The march from the heart of their lands to the War Borders was naturally hard. The Orcs already weren't used to moving in great numbers, and when you added to it the difficult terrain, full of mountains and arid soil, they had to travel, things just got worse. On top of all that, the Excited Prince forced an accelerated rhythm that had most of his troops exhausted. He, honestly, was counting with the shock of seeing the dwarf siege underway to give them the second wind needed to get into battle.

Had they got there and found nothing wrong, he would have a lot of highly emotional three ton war bred individuals quite displeased at him, most of who were pretty inventive at making known their grievances. He was, however, right, and his gamble did pay off. All the influence he had invested in getting the troops ready and marching on such urgent timing was bound to be recuperated, and most of the soldiers who begrudgingly followed him, had a much better disposition towards his orders.

What was pretty good, considering he already had them moving again as soon as they were finished with rummaging the destroyed village. Some men were sent to the nearby settlements, both to make sure this attack was an individual happening, and to lead reinforcements on the trail of the main army. Some others were sent back to the capital, carrying news and spoils, to be spread and studied, but above all to get the rest of their nation ready for war. Most of them, however, were lead away from their lands, towards a destiny that hadn’t been trod in countless ages. Down into the Wild Lands, where neither Orc nor Dwarf managed to establish a foothold.

Such an order would result in a mutiny, had they not just witnessed the invasion attempt. But the trail was fresh, the rage was boiling, and the will was there. Most of them basically started moving before the order was given, and the Prince was forced to rush along in order to stay in front of his army. It was in such fashion that the Cautious Adviser found himself forced to be in front of the troops as well, trying to give continuity to an argument he had very little chances to develop on the march there.

“You asked me to trust you, and I did. By the feelings, against my better judgment, I did. Now I deserve at least the same amount of trust back. How did you know?”

A small smile touched the Prince’s lips, and he looked at his companion sideways “No more ‘what are we doing, you crazy bastard’? We getting here just in the nick of time isn’t enough for you? Don’t you want to get revenge for everything those moles did to us?”

“You being right is the only reason those men aren’t beating you to a pulp right now. They may be swayed by your words and your gambles, but you know that you’ll need more to convince me. Hell, hadn’t those damn hotheads not being basically pushing us, you’d be explaining to me a lot more before I’d ever agree to this death march.”

The Prince sighed and focused his eyes on the path of destruction left behind by the dwarves. The only reason he asked for the Advisor’s help was because he knew that his would be the strongest opposition to his requests. By going to him directly, he hoped to sway everyone else in one go. It did work, even if just because of emotional blackmail, but he never imagined the other orc would demand to come along.

Had he just been forced to face the other again on his triumphant return, the momentum of his victories would be enough to deter him from demanding more explanations, but now he was forced to explain a lot more than he ever wanted. More than he thought he could. Still, he was not about to just give in.

“Brother…”

“Don’t you ‘Brother’ me! ‘Brother’ was the only reason I gave you as much leeway as I did! I am not about to go on another of your stupid gambles. Rotten feelings, Gramul, your impulsive stupidity is the only reason you’re just a Prince instead of occupying the throne!”

“I never wanted the throne!”

“Liar!”

“Okay, fine, I did want it, but that was before I saw what the Calm King has been doing for all of us. Now all that I want is to help build his vision, just the same as you do! Why can’t you believe me!?”

The march from the heart of their lands to the War Borders was naturally hard. The Orcs already weren't used to moving in great numbers, and when you added to it the difficult terrain, full of mountains and arid soil, they had to travel, things just got worse. On top of all that, the Excited Prince forced an accelerated rhythm that had most of his troops exhausted. He, honestly, was counting with the shock of seeing the dwarf siege underway to give them the second wind needed to get into battle.

Had they got there and found nothing wrong, he would have a lot of highly emotional three ton war bred individuals quite displeased at him, most of who were pretty inventive at making known their grievances. He was, however, right, and his gamble did pay off. All the influence he had invested in getting the troops ready and marching on such urgent timing was bound to be recuperated, and most of the soldiers who begrudgingly followed him, had a much better disposition towards his orders.

