Now, it was early morning. I had left early, waiting at the western entrance to the village. I kept my arms folded, my steel gladius at my hip, a few stone daggers set upon a leather strap on my chest, my bronze chestplate and cloak. I decided to forgo a helmet, not wanting to overheat and I didn’t feel like giving away my position.

I had already removed the bronze metallic color off my chestplate, having it covered in mud and dirt to ensure no shine or glare from the sun could be reflected off of it. It was somewhat chilly in at this time of day but my lion skin cloak kept me warm enough. I had the hood cast over my head, creating the illusion that the lion's upper jaws were biting down on my head.

It was quite a nifty design. Almost like I was some kind of Orc hercules that had slayed the Nemean Lion. Finally, after waiting for around a minute. The rest of them had come out of the woodwork. I didn’t bother to get a head count, simply gesturing for them to follow me. Not a word needed to be said.

I made my way west, heading through the tall grass as the other 4 followed behind me. It was going to be a pretty eventful week, that I was absolutely certain of. I would find out where the goblins held the steel and I would make sure that my first ever raid will be a glorious tale. That, I am certain of.

_____

Chaganath’s perspective

It had been a couple hours and we finally arrived at the scene of battle. The corpses of the gobins lay rotting on the ground, surrounded by vultures and various carrion. Most of them were stripped of any flesh, just the skeletal frames laying on the ground.

Some of the skeletons showed signs of severe charring or burning, with a dark grey coloration to them. I looked at it in an interested manner, leaning down to examine one of the burnt bones. Before I could complete a clear inspection, the voice of our peerless leader Simba resounded out in a quiet tone.

“Lightning blast, killed at least two of them with it.”

I glanced upward from my kneeling position towards my war captain. I could tell from the way he said it and the way he looked, that he was absolutely serious. I was a little confused, wondering how on earth he could summon lightning. I wasn’t aware that he was a shaman of some sort.

“Are you a shaman? I wasn’t aware that you could shoot lightning at only 4 years of age.”

“Probably. But I haven’t suffered the side effects, the blessing of Pandar and all that.”

Now that, that got me interested. I was aware that becoming a shaman meant you had to pay the price of losing muscle mass and physical strength, but Simba, our peerless leader, claimed he didn’t have to pay the price. I was certain, from his skill in hand to hand combat that I had never seen before in any Orc, the fact that he killed his first lion at age 4 and his ability when it came to casting magic without the drawback of losing muscle mass.

He was chosen by Pandar. At first I didn’t believe it of course, the prophecy of the Orc overlord happening in the child of a chieftain? Sounded plausible but there was no way to prove it, the sign of the lion being on his face was not proof enough. That could’ve been pure coincidence, but the combined feats? I was convinced.

Immediately, I kowtowed before him. My head touched the earth as I prostrated myself before him. Everyone stared at me like I had a second head, we were on a scouting mission and potentially a raid, how could I find the time to prostrate myself?

Before I could be interrupted, I began to speak in a respectful tone of voice, “My lord. Forgive me for doubting your divine power. It is true, you are the chosen overlord of the greenskin peoples. May you give me the honor of serving you with my whole heart and mind.”

I dared not look up, so I couldn’t tell the face Simba was making. After a short pause, the response was given.

“Chaganath, son of Chaganath. I grant you the honor of serving me in your whole heart and mind. Now get up, let’s keep start looting the corpses and keep moving.”

He said this in a bland manner, obviously he didn’t care too much about my opinion and skills. But I will make sure he does, I will make sure he and Pandar will see that I would be a useful asset in the greenskin conquest of the world. I quickly got up, dusting myself off and followed after Simba.

We continued collecting all the weapons, with each of us being given bronze spears and swords from the elite guards of the troops. Of course, this instantly raised the morale of my fellow lackies, since bronze was not a common commodity. Ok’Rik and Mal’Sh especially since both of them were low caste fighters, which were now given bronze tools.

As both of them fervently thanked our leader for it. The only response he gave was yet another bland tone, “Use the weapons well and show to me that you can keep it.”

Again, both of them responded in the way I did, prostrating themselves before him. But it was different, they would be loyal to him only for the sake of riches and wealth. I was loyal to him because of knowledge of the divine. But I guess that was the life of the savannah, the weak followed the strong for protection, loot and glory.

After collecting all the loot we could, Simba gestured for us to leave. Instead of casually marching about in the savannah however, our distance from the village was unknown, we could be close or far away. It was best to err on the side of caution since this was where the goblins ambushed my father, most likely meaning we were close to their base camp.

