A turbulent journey

"God this heat is unbearable." Elise moaned on the back of her camel, slouching to one side as she rested her tired eyes. Raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, Sven looked to the sky to see not one cloud for miles and miles in every direction. The sand beneath them was hot and dry, making it loose and hard to traverse by human feat - which was why before leaving, Sven made the intelligent decision to hire out a caravan to travel alongside with. The caravan was owned by a group of natives, orcs who had traveled these planes for their whole lives, with their guidance traveling to the Triadom capital would be a simple trip rather than a life threatening wandering through the scorching emptiness.

"I think this heat is puurrrrfect!" Alice on the other hand was loving the sights and sounds of the desert, she had insisted they walked but Sven had turned her down. She had been annoyed at first, but after having to walk through the soft sand for so long she could see how doing so for the entire journey would be making things ten times more difficult for them to actually get there.

"At times like this I wish I was a water mage, no wait, an ice mage." Ignis complained as she hugged the camels hump to keep her upright as she rested against it. Chuckling at her little comment, Sven then realized Adriana was noticeably quite.

"What do you think Adriana? You're used to this kind of climate aren't you?" Sven asked as he tried to include Adriana into their group. Now that she was one of them, he wanted to make sure she knew she was welcome to voice her own opinion when she wanted to. After all, she was a free woman now.

"You find it to be unbearable? I've always known the desert, to me this is just a normal day out." Adriana confessed, she got a couple looks that told her 'must be nice for some'. She concluded that it must be due to her darker skin or something, Orcs had a darker shade of skin too, and Alice who seemed to be loving this heat had a layer of fur protecting her skin, so for Ignis, Elise and Sven's case it must be something about their paler complexions that caused them such distress under the blaring sun.

"Life adapts to its surroundings, such has been known for centuries." One of the caravan merchants chimed in with an air of wisdom Sven hadn't soon expected from a merchant - essentially a peasant.

"Hey, who is that in the distance?" Alice pointed to a figure approaching them on foot from the distance, his or her features couldn't be made out from such a distance as the heat from the sand caused his body to shake and tremble through the optics of the group. Sven squinted as best he could but could only make out black and brown robes, tattered from the looks of things from unknown instances crossing the sands, a monster encounter here, being scraped by a cactus there, what Sven could be certain of however was that this wasn't his first time traveling the desert on foot, if his ripped, torn and sun kissed cloths were anything to go by.

As he encroached on the caravan more and more, the guides that Sven were with began to whisper amongst themselves, only some of the conversation Sven could make out.

"...The hermit."

"Don't... let him pass."

"...Ignore him..."

"Do we warn...?"

The whispers were hard to make out entirely but Sven had a bad feeling about all of this, the orcs seemed to be scared of whoever this man is, furthermore some of the guides were looking back to him and his group as if they were considering what to do with us. 'Are they plotting to abandon us, or sell us out?' Sven frowned darkly at the notion, looking back to the hermit the man was perhaps 10 meters ahead of Sven now, directly in his path.

"Time at hand time at land, time at sand." The hermit mumbled incoherently as he shifted through the sand, a gnarled walking cane at his side.

"Too cold to live, too hot to die, aye aye aye." Now that he was so close to Sven, perhaps 5 meters, he could make out through the flowing ragged robes the hermit was wearing two pale, lifeless orbs staring back at him. He was blind.

"Sight for me, no sight for you. It is not I who must slay a few." The hermit stopped in his place as he looked at Sven now properly, his mouth opened in a crooked smile, his teeth had long since rotted leaving only blackened gums festering with disease.

"Iron and steel is harmless fun, but black is where you will want to run." The man began to swing his cane around rhythmically. Sven frowned at this lunatic, what nonsense was he speaking and why were the guides scared stiff like statues?

"What do you want old man? Do you need water?" Sven asked to try and calm the situation down some if he could.

"**** **** ****! That is what you must inflict, that is what you must avoid, can you do it all in the black without being destroyed?" The hermit was practically dancing as he hipped from one leg to the other shaking his hands around like some sort of guru.

"Look, I don't have time for your nonsense. If you don't seek help then move aside, we're on our way to the capital and I don't need you slowing us down." Sven was starting to get impatient, more-so now that the hermit was beginning to laugh manically.

