Rise of the Horde

Chapter 321 - 321 Chapter 321

321 Chapter 32After scouring the area for more survivors to learn of what actually happened to their camp for a day, Ounephes gave up after not being able to get any useful from all those that they have encountered, all of them only knew one thing which was that their camp was attacked by their foes and nothing more which proved that a fierce struggle didn’t happen but his soldiers tucked their tail between their tails and ran away from the fight which further incensed him. He didn’t know why but he got the feeling that all of the soldiers who were with him were nothing but cowards and upon thinking about the existence of the Ereian Royal Army, his disappointment with his own troops grew higher. “If I just had such troops under my command, then this shameful defeat wouldn’t happen…” he mumbled to himself as he led the riders towards the small village to the north by the river to get themselves some much needed rest after being out in the vast open desert for a day.

Ounephes held the Ereian Royal Army in regard and he sees them as the ideal kind of troops to lead into battle and he had fantasize of leading them into battle in his dreams and he easily racked up victories one after the other no matter who stood in their way with them under his command, ‘They would be invincible in battle’ that was what was in his thoughts but little did he know that a portion of his ideal army already tasted the bitter flavor of defeat from the foes that he was yet to find out about.

Far to the south, Baron Husani was doing his very best to make himself useful as he continued convincing more of his subjects to answer his recruitment in creating another army that he could field or send towards the chieftain of the orcs. The baron went as far as almost emptying the warehouses of his domain and sending most of the goods of his lands towards Alsenna and only maintaining the amount of what was needed by his territory with any surplus being transported to the city to the north.

The Drakhars who remained at the territory of the baron lived a life of luxury receiving all kinds of gifts from the baron with some of them forgetting their real purpose of being there in the first place but there were still some of them who remained true to their duty as they kept watch on the actions of the baron.

Supplies trickled in from the north continuously and with the small population of Yohan, they didn’t need much to tide through till the next harvest. Meat and grains were abundant but there were also some other war supplies being transported from the north towards the City of Alsenna such as shields, weapons and armors and a huge group of goblins and kobolds to help with the mining activity in the territory of Baron Husani but their first task was creating a usable road from the Fortress of Vir towards the City Alsenna which would go through the small town where Jahann was posted at and allow faster transportation of goods in the lands that were in control of horde.

After a few days of rest, Khao’khen ordered for his warriors to continue on with the journey while sending the captives to the city under the watch of the Rumbling Clan. He had already sent out scouts to the east a day prior to track down the remains of the enemy army and just a few hours ago, they came back with the information that a small group of riders probably the enemy cavalry of the enemy army was stationed at small village by the river to the east just a half a day of march from their fort.

The Drakhars were sent forward first with the Yohan First Horde following after them during the night to make it harder for any possible enemy scout to decipher their identity with the darkness of the night as their cover. With their previous victory and having their stomachs filled, the Drakhars were quick to moved out of the camp and covered a lot of ground fast.

As Khao’khen had expected, there were scouts from the enemy side that was monitoring the activity of his army. Trot’thar had long spotted the seven riders who were trying to hide themselves by the grain of sands as they watch the Drakhars move out from their camp.

Night eventually came and as Khao’khen had expected, a group of enemy riders attempted to raid their camp, thinking that with just their numbers of a little bit over fifty, they would be able to successfully take control of their camp but what met them was a hail of javelins and the grinning faces of the Yurakks who made quick work of them. Some of them tried to escape but the Warghen Clan had already long circled around them and cut off their escape route. More than twenty riders were taken captive after their failed attempt to seized control of their camp and were escorted by the small group of riders from the Warghen Clan towards the city while the rest of the horde moved out from the camp after dismantling it.

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During their march to join with the Drakhars, the horde was assaulted by the bandits that previously raided the supply lines of Ounephes’ army thinking that they were huge caravan of merchants but when they came close enough, they were in for a great surprise. The bandit leader shouted to retreat in panic after realizing that they messed with the wrong opponent but Khao’khen wouldn’t allow them to escape as the bandits would mean more work force for them. In the darkness of the night, the Warghen Clan chased after the fleeing bandits who were at a disadvantage since the orcs had no qualms about the darkness as they can see just fine.

A few hours after midnight, close to hundred bandits were captured, a few hundred slain and only a few successfully escaping. Ounephes would have never thought that the bandits that he had pursued before were actually a huge group and they were just luring him in to their comrades to capture him since they deemed his ransom to be high if they get their hands on him.