Rise of the Horde-Chapter 322 -

322 Chapter 32After dealing with the bandits during the darkness, the Yohan First Horde quickly started erecting their fort at the new location which was close by the village where Ounephes and his remaining troops were taking refuge at.

As soon as the surroundings were lit bright enough by the sunrise, the villagers who were always early to wake up to begin their daily life gathered by the western entrance of their village and were discussing about the sudden emergence of a fort so close to them and judging by the reactions of the soldiers that rested in their village, the new arrivals were not so friendly.

Alarm and panic, the village head tried to calm down the villagers while he headed for the house where the leader of the soldiers that resided in their village were at to seek some understanding of the situation that they were in. For many years, there village has remained peaceful and even the bandits that prowled the vast desert didn’t give them trouble for the existence of the village gave them a safe place to get necessary supplies for their hideouts and for them to survive the harshness of the Burning Sands. The village also sometimes acted as a proxy for the bandits to sell off the goods that they have looted from their preys.

“Pardon the intrusion, my lord but I need some explanation for the sudden emergence of a possible hostile enemy fort right by the door of our village.” the soldiers of Ounephes tried to prevent the village head from disturbing their commander who asked for them to not let anyone disturb him for the time being but they suffered a beatdown from the hands of the village head. Before becoming the leader of the village, the old man was once a soldier for the kingdom but decided to retire earlier on than his peers and he was still thankful for that decision of his but also felt sad about the demise of his brothers who had been with him for years.

In his younger years, the village head dreamed of creating a name for himself, attaining merits to raise his rank and fame throughout the kingdom but that never came as he remained one of the lowly soldiers who were always first to charge at their foes and with the great possibility of the ones who will first to die. The glory of war, he craved for it when he was still yet to experience the horrors of war. Just like what the phrase that old veterans of war says, “Only those who have never experienced and participated in a war find it enjoyable.”

The remaining guards of Ounephes had their weapons drawn out and pointed at the village head to barged in inside the hut with hesitation as by the sound of pain from their comrades who were stationed outside speaks of the beating that they suffered from the hands of the simple man who stood in front of them. “Stand down…” Ounephes waved for his soldiers to sheath their weapons as he knew that they were not match for the village especially in the confine space that they were in right and even he himself had some reservations in outright becoming hostile with the village head because of the lack of respect that he has for him.

“Chief Ka, we can discuss this… There’s no need to get all violent because of some misunderstanding…” Ounephes tried to his best to show off the most innocent and friendly smile that he can but deep inside his head, ‘Wait till I get my reinforcements… I’ll burn your village to the ground and slaughter you all and I’ll make sure that you suffer the full course of my expertise.’ Chief Ka relaxed his stance then stared down at the leader of the soldiers who were taking refuge at their village.

“Get out of my village as soon as possible… I don’t want my people to be dragged into the petty squabble of you nobles…” the village head outright told them to f*ck of and get their asses out of the village since they are nothing but trouble. During the first few hours of their stay, Chief Ka had to run around his village to rescue the women that have been captured by the unruly soldiers to warm their beds which made him and the villagers dislike their visitors right there and then. If not for the identity of Ounephes being a member of the Radames family, Chief Ka would have slaughtered them all already but he knew that is he did just that, the new Duke of Ereia, the father of Ounephes and the current head of the Radames family would spare no effort to track down the one responsible for the death of his heir which would in turn jeopardize the safety of the village and the peace that they had.

As soon as the village head exited the hut where Ounephes was staying at and was already out of earshot, the guards began spouting cuss words at the chief of the village. Ounephes was angered but he knew that it wasn’t the right time to act upon his emotions since they were in a precarious situation unlike before where he still had a strong standing army to threaten any who dared to disrespect him.

.....

“Gather the men…Prepare the steed and get whatever supplies that you can get your hands on… We will leave this place in an hour…” the commander of the Ereians gave out his orders as he slumped down on the uncomfortable bed of straws that was offered to him which was a far cry from the soft comfortable bed that he was used to but he had no choice but to make use of it since he didn’t want to sleep on the cold ground like his men.

After erecting their defenses, Khao’khen had his warriors properly rested while prompting the Drakhars to remain alert since they were still yet to find out if the village ahead is friendly or not since there was a possibility that members of the routed enemy army might have made use of it as a rallying point and take them by surprise. Although they now had the overwhelming advantage against their foes, Khao’khen still refused to rush things up since he didn’t want his army to suffer any unnecessary casualties since he had no way of quickly replenishing the number of his warriors without months of gruel and strict training.

The warriors of Yohan were resting while the Drakhars were on guard duty and everything was peaceful inside their camp but unlike them, the village right ahead wasn’t as peaceful as the alarmed villagers started barricading their village with whatever they can find be it boulders, dirt, mud and even some carts were used to create a small wall in front of their village which faced the possible hostile fort.