"A speedy rend, a journey without friend, a journey never to end!" The hermit chanted as a purple light began to form at the end of his cane, Sven realized it too late as he hadn't the time to dodge the projectile - fastened to the camel as he was. Being struck by the purple light, Sven felt his body cripple under him as a swirling void of a black hole sucked his body inside of its mass. It wasn't painful, but his eyes flew open in shock as he realized he couldn't stop the spell from playing out to completion.

"Sven!" Adriana cried, turning herself into a shadow and then attaching herself to Sven's. No sooner had she done this did Sven seek to exist on the back of the camel, leaving a stunned and horrified audience to bare witness to the crazed hermits deeds.

"Oh god my head, what happened? Where am I?" Sven could still feel as if his whole body was spinning through some alien portal to another world. Shades of purple vibrated in his peripheral vision and edged into the center in a spiral like pattern. Sven could feel his balance was out of whack and struggled to keep himself upright, unluckily for him however, someone else wasn't doing so well.

Sven tumbled over feeling a weight on his chest, looking down as he tried his best to make out whoever it was that had tripped into him he felt relieved to see a familiar set of black hair and a tiny amount of exposed dark skin. Adriana had some how been transported with him, and by the sensation of sand beneath him, hopefully they'd not been transported too far.

Lying there for a second to catch up to their senses, Sven finally lifted them both up and set Adriana sitting down beside him, her eyes were practically spinning still. Looking around Sven could see that they had been transported into some back ally where homeless orcs slept only meters away from them, looking to either side of the alley, Sven could make out the beginnings of a city take shape. Could this be the capital? It would be a strange twist of fate if it were.

Sven was starting to feel normal again, but one look at Adriana and he could tell she wasn't even half way through her ordeal. Kneeling down beside her he offered the vampire his back to climb up on, a situation hardly anyone would commit to if conscious of her blood sucking, neck biting ways. Wobbly she clambered on up, feeling her lithe form against his back Sven could make out her C cup breasts press sensually into his back. Willing himself to stay flaccid, it would be a strange thing to witness by any guard to see a 6.9 human gain a giant erection surrounded by homeless orcs in an alley. What could he even say? Shuddering, Sven made his way out of the dark corridor to witness the still mid-day city in action.

Orcs of all professions and backgrounds were stumbling past each other, all of them on their way to some important part of their job or other. Chefs were leading wagons of food into their street food corners, carpenters were whipping their slaves into fashion, hauling the heavy wood from the lumber yard to their work stations. Army officials were running their enlisting officers round the civilian streets to train them up while placating the masses that the military was doing their job. Shady fellows in rags were patrolling street stores looking to snag some easy loot, guards dressed in chainmail with steel tipped spears had their eyes on them all the while, just waiting for them to make their move.

Looking at the slaves, Sven could make out they were of all sorts of races, the majority of them were other orcs but among their numbers were humans, elves and beastfolk alike. However the one thing they all shared in common was the fact that they were male. No doubt the females were put to use in high ranking officials harems, and perhaps the ugly ones were offered as wives to some merchant or another to keep them working hard for the Triadom. Such a class system is bound to break at some point, Sven could hardly stand to see it anymore.

"You there, papers please." Looking to his side, Sven could see a captain of the orc guard approaching him with 5 of his men trailing not too far behind him. Reaching into his pocket, Sven produced a piece of paper that Vander had given him, it was an official document that allowed him free unfettered access to the capital along with an audience with the king. Taking the document in his hand, the guard mulled it over curiously.

"An audience with the king is it? I don't get to see many of these I'll admit, and from a human? I don't know what kind of crisis our country is in if we have to seek urgent council from a stinking human, but I'll make sure you make it to the castle uninhibited by the rabble. Come, follow me." The captain explained as he lead Sven back the way he and his group of guards had came from.

As they walked, Sven could feel several sets of eyes burning into his skin, looking across the street he could see men similar to the ones he had beheaded back in Vessir. They looked thuggish, wielding wooden clubs, hoes and grass scythes like they were mafioso who had to rely on farming utensils for weapons. The guard looked at them and then chuckled darkly.

"If it were not for me and my men, those men would be over her running through your person for all the valuables you have. Maybe they'd even kill you, most of these young men have friends that have died in the war you humans started with the Triadom, there's plenty of stories of honor killings even in the capital, you picked a very odd time to visit, you know that? Like I said, it must be important." The captain flicked the switch of his lighter, taking a drag of his now lit cigarette. Looking at the group Sven could feel their anger and hatred boring into his skull, the pain ran deep in these streets it seems.

