“…” Conrad was confused before finding out. “No…don’t tell me….”

“Ajax No!” Olivia finally said, her shout, filled with sadness. “We are not going to leave you here!”

“Olivia-” Ajax was interrupted.

“Who decided that you will be left behind?!” She asked as tears swelled in her eyes.

“I-”

“It’s either all of us leave or none of us do!!” Olivia stated.

“I’m trying to protect you…”

“Protect me from what?! You trained me!! I can protect myself!”

“…”

Ajax was silent, knowing that arguing would not do anything but waste time. He then went and grabbed Conrad’s shoulder.

“Promise me this…don’t go back…your fight in this is over…stop her…stop her from returning.” Ajax whispered to Conrad before slapping the horse in the back. Kyle then proceeded to gallop and run away from the place.

“AJAX!!” Olivia shouted angrily.

Conrad, still dumbstruck, looked back at Ajax who was waving his hand.

“I’m sorry…” Ajax whispered to himself. “I do not want you to suffer.”

He then went towards the cave, leaving Conrad and Olivia.

Going near the cave, he heard some rustling near him. He looked at the forest, seeing silhouettes. He then heard some growling to his right but when he looked, he saw nothing.

He then looked to the left but as he did, a wolf pounced on him. The weight of the wolf rendered him stuck. He then heard a snarky laugh. The rider of the wolf laughed.

The rider then dismounted the wolf and went towards Ajax. It was the captain of the wolf riders. His face looked that of an arrogant and obnoxious man.

“Well well well, look what I have captured. A little rodent that escaped the grasp of many orcs.” The orc said mockingly, chuckling a bit. Ajax remained silent as the weight of the wolf crushed him. Many of the wolf riders then went out of hiding.

“It seems like you are now in a predicament. Hehehe” The captain smirked. “Well, let’s see how good you are against my subordinates. Bastard! Get off him!”

The wolf then obliged, though a small whine was heard from the wolf. Ajax was free from the bearing weight of the wolf. He then got out his sword and Warhammer and prepared to fight the other orcs.

The captain saw his weapons, but he was fascinated with one thing, his Warhammer.

“That hammer….” The captain mumbled, then he remembered it. He laughed because of it. Ajax just looked confused as the captain laughed and laughed. It took a couple of seconds until the captain asked.

“Orjak is that you??” The captain asked, still laughing. Ajax was so shocked, that he froze in place. The captain saw this and laughed more.

“Judging from…your posture…It is!” The captain replied happily. “Oh, you tricky bastard!”

His wolf perked up.

“No not you.” The captain said. “Orjak…”

He then went towards Ajax, or rather Orjak, who was in a defensive stance. He stopped as his skin met the steel of the sword that was pointing at him. Looking at Ajax, he sighed. Swiftly, the captain used his knives to stab both the arms, making his weapons drop to the ground and his arms bleeding. Ajax groaned in pain, and the captain just sighed again, disappointed.

“Sad, you weren’t the orc you once was.” The captain said with a saddened tone. “Maybe it was because of Batt’s influence on you eh? Him and his beliefs…utter bullshit.”

Ajax was angered by the last statement. So, he attacked the captain, he aimed his legs towards the captain’s head only to meet air. The captain sidestepped and pierced both of Ajax’s legs, making Ajax stumble to the ground in pain.

“Huh, what a pitiful attempt…” The captain frowned, sad and disappointed. “Batt influenced you too much eh…”

“Do not say his name…” Ajax tried to get up, but his attempt failed as he came crashing down to the ground again.

“So…this is where you were…after all this time…” The captain smirked.

“I will kill you…” Ajax tried to get up again, only ending the same way as before.

“Ha! Do you think you can defeat me?? Look at you now!! Pathetic. On the verge of death. Naïve.”

Ajax paused his attempts.

“I saw you spare the lives of fellow orcs. Your enemies. May I ask why?” The captain asked.

