World Seed

"Torakka has spoken, and i, Sarmak Gral"Thrak, lokkan of the Gral"Thrak clan, accept his will... But let"s not forget why we are here today. Let us begin the torakan and leave this for another time."

"But lokkan-" The high priest clearly wanted to make a bigger deal out of the circ.u.mstances but Sarmak would allow him no such thing, interrupting him before his pleas could turn the crowd to his favor.

"Begin the torakan." Ordered Sarmak, taking one last glance at the calf before taking his seat.

"There will be repercussions for this." Usha whispered.

"I"m well aware." Sarmak spoke through his fake smile.

His eyes scanned the elders before him and even the ones who supported him wore an unfriendly expression now. They knew as well as he did, that it was impossible for Torakka to have been behind the calf"s movements. From their point of view Sarmak had just openly grabbed power that would allow him to ignore the elder"s will"s entirely.

A chosen was Torakka"s will incarnate and now Sarmak could claim his actions are that of Torakka"s no matter what he did. The more fanatical orcs, which happened to be the majority of orcs on Alduun, would follow him without question.

However, regardless how the elders felt, Sarmak didn"t have a choice. If he denied the calf"s actions being Torakka"s will then he was effectively telling the arena that Torakka was gone. Despite being true, the orcs still needed some semblance of a greater purpose and most refused to let go of the old ways so telling them that their G.o.d was dead to them was a quick way to lose their support.

Sarmak continued to display a smiling face despite his racing thoughts and the torakan finally began without a hitch. The first seven Lok"ra youths found success and while some slaves were clearing the bodies from the arena in between bouts, a messenger appeared at Sarmak"s side.

"A messenger came from Ungor"s village, lokkan." The messenger leaned in and spoke quietly.

"Speak."

"Nearly two thousand human soldiers landed to the south of the village. They"re heading east towards the dark elves but Ungor is requesting reinforcements just in case."

"How long ago was the messenger sent?"

"They left Ungor"s village two days ago."

"Humans..."

The news made little sense to Sarmak, the humans only come north when the gate opens and he had received no news that would have him believe it had. Usually the last invasion force that came through the gate begins to be pushed out from the lands beyond the mountain once a new force enters through the gate and the draknid"s weren"t showing any unusual movements in the last report that would suggest the gate had opened.

"Notify the elders and the rest of the council, we"ll have a council meeting after the torakan."

"..." The messenger glanced back and forth from Sarmak to the elders who were only a meter away from him.

"...Just do it." Sarmak sighed, they would undoubtedly have some choice words should he be the one to tell them now. It was best to let them cool off a bit before he spoke with them and the torakan should sap some of their fury by the time it"s finished.

After a few more matches it was finally time for Pyk"s fight. Sarmak sat upright and paid close attention as his son entered the arena while three Rozk"ra entered on the side opposite of him. Each Rozk"ra was equipped with a sword and s.h.i.+eld but wore nothing more than some leather that covered their private bits. Pyk wore the same bit of leather but lacked any weapons as was customary for the ritual. The high priest shouted some words and the fight begun.

The three Rozk"ra furiously charged at the boy together, matching each step to one another so they wouldn"t be split up. Pyk charged in response and as the Rozk"ra in the middle swung his sword down Pyk dodged to the right, where another Rozk"ra"s sword was heading towards his head horizontally. He ducked and sent a sweeping kick at the Rozk"ra"s legs, snapping one of his ankles and sending him falling into the middle Rozk"ra.

The left-most Rozk"ra had found it"s way behind him and sent his blade plunging towards Pyk"s back at a time when he was still recovering from his sweeping kick. He spun and tried to dodge but only managed to get far enough away for the blade to leave a deep gash on the side of his chest instead of taking his life.

Pyk spun into the Rozk"ra embrace, grabbing the round s.h.i.+eld in the Rozk"ra"s hand and in the same motion, pulling on it to send the Rozk"ra flying into the other two. The s.h.i.+eld came loose as the Rozk"ra fell and now that he finally had something to defend himself with Pyk wasted no time. He charged the two who were now beginning to stand.

They lunged at him with their swords which Pyk smashed away in a single backhand motion before sending his forehead forward into the nose of the Rozk"ra on the right, sending him tumbling backwards. Pyk went to kick the knee of the other but a sword came up from below stabbing into his thigh. Using his s.h.i.+eld, he pushed the standing Rozk"ra back and sent him flying before he turned his sights to the one who had just stabbed him.

