Grolfir gave Gregory a very long icy stare that burned into the young man like cold fire. Even then, Gregory didn’t yield an inch. So it was, after a long moment, the corners of Grolfir’s mouth curved upward into a very pleased tusky grin before he threw his head back and let out a loud bellow ofughter.
“You are obviously mad, little human.” He finally said in amidst his amusement. “Yet you honour my niece and have a heart forged of steel. I had to know if you were worthy of her and it seems you are. Although, it also seems you’re suicidal, but I shall take the good with the bad.”
Relief flooded through Gregory. This was just a test. Grolfir moved around his heavy desk to therge storage chest. He lowered hisrge hand to move his own sword aside and run his fingers across the wooden engravings upon the container.
“Algra’s former master and mate was my servant. He was a great warrior and an honourable orc. When he died in battle she should have passed to me but instead she chose exile. Her possessions were her master’s and when he died they became mine. I offered her them then but she refused to take what was hers. She wanted no part of our way any more for her grief and shame were too great. These are her things. Her armour, her sword and her possessions. I give them to you in the hope that you will pass them on to her.” Grolfir pushed the chest across the floor toward Gregory.
“Thanks! I’ll be sure she gets them.” Gregory looked over the chest but didn’t open it for the contents didn’t belong to him.
A long silence followed in which Grolfir looked upon Gregory as if trying to size up the boy. It seemed that the great orc wasn’t the only one with unreadable eyes.
“How did you best her? She is a very dangerous warrior. I know you have some skill, human, but you are not her equal,” Grolfir asked as he moved to take one of the seats and then extended his arm to offer Gregory a ce on the chair opposite.
He told the warchief about his first meeting with Algra and how she had severely underestimated him. The truth was that although she certainly hadn’t known his capabilities, she was also very much in heat and quite distracted as a result. Orc women passed through a very sexually frenzied state from time to time and poor Algra had been alone for a very long while out there in the forest. She hadn’t been thinking very clearly when she’d challenged him. He didn’t let Grolfir know this of course since he didn’t want to embarrass his orc lover or her far more intimidating uncle. In any case it had all worked out in the end as he’d certainly seen to her needs.
They talked for over an hour as Gregory saw no need to deny his otherworldly origins. Grolfir was very keen to know about Earth and the things they did there. After half an hour of conversation it was clear to Gregory that the warchief was a great fan of military history. He’d studied the stories of many battles in his own world and was fascinated by Gregory’s tales of Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar. Gregory was a keen student of ancient to medieval military history and he had no shortage of tales to impart to the great warchief.
“And what about the orcs? I don’t mean to offend but I’ve never seen anything like your people before. I’d love to learn more about them.” Gregory finally managed to venture the question.
Grolfir nodded his head at the trade off and turned his head to look toward the opening of the tent.
“Some ale!” He turned back to Gregory. “What would you know of us?”
“Well, why don’t you let humans join your society? They can’t challenge an orc for anything can they?”
“Because humans are a bunch of backstabbing bastards,” Grolfir grumbled as two orcs wheeled in a cask of ale and settled it beside the warchief.
“Well… alright then.” Gregory didn’t quite know what to say to that.
“Nay, there are many decent men and women in the Empire but it’s not a ce where the cream rises.”
“More like the shit.” Gregory grunted the words out when thinking of some of the leaders of his own world.
“Ha! Aye, the shit rises and the decent stuff sinks to the bottom of the barrel.” He reached out and smacked the top of the keg of ale to highlight his point before pouring himself a drink into a metal cup and taking a taste. “Ah, this is orc brewed. We try to be fine through and through.” With that, the warchief raised his cup to Gregory. “As you seem to be, pup.”Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.
Thepliment brought a smile to Gregory’s lips and the warchief poured a second cup from the barrel and slid it across the table to him. Gregory reached out and took a taste. He barely managed to get down the great gulp he’d taken before coughing his lungs up. It felt like someone had made an ice cube out of gasoline, crushed it, lit it on fire and poured it down his throat.
Grolfir found his reaction to be mildly hrious and took a deep drink of the stuff before grinning across the table to the young human.
“That could blow the head off of a horse,” Greg observed before taking a rather more tentative sip. “So what is human society like here? You say it’s an empire?”
“Aye, the central realmmands the loyalty of the outlying territories. Or so it thinks. There are five human territories, each run by a High Lord. They surround the… wait, there is a picture…” Grolfir turned to a chest settled beside his desk and pulled out a collection of parchments. He nced at three of them before finding the one he wanted and spreading it out across the wooden surface.
Gregory looked upon the world of Arolius and was immediately fascinated. He couldn’t read the writing upon the map for it was in some strangenguage but he immediately saw what Grolfir was talking about. In the centre of the world there was arge space surrounded upon all its borders by five otherrge territories. Gregory saw that the eastern part of the map was dominated by a vast ocean. The north was lined withrge mountains and coloured in heavy ckened illustrations that didn’t look in the slightest bit weing. In the west arge desert bordered two of the human territories and in the south there were thick jungles and beyond them were more mountains.