Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Organizing the tribe turned out to be more of a logistical nightmare than anything. However, once Aldrin got them moving and with the help of Evie's mastery of runes, which the tribe was extremely grateful for, they traveled through the grasslands. Aldrin also understood that a tribe of migrating Orcs was easy pickings for other tribes' raiding parties. He made sure to stay vigilant during the migration since morale was already low from the change of leadership, so he tasked Terror bird riders to act as forward scouts as they traveled.

Aldrin was the only one ‌riding atop the carriage as Hellix and Drellix followed the long train of Orcs. They had elected to be at the tail end of the migration in case any stragglers got left behind, which included the sick, wounded, elderly, and children. Pierre chose to stay among them, the sickness of dying Orcs claiming his focus as he sought to figure out a way to at least alleviate the symptoms.

The symptoms themselves baffled Aldrin because of how the skin became flaky, like a lizard shedding, but chunks of flesh would simply dissolve, leaving exposed bone. Pierre became fascinated yet horrified by the disease that ravaged the Orc tribe. Aldrin had seen this among the Khotals and wondered if it was something unique to the Orcs. He sighed to himself as the deeper he delved into the world, the more idiosyncrasies showed up.

"This was for us, wasn't it?" Evie appeared at his side, climbing up into the driver's seat while the carriage moved at a steady yet leisurely pace. She had been walking with Pierre not a moment earlier, offering any help she could with her runes.

Aldrin grunted. "Finally caught on?" He asked with a smirk.

Evie rolled her eyes but didn't try to hide the smile of her own. "I want to hear it. Your detailed plan."

He laughed. "I have been with you all for quite some time now. I have noticed a lot of things, much like you have about me."

"And what are these things you see?" she asked with a wry grin.

"You like to teach, which is why I asked you to help the Orcs with your runestone work. Jared likes animals. No, he loves animals," he said with a soft smile. "And Pierre likes to problem solve, which is why I asked him to take a look at the disease."

Evie looked at him, her gaze unreadable as she stared. "You really surprise me sometimes," she finally said.

Aldrin let out a carefree laugh. "I used to get told that a lot." He shook his head with a smile as memories of his old team resurfaced. "Now, as for the plan with the Orcs. It's twofold. The first part is having them become more open-minded, and the second is, of course, having them grow past themselves with our help. Ebira is lawless enough as is, and we are going to need a powerful hand to enforce what we want to do."

"Wouldn't that draw more attention? More so than the things we were avoiding?" Evie asked.

Aldrin shook his head. "No. Not anymore. While we play in the shadow and intrigue game of Ebira, it will also let me see the pieces on the board. If we fortify temporarily in a coastal town with a ship ready to take us to the Forbidden Continent, then whoever moves against us out in the open will be revealed."

"And lets us become more aware of the dangers we really face…" she finished for him as the dots connected in her mind.

Aldrin grinned when she caught on. "Exactly that. I'm exposing myself so others will be forced too. We already know we will be decently safe on the Forbidden Continent. It's also confirmed that they are waiting for me and have been helping me this whole time whether I have seen it or not."

"How? By who?" She asked, then she frowned. "Wait. The Fae?"

"Torvina," Aldrin corrected. "She's the contact but not exactly. They only contact her."

Evie hummed, then they sat in silence. It wasn't until a Terror bird scout ran to them that Aldrin called for a full stop by whistling a sharp note. "There are dryads up ahead at the river crossing, chief." The Orc told him.

Aldrin frowned in confusion as he hopped down. "What kind of dryads? Water or Nature?" He asked as the Orc scout petted his mount.

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"Water," he replied.

"Keep everyone away. I don't know if these are friendly or not." Aldrin commanded, and the Orc ran off.

"Aldrin, dryads are friendly? Especially water dryads," Evie said, following him up the column of Orcs. "Why are you worried?"

Aldrin grunted, "I don't know if they are anymore. The Magnurian Progenitor is waking up, and who knows what it has already sent out as its orders. I also don't know what it can control and who follows it." He explained, and Evie didn't say a word after that.

Pierre was the first to join up with them, finishing tending to the sprained ankle of a small Orc child. Jared came next, riding his own red feathered Terror bird. It still snapped and squawked, but Jared had managed to calm the creature. Aldrin smiled at seeing his friend blossom into something he wanted to do.

"What's going on?" Jared asked, calmly stroking ‌the Terror bird's neck. It eyed Aldrin warily as it shifted its weight from foot to foot, readying itself to attack or run.

Aldrin would have to remedy the unease of the Terror birds by spending more time around them unless he converted all of them with his Conversion skill ritual. Something that would put the tribe of Tar above others. He almost stopped in his tracks when he thought more about a mass conversion. Vampiric Terror birds with Orcs mounted atop them sounded like the thing they needed.

"Water dryads," Aldrin answered as Jared and his Terror bird fell in step beside them.

"Dryads or nymphs?" Jared asked with an excited gleam in his eyes.

Aldrin stopped as he thought, "You know. We will find out when we get there, actually."

They were getting close to Ebira based on the river they had arrived at. At the front of the column of Orcs, the warriors stood guard, and across from them in the distance, standing guard at the end of the stone bridge, were featureless water Dryads. They didn't differentiate as they all looked the same, with water cascading down their slender bodies in an endless stream, without a drop of water escaping them, like the water was trapped in a loop. When Aldrin walked ahead of his group, the Dryads shifted their attention to him by tilting their heads in his direction. Their unease was prevalent as the water making up their bodies started looping faster around their bodies than before.

Aldrin gave a friendly wave with a smile. "It's rare to see water dryads out of their homes! I hope that means we are lucky!" He shouted across the distance between them as he continued to approach them.

The Dryads didn't answer, only shifting their water bodies. Aldrin thought that was weird until he inspected them.

"Oh, shit!" Aldrin said before the river swelled over its rocky shore and receded back, leaving more water elementals in its wake. Totalling their count at thirty, all arrayed to guard the bridge. "Battle formations!" Aldrin said, shifting to his bat swarm and racing back to his frontline.

His friends needed no other prompting, nor did the Orcs as they took out their iron and steel weapons. Aldrin frowned, realizing the Orcs' weapons weren't going to do much against magical creatures. It was something that shot up to the top of the list to rectify when he got the chance.

Aldrin watched the water elementals as they didn't move from their spots to attack them, which raised another red flag in his mind. "Pierre, find the mage or mages controlling them. Engage if you can. I'll come help." Aldrin told Pierre, who then turned invisible with his Stealth skill.

"Outlanders! Cease your movements! You tread upon our lord's lands!" A disembodied voice echoed in the wind, sounding like they were drowning.

Aldrin gritted his teeth at the word lord. "Who do you serve!" he asked aloud, dreading the answer.

"Hishtas, Progenitor of the Great Seas!" the voice replied.

This was the feeling Aldrin felt, and what Jared jinxed. They had stumbled upon their first indirect Progenitor battle, and they were woefully under prepared.

"We know who you are, Vampire Progenitor! You will go no further! By Hishtas' will!" The voice said, and all hell broke loose as the river swelled again, spitting out another thirty water elementals, bringing the number up to sixty.

Aldrin looked behind him to count at least eighty orc warriors both on and off their mounts. A tough battle was ahead of them, and he knew some if not most of the Orcs behind him would not make it out. His hope of reaching Ebira unscathed just became undone by a progenitor he didn't even know.

"What's the plan?" Jared asked beside them.

"Don't die," Aldrin said, then charged forward, roaring in defiance as his vampiric nature briefly flashed. The Orcs bellowed their war cries as they followed their chief into the first skirmish between Progenitors.