Chapter 10: Ten

A few moments passed by without anyone making a single move. Even the horses seemed to hold their breaths, aware of the tense situation.

The shadows that watched them overhead were also eerily still. As the silence progressed, low whispering noises could be heard carried by the wind, in a strange tongue Janilari couldn't understand.

The adventurers seemed to relax a little when the attack they were expecting never came. The demoness had to hide her disappointment as the orcs didn't fall in them.

Brunai was the first to break their silence. "What are they waiting for?" She whispered.

"They are peaceful." Maesron tried whispering back, but his enthusiasm made his words louder.

"Or they are waiting for us to show weakness." Replied Rida. The silhouettes above started moving slowly, and their whispers now could be heard clearly.

"... Or they are having the same discussion that us." Added Huddinli.

Janilari rolled her eyes, bored of the situation. She took a deep breath.

"Hello!" She yelled at the orcs. The adventurers jumped at her sudden shout. "Nice to meet you all!"

The humans looked at her as if she was crazy, and the demon just stuck her tongue at them. She smiled as she got a response: a raspy voice coming from above them, yelling something back.

"Oh, that's lovely!" She replied, yelling even louder. "We are not here to kill anyone by the way!"

"You speak orc!?"

"No, I don't?"

"... Then what are you doing?"

"I'm communicating." The demon rolled her eyes. The orcs yelled back at them, their language still nothing but gibberish to her. "Yes, I know! They suck!"

"How are you communicating if you don't speak orc?" Asked Rida.

"Please don't interrupt our conversation." She responded in a fake serious tone. The mage snorted.

"... You are going to get us killed." Concluded Brunai. The orcs yelled again.

"Uh... Yes, sure!" Janilari shouted as a response.

The orcs had stopped whispering among each other, now talking at full volume. They also started moving around, some leaving the cliff and disappearing elsewhere.

Three of them, however, started skillfully climbing down the ridge. As they got closer they revealed their large frame: the smallest of them was still considerably bigger than an average human. Under the moonlight, Janilari noticed their grayish skin with rough patches, and their long white tusks. They wore rudimentary leather clothes.

The three orcs reached the bottom of the ravine some distance ahead of the adventurers. The horses bucked a little when they noticed their presence. The humans looked at each other, hesitant.

"Hello, guys!" Janilari greeted the orcs, casually. The orcs responded, and the demon pretended to understand. "Oh, yes, for sure!"

Besides her, Rida rolled her eyes. But the orcs started gesturing at them, walking ahead and looking back at the humans.

"They are guiding us." Pointed Huddinli, and Janilari laughed.

"I'm so good at diplomacy!" She exclaimed, carelessly following them. Behind her, the adventurers advanced cautiously.

*

It wasn't long before they reached their destiny: a small orc camp, made up of a circle of huts held together by sticks and stones. A big fire burned in the middle, illuminating the scene.

At first there was more tension, and Janilari expected a fight again. But as it turned out, the orcs around them had no hostile intentions. After some awkward interactions, orcs and humans found something in common: food.

Despite not being able to communicate through words, the group of orcs that approached them carrying massive bowls of food (most of them composed of the stolen crops) was a clear message of peace. Maesron was the first to get off his horse and accept the present, and after a few moments of hesitation, the rest of the adventurers followed him.

After they ate, the two species got along just fine. Maybe too well, actually. They followed hours of celebration deep into the night, as a euphoric Maesron narrated his stories to a group of orcs that were fascinated not by his words, but by his shiny armor. Another group was equally mesmerized by Brunai's axe. The warrior was thrilled by the attention as she used her weapon to hit some logs on the ground, after which the crowd around her howled in exaggerated glee.

The other three humans weren't so trusting, but Pendi caved as a group of orc children showed interest in her bow and her fox ears. That left Rida and Huddinli, watching over the scene with shock.

Eventually the improvised festival died down, many orcs not even bothering to go to a hut, instead sleeping on the floor. Instantly, Maesron somehow fell asleep with them, still with his armor on. The rest of the adventurers slowly succumbed to slumber as well.

Janilari watched over them, finding their massive stroke of luck quite funny. She spent the night floating above the camp, watching the stars.

*

"What the fuck was all that?" Said Rida in the morning, looking around to make sure the orcs were at a safe distance, as if they could understand her. The orcs around them minded their business, seemingly already accepting the presence of the humans.

"That was a promise of peace!" Claimed Maesron, vehemently. "We are one step closer to completing our mission!"

"There are so many things that could have gone wrong... T-thank you." Rida stammered as an orc child handed her a stone. Janilari giggled at her dumbfounded expression.

