Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 16 - Bonds of friendship - Part One {Rewrite}

 

Watching Lash pin and latch the Slave Collar around the Swamp Lurker’s neck all on her own, I was reminded that she was a great deal more flexible than I am and a great deal more reckless. She had stripped her armour before making the attempt, but her furtive glances in my direction made her motives questionable.

 

“You did it,” I confirmed after quickly checking Lash’s Status, “You should be able to unlock the Rulership Class now.”

 

Lash grinned and nodded. It was just the two of us out here in the swamp. Technically, the Serpent-Kin hunting parties were out here somewhere too, but I hadn’t seen any of them in more than twenty minutes or so. “Accept!” She declared excitedly and looked to me for confirmation.

 

After a few moments, Lash’s class changed. However, it was not what I had expected.

 

[Class: Deep Orc Warden. +1 Toughness, +5 MP. ] [Exp: 0/25000 ]

 

[(Class Ability: Eminence): Monsters slain by minions within range of a Settlement Totem generate bonus EXP that may be awarded through {Quests}. {Willpower} increases the range of Effect. Stored EXP:(352200)]

[(Class Ability: Bastion {Rank 0}): Expend MP to generate a temporary {Barrier} that expels enemies and negates hostile {Spells}. {Toughness/Willpower} increases the range of effect.]

[(Class Ability: Hearthguard {Rank 0}): Deal additional damage and take reduced damage when fighting within range of a Settlement Totem. Expend MP to temporarily share the effect with nearby [Group] members.]

 

I read the changes aloud to Lash since she otherwise would not have known what they did. She seemed...conflicted. It was rather obvious that Lash was disappointed by the absence of any offensive abilities. However, she was also intrigued by the defensive benefits of the Class Abilities themselves.

 

I was actually somewhat glad Lash had gotten the Eminence ability. Even though it may be a standard class feature or something, it had great potential for the development of Sanctuary and its citizens. Assuming Gric had it as well, which was something I made a note to check on a bit later, that meant there were three of us gathering bonus EXP for making quests with.

 

“Bastion!” Lash cried determinedly, thoroughly catching me off guard. A violet near-translucent sphere pulsed outward and stopped at roughly twenty-five feet in diameter. The barrier had displaced a number of fish from the nearby body of water, but it was already beginning to fade.

 

I had originally assumed bastion would last much longer, but it was only Rank zero, so I supposed it made sense to not be that amazing. Even so, being able to displace enemies like that would doubtless prove very useful in any sort of fight. Especially considering the number of times Lash would be able to use it before evolving.

 

Right, that reminds me.

 

“Lash?” I asked, trying to get her attention.

 

Lash stopped antagonising the captured Swamp Lurker and, still grinning, gave me a curious look.

 

“Have you and your people been consuming manastones?” It was intended to be a rather innocuous question, but the response surprised me.

 

Lash shifted uncomfortably and avoided eye contact, “No,” she replied bluntly.

 

“Didn’t Gric...” I just realised the problem.

 

The Daemons were following the rule regarding manastone consumption like clockwork, and it was for a few different reasons. Firstly, their drive to become stronger was damn near an addiction unto itself. Secondly, Sanctuary’s Totem actually functioned with my intent to implement and support the law. To this end, the Totem created a timer that would count down until a citizen would be ‘allowed’ to consume their next manastone. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Daemons could read the timer...

 

This explained a lot of things. I had simply assumed that everyone had been following the rule and were just really close to evolving. Apparently not. Running Jacque’s equation through my head I just had to shrug and give Lash the most simplified method to follow. “Until you evolve, you should be able to take one manastone in the morning, midday and then in the evening. Alright?”

 

Lash nodded and seemed relieved. She hastily began donning her armour for the walk back to sanctuary.

 

“You are quite close already, it probably won’t take many manastones before you can evolve,” I explained reassuringly.

 

I was actually beginning to have doubts about what Jacque had told me regarding the manastone addiction. Specifically, that it extended to the specially named monsters at all and wasn’t just something suffered by Awakened. I had no proof, but it was entirely possible that Jacque had told a partial lie to make me accept the more important truth regarding myself and the addictive relationship Awakened had with manastones.

 

It felt true...But there had to be a reason for it. The only thing I could think of was that as Earthlings, assuming Jacque was even from Earth, there was something about us that made us react differently to the manastones.

 

Maybe they were just inherently addictive and we had no tolerance for it?

