Chapter 201: For Our Dreams
As Naguk lay motionless on the bloodstained sand, the arena erupted in cheers and jeers. Vakorr's supporters roared in triumph, chanting his name as he raised his massive hammer above his head victoriously. "Vakorr! Vakorr! Vakorr!"
Naguk's people, on the other hand, fell silent. Mor, Xulgag, and the others looked on in horror. Mor muttered under her breath, "Boss… you've done enough. You don't have to keep going..." Xulgag broke his voice as he shouted, "Boss, it's over! You've done all you could!"
In the tribunes, Eliss gritted her teeth as she turned to the smug orcs who had bet against her. Their faces were plastered with smug grins as one of them said, "Hand it over, little girl. You thought your weak leader stood a chance against Vakorr? Pay up. It's over."
Amukelo stood silently beside her, his arms crossed as he glared at the scene below. He glanced at Eliss and raised an eyebrow as she hesitated, gripping the pouch of crystals in her hand. Her fingers tightened around it, trembling with frustration. She said, "Our deal was about whether he is chosen as a council member not whether he wins the match or not." One of the orcs opened his mouth to respond, but a thunderous voice boomed across the arena before he could speak. "SILENCE!"
The elder of the council commanded enhancing his voice with magic. All eyes turned to the council elder, who stood at the forefront of the council's viewing platform. "The match is not over yet," the elder declared.
The crowd collectively turned their gaze back to Naguk, who, to their astonishment, was stirring. Slowly, painfully, he began to push himself up, his arms trembling under his weight. Blood dripped from his mouth and wounds, staining the sand beneath him. His broken leg shook violently, but he steadied himself with sheer force of will. "I… can't… lose…" he growled through gritted teeth.
The crowd fell into a tense silence. "How is he still standing?" one spectator whispered.
Mor clasped her hands together, tears streaming down her face. "Boss… you don't have to do this..." she whispered with a trembling voice.
Vakorr turned, his expression shifting from triumph to irritation. "Stay down, Naguk. You've proven your resolve, but this is getting ridiculous." And he began to charge at Naguk while raising his hammer.
Naguk didn't flinch. Instead, he stood his ground with raised axes and prepared to meet Vakorr's onslaught. The hammer came crashing down, but Naguk sidestepped the blow, and Vakorr's hammer struck the ground. Naguk seized the opportunity to close the distance, slashing his axe across Vakorr's side.
The strike wasn't deep enough to cause significant damage, but it was enough to draw blood. "You little pest!" Vakorr snarled, swinging his hammer in a wide arc.
Naguk ducked under the swing, but Vakorr was ready. With a quick movement, he raised his massive knee, slamming it into Naguk's stomach. Naguk coughed violently, blood spraying from his mouth as he stumbled back, barely keeping his balance. Vakorr didn't let up, following with a backhanded punch that Naguk managed to block with his axe arm, but the force of the impact sent him skidding across the sand.
"You're faster than I expected," Vakorr admitted as he rolled his shoulder. "But speed won't win this match. Your body's giving out, Naguk. Just accept it."
Naguk glared at him with determination. "What kind of leader would I be if I gave up now?!" he spat, his voice hoarse but defiant.
Vakorr smiled. "I'll make you regret that decision."
He raised his hand, summoning a series of earth pillars that erupted from the ground one after the other. Naguk weaved through them as best as he could, but each dodge was more and more close. One of the pillars slammed into Naguk's back, launching him forward toward Vakorr.
Naguk hit the ground hard, his axes clattering out of his grip momentarily. Vakorr approached, raising his hammer high for a finishing blow. Naguk scrambled to his knees, grabbing his axe just as Vakorr brought the hammer down.
Naguk crossed his axes above his head, catching the hammer between them. The sand beneath Naguk formed a small crater from the pressure.
"Just give up already!" Vakorr growled, pushing down with all his strength.
Naguk's arms shook violently, his vision blurring from the strain. "I can't…" he muttered through clenched teeth. "I won't…" His mind raced with images of his people, of the rallies, of their dreams for the future. "I must not lose!"
Naguk's entire body trembled under the crushing weight of Vakorr's hammer. But then, slowly, agonizingly, Naguk pushed back against Vakorr's hammer. His axes trembled under the strain, but they held firm as he straightened one leg, planting his foot in the sand. "I... cannot lose..." he growled, his voice rising with each word. "Not for myself... but for our dreams..."
The moment sparked a memory, pulling Naguk away from the present.
The scene shifted to years ago during the war with the humans. Naguk was a mere sixteen years old, seated cross-legged across a small fire in an orcish army camp. The camp was modest, with no more than forty weathered tents arranged haphazardly around a few centralized fire pits. The night sky above them was starless, shrouded in thick, low-hanging clouds.
Naguk stared at his meager meal—half-charred meat skewered on a stick—while across the fire, his slightly older friend, Ezukar leaned back against a log. Ezukar sighed deeply, his breath visible in the chill night air.
"I wish this war would just end," Ezukar said. He gazed into the fire. "What's the point of all this killing? Humans, orcs... it's like we're caught in a cycle that no one wants to break."
Naguk looked up from his food. "I've been thinking the same thing," he admitted. "Every time we fight, every time we lose someone, it feels like we're just digging the hole deeper. None of this is leading anywhere."
Ezukar sat up, leaning forward with sudden energy. "What if it could, though? What if someone could end it? Maybe not us, but someone."
Naguk smirked faintly, though his eyes carried a trace of doubt. "And you think we're those 'someones,' Ezukar? Do you think someone would listen to us?"
Ezukar grinned. "Maybe they will someday. Even if we're not the ones to change things, maybe there's something we can do. Imagine a world where humans and orcs work together instead of tearing each other apart."
Naguk didn't respond immediately, his gaze drifting back to the fire. Before he could say anything, a booming voice cut through the camp.
"Prepare yourselves!" the chief commander bellowed. "Humans are advancing on the base near the next town. We can't let them take it. Civilians are still there. Anyone fit to fight between the called numbers will go. Numbers one through thirty, step forward!"
Then everyone who was called out began to prepare. Naguk and Ezukar exchanged a look before nodding, both rising to their feet and gripping their weapons. Their numbers had been called. And then they started moving.
The journey to the nearby town was quiet. The group of twenty orcs moved in a tight formation. The terrain was harsh and uneven, with jagged rocks and sparse, twisted trees dotting the landscape.
After some time the town finally came into view. The settlement had been reduced to ruins a long time before their arrival. Most of the buildings were skeletons of their former selves, their walls charred and crumbling.
Ezukar pointed toward the far side of the town, where a thin column of smoke rose into the sky, stark against the dark clouds. "There," he said. "That's where the civilians must be."
Weekly Power Status
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