“…” Ajax said nothing.

“Is it because of Batt?” He asked again. Ajax looked down to the ground.

“Heh…Like that failure of a warrior…too merciful…too kind…too pathetic…You and him are the same…No wonder you are about to die the same death as him.”

Ajax’s fist tightened.

“Too merciful to see the future all of us have in mind. Too merciful to care for your own lives. Are you not looking? We are migrating here! After the extinction of man, we will live here in peace…but noooo you and some were too merciful…too compassionate to see it all. You decide to help humans! Though, I will give you one last chance…one last chance to turn back to us. To switch sides.” The captain replied, looking at Ajax with a happy expression.

“A life after all the atrocious things you have done? After all the blood in your hands? I’d prefer to fight for the humans. Humans deserve mercy for what we did.” Ajax’s reply made the captain frown again, his happy demeanor turned that into a sinister and serious demeanor. He put his left foot on Ajax’s chest hardly. He bent down to his level.

“This is the thing. You and Batt…think of this place as full of sunshine and rainbows. A place of harmony. A place of peace. You think that humans are heroes as well?? You, my friend, are dreaming. Imagining. Thinking of a reality that never existed! Do you think this place is paradise?!!? Think again! If you think this place is paradise. Then why do you see suffering!? Why do you see soldiers fight each other!?”

“…”

“You speak of mercy…you speak of morality, yet you don’t even see what you are fighting for. You fight for brutes who kill their own! You fight for brutes who use extreme methods to get what they want!” The captain paused, looking away from Ajax before continuing. “The thing is…humans have done atrocious things to each other. How do you think the kingdom of Illnuin expanded their borders?? How do you think they’ve stopped rebellions from happening?? How do you think they fight wars?... If we can think and do atrocious things to the humans, then they can as well. The Saxon massacre. The Illnuin war of unification. The Hessite rebellion. How do you think they were quelled? How do you think they were fought? With kindness? With words?? No…they fought, killed. What we did to them…they did it first. What evil we can think of, they have thought of it as well. The other kingdoms don’t fear the Illnuins, Vikinger, and Vahvians for no reason. They’ve seen the things they can do in war. Their viciousness, and brutality. They weren’t kind to their own, so why should we be kind to them? Humans fear what they can not control, they fear what they can not comprehend. So, they find a way to fight it, to control it. Tell me now, why do we have to be kind to them? Why did you forsake your own for them?!”

“Because…” Ajax mumbled.

“Because what?” The captain asked, squatting down to hear Ajax better.

“...”

“The right thing to do??” The captain asked as he looked at Ajax again. “The thing is…mercy…is a tool they use to survive. They use words to trick you into giving them mercy. They only fight for themselves! They only want to save themselves! Not others!”

“But there are others…kind ones…”

“Kind ones?? There are none! Tell me, why would anyone ever be kind to us orcs?”

“I just want a life of peace” Ajax mumbled, thinking of things he could have been if he wasn’t an orc warrior.

“We will…once we kill off all the humans.”

“I want to live in peace with them, live in peace, and give them kindness…” Ajax started, only pausing after.

“Kindness only gives you suffering in return. Something that you are now experiencing. Also, I’ve seen your works. You either leave other orcs to die on the ground or leave them to run and be killed later. That is not mercy, that is prolonged suffering. Now, just like what you did and what happened to your friend…I will let you die a slow death.”

The captain stood up, removed his footings from his chest, and used his foot to kick Ajax, making him face the sky. He then used his foot to step on Ajax’s helmet.

“Hehehe I’m going to enjoy this…” The captain said, grabbing his sword and aiming at Ajax’s chest. “And do you know? Some of my men are finding your friends right now?”

“You’re sadistic…” Ajax stated as the captain only laughed.

“I’ve been called that many times now…it never ceases to appease me. Knowing that the orcs know what I am.” The captain smiled. He then thrust the sword into Ajax’s chest.