 

There were too many unknowns, and this entire situation was so bizarre that just about anything could be possible.

 

“Something is wrong?” Lash asked, now having fully donned her armour again, she looked ready for a fight.

 

I shook my head distractedly, “No, just thinking about something,” I replied and slowly began walking back to Sanctuary.

 

Lash easily caught me up in a matter of moments, the recently tamed Swamp Lurker slung casually over her shoulder. After we drew closer to Sanctuary, Lash turned her helmet toward me in a way that made it obvious she wanted to ask something.

 

“What is it?” I asked somewhat awkwardly, suddenly painfully aware that it was just the two of us out here.

 

Apparently, it was Lash’s turn to be awkward, as she very nearly tripped on an only somewhat concealed tree root. “Want to spar with you,” Lash admitted bluntly, “Tim is strong and I want to be strong too.”

 

I couldn’t help but stare at Lash incredulously for a moment before remembering that she was not able to read her own stats or status. Even though Lash’s Toughness was lower, she had far more Agility and only had one point lower in Strength. To say that she was weaker than me was highly subjective. Besides, if we were to spar I already knew Lash would come out the victor. It wasn’t because we were disproportionately matched, although I was sure her naturally higher Agility would make scoring hits far easier for her. It was because, “I don’t hit girls,” I replied bluntly.

 

Lash’s helmet cocked to the side, her expression within unreadable. “Why?” She asked with a hint of anger in her tone.

 

“My Mum made me promise not to,” I replied sincerely. It had been an easy promise to keep thus far. Before being transported to the Labyrinth, members of the opposite sex hadn’t wanted anything to do with me. Whether they were repulsed or afraid of me, it didn’t make much difference. With no women in my life besides my Mum and her hospice nurse, neither of whom were antisocial antagonistic misfits, I kept my promise till the day I died. Keeping that promise in the Labyrinth had been just as easy for different reasons.

 

Lash was quiet for a short while before loudly clearing her throat, “Mum is?” She asked uncertainly.

 

“My mother, the woman who took care of me, who raised me,” I explained.

 

“Hrm,” Lash was quiet for a short while again. “Why not fight females?” She asked bluntly, a hint of challenge in her tone.

 

“Because...” I was surprised to find I didn’t have a good answer to Lash’s question that would make sense in regards to this world.

 

Sexual dimorphism in the monsters I had seen thus far had only extended to sexual characteristics. Males and females of the same species appeared to have the same general potential for putting on muscle and both were roughly the same in height potential as well.

 

Maybe it is because the monsters lay eggs? But why do female humanoid monsters have breasts if all newborns are capable of eating solids?

 

“Where I came from, males were usually bigger and stronger than females,” I tentatively began to explain, “Males hurting females is considered as shameful as hurting children.”

 

“Why?” Lash asked, her tone more antagonistic than before, “Not fighting females makes them weak. Weak females breed weaker offspring. Makes the clan weaker, vulnerable.”

 

I wanted to argue with her, but Lash sort of had a point.

 

In the context of the Labyrinth, denying someone the opportunity to increase their stats through fighting was likely to get them killed. I sighed and nodded, agreeing and conceding to her point. Still, the idea of hitting Lash didn’t sit well with me. Beating on someone you had feelings for seemed...wrong.

 

As if sensing my continued resistance, Lash changed tact. “Wrestle instead?” She offered slyly, perhaps having intended the spar to take the form of a wrestling match from the beginning.

 

My cheeks flushed and I pretended to scan the nearby swamp to hide my embarrassment, “Fine,” I agreed. I had already told Hana that I would give Lash a chance, and since fighting seems to be one of her core interests, I supposed wrestling would approximate to a suitable activity for a first date.

 

After returning to Sanctuary, Lash left the Swamp Lurker near the cooking fires and we both headed to the training grounds. At Lash’s request, and my general direction and description, Hana had erected light barriers to form rough staging areas for sparring and other forms of training. It was mostly just short fences of raised roots, but Lash seemed pleased by the more orderly arrangement.

 

“So what rules should we use?” I asked Lash since it was her idea. We were standing opposite one another in one of the allotted spaces with thick moss covering the ground. It would help absorb some of the kinetic force and lessen the impacts when one of us threw or pinned the other to the ground.

 

“Surrender or defeat!” Lash insisted with a grin, removing the last of her armour and stowing it outside the fence.

