Rise of the Horde

The commander who rallied the soldiers turned around and started barking orders to rescue the wounded and save those who can still be save while also making sure that their enemies who they thought were dead were really dead. His orders were quickly spread out as the Ereians started to do what they were tasked to do when they felt the ground shaking which was becoming more intense as time passes by.

Using a the broken parts of their defensive wall as a stepping platform, the commander now had an elevated view of his surroundings. He squinted his eyes to get a clear view of what was causing the commotion from the center of their camp and his grip on his weapon loosened when he finally saw what was headed for them, more enemies but this time they were riding behemoth creatures that were bulldozing their way through their camp. Tents, supplies, soldiers and anything that stood in their way got easily demolished and trampled.

“By Faerush! We are screwed!” he helplessly muttered before screaming at the soldiers to scatter to mitigate the impact of the enemie’s rampage as he himself jumped down from where he was standing. He was confident that he would survive after he took ten ridiculously steps away from where he was at a few moments ago but a sharp pain on his back shattered his confidence which was then followed by another and this time it was on his right thigh which caused him to fall down and roll on the ground.

He staggered to his feet quick enough for him to witness the massive damage that their enemies did to his soldiers. Screams of panic and moans of pain reverberated in their location as the massive opponents that they were faced off against disappeared through the darkness of the night.

The commander had only one thought in his mind which was how to survive the next ordeal that is going to fall on them as he watch the soldiers that were under his command struggle and get trampled by their enemies. “Is Faerush testing our faith?” he questioned himself as his consciousness began to wane before disappearing into complete darkness.

*****

.....

The winds of the ever merciless Burning Sands kept on kicking up as the heat from the morning star started its debut for the upcoming day once again. Corpses of humans, orcs and trolls littered the camp of the Ereians started to recover all those that can be recovered from the clutches of death while finishing off their enemies that are still clinging on and are yet to succumb to the wounds that they have sustained from the previous engagement.

In the center of the camp, the two Lords of the Ereians were raging because of the lose of all their supplies which the Verakhs made sure to destroy while their allies distracted most of the enemy army. The lose of their supplies meant that the demise of the entire army that they were leading was not so far off.

Baron Husani raged on for the first few moments then went quite as reports of their loses during the last night attack kept piling on. He still remembered that giant foot that knocked him out cold with just one strike which still sent shivers down his spine. ‘If one kick from one of their enemies was suffice enough to knock him out cold, then it won’t take much for their enemies to slaughter all those who were under them.’ but he kept all his thoughts to himself as saying it out loud to his fellow Ereians would be nothing more than be detrimental to their now waning morale.

After the meeting was adjourned, Baron Husani still kept thinking of that foot that easily sent him to the dreamland and he hated to admit it but that was one of the most comfortable sleep that he ever had since they started this campaign against the orcs under the order of the Prince. He didn’t feel even the slightest pain about the lose of his most excellent slaves nor his most prized steeds. His thoughts were preoccupied with how long will they be able to survive this onslaught of their enemies which seemed to be able to outmaneuver and outmatched them in in every single encounter that they ever had.

“Lord Husani, what should we do?” his fellow Baron questioned him as he directed his serious gaze towards him and so did all the other commanders inside the tent did but the mind of Baron Husani was distracted by something else as he carelessly mumbled “Surrender or go home in defeat” to which many of those present inside the camp had disbelief written all over their faces as the Baron voiced out his inner thoughts.

“Ehem!” Baron Masud coughed out loudly as he had never did before to interrupt the detrimental words of his fellow Lord as he too fixed his disbelieving face and replaced it with a very serious look.

“Lord Husani had a rough night, with his most prized steeds and beloved slaves missing after the attack last night, he is not on his right mind so don’t take his words seriously.” Baron Masud continued as he eyed his fellow Lord to play along with what he had said but he was in for a big disappointment as Baron Husani frowned after getting the implications of what his fellow Lord had to say about his mental well-being.

“I ain’t crazy but you must be if you will still stubbornly hold onto the hope that we will be successful in this campaign. You’ve seen it for yourself what we are up against and hell! I even lost something more precious than my pride during this useless invasion. I lost my right to be called a man! You hear me!” Baron Husani lashed out before breaking into a mad laughter.

“Those corpses outside are a testament to what our enemies can do to us. We lost thousands, I tell you! Thousands! Thousands of our soldiers have forever closed their eyes and if Faerush really did exist. May he show them mercy. And for what! Not even a hundred of our enemies lay among our fallen ones.” the Lord continued as he shook his head then stormed out of his tent with disappointment all over his face.

But before walking out of the tent he turned around then stared directly at the eyes of his fellow Baron. “Just so you know, I’ll be taking my army or whatever remains of it with me and go back to my lands. Let the Prince do it himself if he really meant what he said by seeking vengeance for his people but for me... Count me out... I’ve already too many soldiers and even payed more than what others could afford to in this foolish expedition.” he muttered before turning around in full stride and made his exit while his fellow Baron kept on calling out to him to think this thoroughly but he already made up his mind. That foot of that orc that knocked him out unconscious, dined at his table, took away his mother and daughter pair of slaves and his most prized steeds without much effort served as a wake-up call to him.

If their enemies can get in inside their camp and attack his tent as the commander of the army, it won’t take them much trouble if they ever decided to aim for his head. He already escaped a sure death once and there is no way that he will be trying his luck again. He just felt lucky that the enemy that knocked him out had his eyes on something else and not his life. Sure he did lost his manhood but there are many other luxuries that he could still enjoy as long as he still draws breath unlike his other soldiers who are now being piled up with each other in the massive pit just beside their camp.

Inside the command tent, Baron Masud helplessly sat down on his seat as he stared at the retreating figure of his fellow Baron as he can somewhat understanding him. But unlike him who had a solid Barony, his lands were in for a pinch as his standing among the Royal Court was going on a downhill for years already. Without great achievements, his house might fully succumb to the pressures of the royalty and had to give up his territory for some peace and quite but that’s something that he can’t afford to. He doesn’t want his noble lineage to end up with him as he dreamed of going higher upon the hierarchy of nobility and shove those guys out of the way like how other high ranking nobles do. And for that he had to have enough prestige and achievements to do so without any problem.