The Rozk"ra on the ground noticed the attention and quickly attempted to get up but was met with a brutal stomp on his back stunning him. Pyk then mounted him and repeatedly sent the b.u.t.t of his s.h.i.+eld down on the Rozk"ra"s head until it was no more than red mush. Grabbing the dead Rozk"ra"s sword he turned his attention back to the other two.

The one he had headb.u.t.ted was still unconscious on the floor while the other was mid charge, heading straight at him. Pyk blocked the Rozk"ra"s blow and sent his sword piercing through the Rozk"ra"s chest, he lifted the body up a meter off the ground before tossing it to the side. With only the unconscious Rozk"ra left he took his time sauntering over to him.

Pyk stood over the unconscious body, raised his sword and as he was about to plunge it down the Rozk"ra shot out his own towards Pyk"s private bits. Pyk rapidly changed his swing, aiming for the Rozk"ra"s arm instead and in one quick slash removed it from his body as the Rozk"ra cried out in pain. Pyk then threw his s.h.i.+eld and sword out of reach and mounted the Rozk"ra, sending a flurry of impactful fists towards it"s face. With each blow a crunching sound echoed out until the Rozk"ra"s face looked much like the one who found it"s end at the bottom of his own s.h.i.+eld.

Pyk roared as he stood up and the crowd cheered in delight.

"Showy little brat..." Sarmak grumbled.

"Pfft, you act like you were any different at his age." Usha giggled.

"Hmph, i wasn"t that showy and i"ll hear no one tell me otherwise, not even my beautiful wife."

"Pfft, sure you were just a glorious youth with no faults whatsoever. That"s why you took three years to admit you had feeling for me, right?"

"Dear wife, you wound me..." Sarmak spoke with all the pride of a mouse.

The rest of the ritual took a few more hours and once it was over Sarmak headed to the council hall. He was the first to arrive so he sat alone, his forehead resting on his palm as if deep in though and tired. It was fairly minimalistic with only a long table and some chairs that he rightfully sat at the head of. The door slammed open and Sarmak remained unmoving as he shot his eyes towards the rude elder who happened to be his uncle Begga.
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"What were you thinking!" Elder Begga roared.

"What would you have me do uncle? Decline the will of Torakka before the entirety of Gral"Thrak Or? The best case would be never ending insubordination that would leave me with little power and the worst case would be a riot that ended with my pretty head on a stick."

"We both know d.a.m.n well Torakka has no power in this world!"

"Yes, and we both know "d.a.m.n well" that the people believe he does. I wonder why that is uncle?"

"Don"t you dare try to toss the blame to the elders! ...The people having something to believe in is necessary for all our survival."

"And the elders centuries old facade is what brought us to this. Nothing has changed, i will still heed the elders words as if it never happened. The people believing i"m chosen only helps us further."

"...The others won"t be so quick to believe you. I cannot save you from this."

"I have never needed saving before and i don"t plan on starting now. I"ll handle the elders so calm yourself and take a seat next to your "chosen" nephew." Sarmak laughed but uncle Bregga still wore his serious expression all the way until the rest of the council arrived a few minutes later.

Sarmak explained the same thing he had said to uncle Bregga and received varying responses but it was clear that these old Lok"ra wouldn"t be letting the matter slide so easily.

"The mighty Sarmak The Chosen still requires us to make decisions?" Elder Renk said sarcastically.

"What are your thoughts on the news of the humans." Sarmak ignored the elders attempt to illicit a reaction from him.

"..." Silence followed as no one dared to be the first to speak.

"...It"s possible the humans are simply raiding the elves. They have little to gain by attacking Ungor"s village." Uncle Bragga came in with the save despite his previous words claiming otherwise.

"I believe that is the case as well." The head of the Ro"Tak clan, Korag, agreed.

"I agree, however i still believe we should send my son a small force just in case." Elder Gorro spoke the words Sarmak was waiting for. If Sarmak was the one to suggest it now, there was a chance the other elders would go against him just to be spiteful.

"Are there any who are against sending reinforcements?" Sarmak asked.

"..." Without any objections Sarmak continued.

"Very well, we"ll send five hundred Lok"ra, Korag Ro"Tak will lead. Head out as soon as you"re ready."