 

Right...I should have expected something like that.

 

I sighed and nodded, stripping off my tunic, and after some considerably intense internal debate, removed my pants as well. As embarrassing and awkward as it would be to wrestle in my underwear, I didn’t have clothes to spare and I had the impression that Lash was planning to be rough.

 

Besides, it wasn’t like most Serpent-Kin weren’t walking around in just their underwear most of the time anyway, and the Deep Orcs probably would too if they didn’t have their weird obsession with always wearing their heavy armour.

 

Catching Lash giving me an appraising look, I shifted uncomfortably as I felt her eyes wandering over my body.

 

Ugh, is this what I had been doing to her? I felt a sudden shiver run through my body, but rather than feeling scared or sick, I was...excited?

 

I felt incredibly twitchy and on edge, incredibly aware of the blood being pumped through my veins and around my body. I honestly hadn’t felt like this since puberty.

 

Since...puberty...Oh...Things were beginning to make much more sense.

 

Despite the looming dangers and near-constant stress the Labyrinth was throwing my way, I couldn’t really remember a time where I had been less depressed. Speaking with Hana had helped process some things, but I also couldn’t help but think the Mana-well was partially responsible as well.

 

In place of antidepressants, I was getting small mood lifters while I was sleeping. So of course, feeling far less depressed and not taking antidepressants, would naturally result in a rather abrupt return of other hormones.

 

Seeing the eagerness in Lash’s eyes, I obviously wasn’t the only one under the sway of hormones.

 

Maybe wrestling was a bad idea after all?

 

Lash took her position opposite me and waited for the signal to announce the beginning of our bout.

 

“Begin-” No sooner had I begun to speak, Lash leapt forward and closed the small gap between us almost instantly.

 

Having lowered herself closer to the ground, Lash was attempting to sweep up from underneath my guard to wrap her arms around my midsection and drive me to the ground.

 

Lacking her Agility and overall flexibility, I decided on a low-risk gambit and waited for Lash to make her attempted tackle. However, once her shoulder slammed into my lower chest, I hooked my arms over Lash’s back and in one smooth motion heaved her off the ground. Pivoting on the spot, I straightened my back as I spun on the spot and slammed both our bodies to the ground.

 

My gambit had paid off and Lash was stunned by the sudden change in events, reacting sluggishly as I broke free of her grip and straddled her back. Hooking my arms under her armpits and taking a firm grip around the back of her neck, I successfully established a full-nelson hold and pinned Lash to the ground.

 

Try as she might, Lash was unable to break my hold, and after struggling for close to a minute, relaxed, “Yield!” She grunted in frustration.

 

Immediately, a gold status alert appeared in front of my eyes.

 

[Congratulations! You have completed {Sparring!} and have earned 0 EXP! ]

 

That was about what I had expected. The combination of a non-lethal challenge and the fact that Lash was considered a much weaker lower level monster.

 

I blinked away the status alert then let Lash go and scuttled backwards before hastily getting to my feet.

 

Lash leapt to her feet almost immediately. To my surprise, she was far from angry, quite the opposite. Lash had a broad grin and an unmistakable hunger in her eyes.

 

That look sent a fresh wave of electrifying chills through my body and I realised that I was grinning right back at her.

 

Squaring up, we prepared to wrestle again.

 

The next seven bouts followed more or less the same pattern. Lash would attempt a direct tackle or takedown. However, I would then use an established counter or leverage my substantially greater body weight to power through and break any hold she managed to make. Once Lash was tired out, it was easy to establish a hold of my own and force her to yield.

 

Visibly flagging now, Lash was breathing hard and her movements had become quite stiff and stilted. All the same, Lash was still incredibly eager for the contest to continue.

 

Squaring up for what was shaping up to be the last bout, I was almost painfully aware of how untired I felt. Granted, I was better trained and a more experienced wrestler in a considerably higher weight class, but Lash was no slouch and to be so thoroughly exhausted was strange.

 

Lash lurched forward as she had done seven times before, only this time she was attempting to grapple my shoulders rather than trying to tackle my legs, waist or chest.

 

Meeting her challenge head-on, I caught Lash’s hands with my own and pushed forward to brace against her forward momentum. Unfortunately, Lash had not followed through on her grapple as I had expected.