Adriana was stirring on his back, having had a little nap without even realizing she'd snoozed off. When was the last time she slept so easily when around another person? She could hardly believe she'd let her guard down so easily, it was frightening to think about. Looking at the pack of orcs leading her around and by the fact Sven was going willingly, it meant that they were somehow in the capital. Wait, how long had she been asleep for?

Finally at the castle entrance, the guards were currently arguing with the castle sentries about the document Sven was carrying. The guards were doing their best to make Sven's case while the sentries weren't about to open the castle doors to some unknown human. The bickering had been going on for an age now, and Sven was about ready to scale the wall and break into the grounds while these two groups bickered like children, no doubt they would completely ignore him with the way they were all fighting.

"Enough, send the boy inside." Came the commanding voice of a female orc, looking through the gates Sven could see her, she had white hair and golden eyes, two scars running down in parallel to her mouth from her right cheek, she wore a set of heavy plate armor that didn't do much to hide her form. Breast indentations had been cut into the plate to allow her 'puppies' to breath, just beneath there was a six pack also carved into the stomach area, at roughly 6'4 she looked like an amazonian battle god compared to most other girls he'd seen.

The sentries spluttered and fumbled as they opened the gate on her orders, walking inside Sven was now being lead by the sentries towards the white haired orc, Sven hesitated to call her a maiden since she seemed to be far more ferocious than any orc man he'd seen up til now, and he'd met Bergh for crying out loud.

"What brings you here, boy? Got something for me do you?" She held out her hand presumptuously, Sven smirked and handed her the document, Adriana was now at his side standing on two feet, but she was hiding behind him, cowering away from this domineering woman.

"Here's your papers, little girl. Can you lead me to the man of the castle?" Sven tried his best to contain the wide grin he could feel brewing behind the facade of only mild amusement, especially as he saw her eyebrows twitch involuntarily at such a quip. Something told him she wasn't used to having people strike back at her insults.

"Funny, I don't recall ordering a jester to serve the castle. Although with your freakish size, perhaps you're part of the circus. Which is it?" Her words seemed like banter but there was a danger to the tone and the way her eyes pierced his as she said the words.

"You know 6'4 isn't exactly normal for a woman either, you know?" Sven finished in time to dodge a swipe at him with her mailed fist, the danger behind her eyes now being unleashed in the form of hate fueled vengeance. Perhaps her height was a sensitive point for her, maybe that's why she warned him with her eyes.

Dodging another punch Sven could feel the eyes of several others on him, the sentries had their swords raised and were ready to step in at any time, but the way they were frozen in place, Sven gathered that they were stationary out of fear of what this woman would do to them if they interfered.

Sven was growing tired of her constant barrage of punches so in one deft move he parried her blow to the side with the back of his hand and used her momentum to kick her off her feet, falling to the floor with a crash and clang of armor scraping against itself and the hard impacted ground that had seen many a foot traverse its terrain. Crashing to the floor she looked up at Sven with complete shock, this was the first man who had ever faced her in earnest, to knock her off her feet like she was a lowly soldier or a wandering sell sword. And to make such egregious matters more commonplace, he offered her a helping hand to get back on her feet - like a comrade would offer his sparring partner a hand after a well fought practice match.

Mixed emotions coursed through her all at once, a part of her hated the humiliation in front of her men, she had a reputation to uphold after all! She hated that she had been bested so nonchalantly, hated him for having the nerve to offer her what she considered to be a pitying helping hand! So why was the feeling somehow mixed? Why did she feel the heat rising in her cheeks and the desire to touch him, not to beat him or or cut him like she thought she might, but to feel his pale skin on her dark green, feel his breath on her neck, his hands on her... What was she doing?! Or rather, what was he making her do?! Picking herself up all on her own she coughed to hide the blush that was soon making its way to her cheeks.

"This fool actually struck the blade princess Katarina!" One of the sentries called out, flabbergasted that any man sane or lacking sanity would ever under all the orange suns and blue moons DARE to strike a member of the orc royal family! And to boot it was a human! The crime was absolutely unforgivable, if the Triadom people were to learn of this offense then the streets would not sleep until the human travelers that lived inside or were even just passing through the capital would lay dead in the streets, butchered by knives or burnt by fire - all because one human dared to defend himself against the princesses attacks.

