The Dragon Tamers

The Dragon Tamers [11]

Impregnable. That's what foes of the Orcs have said about Grom Graal. I wouldn't bet against it, to be perfectly honest. The outer wall was as thick as a Dragon is wide, the scars of a hundred wars were etched upon its face. Legend has it that the bones of the Orc's enemies are embedded deep within the wall.

Beogin dipped his head as we entered the gates, the citizens and soldiers moving out of our paths. Most of them were in absolute awe of seeing Dragons for the first time, or maybe it was their first time seeing elves. In comparison, Orcish women are at least a head taller than the tallest women elves, Orcish women are also naturally muscular, and stronger, but less graceful. Orcs in general have elongated lower canine teeth, they jut out of their mouths and over the top lip, men usually have longer ones than females. Orcs also have coloured skin, ranging from green to brown, other than that, we are the same.

I had only been to Grom Graal once or twice before and much had changed since my visits. The main buildings within the stronghold were barracks, Wolf Dens and storage warehouses. Being a very militaristic nation, the citizens were only allowed into the stronghold to buy and sell goods. Naturally the main consumers of locally grown produce were the soldiers.

We passed a barracks on our left, the huge complex was completely empty, all the soldiers were helping with the aftermath of an attack. I couldn't help but wonder why so many had died, why didn't the extensive Orcish army defend its civilians?

Next we passed a Wolf Den, adjacent to the barracks. As Elves raise Dragons, Orcs raise wolves. We aren't talking your regular wolf either; these beasts are quadruple the largest 'normal' wolf. Considering these wolves needed to carry equipment, a very large Orc man and ridiculously heavy axe, it is no wonder that they are vicious, powerhouses.

My mother told me of tales of Orcish soldiers leaping into battle on the back of their faithful wolves. Both wolf and Orc in sync with each others movements, the wolf snapping its jaws and mutilating foes in an arc infront of it while the rider defend the wolf's sides and rear. Unlike their wild, smaller counterparts, these wolves have venom infused with their saliva; one bite from them and you'll be paralyzed within minutes, stopping your breathing all while you're conscious so you can feel yourself slowly die. Well, at least that's what my mother told me, and even then, I don't know if she's even witnessed it.

Orcish soldiers surrounded us in a circle, and moved with us as we passed through the inner wall. The inner wall was similar to its outer sister, but this wall was even thicker; a last line of defense.

The War Chief greeted us outside the doors to the castle-esque building. He stood tall and proud, great wolf heads sat upon his shoulders. He wore only a loin cloth and boots on his massive frame and his 'tusks' were so long they ended past  his nostils. There was a certain aura surrounding War Chief Mokrush, he was intimidating but calm, battle-ready but collected, determined but worried.

Beogin, being the wonderful Dragon he is, angled his right forelimb in such a way that I could leave the saddle and hop down to the ground in a lady-like manner. I whispered a mental thanks to him.

"War Chief Mokrush, it is an honour." I curtseyed lightly; a Queen should never bow.

"Queen Feluna, it is our pleasure to have you here. I am sorry that your visit has coincided with a recent ambush." Mokrush beat his right fist against his chest twice - the proper greeting for an Orc.

"I think we should have a lengthy discussion about our mutual interests." I smiled at him, I could see the worry in his eyes, only another leader would be able to sense it.

"Excellent, I will have a feast prepared for after." He extended his crooked arm to me. I took it graciously as he lead me inside his fortress.

Inside, we were alone. I was grateful for this, even advisors ears should not hear what I was about to tell Mokrush. He lead me deep inside the fortress to what seemed like a private meeting room. It was small and cosy, a fire was lit in the hearth and a map spread out across the circular table, markers littered the surface.

Mokrush lead me to a chair, he stood over by the hearth for what seemed like an eternity. He gazed, frustrated, into the flames. Every so often he would frown, then his frown would turn to sadness, and then to anger.

"Friend, tell me what happened." I was honestly concerned for him, this attack had him off guard, had him now frazzled and disjointed.

He looked at me, his mask of leadership had been discarded momentarily.

"The Humans and Dwarves massacred my people, Feluna, my civilians, the innocent Orcish villagers. They had no mercy, not for the elderly, not for the women, not even for the children. Those monsters distracted us; they started to attack our eastern wall with a great viciousness. I moved the majority of my troops there to drive them off, thinking it was the only attack. It was so out of the blue too, I mean, no warning at all - they just attacked.  Another group of humans, double the number of those attacking the wall, attacked our main gate, and then...then massacred everyone."

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, fighting back the tears. I could sense he was mentally scolding himself for sending all his troops to one area, leaving the rest of the nation unguarded. I felt immense pity for him, it was a leader's worst nightmare.

"I want revenge, Feluna," He growled through clenched teeth. "I want them to pay so severely they will never forget who the Orcs are. They will never dare to come near us again once I'm through with them. More citizens will be joining the army, I have seen their rage and it is even greater than mine. They watched their loved ones being butchered in front of them, they will want revenge - probably even crueler revenge than you and I can even comprehend." He was on the verge of yelling now, I could feel his fury emanating from every fibre in his body. I felt myself feeling uplifted by his strength, I felt like I wanted to go punch someone.

"I am so sorry that this happened to you and your people, Mokrush." I got up to stand beside him and placed my arm on his shoulder. Thinking quickly, I was beginning to think that he wouldn't need much convincing to declare war with the Humans and forge an allegiance with me. As terrible as it sounds, I was almost glad this tragedy had happened, I wouldn't have to bargain so hard. "We need to have a serious discussion about the Humans, they have declared war on us Elves."

He looked at me this time, his eyes expressing increasing worry. I motioned him to sit down, and began to explain everything to him.