 

Instead, Lash suddenly threw her not inconsiderable weight backwards, leapt off the ground and wrapped her legs tightly around my waist then sent us both crashing to the ground. Disengaging her hands from our grapple, Lash hooked her arms around my back and pulled herself tight against me, her amethyst eyes boring intently into mine.

 

*Crack*

 

With no warning, Lash had snapped her head forward and smacked our heads together. Temporarily stunned, I was unable to react as she leaned in, closed her eyes and pressed her lips against mine in a fierce kiss.

 

Even after overcoming my surprise, I didn’t pull away. Partly because it would be close to impossible, but mostly because I didn’t want to.

 

With absolutely no idea what I was doing, I tried to mimic Lash’s affections as best as I was able. Even though I didn’t have her enlarged wolf-like canines, Lash didn’t seem to mind.

 

Sometime later, Lash let me go and I reluctantly pulled away.

 

All at once I became paralysed by embarrassment. In the heat of the moment, I had completely forgotten where we were and the fact that there had been close to three to four dozen spectators gathered by the end of our seventh bout. Even though nobody was jeering or laughing at us, I still felt incredibly self-conscious.

 

“Wow,” the amused comment immediately drew my attention. Hana had her arms crossed over her chest and was smirking at me in wry amusement, “You know, I didn’t think you would actually go through with it. But it’s nice to see Nadine and Clarice were right.”

 

Lash took this opportunity to sit herself up, demonstrating both her immense core strength as well as reminding me that her legs were still wrapped around my waist. “Overseer approves,” she growled softly while staring into my eyes intently. Draping one arm over my shoulder and the other around my chest, Lash leaned in and kissed the right side of my neck. Or I assumed that was what she was doing, I couldn’t really see and was distracted by the firm yet yielding pressure against my chest.

 

However, a sudden jolt of pain from the meat of my shoulder abruptly seized my undivided attention.

 

Lash pulled herself back far enough that I could smell the blood on her breath and see it dribbling down her canines onto her lips.

 

“You bit me?!” I demanded incredulously, unable to stop myself from shivering as waves of adrenaline began crashing through my veins.

 

Lash was smiling and exposed her own neck, pressing herself towards my mouth.

 

I tried recoiling in horror, yet Lash was firmly locked onto me and all I managed to accomplish was falling backwards and forcing both of us back onto the ground. I had half a mind to bite her back out of spite but resisted the impulse. “What the hell are you doing?!” I demanded, forced to angle my face away just so I could speak.

 

“It’s an Orc bonding ritual!” Hana called out in surprise, “She wants you to bite her back.”

 

Lash took this as her opportunity to jam her trapezius muscle into my mouth, eliminating any real degree of choice in my participation.

 

I vaguely recalled seeing similar scarred bite marks on a couple of the other Deep Orcs. Not that I had suspected they were scarring one another deliberately.

 

Cradling my head with one arm, Lash flexed and pressed herself against me more insistently. Likewise, her thighs began crushing my midsection like a vice.

 

A sudden flare of pain from my right side, very likely from my kidney, made me involuntarily tense in turn. Confused and in pain, an all too familiar hunger suddenly reared up in my mind. I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but it felt like an eternity since I last had anything to eat.

 

The taste of copper splashed over my tongue, and far too late, I realised what I had done.

 

Lash shuddered and I bodily threw myself away from her, the sickly sweet smell of her blood intoxicating my senses and causing the yawning pit of my hunger to become more insistent.

 

Despite her badly bleeding shoulder, Lash was grinning ear to ear, revealing her own bloody teeth.

 

As another wave of hunger crashed into my senses, I shuddered and my shoulder began to ache, “FOOD!” I snarled savagely, “I NEED FOOD!”

 

Everything became hazy for a while and I struggled to remember what exactly happened. All I could manage was the vague impression that I had been eating; a lot.

 

I found a half dozen of the woven food baskets scattered around me in various states of disrepair.

 

Reaching for my shoulder, I could feel a thick crust of dried blood. Judging by the wide trails running down my chest, I figured Lash must have a powerful anticoagulant in her saliva.

 

Reminded that I had bitten Lash as well, I looked around worriedly and found that I was more or less alone. I was still sitting in the same partitioned section of the training grounds, but everyone else was gone.

I could see the usual comings and goings over by the cooking fires, so I figured that there was no imminent emergency and that the crowd simply had other places to be.