-----------------With Conrad and Olivia---5 minutes earlier

Conrad looked behind them. The two were riding Kyle for a minute or two now. Big trees and large roots, they passed through.

Conrad looked back to the front. Seeing the thick forest ahead of them.

Kyle galloped and ran, not resting for one bit. Conrad then heard some growling. He looked behind again, widening his eyes as he saw that there were death wolves and orcs.

There were at least four wolves with one orc at each back. They were still far away from them but they were catching up as the wolves were faster than Kyle. Seeing that they might catch up, Conrad halted Kyle, making it stop. Conrad then dismounted.

“What are you doing??” Olivia asked, confused. Conrad then gave her the reins as he took his spear.

“I think this is goodbye…” Conrad stated. Olivia widened her eyes.

“No! I will not leave you!” Olivia said, about to dismount as well but was stopped by Conrad.

“Listen to me, Olivia! If Ajax is scared. Then this threat might be more dangerous for the both of us. With the two of us trying to escape, Kyle would’ve been slowed down and the wolves could catch up.” Conrad explained. “Go Olivia, don’t try and help. Just…remember us…no…remember him. It’s the least you can do.”

Olivia, on the verge of tears just looked down, looking angry, and nodded. She then mounted Kyle and left. Kyle ran faster than ever without Conrad.

Conrad just looked at Olivia and looked at the incoming riders. He composed himself, readying his spear. The first rider was farther than the others so he could have time to ready himself again.

He charged towards the rider, spear colliding with the skull of the wolf. With it, the orc riding it flew forwards, landing a few feet from Conrad. The wolf was dead. He then took out the spear and prepared to pierce the chest of the orc. But as he prepared, he saw that the orc was shaking. The eyes of the orc symbolled the fear the orc was experiencing. He heard sniffling and crying. He noticed that the orc was crying.

Seeing this, Conrad tried to attack, but his arms did not move.

“Have you ever looked in their eyes? The eyes can show you their emotion. Whether it be anger or sadness.” He remembered his old conversation with Ajax.

“No….” He remembered his reply.

“The thing is, you don’t know what they’re thinking. You are not asking if they wanted to do this or not. You’re not looking into their eyes. Their hands. Maybe some of them are not that bad as you might think.”

He looked at the orc’s eyes, it saw sadness. He lowered his spear, unable to attack the orc. He then just looked at the orc silently before turning his back on him.

He then readied his spear again towards the incoming rider. Having the same effect, he then unsheath his sword and attacked another incoming rider, slashing the chest of the orc. The wolf escaped with the corpse of its rider and ran away. As he turned to the one who flew, he was stabbed by a sword in the chest.

It was the orc whom he did not have the will to kill. The orc was shaking, his grip on the sword was gone, he then whispered something in Conrad’s ear. Conrad just grunted and sighed as the orc laid him to rest on the ground.

----------------------

The captain was watching Ajax’s slow death as an orc rider entered the scene.

“Message for you captain!” It was a messenger or a scout.

“What is it?” The captain asked.

“Scouts have reported a human army’s movement going to the north.” The messenger replied.

“Damn it. Boys! We’ll have to go. Call the four others.” The captain said as he mounted Bastard. The subordinates of the captain followed orders and mounted as well. “Sorry, Orjak but I’ll have to cut this short.”

The group then exited the place, leaving Ajax to die a slow death.

“Conrad…I’m sorry…it was true…” He whispered to himself. His vision was beginning to distort and his breathing began to become shaky. “I am naïve…I am useless…I hope you can forgive me…”

“Apology…accepted…” Conrad whispered to himself as he took one last breath before closing his eyes, but not before smiling. Conrad then went limp.

Ajax meanwhile, was beginning to feel dizzy. His vision was now fading and he could feel the coldness reach him. He looked up at the sky but before losing consciousness, he heard some horse footsteps near the vicinity.