With the lion hood over his head, Simba snuck through the tall dry brownish-yellow grass, continuing to make his way westward. Everyone followed suit. It was common sense, not wanting to end up being ambushed. It would be a long trek towards the village, assuming we would be able to make our way in short order.

But I was willing to endure it all, for glory and more loot shall be had this week. My first ever proper battle. My blood boils and my heart races just at the prospect of it!

_____

P’avev’s perspective

Finally, after a couple of hours of hard riding, we finally arrived at the mound of corpses. It had been stripped clean by the vultures and hyenas, all that was left were the skeletons of the dead and the charred earth.

“Fucking shit!”

I swore out loud, sitting atop my pet hyena. She could detect my irritation, pulling her lips back and baring her teeth at the nearby surroundings. She was the “Alpha” of the hyena clan, meaning that all the other hyenas that my elite guard rode on were subservient to her. Just like they were all subservient to me.

“My lord?” One of the members of my elite guard spoke up, “perhaps we could use the hyenas to scent them out and track them back to where they came.”

I pondered this for a second in the silence, which was occasionally broken up by the sound of rustling tall grass and the panting of the hyenas. We rode hard and had made good time, but the hyenas were now tired and could not be pushed any more. I shrugged, deciding that I had nothing to lose.

“Sure.” I grunted, giving out the command, “Alpha, Seek!”

Of course, the hyena was just a tool and I wasn’t a creative goblin. So, I named her after her position in the social hierarchy of the hyena clan she was in charge of. I sighed, letting the hyena sniff out where the orcs made their way.

With a sudden perk, Alpha began racing towards our village, with the other hyenas following suit. Even though she was tired, she somehow managed a burst of speed. Of course, just like Alpha, I had the same realization. The potential prey or targets were heading over into our territory, that was a no no.

I gripped tighter onto the reins to ensure I didn’t fall off and gritted my teeth. The Orcs had the fucking audacity to try and come after my village!? The land that I owned, the slaves that served me!? Fuck no, that shit isn’t going to happen. Everyone and everything in that village is my fucking property and no one was going to take that shit away from me!

I cracked the reins twice, causing the hyena to accelerate once more. I could tell she was fatigued, with the other riders following my example. It didn’t matter, I could ride that bitch to death if I felt like it. So long I made it back before the raid happened, it would be fine. I could always get new pups after all.

The damn orcs are going to fucking pay.

______

Takeshi/Simba’s perspective

A few hours later, we finally came to rest under a small cluster of trees. It was uneventful so far, but the sun was high up in the sky. I was hungry, having thankfully brought dried rations with me. Orcs had much higher endurance than humans and were of more hardy stock after all. Orcs were functionally carnivores as well, eating a diet of primarily meat, occasionally some fruit. In true hunter gatherer fashion.

I huffed quietly, resting my head against the back of the trees. It was getting to the peak of heat, some amount of sweat was produced on my brow. It should be near the rainy season soon, then after a week or two of the rainy season. A large orc gathering would be held. Every 5 years it would be held, where the large orc tribes gathered in a religious festival. It was similar to the old Greek olympics.

Sporting events would be held, hand to hand combat, sprinting, javelin throwing, et cetera. It would be good to see if I could get more followers or improve my skill in combat. Perhaps learn and trade new techniques with the other tribes. It was always held at the same location every time it was held, near the Afwan river a week or two away from our tribe. Perfect for fresh drinking water, food and bathing.

I continue to rest, leaning up against the tree as my eyes are half closed. A quick 10 minute break and it was back to it. Everyone was busy downing their allotted rations for the day, making sure they could stuff as many calories in as short a time as possible. Of course, I had one of them keep watch, Mal’Sh.

Mal’Sh wasn’t really notable, being the average of the average. He wasn’t good with any typical weapon but wasn’t bad with them either. He was a bog standard average orc that wasn’t good at much else. So I planned on using him as a potential meat shield or meat bag, the one to do the more dangerous tasks that had little reward. If he has the talent to survive and pull through, he’ll become more suited to the tasks so we don’t have to risk those good with weapons.

He’ll become better and have more value to my squad, but if he doesn’t, there’s no real loss if he dies on this trip. Just another meat bag that I’ll step on so I can climb to greater heights. I yawned loudly, standing back up. I narrowed my eyes, staring off in the distance. I could just about make out a small crowd of people, riding upon something making their way in our direction.

