My breath became a white mist barely visible under the light of the crescent moon, for an orc such things held little meaning, the only thing that mattered was the fact that you were still breathing.
The little ones were pulled back by their mothers, the memory of the world they had lived in just two months prior was already fading from their memory.
I let out another breath, as I patiently waited, humans tended to lower their guars around children, even the exiled, the outer guards tasked with protecting the barrier tended to do so.
Humans, I thought to myself and even if I may have seemed odd to those accompanying me, I allowed myself to chuckle at the memory of my first encounter with one.
Perhaps the women and children thought that this was some sort of ritual or signal, for I began to hear them do the same, I wish I had the chance to tell them the contrary, but it was too late, the humans made their presence known.
"Guard Captain Jaune Arc" I said to the frail creature in front of me.
"Shaman Moonwalker" the guard captain greeted me, he extended his hand and for a brief moment, I looked at his strange gesture, not wanting to break some ancient tradition of his kind I did the same.
I immediately remembered why none of the clans attacked the human settlement and took it for their own, the human in front of me possed a strength that by all-natural rules should have been impossible for him to have.
He shook my hand and I allowed him, then he immediately let go of my hand, whatever formality this act must have meant, I realized it must have been significantly important.
The human didn't have anything protecting the very hand he had used to shake my own.
He had tested me to see if I was trustworthy.
"Please come this way" he said to me, the wind blew slowly, and I can finally smell them, how they had hidden their presence until now was a mystery, yet I couldn't help but alow a thought to enter my mind.
Had the wind revealed their presence or had they simply stopped hiding.
The exiled were all around us, like a pack of hungry raptors circling their prey.
I wished that this was an attack, that way we would be free to defend ourselves, but perhaps, no there was no perhaps about it, it was for the best that this was indeed an escort group meant to keep us safe.
The women and children I'm guiding to the exiles stronghold are the runts of our clan, those too frail to survive on their own, there were orc men who have grown enough to be called men, but have yet to go through the trials, therefore they weren't adults and so they were still children.
Four days ago, one of the runts encountered a lone human, a scout.
I won't pretend to know their conversation, but for whatever reason, the human felt pity for the runt and those like him, when he heard about their exile from the clan and it was only after a few hours of negotiations that the exiled and our clan came to an agreement.
The exiled will take the runts and raise them as if they were their own, in exchange we would be allowed to hunt inside the outer barrier when our food supplies were low.
That one piece of information was something that caught both the chief and myself out of guard.
Ther are two barriers.
After the humans left a single unspoken question lingered between my chief man and my self.
Just how much power were the humans hiding?
Even now as I approach the barrier I can feel myself becoming stronger with its strange energies.
I can feel something soothing, welcoming, its a feeling that can only be compared to when I was a young one and I had my mother breastfeeding me, while I watched my father training.
I suddenly realize that at some point we had entered the barrier.
I can see it, them, the strange energies are in abundance here, I don't need to call upon the power of the spirits to see the souls of the dead entering our world and vanishing into the afterlife with the same speed as they came.
"Your walls are strange" I said to the guard captain, as I look at the stronghold, I have to admit that despite it still being under construction, its design is odd.
"Are they?" he answeres me, perhaps he's truly taking my words under consideration, or perhaps he's just humoring me.
The man's short blond hair takes a color similar to one of the torches he passes as we walk by them.
I can see several guards staring at us, their armor and clothing are as different as the owners themselves.
Somewhere no armor whatsoever, yet these males and what I presume is a female use some sort of skin to cover both their breasts and modesty.
For a brief moment, I think that I'm looking at a statue made of pure metal, but I can hear someone breathing inside it and the slight glimmer comes from the area where the eyes should be.
More and more, it becomes clear to me, that if our clan is to survive we are going to have to learn new ways of defending ourselves.
A small tent is all that's waiting for us, and I can't help but feel a smile form on my face, for all the humans attempts to intimidate me, they have only built a wall.
Their hames at the moment are no different from ours, tents made for quick travel.
A table is set between the tent and several, perhaps they are women or some other kind of human begin to fill several bows with thick stew.
"I was not aware that your kind can mingle with the beast" I said to the guard captain as I pointed out the other human's horns, tails, and wings, all of them either had one or two of these things.
"You would be surprised, please eat, you must be tired from your journey here" he said to me before picking up a bow and handing it to me, he immediately took one for himself and poured it into my bow, I did the same to him.
This is a custom I know, its to prove the food isn't poisoned.
I watch him take the bow to his mouth and begin to eat its contents, I did the same.
The stew lacks meat, there is some but not enough.
I turn to look at the runts, as well as the humans eating and I notice that I as well as the runts have been given the bulk of it.
"So, how do you like our world so far?"
The man drinks his stew and clears his through, it's great my world used to be the same, but we had creatures that hunted us, instead of plants that wanted to get rid of us."
We looked at each other and for no reason, I can answer, we both began to laugh.
"I'm glad to hear that, but soon you'll have more to worry about than just plants, the elements are awakening, they have slept for a long time, already there are stories of beings made of lava or rock walking around" I said to him, the man looked at me to see if I was still playing, but he soon nodded his head accepting the information.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind"
Again he repeats those words, perhaps he's been ordered to keep his mouth shut and not say too much, or perhaps he's just a man of few words.
I take another drink from my bow and my next move will be extremely risky, it can either start a war or it can only strengthen relations between my clan and the tribe of the exiled.
"Captain Arc, would it be possible for us to be able to enter these lands, even when it's not times of hunger?"
The man smiles and lowers his bow slightly.
"You want to visit your relatives, sure but you'll have to have an escort, other than that feel free to d so, just don't cause any problems and I have no problem with you and your people coming by ever so often"
The man is either a fool or he's fully prepared to give his life and that of his entire tribe in whatever invasion may come.
I hand my bow to him.
"Thank you but I must return, I do have an escort waiting for me" I left my hand to prevent him from saying anything.
"They have strick orders to waite for me" I say to him and he only lowers his head slightly and again he stretches out his hand, this time however it's armored.
I grave ahold of it and imitate the gesture he did earlier, the two of us lock eyes and for the briefest of moments, I can see the eyes of an experienced soldier.
I leave the runts under his control if they die, that's their problem.
In the past runts would be allowed to grow until adulthood, but whatever weakness or abnormality they may have had only made the tribe more vulnerable, so they were sent on their way.
Some would return ever so of them just to see those that had raised them, most didn't, most died.
These runts would either become slaves, die, or find their place amongst this tribe, whatever their fate may be, its no longer my problem.