What was pretty good, considering he already had them moving again as soon as they were finished with rummaging the destroyed village. Some men were sent to the nearby settlements, both to make sure this attack was an individual happening, and to lead reinforcements on the trail of the main army. Some others were sent back to the capital, carrying news and spoils, to be spread and studied, but above all to get the rest of their nation ready for war. Most of them, however, were lead away from their lands, towards a destiny that hadn’t been trod in countless ages. Down into the Wild Lands, where neither Orc nor Dwarf managed to establish a foothold.

Such an order would result in a mutiny, had they not just witnessed the invasion attempt. But the trail was fresh, the rage was boiling, and the will was there. Most of them basically started moving before the order was given, and the Prince was forced to rush along in order to stay in front of his army. It was in such fashion that the Cautious Adviser found himself forced to be in front of the troops as well, trying to give continuity to an argument he had very little chances to develop on the march there.

“You asked me to trust you, and I did. By the feelings, against my better judgment, I did. Now I deserve at least the same amount of trust back. How did you know?”

A small smile touched the Prince’s lips, and he looked at his companion sideways “No more ‘what are we doing, you crazy bastard’? We getting here just in the nick of time isn’t enough for you? Don’t you want to get revenge for everything those moles did to us?”

“You being right is the only reason those men aren’t beating you to a pulp right now. They may be swayed by your words and your gambles, but you know that you’ll need more to convince me. Hell, hadn’t those damn hotheads not being basically pushing us, you’d be explaining to me a lot more before I’d ever agree to this death march.”

The Prince sighed and focused his eyes on the path of destruction left behind by the dwarves. The only reason he asked for the Advisor’s help was because he knew that his would be the strongest opposition to his requests. By going to him directly, he hoped to sway everyone else in one go. It did work, even if just because of emotional blackmail, but he never imagined the other orc would demand to come along.

Had he just been forced to face the other again on his triumphant return, the momentum of his victories would be enough to deter him from demanding more explanations, but now he was forced to explain a lot more than he ever wanted. More than he thought he could. Still, he was not about to just give in.

“Brother…”

“Don’t you ‘Brother’ me! ‘Brother’ was the only reason I gave you as much leeway as I did! I am not about to go on another of your stupid gambles. Rotten feelings, Gramul, your impulsive stupidity is the only reason you’re just a Prince instead of occupying the throne!”

“I never wanted the throne!”

“Liar!”

“Okay, fine, I did want it, but that was before I saw what the Calm King has been doing for all of us. Now all that I want is to help build his vision, just the same as you do! Why can’t you believe me!?”

“Because you’re a liar, a scoundrel, a dissimulate-“ as if catching a hold of himself, the older orc cut his cursing in the middle of the sentence. One deep breath, another and then another, and his wits were back to the right place again. “Please, just answer me.”

Gramul didn’t answer immediately. Rather, he looked ahead for a while, as if trying to decide how much he was willing to say, measuring his words. That, by and of itself, gave the Advisor more pause than anything else. Could his brother actually be… thinking? Pondering before talking? Such unprecedented actions suddenly put him a lot more on edge than he had been before.

“The trees told me about it.”

“… What?”

“The attack. The trees told me about it. They said… They said that if I managed to stop the attack and follow the moles back to their walls, I would have a chance to get back what is ours.”

“Are you implyin-“

“I’m implying nothing!” He cut the dumbstruck question his companion was about to make. He did not want to think about the implications of his words either. “I’m just telling you what happened.”

Cautious didn’t know what to think. That was a lot of bullshit, it had to be. And yet… He knew Gramul better than anyone else, and even though he wasn’t always ready to believe his brother, he knew he would never lie about something like that.

At the same time that he couldn’t believe it, he had seen with his own eyes how right the younger orc had been. All of a sudden, his mind was reeling with possibilities and what ifs. Could it be true? Could he actually had received a message from the trees? But then, that would make him… No, impossible. That hadn’t happened in ages, since before the mole invasion. Him, of all people?

Carried by their arguing, none of them noticed the approaching tree lines until it was almost upon them. Suddenly silent, they stopped walking to stare at the dark forest, the army slowly coming to a halt behind them. No matter how motivated everyone felt, taking the first step beneath this cursed vegetation required a lot of mental preparation. It felt awfully close to the village, but those willing to settle the War Borders would live a lot closer to their lost homeland if they could.

This forest was regarded by many as the only reason no war had broken out between the two races for so long. A wall much more effective than anything the orcs could build, regardless of employed magic, as thick as the space occupied by the trees. To try to cross it was to become food, and yet, the dwarves managed to do so. Forget the fires, forget their strange armor, forget their surprise attack, that was the most terrifying fact of this whole situation. Where entire legions fell before, a single battalion managed to cross. Suddenly, the Hungry Forest was not impervious anymore.

