Chapter 26

Wyne and the others also knew how strange the situation was. If they just had fought 2-3 groups, that would have been fine. But since they killed 8 groups in only an hour, that was something out of the ordinary.

"We may be dealing with an Orc Warlord."

The only times that Orcs split off like this would be if they were preparing for war and were trying to establish a foothold or if the main group had been split apart due to an outside force. The Orcs were too organized and had too few injuries for it to be a magical-grade creature.  The only option left was for it to be another warlord.

"Orc Warlords are the leaders of Orc factions. They lead Orcs in wars not only against humans, beastmen, and other sentient races but they also lead them in wars against other Orc factions. And when these wars are declared, they will not end until one warlord is left standing. 

From there, the new warlord would control the remainder of both tribes but they would expel any Orcs they found too weak to be a part of their tribes. Most of these Orcs would leave peacefully which would explain why all the orcs we came across seemed uninjured. 

Those furthest from the original encampment are the weakest while those closest to the encampment are the strongest. This would explain why the groups are increasing. The last group we killed is probably the strongest of the outcasts."

Wyne told them all of the information that he knew about Orcs. He had studied them for a time since he figured that they might be a good force to control and use for battle. 

"How large are the biggest encampments?" Mil asked. They had hunted Orcs before but they had only killed small groups and hunting parties. She had never had to deal with an entire Orc encampment. 

"The biggest ones can have several thousand," Wyne answered her question. He saw that the others looked panicked and worried about what would happen next. "But these mountains are no place for a group that large. The largest single group would most likely be around 3-400. There are too many students that attend here so they would easily spot a larger group."

"Three or 400, huh? We can handle that," Mil was worried if there were more than 600 but if there were only that many, she was sure that she and Wyne could handle the numbers. 

She turned to look at their 3 companions and felt conflicted. This was an excellent training opportunity for them but an Orc group this large? It was already difficult enough for the two of them to hunt the Orcs by themselves. If they brought the others, they may not only die themselves but they might bring Wyne and Mil down themselves.

While Mil was trying to decide which of the two options was better, Koxa decided for her. 

"Me and Nesterin will bring Lina back to the dorm," she announced, surprising the two that she mentioned. "You two are experienced and may be able to handle this but I know that I can't. I'm not willing to waste my magical items on something like this."

Nesterin heard this and agreed with her. He had a few magical items but each of those only had a few charges to them, if they had more than one. 

'These are meant to save my life. I can't waste them on this pointless quest.'

"I'm fine with that. Do you two mind?" 

"Not at all," Mil laughed as she answered. "We might be out here all night so we will see you guys in the morning."

The trio nodded and turned back down the path while Wyne and Mil continued up the path. The wind began to blow hard and get much colder but their cloaks helped them stay warm. Soon, snow began coming down on them but that did not deter the pair. 

They made their way up the mountain in search of their new prey. The Frost Deers were no longer on their minds nor were any of their other missions. What Wyne had told the others was part of the truth but not the full truth about Orcs. 

Orcs were also known as hoarders of anything they had taken from their enemies. Whether it was the dirty clothes of a peasant or a magical item that could rain down hellfire, the Orcs took them all. But the thing was, they only collected these items for bragging rights when they confronted other Orcs as a sign of them slaying more enemies. 

What Wyne was after were those treasures that they had collected. 

'These Orcs have been in these mountains for a while with a size this large. They must have killed a few students and taken their belongings. That means that those can belong to us as long as we slay these people.'

As they got higher and higher on the mountain, the signs that this was an Orc factions territory were obvious. Corpses atop wooden stakes adorned both sides of the road, a warning to any that had entered that they had entered an Orc's territory and they would be slain soon. 

Seeing the sign, the duo knew that they needed to be extra careful. Both stripped down and placed their cuffs on their ankles before transforming into their animal forms. Wyne looked over at the white rabbit with black fur shaped like a crescent moon on its forehead. 

They began running up the path. They soon met with a patrol but were able to pass by without a battle. With their small size and the snow falling, they were unseen. This same scene repeated itself two more times during the several-mile trek until they finally arrived at the Orc encampment. 

There was a large fence that had bodies adorning the walls, whether they were chained there or had been impaled by some sort of weapon. Some of the bodies were skeletons, some were still decomposing, and some were even still alive. Past the walls were dozens of tents that formed a perimeter around a very large tent where the Orc Warlord was staying.

Mil's little bunny eyes looked over at Wyne to see what the plan was but Wyne was also unsure. 

'They have lots of patrols which means we can get ambushed at any time. A straight battle is really against our favor.'