"What are you going to do with that?" The demon laughed, gesturing at the rock. The mage turned to her and pocketed the present while rolling her eyes.

"Even if they are not hostile, we are not closer to being able to communicate with them." Added Huddinli, holding a book open. "There's never been a peace treaty between humans and orcs, how are we going to achieve that?"

"You are focusing on the negative, friend! We made significant progress, we should celebrate that!"

"We got lucky." Rida replied. "But fine. Let's focus on figuring out how to talk with them. We only have to convince them not to raid the farms anymore, right?"

"Uh... It would be better to have a written document..." Maesron mused.

"... How? Do you see them having any books around?"

"They don't seem to have writing." Agreed Huddinli. "What do we know about their customs?"

"Well, they like my axe." Said Brunai in a groggy voice, who until that point seemed to be more asleep than awake.

"Oh, they like food!" Supplied Janilari. Rida raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, because they are alive." The mage retorted. The demoness pouted.

"I'm alive too, you know."

"Are you?"

"Yes!"

"... Are you?"

"YES!"

Brunai chuckled at their arguing, earning her a glare from Rida.

"They share everything." Concluded Huddinli, looking around the camp. Rida ignored her when Janilari stuck her tongue at her. "Their food, their huts, their tools... Nobody seems to own anything."

"That explains why they tried to take my bow." Growled Pendi, bitterly staring at a group of orc children.

"Is that why they raid the farms, then?" Mused Maesron, smiling. "Is just a misunderstanding! Isn't that great? They believe those crops are for sharing!"

"... It's not great. It's not surprising the farmers don't react well to ten feet tall orcs stealing their crops." Said Huddinli, looking at his book.

"They are not ten feet tall." Pendi replied, looking around. "Seven or eight, at most."

"Your book is wrong, Huddinli." Brunai added.

Huddinli frowned, staring at the book. "Apparently it is."

Rida sighed, standing up from the ground. "Alright, let's get going. We need more information to do this."

"We should split up." Agreed Huddinli.

"... Isn't that still dangerous?" Doubted Pendi. Maesron clapped.

"Let's do pairs, then!"

The adventurers looked around each other. Without missing a beat, Janilari jumped beside the mage of the group.

"I'm with Rida, goodbye everyone!" She said hurriedly, almost dragging the sorcerer with her.

*

"I understand you are not from this world, but that's no excuse to act so strange." Said Rida once they were alone.

Janilari scoffed. "I'd rather not get stuck with one of your friends." She looked around. "What are we doing, exactly?"

The mage followed her gaze. "Looking for anything that could help us."

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"Be honest, do you really believe that plan is going to work?"

Rida shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "Might as well try."

Janilari hesitated. "Can I tell you what I think?"

Rida eyed her, cautiously. "Sure."

"I believe this is a waste of time." As the mage rolled her eyes, she added. "I don't mean just this, but the entire purpose of your company. Now, don't take this the wrong way..." She said quickly after, predictably, Rida scowled and resumed walking far from the rest of the camp. "But your objective is 'changing the world' and 'stopping the suffering of everyone'... Do you think that's even possible?"

"It's not meant to be a realistic goal." Rida grumbled. "That's why it's an ideal."

"Well, I mean..." The demoness hesitated. "Why are you trying to achieve something you know it's impossible?"

The mage didn't say anything, just kept walking hurriedly.

"It's that why you want magic?" Janilari mused. "Because... Let me tell you... Some things are impossible even with magic. Even if you gained enough power to snap your fingers and change the world however you'd like... You could only have gained that power by taking it from the lives of others, as Ardiane did. So... You understand how it would all be pointless?"

"You believe I didn't think of that already?" Rida snapped, and stopped walking to glare at her. Janilari raised her arms, feigning nonchalance.

"I'm just saying. Just trying to help, you know."

The mage talked between clenched teeth. "You made me make that stupid list, can you stick to that?"

Janilari tilted her head, 'Rida's list of priorities' was always present in her mind. "Yes. You are first on that list. That's why I want to know how much you are willing to sacrifice from yourself, all for an impossible goal."

The demon noticed something cross Rida's expression. Advancing one step closer to her, Janilari slowly added:

"Or rather, how much have you sacrificed already?"

Rida pushed her away, the demon stumbling a couple of steps backward.

"That's none of your business." Grunted the mage. "Is there a way I can break our deal?"

The demoness rolled her eyes. "You wish. You are stuck with me, and I'm not giving up." Rida glared at her when she offered her a saccharine smile. "Now,  we should stop wasting time and keep working, don't you think?"

The mage didn't say anything, and just resumed walking, Janilari close behind her.

