As Malakaus and his warriors rode away, one of the archers spotted the arrows flying towards him. He shouted out a warning just in time for Malakaus to raise his axe to deflect, though most ended up hitting his boar and his armor instead. Only one arrow managed to even bypass his breastplate, but fortunately the orc's leather tunic underneath blunted the arrow's strike. Thus the bolt only made a small cut into Malakaus's flesh, as oppose to something more serious. His archers returned fire while Malakaus himself remained cool headed, doing his best to control his boar who felt the need to flee now that it's been struck.
The remaining orcs managed to getaway from the battlefield and return to their camp hidden in the swamp. The waters here were far too deep to take horses; they'd end up stuck in the bog and drown. But the battle boars of the orcs were tougher than that, not to mention their body shape and strength made it possible for these creatures to even swim across, even with the orcs on their back. On an open plain horses could easily out run and maneuver around the slow but tough boars, but in these marshy conditions ill suited for cavalry, the rough and rugged boars were more mobile. Not to mention that within the waters themselves were orcish traps; wooden spikes that would impale men or horses that the boars simply swam over, though the orcs also knew the safe path to avoid them anyways.
Malakaus's war camp was sparse; the only ones here were the mothers and sisters of his warriors. They were responsible for maintaining and protecting the camp while the men were away. Even though a female orc was stronger than any human male, orcish society was simply the type that still considered women a lesser gender. Malakaus thought otherwise, but not many females cared for his opinion. They were here for their sons or brothers. They too distrusted Malakaus and his maverick thinking, blaming him for the clan's current exile. But he hopes that this gamble he made allying with Maren will pay off. As he dismounted he went to check on his scouts.
Not all the orcs here were from Malakaus's clan. His people came from further north, and don't normally call the lands around the fire-fens home. While the boars were native to this place, they were different from the bristlebacks more suited the the mountainous region. And so Malakaus made it a point to contact the local orc clan around here to act as guides and scouts. They were not part of any tribe, and in fact seemed to want nothing to do with orc politics. He had to pay quite a hefty sum just to get two orcs who were willing to work with him. But two would be enough.
Garruk was tasked to keep watch on the Karsusian Mercenaries. It was thanks to him that Malakaus even knew what he was up against, and what tents they needed to hit first. It was thanks to Garruk's trained falcons that he could see further than his own eyes. What that meant, Malakaus was not sure. Perhaps it was magic. Or perhaps his falcons were just smart. Either way Garruk had not lead Malakaus astray so he'll trust him. Hew was in charge of counter-intelligence, basically making sure that no one finds this camp. He was certainly magical; when Malakaus first met him, the man already knew his name, his parents, and his plan. Thus Malakaus deduced this man was some sort of seer who uses divination to see into things that mortals cannot. More importantly he made sure that other scouts and assassins never find the camp. Usually through misdirection, though recently a few bodies have been pulled out from the marshes. Hunters paid by the mercenaries.
Meeting with the two, they exchanged words in their orcish tongue. Through them Malakaus learned of two important things: firstly he finally found out who their leader looks like. This would be important if Malakaus wished to claim the glory of defeating this army first. Second, he learned that among the mercenaries is an assassin. Unlike the other ruffian soldiers this man was a far more skilled killer, and certainly knew what he needed to do. Apparently Malakaus's own men had run afoul with him already, though where he was right now, Hew did not know. This concerned Malakaus; it's possible that this assassin might come after him in order to end his raid party before it can do more damage. Or more likely, the assassin has been sent to kill Maren. If she dies, than this entire campaign would be for naught. This put Malakaus in a tough position.
As his men rested Malakaus returned to his tent to debate his next course of action. No doubt the mercenaries would be scrambling to conduct their siege now that their supplies were cut. But they would also know that by doing so, they no longer have the luxury of time. Normally sieges could take weeks, months, or even years of simply camping outside of a fort or castle and bleeding it dry of resources and supplies. After all, that's why the current king had hired a mercenary army to preform the siege, as oppose to his own country's army. Even the new king can't afford to send all of his soldiers to one place for very long. So those mercenaries have to make some progress soon, or before long they'd run out of food to eat, wood to keep warm, and the siege would die in a few days. And now that they know that there are orcs here who would harry them, they would also need to spent time or men to guard their flanks. If they focus entirely on besieging the city, they'd leave themselves open for Malakaus and his warriors to ambush them from behind.
