The plains of Western Karnaka fly by, there really isn't anything that can stop us in the air.

I'm considering claiming this slice of land for myself. Every village we pass over is destroyed and empty, no one is here, not even anybody traveling. The only sign of life has been the occasional pack of monsters, things that remind me of hyenas and crocodiles. There are a fair number of dungeons spread out over the plains which I am very much interested in claiming. My passive xp gain needs a boost if I want to gain levels in a reasonable amount of time.

With a soft thump, my drake sets its palanquin down. Enna wraps an extra thick cloak around my shoulders before she opens the door and lets me outside. The late autumn breeze immediately makes me start shivering; the wind is much stronger here without anything to block it.

Sarah looks ecstatic to be back on the ground. We had to make a few stops for the humans during our trip, but never for very long.

Grant jumps out of his palanquin and takes a deep breath in, "Pheeewwww! Glad that's over!"

"We still have the return trip…" Sarah says sullenly.

Grant thumps her on the back, in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring gesture. The hero looks like she threw up in her mouth a little and half turns to level a glare at the jovial man.

The adventurer doesn't seem to pick up on the social queue, as usual, and continues being loud, "So, is this the place? I don't see any orcs around."

"No," I point westwards, "The camp is a few miles that way. I wanted to go for shock and awe and land in the middle of their camp, but Sarah thinks that would just start an unnecessary fight."

Grant hocks a glob of spit, "Barbarians will probably attack us on sight anyways." He lifts his spear and starts double checking a couple straps on his leather armor.

Sarah has her hands on her hips and is taking deep, cleansing breaths, her complexion is starting to return to normal as the last of the air sickness clears.

Enna stands, patient as ever, waiting for my instructions.

An extra strong breeze catches my cloak, sending fresh shivers over my body. It's around midday but the sun isn't doing a great job keeping me warm. I look longingly back at my warm palanquin and the bed within.

Shaking my head, I turn to my caretaker and lift my arms up towards her in the universal 'pick me up' sign. Enna easily scoops me up and I snuggle in for that precious body heat.

"Good to go." Grant rests his spear over his shoulder.

Sarah takes one final deep breath and nods, "Alright, let's move."

I don't bother paying all that much attention, Enna knows where to go and is leading the way. Closing my eyes, I trade senses with one of my scouts near the orc camp. My range has gotten dramatically longer, and I can observe the destination that is miles away.

My scouts had already given me plenty of reports but seeing it with my own eyes helps bring everything together. Grant calls them barbarians, but the camp is surprisingly well organized. It's laid out in a circle, with the important looking tents in the middle and less crucial stuff towards the outside. There is an area with a few fires, pots of food bubble while orcs prepare food on makeshift wooden tables, there's even a communal area to sit and eat together. Towards the edge of the camp is a latrine, I think. My Vess has always provided me with proper places to pee, so I'm not really familiar.

On the other side of the camp is a fenced off area with huge lizards. A few are wearing saddles, I've seen some orcs patrolling on them. There are some smaller, younger looking orcs brushing down a group, watering them and putting feed bags on their snouts.

The orcs themselves are huge, probably eight feet tall, with skin ranging from dark grey to light green. Tusks of varying length protrude from their mouths, most hair is black or red, and everyone has muscles for days. Their clothes are well made too, a sort of tunic with a belt style. The guards wear a mixture of leather and metal armor, and they carry metal weapons.

It all paints a picture of a very civilized camp. Most orcs are walking around and communicating non-violently, helping each other, and being friendly. There might be around five hundred of them.

One of the lookouts rush back into camp, running towards a large tent that a lot of the guards are hanging around. The orc disappears inside for a bit, before several armed orcs rush out. They head towards the lizard pen, mounting up and riding out in our direction.

Opening my eyes, I notice that our group has stopped, and the humans are looking very tense, posture defensive and hands on their weapons. I tap Enna and she gently sets me down on my feet. Looking closer at Grant, he is visibly sweating, despite the cold, and has a white knuckled grip on his spear. Enna easily reads my intentions and sends back a feeling of reassurance; she will keep an eye on the nervous man.

