After close to an hour of walking, the three arrived at the camp, tall green skinned creatures wondered the area going about their days, it smelt like old blood and death. “There are our resources there…” Rango said pointing to the other side, they moved in different directions towards the area to obtain those stolen goods, but Maura, not being the rouge or assassin that she was, dropped a stolen vase, causing it to smash and catching the attention of everyone in the tribe.
Battle soon followed after, Rango, without much help only a few injured before one of them spoke up. "Drop your weapon, reptile, or the elf here gets it!" One yelled, holding a blade to her neck while another held her still. Without anything else to do and not wanting to potentially have this new person killed and soon be overrun, Rango dropped his sword. Maura and Rango, now captured, as for Zerinia? nowhere to be seen.
“Unbelievable…where’s your friend?” Rango asked, slightly agitated, “I don’t know…” The hope they both had was all but lost and soon, one larger, stronger and more sinister stepped out before them all, “What do we have here? A Lizardman…and a Dark Elf? Fascinating…kill them!” The executioner nodded, lifting the axe and as he brought it down, something stopped it, a single bare finger stopped it with ease, it was Zerinia’s hand, she looked unimpressed.
“This is supposed to be the best of the Orcs? Not impressed…” She grabbed the axe and threw it away, all of them stepped back except the tribe leader, who merely smiled and took a few steps forward. "Zerinia! You didn't leave us!" "I can't believe these two got captured this quickly, and before I could get anything out of here! Look at me, Zerinia Valenhart, from edgy vampire villain to hero of the day! Some scary villain I'm supposed to be!"
“A new victim? You’re strong and I can respect that…so how about a duel, if you can kill me, I’ll let you go and never harm the Lizardfolk again, if I kill you, your friends become my slaves.” The Orcs cheered at this, Maura looked worried while Rango was expecting something like that. “I see…I accept your proposal.” She said with confidence, Maura looked even more worried and Rango disappointed, the Orcs lifted their weapons and cheered.
“Very well…my name is Thrak Dragonson, what is your name? I do prefer to know the names of who I kill before killing them.” Zerinia smiled and make eye contact with the hulking monster, “Zerinia Valenhart…” she said with clarity and winter cold seriousness. Thrak remained still for a few seconds, "I see, in that case, DIE ZERINIA VALENHART!!" as he said that, he started running towards Zerinia, “ARGHHHHH!” He yelled; his battle axe raised into the air.
Zerinia remained still watching her opponent before speaking, “Death Stare…” With those two words, the Orc warrior stumbled and fell to the floor, all life escaped his body in that moment, he was a healthy warrior just moments ago, now lifeless and turning cold like a long dead corpse, everyone could only stare in shock, even the stoic Rango couldn’t ask thousands of questions in an instant and more as the seconds went by.
Zerinia merely stepped forward and looked down at him, her expression disappointed and coldly indifferent, “It seems the duel is over before it began…” The Orcs then started cheering, happy while chanting praises like “To the new Chieftain!” and “May her reign last forever!” Zerinia and Maura shared a confused expression, Rango simply sighed, “Orcs don’t mourn, they celebrate the death of their chieftains for the return of a new one…so that makes you their new leader.”
A few hours later, they were all on their back with the stolen resources, Zerinia sat with a female Orc, no older than 19 her face looking forward, “I’m sorry about what I did to your father.”
The Orc woman’s expression turned to shock as she turned to Zerinia.
“I- How did you-?!” Her question was cut off abruptly by Zerinia, “You have his eyes…” The explanation seemed to simple yet sharp, it felt strange to hear even if it was true, “We…never had a proper relationship like what a Father and Daughter usually have so I’m not exactly mourning him.” She said, her voice didn’t lack conviction like one would expect.
“I see…but you should still mourn, he is your father after all,” The Orc woman nodded and Zerinia continued, “What’s your name?” “Tharia…Dragonson.” She responded, nodding slowly before shooting a question of her own. “I’ve read books about magic, not that my father liked that, but…I never heard of anything like what you used…what was it?”
There was a subtle pause, a silence between them both before Zerinia responded, “It’s called ‘Death Magic’…it’s the power to command the forces of death itself.” Tharia listened silently, she had heard the term once or twice, but actually hearing about it properly, it was eerie and uncomfortable, like hearing a scary story for the first time.
Meanwhile, Maura and Rango sat on another cart a few meters away, talking with one another quietly, “Your friend…she has power I’ve never seen before.” Rango commented, Maura could only nod in response to his words. “I’ve only known her for a few hours…but you’re right, I’ve never seen anything like that before in all my life, is she…” She paused, as if the idea was absurd, but Rango answered before she could answer, “I don’t know…but I definitely don’t want to get on her bad side.” Maura could only nod once, silently agreeing with his words.