"If you were going to worry this much, why did you marry a warrior commander? We would have found you a customs officer from Parthenia; you would have lived on salary plus bribes!"
Nafız, wrestling with her student, couldn't stand the sullen face of the female orc sitting right next to her anymore and exploded. She was teasing Yarmagül, half serious, half joking.
"Mother, there is no need for you to worry! Besides, my father is not alone; Sangre, the Elite Ten, and my grandfather's old soldiers are with him!"
Han started consoling his mother immediately without showing any sign of anger. He wanted to comfort her by counting the group summarizing the main power of the second army one by one.
"Isn't that the problem anyway? What is the enemy next to Sangre who has been fighting like crazy for all this time? I swear he has seen red; once he gets angry, he doesn't recognize friend or foe!"
Kitapkurdu was now in the role Nafız always assumed. While speaking in behaviors indicating he was extremely uneasy, it was obvious that he was struggling to hold himself back from laughing.
"You little bastard!"
These words would be the last straw causing Yarmagül, filled to the brim, to overflow. Turning furiously, she grabbed her brother sitting next to her and nailed him to the ceiling. Although the struggling Kitapkurdu wanted to calm his sister down by joining his two hands, it was too late. It wasn't possible to restrain the giant woman landing slaps on his face with her free hand.
Unlike Yarmagül who was with her family, her husband was in the lands where he lived almost all his life, where the scent of the tribe his father used to rule hadn't dissipated yet. While his warriors, who had set up their temporary tents, were lined up around large fires they lit to warm up, he was in the place where his father always sat. Leather and wood pieces were scattered around, and he stood among the ruins of the tent that used to be a symbol of unpretentious majesty.
There was no roof covering him. Çekiçdöven had specifically wanted it this way; he was using the momentary coldness created by snowflakes falling slowly on his head to extinguish the fire burning inside his heart.
The Elite Ten had isolated themselves from all other warriors. Forming a separate circle, they were struggling with the harsh weather conditions of these lands they came to for the first time. In the second army, only one person was wandering outside the place designated as camp. This was Sangre with the bow he gripped tightly in his hand and daggers spinning around him.
Ignoring the bone-freezing cold around him thanks to the crazy blood in his veins, he was going on a hunt for wild creatures to kill. Since they clashed with Jashua every night until morning for the last year, he couldn't help but continue this custom turned into a routine and threw himself to the foothills of the snow-covered mountains.
His opponent wasn't with him; his master hadn't included him in the campaign and sent him to the city of Parthenia. Although she made up the excuse that he needed to communicate more with humans for this move, the truth was completely different. The child, barely twelve years old, was trying to awaken his spirit animal in the dungeon named Subconscious Demons.
A few days later, there were two armies numbering five hundred thousand in the lands of the Main Orc Tribe. Although they advanced from different directions, their target was the same. As a result of their slow progress, the second army coming from the Glacial Region was the first to reach Siyahayı's tribe. There was a small difference in their speed compared to the first army because they had less load.
Just as the sun started to make its effect felt slowly with the first lights of the morning, the orcs on the besieging side were looking at the structure in front of them in amazement. Where the tents of the Main Orc Tribe should have been, giant walls reaching twenty steps in height had risen.
Çekiçdöven immediately sent a few scouts ahead to learn what was happening. A few options were appearing in his mind due to something he had seen before. When the news came, he became completely sure. This was a structure in the style they entered through a giant hole when he set out with his soldiers to take down the Trade Region Orc Tribe.
It was a fortress surrounded by walls on four sides, occupying one-tenth of the surface area the Main Orc Tribe covered under normal conditions. Archers standing guard on its high walls were the first detail catching the eye. According to their guesses, Siyahayı would defend in this fortress where he put all provisions and population.
"Wow! Wow! Wow! Look at the neighborhood tough guy Siyahayı! He gave the tents to the contractor in exchange for a fortress!"
The ranks of the second army, who hadn't yet thrown off their confused states, were startled by a shrill orc voice. Since they knew the owner quite well, they understood that the first army had also joined the siege now. Immediately after, they would receive their first orders from a messenger coming to their side.
"Set up the tents at a safe distance; we are starting the siege!"
In moments when their enemies, whom they expected to receive support from the outside world, surrounded themselves with walls contrary to their lifestyle, Alyon and his warriors were pursuing doing what they came for without panicking at all. It didn't matter what obstacles appeared before them; they wouldn't stop until they reached the result they wanted.
When the accommodation preparations of the giant army ended, the sun was leaning towards the horizon line as if wanting to set. The noisy opening of the gate between the high walls also coincided exactly with this time.
A mechanical vehicle intended for defense advanced slowly and stopped right in the middle of the fortress and the siege army. The gate it exited hadn't closed; it was waiting for it as if for it to return at any moment. Seeing this, a group of four people from the siege armies would also start walking towards the vehicle. This was a team where Nafız and Kitapkurdu accompanied the commanders of the two armies. The two sides coming together one last time before the war was a rule that had to be obeyed, and representatives of the two sides were currently face to face for its realization.
"So you are the duo invading my lands! We finally met!"
The one breaking the silence from the two sides scanning each other for a while was Siyahayı, who imprisoned himself inside a fortress. The arrogance carried by his voice and the insolent emphases he made at the end of his words were completely opposite to the situation he was in as of the moment.
"When we couldn't see your beautiful face despite taking three regions, we said let's visit you at a place of yours, but what use; it seems you have no intention of coming out of this fortress, whoever you begged and got it from!"
If Siyahayı's aim was to be insolent, he should have taken lessons from the female orc opposite him because the words causing the Main Orc Tribe delegation to jump with anger belonged to her.
"Your name must be Nafız! Unlike you, I respect you immensely; therefore, I appeared before you with the best I can do!"
So to speak, Siyahayı was an old hand! It wasn't possible for him to fall for such an open provocation.
"Orc Lord, send everyone away except your son. We need to talk to you alone!"
Alyon, maintaining his silence from the moment the meeting took place, spoke harshly. This move he made by releasing his bloodline power slightly would be enough to change the shape of Siyahayı's face. At the same time, Nafız was signaling the duo listening to them behind them to withdraw. Seeing the enemy's seriousness in his movements, the Orc Lord gave the same order.
"Tell us, savior of the Orc Steppes! Will you talk to us about the virtue of freedom?"
Alyon was very calm in front of the father and son who had planted a crooked smile on their faces along with his son behind him. He was looking at him without taking his eyes off the Orc Lord's eyes.
Siyahayı, ignoring this situation, became restless a few ten breaths later as if he became a prisoner of a shiver coming from inside him. An energy he couldn't make sense of, ruthlessly twisting a corner of his heart, was practically flowing from a pair of eyes looking towards him. After Alyon drew a big breath inside, he started speaking with a voice not belonging to him.