In the next moment the mounted orcs are upon us. Those lizards are crazy fast! The orcs spread out to surround us, keeping their distance. Sarah and Grant go back to back, I just stay close to Enna, her hand rests lazily on my head.

A few tense moments pass before an orc dismounts and takes a few steps towards our group. His armor seems to be a step up from the others, full plate, the chest piece is etched with the depiction of a lithe dragon wrapped around a spike. His hand rests easily on the head of a hammer tucked into his belt. The orc removes his helmet, tucking it under his arm, revealing light grey skin and dark black hair pulled back into a bun.

"Blessings of the Frost Wyrm upon you. My name is Jet'latar, son of Clan Head Set'latar. Name yourselves and speak your intentions." The orc's voice is deep, and his tone leaves no room for argument.

Enna steps forward, I follow meekly behind her, hiding behind her skirts a little. My caretaker bows lightly, "You have the honor of addressing Vess Queen Renna." She tilts her head towards my companions, "The humans are inconsequential, a part of her entourage."

Jet'latar narrows his eyes, jerking his head towards Sarah, "That one is strong, as strong as any orc. She is not inconsequential."

Sarah shoots Enna an annoyed look, "My name is Sarah, I'm a hero from Lotheris. This man is Grant, a warrior also from Lotheris."

I take a deep breath and step out from behind Enna. "Jet'latar, I want to speak with the clan head."

The orc scowls at me in return, "And what business does one so small have with my father?"

"Speak with respect when you address her grace!" Enna hisses, leaning forward with claws extended.

A silent tension settles over the field. Jet'latar seems to be inspecting Enna much more closely now, drumming his fingers on the head of his hammer. He doesn't seem intimidated, but he is carefully considering his next move. I decide to act first, "I have taken the people you have driven out of this land as my own. You have captured members of their families, I want them."

The orc makes a guttural noise that I think is a tired sigh, "They are not here. A man from Tarenbaum came and took them."

"What!?" Grant barks. Several mounted orcs turn their weapons towards him, but no one moves yet.

"Easy, Grant." Sarah places a hand on his arm.

"Are you going to go after them, Vess Queen?" Jet'latar asks me.

I nod. The cold wind whips over our group and I shiver inside my cloak.

"I've heard stories of the Vess. The Great Wyrm spoke of them to my father, and he passed them down to me." The orc seems completely unbothered by the cold, taking a few steps closer to stand in front of me. "A wave of darkness, devouring the land. And yet, you claim to be the savior of these people." He shakes his head, "It does not make sense."

"I don't know what to tell you. As far as I know, I'm not like the other Vess Queens." I cringe as soon as the words are out of my mouth, thank god he doesn't know earth references. "The part about being a wave of darkness is true though, and I might be looking to devour some land, possibly Tarenbaum." I closely watch the orcs reaction and am disappointed when his face remains still. Enna helps me out by letting me know he is surprised and excited.

"I doubt Tarenbaum will give up the people I'm looking for, so I'll just have to take them. Will you help me?" I know Enna won't let me get hurt, so I take the few remaining steps to stand right in front of the orc. I stare up at him, hopefully my glowing eyes will do the work for me. "Let me put it this way, you will help me. Starting with taking me to speak with the clan head." For effect, I have six of my drakes fly screeching overhead, breathing plumes of flame into the sky.

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The orc riders are incredibly well disciplined; they don't even move an inch in reaction to my demand. Huh, this might be harder than I thought.

"Very well." Jet'latar puts his helmet back on and turns to walk back to his mount.

Grant releases a breath and slumps, leaning heavily on his spear. Sarah does her best to comfort him, but I don't really pay attention.

It doesn't take us long to arrive at the camp. Jet'latar is barking out orders and getting orcs to move out of our way, he waves a group over to take the lizards back to their pen. No one seems to be questioning him, everyone just seems curious, many heads poke out of tents to watch us pass by.

We quickly reach the large tent in the middle of the camp; the guards hold open the tent flap for us to enter. Inside, a fire in the center of the tent warms the interior, the smoke rises up and exits through a hole in the top of the tent. There must be some kind of magic involved, I don't really know fires.

