It had been an hour now, having brought back the bow to Ak’Mi, his eyes had lit up and he got to work immediately. I didn’t have much else to do so I simply watched. It had been an hour, but finally through trial and error, Ak’Mi had made the first bow. Properly scaled to human size, it was a long bow that one would see within the history textbooks that I scanned through every now and then.

A powerful weapon with albeit, a poor man’s version of string, a very thin strip of rope which wouldn’t serve as quite a good tool. But the tension it gave was good enough, I would have to make do in this new world after all. A few arrows were made for it too, flint heads. Good enough, with the force of the bow and the strength of a full grown orc, it would easily pierce through the skull of even an ogre, though the bow or string might snap at the strenuous effort.

I hefted the bow in my hands, quite a decent weapon if I do say so myself. Of course, I was not strong enough as a child now to pull it entirely. Being only 4 years of age, roughly the equivalent of an 8 year old human child, thus standing at a mere 4’4. I’ve grown quite fast, even for an orc, but still. My strength was limited, for now.

As I mused over the bow, it seemed Ak’Mi was waiting for my input on it. Eagerly waiting as his hands rubbed together in an almost nervous way. I glanced up at him before speaking,

“This is some good work Ak’Mi, you live up to your name sack. Say, how about you leave your Asmodai tribe behind and join the Asatru tribe. I have many more jewels, plentiful food and women for you, you can join us and be well rewarded.”

Ak’Mi was taken aback for a second before blinking, “You are asking me to betray my lord? The one I swore an oath to? Surely you cannot be serious, what about my wives and children?”

Ah, there it is. The religious fundementalist aspect. Of course a high caste member like him had multiple women at his side and children. Lucky bastard, soon perhaps, soon. I exhaled loudly before invoking once more, my title,

“Ak’Mi, believe me when I say this, I am the Chosen of Pandar. To join me is to serve in Pandar. I am destined to lead the greatest warhost the world has ever seen.”

Ak’Mi snorted, obviously he didn’t believe me, “Boy. You may be the son of a chieftain but you are not a chosen of Pandar. You are lucky you are so young that I will not report you for this blasphemous behaviour. Leave now with your payment and I shall forget this?”

I shrugged, taking the short bow, longbow and a stack of arrows, wrapping them up in a leather cloak to make sure nobody could see it. This was my secret weapon and my trump card after all.Guess it means I have to kidnap him now. Hopefully he’ll turn around soon enough and Stockholm syndrome will kick in at some point, sooner or later.

I pause before exiting the pseudo-yurt, glancing back towards Ak’Mi who had already turned to ignore me, “Trust me Ak’Mi, you will come join me sooner or later.”

Without waiting for his response, I left back towards my side of the camp. I had nothing else to do, perhaps I would regale the young girls with tales of my glory and strength or something along those lines.

_______

Ak’Mi’s perspective

It was late into the night now, I had been pouring over the designs of the new weapon, this supposed “bow”. The mechanism was quite interesting and the demonstrations on how to use the weapon were most enlightening. A way to shoot a miniature spear with feathers on it long distances to pierce someone was quite a useful weapon.

But, there might be backlash against the weapon. Fighting far away with this weapon may seem cowardly to those of the more “purist” variety. I could probably convince them by showing them that it takes actual strength and dedication to fire the bow properly and well. That would mean I’d have to master the bow first though, before I introduce it to the rest of them.

I sigh, deciding to head off to bed first before continuing to work on the project. My wives were already asleep and my kids too, all sleeping on the side of the yurt in one huge pile. I had stayed up, burning the midnight oil to keep working on potentially improving the bow’s design. Thus far it was a fruitless endeavour, since it was such a new weapon and first introduced to me only today, with only a small amount of tests done, there wasn’t much information I could go on.

I yawned loudly, getting off my wooden stool and laying down next to my two wives, simply leaning against them, not wanting to wake them up. I covered myself in the blankets, getting nice and comfortable as I yawned loudly, drifting off to sweet sleep.

The moment my eyes closed, I was suddenly transported to a different realm. Among the stars of the world, in a pitch black world dotted with only the light of stars. Streaking comets and meteors flew by me as I looked around in shock. Where was I? How was I here? This was just a dream right? Then why could I feel it all, the heat of the comets, the cold of the expanse.

It was cold, oh so very cold. The stars would not light my way, but it was beautiful. The way the stars twinkled and the black expanse seemed to shift and move, with large spheres of rock and what seemed to be mist gathering in the far off distance. Where was I? What manner of dream was this?

All of a sudden, I felt my body being pulled, being pulled towards a large red sphere in the distance, wich appeared to be made out of the same rocky material of the thunder rock itself. The bright red sphere looked like a cruel savage eye as it dangled in the black expanse, surrounded by the stars. I rushed toward it, moving faster and faster until the stars became blurs of light and then nothingness.

I stopped in front of the large red sphere, surrounded by nothing but darkness. Not a sound, not a smell, only unending cold in this dark expanse of lifelessness. Out of the darkness,a voice seemed to emanate from the red sphere, but not speak in the traditional sense. It was like the words were appearing in my mind and I could understand them.

AK’MI.

The voice spoke, its single phrase sent my knees trembling and my teeth chattering. The cold intensified, howling winds began to blow in the black expanse as I began to shiver in the cold. It was a cold unlike any other, unlike any winter I have experienced. The howling wind seemed to grow louder and louder.

I AM DISPLEASED AK’MI, it spoke once more, it’s voice rumbling like thunder itself, as it grew louder and louder, WHY DID YOU REJECT MY PROPHET, MY CHOSEN WARRIOR.

