"Why are you watching him leave?" Atop a building, the First General asked the High Chief.
The High Chief turned to look at the First General with a slight frown on his face. "Because I feel like I should kill him now when he is so within reach."
"Are you afraid of his so-called SSS rank?"
The High Chief shook his head. "That? I'm not afraid of that. Well, maybe it's all part of it since that is what makes him a Vorrakyn. But I'm more afraid of the look in his eyes. The look that says he has everything under control.
"I don't like it at all."
The First General grunted. He knew what the High Chief was saying and he had almost killed him as well. "Maybe we should have killed him. It's not like the Vorrakyn has the might to do anything at the moment."
"Not they don't. They are about to be destroyed. It's a shame that we weren't the ones to do it. Ah, well. It's all the same anyway. Come, let's face our war.
"I need to issue a declaration that any other parties that interfere in the Orcs' affair will gain the bitter enmity of the Warbines!"
By the time it was halfway through the first day of the return trip, Lyra was dead. Vacuse didn't gag her mouth and he enjoyed her screaming and whimpering as her body was dragged through the forest, the horse uncaring if she was stuck between trees, forcing her out with a broken hand or twisted fingers.
Vacuse had a lot on his mind that he didn't even know when she died and went silent.
Kagerou called his attention to it but he just kept riding and dragging her body until she was nothing but tattered flesh when they stopped for camp in the evening.
Then he untied the chain and flung her into the bush after he took all the valuables on her.
What he did chilled everyone to the bones. It wasn't the killing. Killing is a normal thing in the world, something far more certain than living. They had done a lot of killing but not the way that Vacuse did it.
It was almost as if killing her was an afterthought. That was exactly what scared them. The casual way he killed her.
But no one said anything, not even Kagerou.
In fact, a sober mood weighed on them all. They all knew the circumstances of the Vorrakyn and why the diplomatic group was sent in the first place, and yet they had failed before they even made any moves.
And they were almost killed.
Things went on like that for a few weeks. As Vacuse said, he was really hurrying back, and they would ride from morning to evening every day until the first week passed and the Orcs finally left them.
Then it was the same routine until they returned to the Empire and the Vorrakyn's territory.
"The Standpoint fortress!" Vacuse murmured. "I guess my uncle will be glad that I brought no Orcs with me."
"Are we going to the fortress, my lord?" Captain Mera asked.
Vacuse shifted on his mount with a frown. "Well, yes. I think I should tell him in person after all."
The group that headed towards the Standpoint fortress were a wearier group than the one that left it a few weeks ago.
They were met by a delegation led by Draya Vorrakyn. She bowed to him. "My Lord! It was such a surprise to hear from the outpost commands that you are back already!"
Vacuse grunted. He hadn't had a proper wash and food in weeks and he was feeling cranky. "Things like that just happen. I need to wash and eat. Then I will see uncle."
Draya gave him a sidelong look but didn't say anything for a long time before she nodded and bowed again. "As you wish, My Lord."
They were led inside, some of their soldiers to the barracks while Vacuse's main attendants joined him in his own wing.
Food and new clothes were brought over while Vacuse bathed.
"Are we going to stay in this fortress for long?" Kagerou asked. One of the perks of being close to the Dragon heir was that they ate the best food and shared in his wine.
Harkon only grunted by the side as he glared at Kagerou. To him, Kagerou was the most unprofessional person he'd ever met. He didn't follow formal and proper rules.
Captain Mera was outside, standing guard.
Vacuse looked up at Harkon, who was standing behind his chair like a stiff board, and Kaedros, who was sitting in front of him eating. He sighed. "Harkon, you can do as you want just like him when we are not outside.
"And Kagerou, we are not going to stay long here. We need to get back to Kragthar and stop the war and then look into expanding our territory."
Kagerou raised his brows. "I don't think you want to stop a war, Vacuse. It looks to me as if you were looking to start a new one."
Vacuse smiled. On his plate he placed a chunk of meat at the edge. "This is Vorrakyn."
Then he placed another one in front of it. "This is Duke Frexon."
"Duke Frexon is a dagger to our throat at the border and to the two Dukes that stand on the border towards the Imperial Capital and other Regions.
"We should never have placed ourselves at this far edge of the Western Region but we were confident in our power to do things. Well, Kagerou, how do you think we can win? Beside us and Frexon is the tail of the Wilderness. Follow it and you'll go deep into the Dark Wilderness."
Kagerou was silent for a long time. "Eh... can we find a seasoned group that is well used to the Wilderness to sneak around to ambush Frexon's army? Is that what you want to do?"
Kagerou looked at him doubtfully.
Vacuse snorted and smiled. "Oh, Kagerou, why do you think we'll ever find such soldiers?"