Xiao Chen scratched the back of his head and stared at the many scrolls scattered in front of him. “Hah… I need some fresh air.”

He stood up from his chair, which he requested from the trolls, stretched his back and limbs as his bones made cracking sounds. Days he had confined himself inside his tent and only went out to attend to his personal needs, even his meals were delivered to his tent by Grogus accompanied by his dedicated warden Aro’shanna who was always with him.

Aimlessly wandering around the tribe just to inhale fresh air and the trying to relax his stressed out brain. Xiao Chen met the workers who were always busy with all the tasks that he had given them. They saluted him similarly as his warriors, to which he nodded in response to acknowledge their salute.

The peaceful stroll of Xiao Chen was interrupted by the Gur’kan, who was sprinting towards him. From his expression, it seemed that he carries important news for him.

Gur’kan’s breathing was ragged and his hands were on his knees with his back crouched down, trying to catch his breath. “Huff… Huff… Chief… S-Sak-Sakh’arran… is back… H-He has some… friends with him… huff… huff… huff.”

Upon receiving Gur’kan’s report, Xiao Chen went towards the place where Trot’thar was at the watchtower. The watchtower basically became Trot’thar’s home for the past weeks, almost never leaving its premises.

The only times that he left watchtower would be when he needed to attend to the number two call of nature. Number one, he would do it high up in the tower. It might not be pleasant, specially for those unlucky enough to get splattered by his piss.

Upon reaching the foot of the tower, Xiao Chen saw Trot’thar quickly making his descent. “What’s the situation?”

“Sakh’arran is back accompanied by what seems to be remnants of the Warghen Clan since there are a lot of wargs with them, with no riders on their backs. I also spotted massive three horned creatures that I hadn’t seen before being ridden by the orcs accompanying Druu’ghar Vaddash. They are coming from the northeast.”

Xiao Chen nodded towards Trot’thar, and they moved swiftly towards the walls.

“White Tiger group with me!”

Gur’kan shouted. Rapid footsteps stirred up clouds of dust as the orcs belonging to the White Tiger group assembled in their battle formation.

Xiao Chen headed towards the north gate accompanied by the White Tiger group, their commander and Trot’thar. It didn’t take long for them to reach the north gate, which was guarded by only a handful of taurens and ogres who were lazing around because of boredom.

“Open the gates!”

Gur’kan shouted towards those who were on duty-guard at the north gate. Upon noticing the group of orcs headed their way, the taurens and ogres stood up and lined up while yawning.

The massive wooden gate creaked as they slowly opened it after a very long time of it being tightly closed. The dust accumulated in its gaps rained down towards the ground after being stirred up by the trembling of the gate upon it being opened.

*****

Far into the south, within the land of hot and endless sands of the Burning Sands.

Shocking news flew all over the capital city of the Ereian Kingdom, Ishtar. Whether you are a noble or a commoner, it became a hot topic. It is no exception, even within the palace. The royal ministers were comically flustered and panicking.

The King sat on his throne, a throne made of the finest wood available, the softest silk and the most ridiculously expensive gems.

The Chief Royal Minister stood forward, his face already full of wrinkles and his once powerful back was now hunched. “Then we will now hold the Royal Council. The topic for discussion is…”

“No need for those unnecessary things! What else is there to talk about but the process on how we shall eliminate this threat that came from the north.”

The Prince yelled and cut off the Chief Royal Minister. He had long been dissatisfied with the old men who influenced his father’s decisions. It was because of them that his rise to the throne was delayed as punishment for eradicating the Darhkariss Bloodline after being rejected by the head of the Darhkariss family.

He was told that he was unworthy of their daughter’s hand and their family’s support, which spurred him to eradicate their family in the dark. Thanks to the old men sticking their noses in, the real perpetrator was soon unveiled, which was him.

The Chief Royal Minister cleared his throat and just ignored the hot-blooded prince. “As I was saying. The immediate matter to be attended to is…”

“Normally, this council is not needed. Those vile creatures are encroaching on our lands and we only have one job to do, which is to crush them utterly and launch a counter-attack against the barbarians to the north.”

The Prince cut off the Chief Royal Minister again.

“My son is right. He might be hot-blooded and foolish at sometimes, but this threat needed to be snuffed out quickly. And the barbarians to the north shall pay for their transgression. I appoint Prince Gyassi as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ereian Army. All commanders shall follow his commands. This council is over.”

“Your Highness! Please think this through!”

The Royal Ministers begged the King to change his decision, but the King just stood up from his throne, nodded towards his son, then left behind the begging old men.

Prince Gyassi smiled victoriously at the old men who were still begging the King to change his decision.

Behind the throne room, the King of Ereia stared at his Queen, who was waiting for him. “Are you sure that he won’t fail miserably again this time? I had a lot of trouble to deal with when he eradicated the Darhkariss Family. The other noble families are now wary of us because of his failure to hide his tracks properly.”

His Queen smiled at him, walked towards him with steady steps as her hips swayed from side to side seductively. “Don’t you worry, Your Highness, I made sure that he learned his lesson from his last failure. It was also your plan to eradicate that family and the Prince only followed your wishes but just got ratted out by those old men in your court who had nothing better to do than bicker all day long among themselves and stick their noses in matters that they shouldn’t.”

The King stroked his beard and inched his face forward towards his Queen. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the plump red lips of his queen. “I hope he learned his lesson. Dealing with the other noble families is already taking a toll on my sanity.”

The Queen returned the kiss passionately as her hands wandered over the chest of the King. “Let me ease your mind tonight, Your Highness.”

She whispered into his ears and bit his earlobes and smiled, displaying her irresistible charm before turning around and headed towards the bedchamber of the King, walking away with her hips swaying side to side.