My teeth chattered as I tried to speak but couldn’t, the cold air swept down my throat, drying it out as I shivered violently like a leaf in a thunderstorm, the wind swept around me. Surrounded by this black expanse, I was all alone, with nothing to help me.

FORSAKE YOUR CHIEFTAIN AND WIN GLORY FOR THE CHOSEN OF PANDAR.

The black expanse and howling winds disappeared in an instance, like drawings on the dirt being rubbed out by a flowing water source, like it was being wiped away. In front of me were images of war and battle, unknown races of all manner of creatures being put to the blade. Spears, axes and swords were swung everywhere.

The earth ran red with blood as my new weapon, the bow was used by orcs, waves of arrows would block out the sun itself, piercing this new and unknown enemy. Truly, it was the largest orc army I had ever seen, with hundreds if not thousands of orcs all unified together in the greatest war in the history of Orc-kind.

AK’MI, REPENT AND SERVE THE CHOSEN OF PANDAR. THE ORC RACE IS DESTINED TO DROWN THE WORlD IN A SEA OF BLOOD, TO BURN THE VILLAGES OF THEIR ENEMIES AND DEFILE THE TEMPLES OF THEIR FALSE GODS. REPENT AK’MI AND SERVE!

Before I could respond, the vision blacked out and I awoke with a shock. I sat up immediately, drenched in sweat and panting violently. I felt exhausted, as if I had run for a day straight. I lifted my hand to my eyes, within the darkness I could just about make out that my hand was shaking. Truly, I had incurred the wrath of Pandar, it must’ve been.

The Chosen, the chosen one… Simba? It couldn’t have been him, right? The more I deliberated, the more I believed that Simba was not lying, he was telling the truth after all. He truly was the chosen of Pandar. Why else would he claim so and who else could Pandar be talking about?

I sighed, slumping back into my bed. I would have to tell the kids and the wives later, it appeared it was the will of Pandar that I was approached by Simba, son of Gortholax of the Asatru tribe after all. I let sleep take me once more, deciding to visit the son of the Chieftain early in the morning.

______

Og’Dei’s perspective

It was early morning now, I groaned clambering out of the furs that served as a rudimentary bed. I had woken up earlier than my mother and father, quickly putting on my clothing before walking out of the yurt, stretching and yawning loudly.

To my surprise, every member of my war squad was out there waiting for me. My second in command Sh’Va was the first face that caught my attention. Standing in at 5’0, he was a pretty good warrior, but not close enough to my level. The grunts and other members were there too, the two swordsmen brothers, 4’11 Mus’ashi and 4’9 Hir’Zu appeared to be bickering about something or other. All that was left was the quiet but stoic Ro’Din, who stood in the back with his arms folded, simply content to keep quiet and hang back.

I blinked before asking, “So, what’s all this then? What questions or things are you burning to ask today?”

Of course, Sh’va spoke first, as second in command it was his duty after all, ‘Well, how did it go with the Chosen one, Simba?”

Ah, so it was about that then. Whether or not I got on his good side. A good question to ask, if I managed to land on their good side I would gain prestige and it would trickle down to them. Thus, it was in their benefit to make sure I was in cahoots with the son of the chieftain and the chosen warlord of Pandar.

I grinned widely, “It went well! It appears he’s to be promoted to 10 man commander and we’ve been selected to be incorporated into his squad!”

Cheers and clapping abound, even the normally quiet and stoic Ro’Din managed to chuckle at the thought of this good news.

“HAHA! I knew you could do it! My brother didn’t believe me!” Mus’Ashi stepped forward, loud and boisterous, he clapped his hand on my shoulder, with a wide grin on his face. He turned back, “See! I told you brother! Have faith in our commander!”

Hir’Zu rolled his eyes, the more reserved of the pair but could be just as loud if the situation called for it, “I never said he couldn’t do it. I SAID it would just TAKE SOME TIME! Use your fucking ears!”

Before Mus’Ashi could retort and another loud argument could break out, I quickly interjected,

“Alright both of you, shut up. I don’t want the Chieftain or any other high ranking member to complain about the noise. Let’s talk about this somewhere else, where you can be as loud as you want.”

I rolled my eyes, walking off, gesturing for them to follow which they did. I lead them to a lone tree near the Thunder stone, most people wouldn’t be here unless for religious ceremonies and observances at certain times. Of course, it was early morning, so it should be abandoned. Thankfully, it was. Just the large thunder stone, blessed by Pandar. Perfectly apt for discussing serving under the Chosen of Pandar.

I sighed, sitting down in front of the Thunder Stone before gesturing for all of them to sit. I couldn’t be bothered to stand and shout along with them. Sure, I was happy but I wasn’t full of food yet, I lacked the energy to simply celebrate.

‘Alright, here’s the deal. Don’t tell anyone yet alright? It still hasn’t been finalized, so as much as you guys probably want to brag. You guys can brag later, got it?”

Everyone nodded and seemed to display some form of understanding, good. I exhaled loudly, before rubbing my face, “So any questions?”

Immediately Mus’Ashi darted forward,

“So, what did our young lord think of your studying of his hand to hand combat abilities and your application of it?”

“He said he was disappointed that I did not improve upon it, but was satisfied with the results nonetheless.”

“Will he teach us?” Hir’Zu interjected, “I know you have tried to, but it is best to learn from the master himself.”

“I don’t know, I’ll ask him.”

Immediately all hell broke loose, a large pile of questions rushed forth from their mouths as they all clambered to speak. I rolled my eyes before saying in a loud voice,

“TAKE YOUR TURN. I’LL ANSWER THEM, SO JUST ASK IN AN ORDERLY FASHION ALRIGHT?”

It’s going to be a long fucking morning after all…_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.