As they slowly approached, I could make out their skin tone, green. By ruling out all possibilities, I could quickly deduce they were most likely goblins. There was no real creature that could be tamed, as far as I was aware, for orcs to ride. Orcs were simply too large to ride any creature that could be tamed.

I sighed, deciding to not bother with them. I assumed they tracked us by following our footprints or scent. I coughed loudly, gathering the attention of all those.

“Mal’Sh, you’re fucking useless at your job. Use your fucking eyes. Now, we’re going to be ambushed by a bunch of goblins riding some manner of creature. Go into the brush and hide, wait for them. Make sure to not leave any trace of your footprints and…”

I paused for a second, licking my finger and raising in the air to detect which way the breeze was blowing.

“Move behind the tree, go down wind so they can’t track us by smell. When I give the signal, you guys will throw your spears at the crowd, then rush them with your weapons and kill them quickly. Got it?”

I looked at them as they didn’t seem to respond, just stare at me dumboundedly.

“Are you fucking deaf! Go do your shit!”

Mal’Sh blinked, the average orc finally speaking and doing something remotely noteworthy, “But, my lord, ambushing and night raids are considered craven? Should we not meet them in pitched combat?”

“Holy shit, shut the fuck up. Do as you’re told or I’ll kill you!? Do you fucking understand, now hurry the fuck up!”

The rest of them knew I wasn’t joking. My display of brutality against Chaganath sealed away any thoughts of rebellion. They quickly complied, disappearing into the brush. I glanced over at the crowd of goblins, moving closer and closer.

I knew for a fact they didn’t spot us, glancing up to the sky. The sun's glare would be shining in their eyes, they definitely wouldn’t be able to spot us. That I was certain of. A manic grin came over my face as I quickly blended into the brush.

Victory would be mine.

______

P’avev’s perspective

As I slowed down near the clearing, I glanced down at my tired hyena. She heaved and panted excessively as she slumped onto the ground. However, I knew for a fact she would not abandon her duty to her clan and her pups. The enemy must have not left the area.

I glanced around, waiting for the enemy to show up. But there was nothing, they must have somehow hidden their scent. I thought I might’ve seen something move into the brush. I narrowed my eyes, looking around. There was no way Orcs would simply back away from a fight with mere goblins.

Orcs had this weird strict honor system that prevented night raids, ambushes and disavowing challenges. There was no way that they would be trying to attack us right? So, where on earth could they go? As I was deep in thought, I suddenly heard a loud cry through the air

“BLOOD FOR PANDAR, SKULLS FOR HIS THRONE!”

In a sudden, spears were thrown through the air. Stone and bronze alike, rained down upon my group of 7 men. However, I was a well learned member of the goblin martial arts, managing to duck away from the spear throws, saving my life by the nick of my teeth. However, 3 of my compatriots weren’t so lucky, caught unaware, they ended up being skewered by the bronze and stone spears.

All that was left was 4 men and myself. Of course, I drew the two swords at my hip at an instant, two steel short swords glistening in the light of the sun. Thanks to the recent raids on the humans, all that was left was to fight.

Of course, I was granted my reprieve. In a sudden ambush, 5 orcs burst out of the fray surrounding my troops in all directions. More spears were thrown, with one of my unlucky elites catching one right through the leg, rendering him incapable of fighting.

The rest of us, now down to 3 men and myself, were hunkered down, having avoided the spears or blocked them with our shields. The shields, now useless, considering the sheer amount of spears sticking out of them. Now, 4 goblins faced off with 5 orcs. All of us were standing still, waiting for the slight hint of movement to begin the fighting.

However, a single orc, the smallest of them stepped forward and simply requested one thing, “Fight me in a duel. If I kill you, your squad is forfeit. If you kill me, my squad is forfeit. Do we have a deal?”

I almost burst out laughing. This tiny orc who was probably the youngest, was leading his own war squad? What a fucking idiot! Of course I’d accept! This will be an easy fight, with him basically signing over the lives of his squads to be my slaves, I could easily figure out where his tribe of origin was and loot every bit of wealth they had!

With a confident smirk on my face I immediately answered, “In the name of the Ertin, I accept!”

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Feedback/comments are appreciated as always. If you enjoy, please upvote the post, thanks! Oh also, any speculation about the future of the story? Feel free to leave that in the comments too, I fucking love that shit.