The tents visible in the distance and the bustling of frantic orcs announced to the duo that they had reached their destination, while a voice echoed around them.
"Stop! Take off your cloaks, show your faces!"
One of the units that had set up an ambush on the roads outside the tribe had seen the uninvited guests and surrounded them to learn their identities. When Alyon and Nafız threw off their cloaks with slow movements, the orc unit breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the warriors saw their kin instead of someone from the Nikonya army, against whom they had been waging a guerrilla war for some time, they still didn't let their guard down.
"Who are you? Slowly drop to your knees without making any sudden moves."
Moving in compliance with the commands given, Alyon also answered the questions asked in the meantime.
"We are two logistics orcs who survived from Chief Ayıboğan's slaughtered tribe."
The duo had made their plans before setting off. They had thrown Alyon's armor and weapon into Nafız's storage ring and put simple, old leather clothes on themselves.
"Tie their hands! Let's take them to Chief Gölgekurdu; let him hear their story too."
The ambush groups consisted of hunter orcs. It was normal for them to want to take the captured orcs to their division chiefs just in case, but adding the title of chief directly in front of Gölgekurdu's name seemed strange to Alyon.
The double doors of the leather tent opened. The orc sitting inside with pleasure looked carefully at the tribe's uninvited guests.
"You said you were from Ayıboğan's miserable tribe; my scouts reported to me that you were all slaughtered."
Although Alyon got angry at the words of the orc standing in front of him, he made an intense effort to restrain himself. Thinking it was right to take the lead in this situation, Nafız began to speak.
"Sir, the raid happened when my friend and I went to an area far from the tribe to dispose of the collected feces. When we returned, everywhere was in a destroyed state. Even the corpses of the orcs in our tribe had been taken away."
With the last words he heard, Gölgekurdu withdrew his suspicious gaze from the two orcs because the scout team's report also stated that there were no orc corpses in the tribe.
Scanning the two orcs from head to toe, the chief of the hunters ordered, looking at the guards.
"Take them away, throw them into the logistics division."
After walking for a while, when the guards brought them to the logistics division, Nafız turned to Alyon and started laughing.
"We've gone full circle and ended up in the same place again, huh big guy!"
Chief Alyon, who was also a logistics orc in the first days he tried to hold onto life, couldn't help but smile at this tragicomic situation.
"There is one point that has changed. In this tribe, the hunters seem to have obvious weight."
In this community, whose settlement style resembled Ayıboğan's tribe, hunters had taken the place of warriors in terms of position. While the logistics orcs formed the outermost ring again, the hunter tents seemed to act as a buffer between the warriors and the chief.
"Hey! You two lucky dogs, come here!"
While Alyon and Nafız were laughing amongst themselves, a puny voice was trying to attract their attention.
"Who am I talking to? Take the buckets, then clean up all the filth in the vicinity."
While looking at the type walking away after throwing two buckets in front of them, Nafız burst into another laughter.
When Alyon received the news that the orcs of his tribe had reached their positions and gone into waiting mode, Kızılayı also learned that the Nikonya army had taken action. While an air of panic blew inside the tribe, the division heads were summoned to the chief's tent with the setting of the sun.
"My Chief, my plan for the destruction of the enemy is ready. If we meet them on the road, there is no reason for us not to overcome this danger and go on a counter-attack."
Since Kasaphaydo had predicted that this day would come long ago, he had studied his lesson in detail. While his assistant spread the map on the floor, he continued speaking from where he left off.
"My Chief, if the Hunter units ambush the enemy and hit-and-run at the three points marked on the map, we can inflict critical damage."
While the warrior chief was excitedly explaining his plan, the voice coming from his right side would ruin his joy.
"Who told you that you could use my hunters?"
When the owner of the voice, Gölgekurdu, and Kasaphaydo made eye contact, the warrior chief shouted harshly.
"Our tribe is on the verge of total war. Everyone who can hold a weapon should be accepted as a warrior and managed from a single point."
No matter how stubborn and prone to violence Kasaphaydo was, he had deep knowledge about what needed to be done in a war situation.
"Well, how will I know that you won't assign my hunters to all dangerous missions and deliberately reduce their numbers?"
Gölgekurdu was looking at Chief Kızılayı as he finished his sentence. The Chief of Hunters, who had acquired impossible priorities for years by using the chief's fear of losing his seat to Kasaphaydo, seemed not to want to lose these in a war at all.
"Kasaphaydo, it is the warriors' job to protect us from incoming enemy attacks. Are you showing weakness at this time when you need to repay the tribe for feeding you for all these years?"
When Kızılayı fell into the trap of the hunters' chief and scolded him, Kasaphaydo froze where he stood without knowing what to say for a while. While walking towards his tent after the meeting ended, the warrior chief, unable to shake off the shock of what he experienced, was muttering to himself.
"You unqualified, cowardly man! Do you want the tribe to be wiped off the face of the earth?"
Kasaphaydo, walking the whole way while his mind was elsewhere, could not have guessed that he would encounter another surprise when he entered his tent. The warrior chief, coming to his senses upon feeling the dagger at his throat, shouted furiously.
"As if making the chief your puppet wasn't enough, are you planning to kill me while the tribe is in such a situation, you jackal?"
Kasaphaydo, thinking Gölgekurdu organized an assassination, would be bewildered by what was whispered in his ear.
"I have a proposal for you, rebellious boy! The moment you accept, I can kill Kızılayı and Gölgekurdu for you. When this happens, you can execute the plan you described and destroy the Nikonya army before it reaches the tribe."
While Nafız slowly pressed the dagger she took from the dungeon against the Warrior Chief's neck, she had made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
"If you listened to the meeting, it means you have been following me all this time. The fact that no one, including me, noticed you can be considered the biggest proof that you can do what you say, am I wrong?"
Kasaphaydo, evaluating the situation in a short time, had figured out the might of the person holding his life in their hands.
"Contrary to your appearance, your intelligence is quite sharp. Can I assume that you gave a positive answer to the offer I presented?"
While Nafız thought the suggestion she offered would be accepted, the warrior chief made an unexpected outburst.
"You can kill me if you want. No matter how unqualified my superiors are, I possess the pride of orc warriors. I cannot engage in an action that would disrupt the hierarchy!"
Finishing his words, Kasaphaydo did not break his upright stance even in the moments he expected his death. The Chief of Warriors thought he was taking his last breaths. It would take some time for him to realize that he didn't feel the coldness on his throat.
When he turned around in panic, he discovered that there was no one inside the tent. While the chief of warriors, collapsing where he stood, broke into a cold sweat, a shadow was rapidly advancing over the barren lands.
"Your predictions turned out to be correct. That idiot has a head at least as thick as yours."
Nafız spoke in an angry tone when she saw Alyon waiting beside his warriors.
"I told you that an orc warrior would prefer to die rather than be a traitor, didn't I?"
While Alyon spoke with pride, Sangre approached the duo and greeted his master.
"Sir, preparations are complete. We received news that the Nikonya army will reach the tribe tomorrow when the sun reaches its peak."
While Nafız tried to shake off the frustration she experienced as a result of the absurd choice Kasaphaydo made with the joy of Blood Warrior Sangre's development, she began to review the plan they made for tomorrow one more time together with Alyon.