An older orc dressed in a cozy looking robe sits on a cushion next to the fire. Jet'latar bows to the seated orc and introduces me, "Queen Renna of the Vess. She seeks the humans that were taken to Tarenbaum." He turns to me and motions towards the seated orc, "Set'latar, the Clan Head." He deftly steps to the side and slightly behind his father.

Set'latar is missing a tusk and lacks any hair to speak of. Honestly, he just looks soft, old, and tired. The humans really talked the orcs up to be some real monsters, but I know better than to listen to them.

Enna takes my cloak off and guides me to sit on a cushion near the orc elder. She stands dutifully behind me, completely at ease. The humans stand nervously near the entrance. I wonder what their problem is? The orcs have been pretty nice so far. Maybe it's because they can't feel the six drakes flying nearby or the fifty knights that could descend upon this camp in minutes.

"Hello, Clan Head. I've been looking forward to meeting you." I keep my voice light and cheery, which is easy because I am feeling happy and excited.

"How so?" The elder orc's voice sounds old and slightly strained, as if he already used up everything he had a long time ago.

I beam at him, bouncing on my cushion a little, "I've been looking forward to meeting another non-human leader for a while now! It's just been humans ever since I left my hive."

The old orc gives me a wrinkly smile and laughs a dry laugh, "Ah, yes. Humans can be quite tiring to deal with, at times."

My head nods enthusiastically, "Right?! Right!?"

"Forgive me, Queen Renna, but why have you come?" Set'latar fixes me with a serious stare.

"Ah, well. I want you to tell me everything you know about Tarenbaum, especially where they keep their prisoners."

"Is that all?" A little mirth leaks into the clan head's voice.

"Well…" I look down and play with a bow on my dress, "Um, I wanted to…"

"Queen Renna! Please!" Grant's thunderous voice makes me jump, "These are the creatures that slaughtered countless Karnakan villages! I don't get what you're doing! You seemed forceful earlier, but you've completely backed off now, will there be justice or not?!"

Sarah is facepalming, Enna is serene, and the orcs seem unamused. My tail thumps on the floor a few times before I recall it to lay back down on the cushion, I make sure to carefully retract my claws too.

Set'latar waves towards Grant, "An understandable reaction. I suppose you promised him justice?"

I squirm under everyone's collective gaze, "Um, yes, Sort of."

The clan head gives me a kind smile, "You are a young ruler. It isn't easy to keep everyone happy."

"To tell you the truth…" I fidget with my dress, "I came here to absorb the orcs, and potentially take this land and its dungeons for myself…"

The elder orc just nods like this is the most normal thing in the world. "I won't pretend to know everything, but I have a basic understanding of the Vess. I expected as much."

"You're not upset about it?" My voice sounds so small. Ugh where is that diplomacy Vess? I feel like I only know how to be meek or indomitable.

"Truthfully, it is a relief." Set'latar admits with a heavy sigh, "My people are displaced and vulnerable. I had hope that these plains could sustain us, however, Tarenbaum isn't willing to let us go."

I really would feel bad leaving my fellow non-human hanging, "What if I could give you the plains? It's hard to occupy land without anyone to hold it anyway, and it's kind of wasted space if it's just my Vess."

Set'latar smothers a few coughs into his hand. He lifts a cup to his lips and drinks deeply, sighing into his cup. Setting it down, he picks up a pot from the edge of the fire and fills up another cup before offering it to me. "Forgive my manners, things tend to get away from me in my old age."

Accepting the cup, I lift it up to take a sip, some kind of tea. It's okay, my Vess taste buds don't love it.

"Thank you." I use my cutest smile. "Did you really slaughter villages of humans?"

The elder's eyebrows raise, "Don't you believe your companion?"

I shrug, "I want to hear it from you."

"Very well." He pauses to drink from his cup, "Yes, we killed humans, but only those that fought back. Most were either captured or driven out."

"Why?" I move my tail into my lap, running my hand over its smooth surface.

"You know nothing of our way of life, allow me to try to explain. We follow the guidance of the Frost Wyrm, an ancient creature who rules the skies of the deep north. The Great Wyrm warned me of a coming winter so harsh; our people would be wiped out. We had to travel south or die."

I sip from my own cup. I appreciate the warmth of the drink, at least, "And to get south you had to pass through North Tarenbaum."

