Rise of the Horde

Chapter 114: Chapter 11

The distinct sound of the teeth of the saws cutting through the trees echoed all throughout as the orcs merrily sang while they cut down the trees. Two orcs would work together in using the saws. They would pull the saw towards them after their partner stopped pulling it. Just like that, back and forth they pulled the saw until the tree have been cut through.

While the tree is on its way down to the ground, crashing against its neighboring trees. The orcs would shout to warn each other that a tree was on its way down and they had to get out of the way.

“Timber!!!”

“Timber!!!”

“Timber!!!”

They learned it from their chieftain, who shouted it after he showed them how to use the new tools that they were now using while the tree that he cut down was falling down. They found it catchy and, of course, since it was from their chieftain, they would gladly copy it.

The ground shook a few times as the gigantic trees crashed down to the ground. Gur’kan was busy eating fruits when he suddenly thought of a mischievous idea. He grinned after imagining the reaction of the victim to his idea. Prompting himself up with his left hand, he shoved the fruit in his mouth and took out his dagger.

.....

“Anything to report!?” he shouted while raising his head up to look up. And as he had expected, a skin of a fruit fell down right towards him, which he evaded by leaning to his side. “Will you stop that!?” he shouted but was only answered with a loud laugh from Trot’thar. “I’ll get you for this!” Gur’kan pretended to be really angry, but he was actually grinning mischievously.

Raising his dagger up, he marked the trunk of the tree where Trot’thar is at with a very big ‘X’ to make sure that the woodcutters won’t miss it. He nodded in satisfaction and sheathed his dagger and walked away towards the camp. “Hey! Where are you going!?” Trot’thar shouted as he saw Gur’kan going away. “Somewhere that it doesn’t rain with fruit skin and seeds!” Gur’kan answered back and waved his right hand without looking back.

Trot’thar chuckled amusedly but then kept quiet, as he was now bored with nothing interesting to see. He has been looking around the surroundings for hours and nothing is happening. His butt even hurt after sitting for hours up on the branches. That is why he messed around with Gur’kan.

*****

The woodcutters began carrying the lumbers on their shoulders and make their way back to the campsite when they caught sight of the huge ‘X’ mark on the trunk of the tree that Trot’thar was on. “You two, bring it down. The rest follow me.” the leader of the woodcutters pointed towards his chosen orcs and led away the rest to deliver the lumbers to the camp.

Up the tree that was about to be cut down. Trot’thar leaned his back on the branches and started humming a tune to chase his boredom away. He was unaware of what was happening down below in the ground as he moved higher to get a feel of the wind.

The tree swayed with the wind, which he enjoyed, but as time passed by, the swaying of the tree became out of control. Moving a few feet down, he finally saw what was happening. Two orcs are cutting the tree that he was on. “Hey! Hey! I am here! You bastards!” he shouted to get the attention of the two orcs.

The two orcs raised their head and saw their War Chief and his angry face. “Sh*t! We’ve been tricked!” one of them muttered. “Let’s get out of here!” his partner answered and the two orcs quickly fled away.

“Bastards! That was close.” Trot’thar patted his chest, thinking that he just evaded a disaster. But then the wind started to pick up strength as the trees swayed in the direction of the wind. The tree that he was on leaned to one side and the loud cracking sound of its trunk sounded. “Sh*t!” Trot’thar cursed as he started climbing down the tree as fast as he could while the tree was still standing.

He jumped down using the branches to quickly get down as fast as possible. A few meters only remained when the tree that he was on couldn’t endure anymore and started falling down, crashing against the nearby trees. Trot’thar grabbed one of the thickest branch that he could reach and held onto it tightly.

He watched closely and waited for the right moment. When he finally saw that it was his chance, he jumped away from the falling tree and crashed to the ground, rolling a few times as dirt and grass covered him.

His entire body was assaulted with pain as he tried to stretch his limbs to get himself up on his feet. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain, and finally he got up on his own feet. Trot’thar limped toward the camp with a face filled with fury.

Sakh’arran had a confused look on his face and asked Trot’thar, “What happened? Enemies?” All the orcs stopped what they were doing and waited for Trot’thar’s answer. Trot’thar shook his head “Someone just cut down the tree that I was on.” he answered and continued limping on one leg, heading towards the area where the First Kani’karr Corps were at.

Gur’kan approached Trot’thar with some fruits in his hands. “Timber?” he asked Trot’thar before breaking into a wide smile. The limping orc was confused and halted, but then it suddenly dawned on him. Gur’kan was the one who marked the trees that were to be cut down and if the tree he was on was marked by him, the woodcutters would cut it down.

“Come here!” Trot’thar reached for Gur’kan and tried to catch him, but the smiling orc leaned back and backpedalled to distance himself away from him. “I guess it was timber.” Gur’kan said before breaking into laughter, then run away.

Trot’thar clenched his hands in annoyance that he can’t run as his foot still felt numb and it was like it was being electrocuted if he put his weight on it. “This ain’t over.” he muttered and continued on his way.

“Alright back to work! Nothing to see here!” Sakh’arran shouted towards his troops. Everything returned how it was before as the orcs continued on what they were doing previously.