 

Getting to my feet, I stiffly made my way over to the Grove. I needed to wash all of this blood off and the cool water would help me think. When I got there, I found Hana relaxing by the fountain. With more than a few questions I needed answered, I decided to put off the bath.

 

“Are you feeling better?” Hana asked with obvious concern before I had a chance to ask a question of my own. She had begun asking the question before even turning around, a reminder that Hana always seemed to be aware of my movements within Sanctuary and its surrounding environs.

 

“I don’t know,” I replied somewhat coldly, “Do you want to tell me exactly why Lash bit me?!” I was finding it really hard to stay calm. Spending more time with Lash had been Hana’s idea and it was obvious that she was aware that something like this could happen.

 

Hana flinched but made a point of looking me in the eyes, “I didn’t know she was going to do that,” she insisted firmly, likely guessing what I was thinking.

 

“You said it was a bonding ritual,” I prompted firmly, already suspecting I knew the gist of the motivation.

 

Visibly struggling to maintain eye contact, Hana nodded. “The Forest Orcs marked each other with their teeth to show other Orcs that they were already...well...taken.” She shifted uncomfortably and her cheeks flushed, “It means Lash wants you to be her mate...” Hana gulped hard and looked away, “And...and when you bit her back...it meant you accepted...”

 

The first thought I had was hardly productive, wildly missing the point and conflating an Australianism with Hana’s more scientific use of the word. I could do little more than stare at Hana incredulously for over a full minute before finally getting my thoughts together to try and fix this. “You need to talk to her,” I croaked, “What Lash did is not okay...”

 

Hana nodded, “I already did...But, uh, I doubt she cares...”

 

“WHAT?!” I snapped, more from surprise and frayed nerves than genuine anger.

 

“Lash, well, the thing you need to know about Orcs is that they really aren’t that sophisticated...and when you bit her back...well...” Hana trailed off lamely before finding her nerve again, “When you bit Lash back, it was a very big deal. Her biting you was just a sign of intent...You biting her back wasn’t just reciprocation...it, uh, it sealed the bond...It’s even reflected in both your stats.”

 

After staring at Hana blankly for a few moments, I numbly sought out my own status and tried to make what I was looking at make sense.

 

[Bonded Mate/s: Lash {Deep Orc Drudge 5}.]

[Bloodline: {Tyrant 0} +1 Willpower.] [Bloodline Progeny: None.]

 

The first section was not hard to understand, I had already seen something similar on a few of the Deep Orcs and adult Serpent-Kins statuses. It was the second line that threw me. Tyrant Bloodline? What the hell is that? The negative connotations of tyranny made the bonus Willpower a small consolation.

 

Trying my best to remain calm, I turned my attention back to Hana, “Do you know what Bloodlines are?” I asked stiffly.

 

Hana shook her head, “No,” she replied quietly, “I have never seen anything like that before and there is nothing like that in the information I gained from the Totem.” Hana trembled slightly and clenched her fists, “Tim, I’m sorry I didn’t mean for anything like this t-” She suddenly stiffened and stood bolt upright, her head swivelling to the south, “A large number of Humans just appeared a short distance from our walls!” Hana exclaimed, her expression deadly serious and devoid of the uncertainty and guilt from earlier.

 

Responsibility for the people in my care took precedence, so I forced my aggravation down and gave Hana my full attention. “Try and find out who they are, I am going to recall the hunting parties.”

 

Hana nodded and slipped into a trance-like state, waves of emerald mana pulsing from her body like a sonar.

 

Rushing from the Grove I beelined for the cooking fires and snatched the first Daemon I came across, “Find Gric, tell him a large number of humans have been detected to the south of Sanctuary. We don’t know their motives, so I want everyone to be ready for a fight should it come to it!”

 

Knowing the Daemon would convey the message to the best of its ability, I ran off towards the swamp. With no idea regarding what the humans wanted, I wasn’t going to risk any of my people getting ganked out in the wilds. Issuing a quest to muster near Sanctuary’s gate while I was on the move, I still wasn’t willing to leave it to chance. Hearing the shouts and cries from the different hunting parties in the distance, I did my best to head towards them as fast as I was able.

 

Three of the four hunting parties had already gathered together with their sleds and were waiting on the last by the time I reached them.

 

“Where is the last group?” I demanded, trying to project both a sense of urgency and calm at the same time.

 

“To the ssouth wesst Lord,” one of the Serpent-Kin party leaders declared nervously, pointing in the approximate direction.”

