Orcs

Yue was confused as to why Leena would react in such a way over orcs. "Leena, why are orc's so bad?"

"Don't ask!" Leean yelled as she readied her bow.

"Lass, elves, and orcs don't get along. Orcs like to capture them and make them their playthings." Yustel was nice enough to give an explanation. Leena turned and glared at him. She suddenly felt that her cool older sister appearance she was trying to display in front of Yue was completely crushed!

"Oh… Even the men?" Yue asked out of curiosity.

"Aye, even the men..." Yustel replied with a long sigh. "I have no idea what those orc's see in those long ears. A nice short dwarf girl is where it is at!"

"Dwarf, can you not talk about disgusting things while we are in a fight," Leena yelled out, her face showing clear disgust.

"Huh? Why would him talking about dwarf girls be disgusting?" She had seen a few young dwarf girls before they looked normal to her…

"Because they do not age and look younger than you!" Leen answered.

Yue slowly moved away from Yustel and edged up closer to Leena, not wanting to get near the dwarf.

"Why are you giving me that look!? Don't be making me out to be some sick bastard! The women of my race are just eternally young! Why would I want some kid from another race!" Yustel felt really offended! "We should be talking about why a pack of one hundred orcs suddenly appearing here!"

Yue felt Yustel's question was the one they really should be asking. Orcs normally stayed within an encampment. They were not nomads at all, and from what Yue could see, these orcs in front of them were carrying many things with them. "Stop!" A voice came from within the pack of orcs. It sounded a little off, but it was the common tongue.

"Leena, stop, don't fire!" Yue yelled out.

"Huh, why!? They surrounded us first!" Leena was born and raised with the fear of orcs snatching her up and making her their plaything, so she was more inclined to kill than speak to them. But she still lowered her bow. She was only doing so because Yue was with them. With her ancient word magic, she could easily subdue all the orcs here.

Seeing Leena lower her bow, Yue stepped forward and yelled over to the orc, who spoke just now. "Why are you surrounding us?"

An old orc who was using a thick branch as a cane pushed through the group and stepped forward. "My Name is Borkul, chief of the northern orc tribe. We are sorry for startling you. My tribe has been at peace with the other races for many years now. I know the elves and orcs do not get along. But you should know that my tribe has abandoned that practice many generations ago. I know this is not something you would trust, and with how we just appeared, I can understand your right to want to attack us. Luckily no one has been hurt.

"But I must ask if you know of any territory that my tribe can move to that is not occupied. Humans have laid waste to our lands, and now we have no home to return to..." Borkul had tears in his eyes as he spoke of his homeland. Normally orcs would live in very secluded areas to protect from outside threats. And many races would not bother an orc village unless there was a need to.

"Can I ask ye why humans would attack your village? Did ye attack one of their own?" Yustel spoke up this time. He found this situation to be funny, but from the looks of it and the numbers they had, they did not seem to be lying.

"A magic ore mine was found near the camp. The humans coveted it and attacked the mines taking it over. And because our village was too close to their operations, they decided to attack the village as well." Borkul explained.

Yue thought for a moment and could only think of the monster domain as a place to live for them. "The only place I know where humans will not attack you is the monster domain or around the edges of it. Although you will need to fend off monsters during that time."

Borkul frowned. He had thought of that before, but he also knew the monsters were spilling out of the forest as of late as well. "So that is the only place..." Letting out a sigh, he turned to look at his people, and in his orc language, he yelled out: "Stop surrounding them and pack up! We will head towards the monster domain.."

Borkul turned back to Yue and bowed his head: "I thank you for allowing us to speak with you. And we are sorry for earlier. We had stopped to camp here overnight and are a little on edge. We hope you have safe travels."

Yue felt bad for the old orc. He was truly concerned for his tribe. Scratching her head, she couldn't help but feel things didn't sit right with her. "We are headed the same way. If your people promise not to touch Leena, then we can travel with you. While I plan to move to the monster domain myself, these two are here to investigate the reason behind the influx of monsters leaving the domain. Maybe we can find a safe spot for your tribe to settle down..."

"You!" Leena's face paled, she did not wish to travel with orcs!

"Leena, I know you have a fear of orcs, but these ones are not so bad. Plus, if anyone tries to touch you, I will take care of it. Just don't leave my side, alright? I just feel something is off about this whole mess and want to help them find a place to settle down. If you still feel uncomfortable then I can just go with them myself." With the combination of humans pushing orcs out of their lands and then the monsters spilling out of the monster domain these events all happening so close to each other were making Yue feel there might be more to things than they originally thought.