soldiers of the city manned the walls and reinforced their defenses as they prepare to face off against their possible besiegers. Some merchants who were inside the city grumbled for the profit that they were about to lose while some nobles regretted coming to the city.