First, came the darkness. As each orc walked past the tree line, it surrounded them from every direction, a wave of absence that pushed away every speck of light, carrying with it an immediate sense of claustrophobia.

Their torches seemed to fizzle and diminish, it’s fire suddenly feeling very insufficient, as if they developed a crippling sense of self doubt. How could some wannabe combustion starter expect to push away hundreds of years of murkiness?

So overwelmingly did darkness envelop them, it took several secods for the silence to be noticed. Opressive, unnatural silence. In a momment, there was nervous grunting, clicking of weapons, footsteps of thousands of orcs, and the next, nothing. The lack of any sound unsettled them much more than the lack of light.

The roots of fear grew even stronger in their hearts. With dwarves, they could deal. The mole’s heads were perfectly crushable with a well placed mallet. To darkness, they were used. Resources were scarce, and the nights were deep. Against and attack, they could defend.

But this staleness, this silence? It was completely alien to them, an experience so absurd, they did not know how to push away. Rationally, they all knew that screaming would fill this weird void, but not a single one of them was willing to do it. Bringing light to this place already felt like an offense, to dare to force sound on top of it was certainly a crime.

Even the Excited Prince, who spent so many years learning how to deal with fear, felt it overwhelming him. For a moment, he wanted to give up. Abandon all hope, sit down and just… do nothing. Merely stand there, as immobile as possible. To turn and run was futile, to press up a mistake. Only inaction could- but then his old promise came to him, shaking off whatever it was that pushed him down, and he forced his eyes to focus. Never again, he said to himself. Never again.

For a second time, his soldiers started to pile around him, being pushed by those who came from the outside, but unwilling to move forward. Even the Cautious Advisor, who so brazenly stepped ahead before, stood besides him. Only the Rationalized One pressed ahead, detached from their feelings and actions.

Deep breathes. The damped light of their torches. The firm handle of his trusty mallet. The blood flowing in his ears. The strong smell of his companions. The taste of his saliva in his mouth. “Together!” The rallying cry of the Calm King, something he came to learn to respect. “Together!” He said again, louder this time.

The trees didn’t like it. The ambient got even heavier, as if they were suddenly being stared upon by a thousand hidden eyes. “Together!” Sounded once again, travelling further down the lines. Here and there he could see some of the orcs shaking their heads as if trying to push away some unpleasent thought. “Together!” This time, it was someone far away from him who echoed him, sounding a lot shier. “Together!” Came the response from someone else. “Together!”

All along the disorganized mob that were the soldiers, the rally was repeated and passed ahead, as they dragged each other of the weird stupor. The Prince forced a wide smile into his face, moved between the orcs and started placing their hands into the shoulder of the one in front of them.

Without a word, the others started mimicking the movement, until they were all holding each other. The gesture traveled even outside of the forest, to the ones who still waited outside, unable to move in until the ones under the trees started to tread ahead. Back to the front, the Prince dragged the hand of his brother to his shoulder, and smiled at him. “Together.”

“Rotten Feelings,” the Advisor muttered under his breath, but his next word came a lot louder “Together.”

The torches sputtered and regained a bit of strength, no longer looking like they were on their last breath. It still wasn’t as bright as before entering the forest, but the ones who came after them didn’t lose as much power as the first ones.

Ironically, the second march started in a much more orderly fashion, as they all had to take extra care not to step on the much closer feet all around. Unworried about where to go, they just followed the lead of their Prince. He, on the other hand, was at first quite hesitant. The Rationalized One had long disappeared from his sight, and he had no idea how to make sure they were going straight ahead.