 

“Head back to Sanctuary,” I ordered, “I will join the last group and see them back myself.”

 

The hunters looked like they wanted to argue, but bowed their heads and obediently began making their way back to Sanctuary.

 

Rushing off in the direction of the final group, it only now occurred to me that I had left Sanctuary without a weapon. With the distinct possibility of lives being on the line, I forced the thought from my mind. Worst comes to worst I would just have to use my fists. Every second right now could be the difference between life and death.

 

Hearing cries of alarm and unmistakably human shouts from up ahead, I took a risk and redoubled my pace. The sodden ground of the swamplands was treacherous even while walking, running on it was really taking my life into my own hands. Even so, I only had a half dozen slips and trips by the time the hunting group came into view, so it was more than worth it.

 

The five Serpent-Kin were cornered by what looked like close to ten human soldiers. Their matching equipment and deferment to a single authority figure made it incredibly unlikely that they were adventurers.

 

One member of the hunting party was nursing a wounded arm, the shaft and fletching of an arrow protruding between his fingers. The sight of it made me incredibly angry, almost to the point that I couldn’t hear what the lead human soldier was saying.

 

“-I said, take me to your village! You miserable cretins!” The lead soldier hissed angrily, “If I have to ask again, I’ll...” The words died in the man's throat as he saw me hustling towards the Serpent-Kin.

 

“You will do what?!” I growled provocatively, straightening to stand at my full height, easily head and shoulders above the tallest soldier amongst them.

 

Bolstered by my appearance, the hunting party hissed feral warnings of their own, baring teeth and fangs alongside their spears.

 

Despite the fact that most of the soldiers were equipped with steel helmets, chain hauberks, gambesons, steel-tipped spears and metal banded shields, to a man, they backed away at my approach. The fact that I was spattered with mud and only wearing my boxers would have made the showdown especially comical if it weren’t so incredibly dangerous.

 

The leader, despite having paled considerably and now sweating bullets, took a tentative step back towards me, “N-now l-listen here m-monster!” He stammered, “By order of the king, you are to provide shelter and supplies for his Majesty’s soldiers!” The impact he had intended to convey was completely lost due to his own transparent fear.

 

“Return to Sanctuary,” I told the hunting group, “Tell the others what has happened.”

 

“Hey!” The leader cried out as the Serpent-Kin hurried past and out into the swamp. Despite his bluster, he still didn’t try anything.

 

“If you want supplies,” I growled contemptuously, “You can send someone to negotiate a fair price for them, AFTER providing compensation for your unprovoked attack on my people!” Turning my back on him and the other soldiers, which was an incredibly stupid thing to do, I stalked off after the retreating hunting party.

 

To my relief, no one attempted shooting me in the back. I was genuinely surprised that no one had seemed to notice I was unarmed and completely unarmoured. With most of the nearby wildlife already having been culled by the hunters, my trip back to Sanctuary was rather uneventful.

 

As expected and to my immense relief, all the members of the hunting party were accounted for, even the injured hunter was sitting nearby while a pair of Surgeons were carefully extracting the arrow from his arm.

 

“Lord,” Gric made his way over and offered me my morningstar and one of the practice shields.

 

Gratefully accepting both, I tried my best to project a sense of calm and control as I turned my attention to the gathered crowd of my citizens, “I want all Daemons and parents to fall back to the Grove. In the absence of Hana or myself, Gric is in charge. Understood?”

 

Individuals amongst the crowd of Serpent-Kin and Deep Orcs nodded, while the Daemons rumbled, roared, growled and hissed obediently.

 

While I wanted the Daemons to better convey a position of strength, both from greater numbers and bulk, I had the distinct impression that my presence alone was likely going to cause more than a few problems already. Besides, if the armoured bulk of the Deep Orcs wasn’t intimidating enough, then Gric and the Daemons probably wouldn’t cut it either.

 

Spying Toofy and Ril lingering near Hana, I frowned disapprovingly. The last thing I wanted was for either of them to be involved in heated and quite likely hostile negotiations with the soldiers outside of Sanctuary.

 

“There are close to a hundred of them,” Hana explained quickly, misinterpreting the cause for my diverted attention, “They have some form of ward with them and it is making it difficult to get an accurate count.”

 

I nodded but was surprised by how few of them there were. “Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked, trying my best not to sound nervous in front of my citizens.