Divide and conquer. That's how the humans defeated the orcs and drove them from their homes. By attacking from multiple angles, the many tribes could not come to eachother's assistance, too busy protecting their own, and one-by-one each was lost. Even now Clan Vorinclex was weak. Having been exiled from the Dark Star Tribe, with Malakaus himself causing his own friction within the clan, they were in a very precarious situation. His failure here could very well mean the death of his people. But at the same time, it was in circumstances like this that the most reward could be gained. If they could simply route those Karsusian mercenaries, the plunder from the battle would turn the tide for his clan. They would be well armed and armored, and more capable of standing up to their enemies. If they could gain the cooperation with the city, they could barter goods and buy better equipment that what could be made or stolen in battle. And finally if Malakaus could forge an alliance with Maren, he would have a credible authority against King Mago. Someone that he could rally his people around to defeat the human king who had taken their lands, so to say. Inevitably some may ask if Maren intended to give Malakaus and his people back the lands her father had taken from them. This wouldn't be easy, but if Malakaus proves his worth to her, it's possible. Certainly a better chance than the orcs trying to take the land back by force.
As Malakaus was thinking about this someone came into his tent. It was his mother. A old, by orc standards, woman with a sunken face but bright eyes. On her back was a black war boar and in her hands was a dead water fowl. The two exchanged a few words, just casual conversation. But she got to the point quickly after: she thinks Malakaus should return home. Thirty men would not be enough to take on the enemy, even after the damage they caused today. At best even if they could route the Karsusian, many orcs would die. And even if Malakaus was the sole survivors, the humans in the city would simply finish him off to remove two birds with one stone. This is despite how Malakaus's mother looked at the banner by his bed. The banner of Aeon Archange. She truly loved the man, and only because of her people did they have to part. But he was dead now, and Malakaus was alive. And she wanted Malakaus to live. This thing he wanted to do, to unit his people with the humans, it was a fantasy. A mere dream. Such a thing could not happen in reality.
These were things that Malakaus has heard a lot. Being a half-orc people seem to think he's some sort of myth, a mistake. That there was no way orcs and humans could genuinely work together. People have said the cruelest things just to disprove Malakaus's hope and existence. Things like his father simply raped his mother as a show of human domination. Or that his mother was just a whore with a taste for man flesh. Or that he was actually just another bastard of the man orcs who would ravage human women unfortunate enough to be kept as slaves after a raid. So many terrible things just so they could be protectively jaded at the idea that somehow, things could have been better if they had simply given it a chance. But Malakaus was different from them. He would take that chance. It was his destiny.
There was good news. Another women entered Malakaus's tent with news of supplies that came in. More orcs from Clan Vorinclex had come to assist, and they had brought valuable plunder with them: steel weapons. The reinforcements had intercept and raided a weapon's caravan that was suppose to supply the mercenaries. With this his orcs would be better armed to cut through the armor of the Karsusian soldiers. The arrows could easily punch through even the toughest of plate armor with their black bows. And there was still Malakaus's secret weapon. As he left the tent to go see the new weapon shipment, he passed by his mightiest weapon of all; the War Wolf. A mighty trebuchet that took him and his few loyal orcs at least five months to complete. Bringing it here without anyone noticing was the hardest part. But now it was near in completion and ready to wage war against his enemies. If the Karsusian attacked now, even in preparation of Malakaus's horde, they would never suspect that orcs of all things would have a siege weapon capable of sending a two hundred kilogram projectile nearly five hundred meters away. And with the scouts Malakaus had hired, he was confident that he could easily strike the Karsusian's before they knew what hit them.
Things were looking better by the minute but Malakaus would not let himself relax. Such arrogance was what caused the collapse of his people in the first place, and disaster could strike at any minute. His men would need to be ready to sally forth soon. He'd have to leave a few behind to guard the camp as well as to operate the siege weapon, while Malakaus himself needed to lead his men back to battle. He trusted his second-in-command to take care of things here. Soon the camp was abuzz with activity as warriors rearmed themselves, ate their rations, and tended to their wounds. Malakaus himself had taken off his armor to deal with the bolt that had struck him. His mother brought over some medicine and clean bandages.
"Soon... This battle will be over. And the war will begin."
