Rise of the Horde

Faynah was staring warily at the two dark elves that came down from the roof.

"Y-y-you are the current queen of Ereian," she stuttered after some careful observation of their uninvited guests.

"The queen?" Khao'khen questioned, his face showing signs of interest.

"What? A dark elf as a queen..." Hekoth spat.

Elara showed signs of surprise on her face, but quickly shifted back to an emotionless one.

"As your friend had mentioned, My name is Elara, the current Queen of Ereia, and also the leader of the dark elves," she admitted since their was no use in hiding it from them. In her mind, it was better off for her to come clean at the very beginning, in order for them to be more accepting to their proposed cooperation.

"What is wrong with your people? Why let some pointy-eared bastard become your queen?" Gunn was shaking his head, his face filled with disappointment.

Zaraki was thoroughly surprised by the revelation, their current queen was not human, but of a different race.

"One more insult from you, and I will have your tongue," Syvis who have been silent all this time snapped at Gunn.

Syvis quickly drew out her daggers, her blade giving off a lethal glint. The distance between was enough for her to take down Gunn in a blink of an eye.

In response to her, Gunn raised his staff, magic gathering on its tip. He could throw out his magic in a heartbeat.

Sakh'arran, Dhug'mhar and Haguk all drew out their weapons.

On the beams supporting the roofs, dark elves lined up, their arrows nocked on their bows, aiming at their possible foes down below.

Gur'kan observed that the Khao'khen was yet to draw his weapon, nor his hand move towards its hilt, which prompted him to stay his hand also.

The room was engulfed in a dangerous atmosphere, one move and chaos would ensue.

Elara had her eyes focused on Khao'khen, the one who she perceived to be the one calling the shots. She had observed that the orc was just staring at the two of them.

Although the orc seemed harmless, she felt danger from him. Among all those present, besides the woman named Faynah, she felt that the orc chieftain was someone who can threaten their lives in such an enclosed space.

Elara couldn't quite understand why would she felt threatened by the orc who was just staring at them, but she didn't have to understand. Her senses were clearly telling her that they would certainly die if the situation escalates further.

"Now...now...Syvis... Don't let some words rile you up too much," she patted the cold looking dark elf on her shoulder, and a sweet smile was etched on her lips. She was trying to deescalate the situation, lest it goes out of hand.

"Apologies for her behavior," she gave a slight bow towards the group of orcs and Ereians, "Her nerves have been on the edge after the recent turn of events. I hope this doesn't affect our talks that much," she continued and guided Syvis' hands to lower her weapons.

Since the queen had spoken, Syvis had to control herself and quickly sheathed her blades, but she still glared at Gunn who was still eyeing her. She clicked her tongue and took a few steps back, she leaned against the wall with her arms across her chest and closed her eyes.

"Chieftain," Elara called out towards Khao'khen with a smile.

Khao'khen patted Gunn on the shoulder, and the shaman released his prepared magic with a snort.

With a single glance from Khao'khen, the others also sheathed their weapons, and at the same time, the dark elves eased up and their arms relaxed. They returned their arrows onto their quivers, and silently watched how things would unfold.

"Can you now enlighten us on how someone of your kind became the queen?" Khao'khen questioned, his interest was piqued.

"Well it's a very long story," Elara sighed, "But to cut it short, we made a deal with the 1st Queen of the previous king, who had discovered our existence. She wanted us to help defend against anything that would threaten the lives of her people, the 'common folks' as the nobles called them. And in return, she would aid us in hiding and blending ourselves with the people," she continued.

"The 1st Queen? How many queens were there?" Adhalia was confused, and not just her, every single one of those who were present were also equally confused, aside from the dark elves.

"Well... I could be called as the 4th Queen of Ereia since there were 3 queens before me, who were married to the previous king, before that brat ascended the throne." Elara shrugged.

"4th Queen? Are you not mistaken?" Faynah wanted to confirm.

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"Yes dear, I am the 4th Queen of the previous king," Elara confirmed.

"If you were the protectors of the common folks as you have said because of your deal with the 1st Queen, then why did you not intervened when that bastard went on a rampage?" Adhalia questioned, her voice cracked as she asked. If the dark elves had intervened, her parents and her house would possibly have averted the calamity that had fallen on them.

"We wanted to," Elara showed an expression of helplessness, "But we can't. If you remember, that brat had a protector, and a very powerful one at that. He was someone that could threaten my life and all of those of my sisters."

"So you just watched from the sidelines, and let that bastard do as he pleases because you are scared for your life," Adhalia had tears running down her cheeks as she spoke.

"We did what we can, but it was not enough." Elara muttered.

"I believe we have been set offtrack here," Sakh'arran intervened. The information that he wanted the most was those about their current foes.

"Oh yes," Elara answered, "Those abominations are not that hard to fight. Each of those things aren't actually alive, that is why they feel no pain. Their figures are nothing but a husk of their previous victim, they are nothing but a bunch of annoying worms that are working together to make their current host move."

"Inside each of those abominations is a lead worm, or better termed as their queen. It lays eggs and produces more of them and is also the one responsible in command of its offsprings. It is easy to identify since it is of a different color than the other worms. Get rid of it and the other worms would soon follow," she continued.

"Is that the only way to defeat them? Is their no other way?" Khao'khen questioned. According to his calculations, dealing with their new foes in the way that Elara had introduced would still put his warriors at great risk. He had no plans of losing many of his warriors, especially since he was still wary of the dark elves.

He was not a fool to trust them that easily. Sure, he might cooperate with them, but he will always have an eye out at them. Who knows if they are planning something behind their friendly gesture to cooperate.

"Well there is another way," Elara muttered, "Destroy them with magic. Rain down upon them destructive magic, especially of the fire element and magic of explosive nature like that of lightning. Those worms fear fire and their flesh are weak to shockwaves," the queen continued.

"We will go with the second one," Khao'khen quickly decided.

If there was an easier and better way for them to deal with their new foes, why not choose it.

"Gur'kan," Khao'khen called.

"Yes chieftain," Gur'kan quickly stepped forward.

"Call for the other shamans to prepare," they will be part of the main attacking force for our next attack.

"Zaraki," he called next. He was supposed to call on Adhalia but she was still a bit emotional after the revelation of Elara, and Faynah was also busy comforting her, so that just leaves Zaraki.

"Gather all the mages available from your people. They will join the shamans in the next attack." Khao'khen ordered.

"Yes chieftain," Zaraki saluted them went out to follow the order of the chieftain.

Elara's hunch was right, the orcish horde and the Ereians fighting under the banner of House Darkhariss were under the leadership of this orc chieftain. Although she wasn't their to witness it with her own eyes, she had heard the reports, on how the armies sent out by the current King were defeated one after the other.

If she was not mistaken, the reason behind the continuous defeat was because of this orc chieftain's leadership. She had observed, that the warriors under his command were fighting in an entirely different manner than what she knew about the orcs.

As far as she knew, orcs were simple-minded creatures, strategy was not one of their strong suites, but with this chieftain's leadership, a new orcish threat might arose.

Elara just shrugged her shoulders and whispered to herself, "Well, not my problem."

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