 

Hana nodded and pursed her lips briefly before continuing, “They do not have any spellcasters with them, but...their leader seems quite powerful. Perhaps even as strong as you...” Seeing that her comparison did not elicit the response she expected, Hana gave me a worried look, “Tim, you may not fully realise it, but you are VERY powerful compared to just about anything the Labyrinth could throw at you on these lower floors, let alone compared to the Humans.”

 

I had to grudgingly admit Hana had a point. Even without armour, my Toughness gave me absurd levels of durability.

 

“They are coming!” Hana’s attention snapped towards the gate, “Only half of them, the others are lingering by the southern wall, just inside the barrier.”

 

Now that Hana had pointed it out to me, I could sense the intruders movements as they skirted the wall towards the gate. I couldn’t sense the other group at all though, so I suspected it was related to the ward in their possession

 

Quickly forming a party composed of myself, Lash, Hana, Toofy and Ril. I then filled out a retinue composed of the remaining Deep Orcs as Lash did the same and Hana formed a retinue from the Serpent-Kin hunters. With the agreement that Hana would stay back with Toofy, Ril and the Serpent-Kin Myself, Lash and our accompanying retinues moved outside of the gate to await the arrival of our uninvited guests.

 

*****

 

Lieutenant Felix was doing his best to keep a tight rein on his nerves. Despite making contact with Variants from the suspected monster Settlement, Lieutenant Uric, who had tagged along with the forward scouts, had reported some very unsettling news.

 

There was an Ogre in the vicinity.

 

Worse yet, the Ogre seemed to have a solid grasp of human language, which was unprecedented.

 

Felix had no idea how the brute had managed to descend the Labyrinth, but one thing was clear, it did not bode well for Captain Klive’s training expedition and impromptu relief effort for the Adventurer Guild’s foothold.

 

The longer Felix and his men continued walking the perimeter of the immense and densely packed briar wall, the more worried Felix became.

 

He had never seen monsters capable of something like this before. There were rumours amongst the veterans at the barracks that higher tiers of monster were capable of wielding powerful magic, but Felix had never really believed it.

 

As a career soldier, Felix was no stranger to the lower floors of the Hurst Labyrinth and a few others besides. However, in his seven years of service, this was the first time Felix had seen a defensive wall that was worth a damn and not just poorly imitated earthworks.

 

To make things even more unsettling, the monster Settlement had to have a truly powerful Shaman to be capable of sustaining such an immense and effective Ward. Felix had never personally interacted with a Shaman before, and he doubted he would ever have the opportunity to do so either. The Variants protected their Shamans fanatically, and for good reason, considering their Wards were the only things keeping the other monsters out.

 

Slowly rounding the wall, Felix nearly tripped over himself in shock at the sight ahead of them. Roughly thirty heavily armoured Orcs were standing at the ready by what appeared to be the gate to the monster Settlement. Standing beside the largest of the Orcs was the unmistakable form of the Ogre Lt. Uric had warned them about.

 

Standing close to eight and a half feet tall, perhaps more, the Ogre was easily twice as broad as the largest Orc, armour and all.

 

Lt. Uric had reported the Ogre to be unarmed and unarmoured, but half of that assessment needed to be revisited, because the Ogre was bearing a table-sized rectangular shield and a morningstar the length of Felix’s arm.

 

This was bad, really really bad.

 

Cohabitation like this was almost unheard of, most monsters, Variant or otherwise, hated one another's guts and competed ferociously for territory and resources. The fact that this Ogre had subdued the local Orcs as well as the scaled humanoid species Lt. Uric had reported, it did not bode well for their expedition.

 

Bringing the column of troops to a halt more than a hundred feet away from the Orcs, Felix motioned for two of his most senior sergeants, Barus and Louis, to accompany him. To their credit, they didn’t complain. Both men were seasoned veterans and well into their thirties. They likely understood that Felix had very little choice in who he needed to watch his back during the negotiations.

 

“You sure about this sir?” Sgt. Barus grunted, his piercing blue eyes staring disapprovingly at the Variants forces.

 

“Just say the word and we can hightail it to the Captain,” Sgt. Louis agreed with boundless optimism.

 

Felix was tempted to take their advice, but he shook his head. “We have our orders,” Felix stated firmly and injected as much confidence as he could muster.

 

Neither of the seasoned Sergeants were fooled for a moment, but they knew their duty and formed up behind Felix all the same.