*

There was not much to see around the camp, so they walked around the perimeter, following a group of orcs that seemed to be checking and setting up some hunting traps around the terrain. The orcs were completely unconcerned with their presence.

Rida refused to say a word, and Janilari was seriously doubting her own approach. Her previous summoners had more straightforward goals, after all, and she had never found herself in a situation where she didn't know exactly how to help.

That didn't mean, of course, that she was even close to giving up.

After a while Rida stopped suddenly, staring at the group of orc hunters. "They have no weapons."

Janilari beamed at hearing the human's voice again, but it took her a while to actually process the words. "Huh?"

"None of them have weapons." Rida repeated.

"Of course they don't." The demoness scoffed. "They are all kinda like Maesron, right? Afraid of hurting a snail and all."

Rida seemed to ponder this. She looked back at the camp. "There's not many of them either."

"I guess?" Janilari followed her gaze, confused. "Why is that important?"

The mage shook her head and continued walking. "It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense!?" Replied Janilari, already fed up with not knowing what was happening inside the mage's head.

"Ardiane fought them for five years, didn't he? And he failed to kill them all?" She looked around. "How? They can't defend themselves!"

"Well, they are pretty big."

"Ardiane killed a dragon. Size is not a factor."

The demon shrugged. "Maybe Ardiane is just an idiot and couldn't find them all."

Rida glanced at her, visibly unconvinced by the idea. Janilari sighed.

"It's either that, or he saw what I saw." Said the demon.

Now that got the mage's attention. Rida quickly turned to her. "What did you see?"

Janilari pondered being difficult, but she didn't want Rida to get even more pissed at her. She was about to explain herself when they were interrupted by the rest of the group.

"Rida!" Yelled Maesron, quickly walking towards them. "And Janilari, of course! We did it!"

"What?"

Maesron and Pendi were closest to them, Brunai and Huddinli following behind. "Pendi and I found the... What was he?"

"The witch doctor?" Supplied Pendi as they joined Rida and the demoness.

"He made us drink a green concoction and now we understand orc!" Announced Maesron, proudly. Rida blinked.

"You what!?" The mage screeched. "You drank a potion without knowing its effects!?"

"Well, it worked out!" Continued the knight. Rida glared at him and then at Pendi, who shrugged and looked elsewhere.

"They said they were willing to sign a treaty?" The foxgirl defended herself, awkwardly. "And apologized for the crops?"

"Isn't that great!?" Maesron seemed about to pass out just from euphoria. "We did it!"

Rida seemed about to yell at him again, but then Huddinli and Brunai joined them, their expressions somber.

"What did you find?" She asked them instead.

"It's... Well..." Brunai hesitated. Huddinli shook his head.

"We found their cemetery. It's... There are a lot of them."

"A lot of tusks." Mumbled Brunai.

Janilari sighed. "Of course there are." Rida stared at her, expectantly. "Oh, come on, isn't it obvious?"

The adventurers looked at her, confusion clear on their faces. She gestured at the nearby group of hunters.

"I've seen orcs before." She explained. "Your book isn't wrong, Huddinli. They are usually ten feet tall, but only when fully grown. These..." She pointed at the orcs. "Are young. Very young, actually. Orcs grow quickly. These ones might be a year or two."

"Only a year?" Maesron squinted at them.

"That means..."

"It means the older orc here is probably your witch doctor. The rest? Younger than two years." She looked around. "Now. Ardiane gets power from killing things, doesn't he? And he's been here every year for the last five years? Can we put two and two together?" The adventurers looked at each other. "He could have killed everyone in the first year. But... Again, orcs grow quickly. Why not leave some alive so they can repopulate, and come back next year?"

The humans paled, clearly affected by the implication. Janilari continued in a casual voice.

"To him, they are harmless, so as long as he keeps enough alive every year, he can further his power for free each season. Certainly better than killing goblins. And of course, he kills enough to stop the raids, and gets the reward for a successful quest."

"That's... Awful." Muttered Maesron. The demoness shrugged.

"I'm sure he sees it as smart. And it worked for him, so far."

"That's-that's going to change." Rida stammered. Janilari hadn't seen her so horrified yet. "With the... Peace treaty, he'll have no excuse to come back."

"... How much will he care about a treaty?" Asked Janilari. "Will he just quit what he sees as an easy source of power?"

"If we take this to the king, maybe then..."

"Ardiane will be back before you do that." She laughed. "Since we are here, he probably heard word of the raids himself! He might be coming already!"

The adventurers didn't even have time to process that. The group of hunters close to them started shouting, seeing something from above a hill. The older ones pushed the younger, all running to the camp.

"Just in cue." The demoness laughed again, as the familiar silhouettes of the seven in Ardiane's party appeared over the hill. 

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