Heirs of Hatred

Chapter 4: Fire and Venom

Aru'Gal watched as his riders mounted their wyverns at the top of Karn'Arak. Most of them had the same dark skin as he, the Darkling and his father did. Orcs from the Frost Song valley. Many of them were his battlebrothers before he became the Great Khan and he made sure once he was, that orcs he trusted would become riders.

Only some, those from the Desert and not the valley, carried a light grey skin instead, but all of them had the Dragons Fire in their eyes and the black spiked Obsidian armour around their legs and fists. Two of the greys even wore armour at their top, for they were the watchers of their clans. Those that led the riders to their clans and made sure that Karn'Arak got the supplies the riders and their beasts needed. It would have been unwise to make someone a watcher of a clan they were not born in. There had already been enough mistrust among the north, so he knew he needed at least a few from other clans to ensure they all remained loyal to him, and Karn'Arak.

The beasts his riders mounted were mostly Wyverns from the Burning mountains around the Ashen Plains. They roared and spitted, eager for a fight but kept in check by their riders and the black spiked chains around their neck. Even more than orcs wyverns could differ. While for Orcs it was mainly their skin and their eyes, wyverns even had different tails and heads depending on the mountains they were from. Almost every rider got theirs close to Karn'Arak and so so most of them were born of fire, since like Shamans they adapted to the land of their birth.

Their bodies were protected by dark red scales that grew thicker with age. The oldest beasts of them were not only the biggest but also carried scales so big that a rider could carve his seat inside the biggest one right at the top of their back. Their tail was stinged and stranger beasts carried a poison inside it but those from the ashen plains used all their venom to spit fire from their maw instead. Their tail was clubbed around the sting by their scales and used as such in a fight. Even the smallest ones that a rider could use were as big as one and a half orcs, while the biggest that stood atop Karn'Arak this day would have needed five a top teacher to reach its height. And both only when they crawled on their two legs and wings, not when they showed tall their strength and wings.

The biggest one was one of the few that were not from the ashen plains but a rare mount from the Bladespire Wastes, the cold desert south of the Burning Mountains. Its scales were not red but as white as the wastes and its head carried far bigger four horns than those of fire. In its biggest scale on its back there was a small cave carved in where its rider could take a seat.

While the beasts were eager to ride, the riders prepared their saddles and loaded them with bags, most of them empty. The Darkling and Cra'Gal were waiting to be taken by one of the red scales and Arugal knew it must have been the biggest shame for his old friend, to be carried as but a guest on another man's beast. But after his sister's betrayal Aru'Gal had no choice but to let him endure. There was much unrest, even among the riders. He could feel it, so an example was needed and in a Way it was good that his friend was the one he had to make it on. For now the rest knew their own Punishment might be more than exile and a chance of redemption.

"Chieftain." A female voice reached Aru'gal from behind. As he turned he saw the rider of the great beast from the wastes, Sha'Raph. Her body was completely protected by thick Obsidian and unlike many she even hid her face beneath a mask and a dark hood. Both the mask and the hood were adorned with runes and chains as usually only the Shamans did but the clans of the Wastes were said to all carry a connection to their desert. "With your words I am ready to ride." Her voice was muffled under the plain darkness of her mask. Only her chains on it resembled a face.

Aru'Gal nodded "Any word from the bladelands yet?". She shook her hidden head. "No Chieftain...". She had never been a woman of many words but Aru'Gal knew she would have spoken if there was more. "Then find out!" he barked. "Once you have send word to your clans fly west and see why none of them have returned." "yes chieftain." she said and pressed her fist against her chest "Kag'Magosh!" "Kag'Magosh" he answered with both voice and fist. As she ran off to climb her giant beast another voice was ready for goodbye. "You think the south did something in the bladelands?" the Darkling asked him as he came closer. "I'm not sure br...exile. But there is no point in defending an attack we do not even know is one." Aru'gal sighed but then turned to see the darkling. "I will come after you before the mountain sings but I will take word with the dragon first..." The darkling nodded all so slightly "You think the shaman is right?" he almost whispered. Aru'Gal made a smile of pain for but a second before he answered "We shall see...concentrate on your name and honour. Then we can take care of everything else." "as you command, Chieftain." The darkling said obediently and pressed his fist against his Chest. "Kag'Magosh." He said and was answered by the same words and gestures before he left to take a seat behind another rider. His friend's obedience to his title hurted him as much as the punishment he had to cast upon him. They were battle brothers for years, they shared many stories that would never be told and he missed those they would never have.