Not even the famous Excited Prince, who daringly led an entire army on a mad dash through his country, could easily take a step inside. Although he would never admit it to his old friend, he did enjoy his reputation of impetuousness, and it was this same reputation that so frequently moved him to take some impetuous actions, such as demanding his troops to march into the Hungry Forest. Demanding and actually doing it, were two very different things, however. And he would never expect someone to do what he dared not. So, they all stared at the treeline.

One after another, the other orcs gathered around the two of them, no one daring to go any further, as if there was a physical barrier stopping anyone from taking another step ahead. Suddenly, a creak could be heard coming from inside the forest. A particularly long creak could be heard as if traversing trees, originating from a point far, far away and getting closer and closer, as if going from trunk to trunk, lasting much longer than any creak had the right to. Sometimes it would seem to be just about to die off, still far away, only for it to pick up renewed intensity, coming at them faster and louder.

There wasn’t a single breath of wind going around to take the blame for those dreaded sounds, and even if there was, they always started from far away and came closer to the group, never from the same direction. Whispered words, exchange between close orcs, all carried the same fear, and the same doubts.

“What’s in there? What kind of beasts awaits us in those dark trails?” The frenzy that seemed about to take over the entire army was suddenly gone, replaced by hesitation. While they all stood and stared, the Rationalizad One made his way to the front of the army, and took a deep breath.

“We had legends about those woods”, said the Rationalized One, as if on cue “No one was supposed to come in, but there were always those who did. The young ones, they’d say they seeked Bravery, and barge in as if it was just another adventure.”

“Bravery is no Foolishness.” Remarked the Cautious Advisor, bitterness in his voice.

“And yet, they frequently hold hands.” the Rationalized One started again “But it was Foolishness of them. None ever came back. They just disappeared. As soon as they got close to the treeline, the creaking would begin. Far away at first, but always coming closer. There was no wind to be blamed for it, either.

If you were near it, you couldn’t notice, but I saw it happen sometimes, perched on the watchtower. The trees were actually bending in, trying to get their canopies nearer the advancing party. The longer the young ones took to enter, the more intense the creaking got, the more curved the trees were.

The forest is hungry. It stares at it’s victim with expecting eyes, wondering when their next meal is going to come. They can’t chase us, so they just stay there. Waiting. Hoping. Counting on the foolishness of those who walk into their arms.

There were never any screams, though. The creaking would just stop. And we’d know it was over. The trees would get straight, again, but always looking a bit different. Their leaves, greener; their branches, livelier. Sometimes, there would even be fruits on them, after some particularly big groups. Those attracted all kinds of birds, and for a while there were singing. Until the creaking came back. Then, it was silence again.

It aren’t animals that you must fear. There are no animals in those woods, not native. And those cursed enough to wander in, never last long. Hungry Forest. The name is literal. It’s the trees that starve.”

Whatever power gave boost to his words the other night, was still functioning, it seemed. His voice spread to the entirety of the army, all the way to the farthest soldier. Silence befell the troops after his speech. The creaking became that much more ominous, and the trees more oppressive. No one dared to say another word, as if fearing to bring attention to themselves. No one, except the orc who had just witnessed his entire village die.

“I can see it, though. The fire that still burns in my eyes, it also burns in their footsteps. I can guide us. I can smell their putridity. Follow me, if you dare.” Finally, he took his first steps inside the dreaded forest. He didn’t fear it anymore. There was no space for Fear among his feelings. He could only think about what he was going to do to the moles, when he reached them.

The first to break their stunned silence was the Advisor, his minds still reeling with all the shocking things he’d heard. “I hope your trees aren’t in collusion with those ones. I’d hate to be baited into some vegetables diet.” Pulling a torch from his bag, that ignited as soon as it entered in contact with open air, he went after their guide.

“Bring out the torches” the Prince’s voice thundered into his troops ears, carried by years of practice and experience, the kind of magic they all knew. “Protectors, to the outlines. Our vengeance lies ahead of us. Are we really to be overdone by a Cautious?” In much lower words, he muttered to himself “Rotten Feelings”, as he pulled his own incendiary stick and walked after the other two.