The elder stares into the fire, "We didn't expect to meet such powerful humans, we were traveling with our families, I wanted to avoid conflict if possible. We were accosted by a general by the name of Pirous, a cruel and uncaring man. A pact was formed, safe passage in exchange for our military service. Even now, we wait near the border to lend our might to the coming conflict."

Sarah steps closer to the fire, "North Tarenbaum is finally trying to take South Tarenbaum?"

Set'latar nods towards the hero, "Indeed, our expertise in winter warfare was very desirable to them. We are to wait for the snow, then attack and cripple the south's forces over the winter. Come spring, the north shall invade the south."

"Sarah." Grant grits through clenched teeth, "The way this is going, it sounds like the orcs aren't going to be punished and to make it worse, they are going to stay on Karnakan soil!"

"Grant." Sarah warns.

"No, this is ridiculous! They aren't sorry, they aren't sympathetic, what are we even doing right now?" Grant glares down at me, "You said-"

Enna moves so fast it's a blur to me. I blink and Grant is hanging by his neck from Enna's grasp. She hisses in his face, baring her inhuman fangs, "Silence, fool. Know your place."

Huh, I guess I was coming into this planning on subjugating the orcs and Grant's desire for revenge kind of just fit in. I didn't expect the orcs to be so amicable, peacefully absorbing them into my growing empire sounds so much nicer. Sarah's goal from the beginning was just to save the prisoners, she would probably prefer if things went nonviolently.

Am I giving them special treatment because they aren't human? Yeah, almost definitely and I'm okay with that. I was never doing this for justice anyway; Grant can get bent.

The hero holds her hands in a placating gesture, "Easy, Enna. He got heated, but he's cool now. Just let him down."

"You can drop him." I command Enna.

Her claw releases the human who lands heavily on his feet, immediately taking a few steps back. Scooping up his dropped spear, he holds it in a neutral position, but he couldn't radiate more tension if he tried.

Sarah takes Grant by the arm, leading him outside, "C'mon, let's go cool off, maybe I can explain some things."

Once the humans are gone, I turn back to the elder, "Sorry, he's pretty upset about what you did."

The orc nods slowly, "We hurt his people. He has every right to be furious. It is a shame he does not have the strength to take revenge himself, he was really counting on you to assist him, it will be difficult for him to accept your choice."

"I don't really care." I pout, glaring at my tea, silently willing it to taste better.

"You should take care not to alienate your allies." Set'latar councils, "It could end with a blade in your back at an inopportune moment."

"He's so low level. I'm really not worried about it."

"The weak can be the most dangerous."

This guy is really going all in on the old wise guy stereotype. He might have a point, but if he is old and wise then I am young and bratty, and I choose to not take Grant seriously. I don't need allies who question my decisions, or at least not like he did; exploding in front of everyone like that.

My tail whips, betraying my emotions. It takes a lot of will for it to settle back down in my lap. I'm terrible at diplomacy. I need to stick to my strength, overwhelming force.

Nodding to myself, I look back up at Set'latar, "If you help me take down Tarenbaum and get the humans back, you will have a place in my empire." I try to leave any threats unsaid.

Set'latar peeks over his shoulder, "What do you think, Jet?"

Jet'latar looks surprised, he takes a moment to think of his response, "We're in a foreign land, separated from the guidance of the Great Wyrm. The Vess offers safety and stability. I might choose differently if it was just the warriors, but I can't put our families in danger." He strokes his chin, running a finger along a tusk, "We would be trading the rule of Tarenbaum for the Vess Queen. She is young and clearly inexperienced."

I pout at Jet'latar, only for him to hold up a hand to stall my complaint, "That isn't a bad thing. Your intentions are easy to read, and that helps to put me at ease. So long as you accept council, you are easily the correct choice."

My pout doesn't relent, and I double down by crossing my arms.

Set'latar chuckles, "Well said. I agree."

"I do accept counsel." I mutter sourly, lashing my tail a few times.

"If you can guarantee the safety of my people, I will accept your rule until the winter is at its coldest. The Frost Wyrm will be able to visit us to share its wisdom, and a long term agreement can be decided upon." The orc offers me an old, withered hand.

I reach out and grasp it, "Deal."

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