 

Taking a few moments to settle his nerves, Felix slowly let out a deep breath and began walking towards the Variants. Much to his surprise, the largest Orc and the Ogre separated from the other Orcs and began slowly and purposefully walking to meet Felix halfway.

 

Stopping only a half dozen feet from each other, Felix was forced to crane his neck upwards to look the pair of Variants in the eye. Knowing that the Ogre had to be the one in charge, Felix was a little confused as to how to proceed.

 

Ogres were notoriously stupid, so it was quite possible that the Orc was the one actually pulling the strings. The fact that the Orc was female and the Ogre was male, only served to support this theory.

 

Clearing his throat Felix prepared to speak but was startled into silence when the Ogre beat him to it and spoke first.

 

“One of your men shot an arrow and wounded one of my people,” the Ogre growled angrily.

 

Felix didn’t know what to say. If he hadn’t seen the Ogre’s lips moving, then he wouldn’t have believed it. Glancing backwards for a moment, Felix saw that Sgt. Louis was wide eyed and Sgt. Barus was gripping his spear so tight his knuckles had turned white.

 

“You owe compensation,” the Ogre added.

 

“Compensation?” Felix replied without thinking.

 

“Your men injured one of my citizens,” the Ogre repeated, his voice deeper and more threatening than before.

 

Compensation? Citizens? Weren’t these words far too large for the likes of an Ogre? And how in the hells was it this articulate?!

 

“Are you the one in charge?” The Ogre demanded irritably.

 

Felix gulped hard, “Uh, I am,” he agreed uncertainly, unsure if the Ogre intended the larger force or just those now outside the gate to his Settlement.

 

The Ogre frowned disapprovingly, “Then what are you going to do about it?”

 

Keenly aware that he was doing his unit and his king a disservice, Felix took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. “I sincerely apologise for what may have occurred-”

 

The Ogre’s frown turned to a scowl.

 

“-for the harm caused,” Felix amended, “What form of compensation did you have in mind?”

 

The Ogre took on a thoughtful expression as it considered the question, “If he was hit by an arrow-” The Ogre effortlessly pointed its morningstar at Sgt. Louis, “-and required the assistance of a Surgeon. How much would the Surgeon charge to remove the arrow and heal the wound?” The way the Ogre asked the question and the intensity of his gaze made it clear that he should not be tested.

 

The army had Surgeons on retainer and long term contracts, Felix had even required their services himself on more than a few occasions. “Ten silver,” Felix replied honestly, unwilling to provoke the Variant into violent action. He had the distinct impression that the Ogre’s anger was tied to the implied disrespect from the treatment of his subordinates.

 

“Then you will pay twenty,” the Ogre stated bluntly, making it clear there was no room for negotiation.

 

Surprised that the price of compensation was actually somewhat reasonable, Felix sighed in relief. Fumbling slightly with his coin pouch, Felix counted out twenty silver coins and bravely approached the large Orc and Ogre. Realising too late that they might consider taking him hostage or opportunistically killing him then and there, Felix shakily held out the twenty silver coins for their inspection.

 

The Ogre turned to the Orc and motioned towards Felix with a small nod of his head.

 

The Orc nodded and cupped one hand to receive the coins.

 

Gratefully handing over the coins, Felix hurried back to his original position.

 

“What do you want?” The Ogre asked, surprisingly no longer angry but understandably wary.

 

Felix brusquely cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter, confident now that the Variants could be reasoned with. “On behalf of the crown-” Felix noted an immediate shift in the Ogre’s mood, “-we request shelter and information,” he concluded hurriedly.

 

Hells bells, what had Lt. Uric done to poison the Ogre against the king?

 

They would definitely need to talk about this later with the captain.

 

“You will not be allowed within Sanctuary,” the Ogre stated bluntly, “If you want to stay within the protected limits, then I want two copper per soldier each day you remain.”

 

Felix winced but nodded. The captain wasn’t going to like the idea of paying for the privilege of staying within a monster Settlement’s outer limits, but the cost was surprisingly low given the nature of the earlier compensation. “I will need to run this by my superior officer,” Felix explained and was glad to see the Ogre nod in understanding, before realising a moment later how terrifying the ramifications of that gesture was.

 

Not only was the Variant intelligent enough to learn human speech, but it also appeared to have a functioning knowledge of human command structures as well.

 

The captain was REALLY not going to like this.