Seeing the intentions on the sentries to attack him on sight with their raised spears, Sven readied his flail and shield and prepared to defend himself until the end. That was, until Katarina stepped in front of him.

"Stop this barbarism at once, you are to forget what you saw here today, you aren't to tell a soul, not my mother, not my father, not your brothers or friends. Not a soul, and if word somehow does spread around, then I know of only five individuals who witnessed it. It should be easy to track you all down, so don't do anything stupid now." Katarina did her best not to sound shaken after having been struck for the first time, the chaotic mix of emotions bubbling inside of her weren't allowing her to deal with the information as best as she would have wanted to. Nodding, the men scurried back to their posts having lost all the complexion in their dark green skin.

"You, come with me." Katarina turned to face Sven, her face returning to her usual strict and stern appearance. Following her, Sven and Adriana both entered the large castle door inside leading to a spacious hallway with nobody else in sight. Adriana quickly sheathed her daggers after having entered, she had prepared for an all out war after seeing the ways the sentries reacted, but luckily Katarina had scared her men shitless.

Now inside the room, Sven was brought out of his appreciation of the culturally enriched decor by Katarina slamming him into the wall, expecting to have another sparring match, Sven reached for his weapon only for Katarina to surprise the wits out of him by standing up on her tippy toes and kissing him passionately on the lips. Sven's eyes shot wide open as he looked at this battle hardened orc warrior princess kissing him for all she was worth! Desperately her tongue battled his for dominance, shifting her knee between Sven's legs she massaged the underside of his crotch with her leg, the room was shockingly silent save for the few sounds of the pair kissing, along with the scraping of metal on metal as their chest plates rubbed against one another.

Adriana was perhaps somehow even more shocked than Sven, her mouth was practically hung agape as she watched this complete transformation of this woman before her from a no bullshit matriarchal battle maiden into a sex craving lust filled hussy, all in a matter of seconds. Katarina was lost in the kiss for a time before her eyes flashed open, now suddenly realizing what it is that she had done.

Pushing herself off of Sven, the sweet and sensual atmosphere she was exuding from just before having now evaporated and replaced with an accusatory glare.

"What did you do to me! What kind of spell did you cast?!" She reached for her bastard sword and gripped a hold of its handle reflexively, ready to go to battle if she didn't like the answer. Sven was still stunned, what was even going on at this point? First she attacks him, then forgives him, then she kisses him, and now she thinks he had anything to do with her actions?!

"Wha?" Sven asked dumbly, he wasn't exactly in the best head space to answer any of her mindfucked questions at this point.

"Why did I kiss you?! Answer me!" Katarina held out her blade and now pointed it in Sven's direction, Sven continued to look at her like she had gone mad.

"Why are you asking me?! I'm not the one who threw you to the wall and then kissed you, am I?!" Sven's temper flared up, Katarina continued to glare back at Sven for a time as she grumbled her complaints and accusations under her breath. Adriana watched this whole event unfold feeling very uncomfortable and for a moment wishing that she hadn't come along with Sven for this crazy journey in the first place. Life would have been much more simpler had she remained on the back of that camel.

"Lady Katarina, are you in any need of assistance?" From around the corner, a group of suave looking butlers had appeared, having seen the state of distress their royal captain was in, they approached with their hands on their weapons - ready to draw and fight at a moments notice. Facing them with an embarrassed face, Katarina wondered if this day could get any more humiliating for her.

"Stand down! We were just talking." Katarina coughed again so she had an excuse to hide her blush, upon hearing her words the armed butlers eased up and went back to being normal butlers.

"As you say. Come, let us escort you to the king, he has been made aware that a human adventurer wishes to be blessed with an audience." Sven could tell the butlers weren't offering this escort, it was more or less a direct order from the king that Katarina should just accept. Sighing she wordlessly followed the butlers, signalling Sven and Adriana to come with them.

The rest of the walk was uneventful and awkward, not a word was said and the silence was notably deafening. Sven tried to take his mind off of things by observing the fancy murals, the amazing tapestries, the swanky fine dining and plethora of emasculate trinkets old and new. This was a castle fit for a king alright, a very wealthy king compared to the poverty outside, this was the kind of kingdom where the peasantry was exploited for all they were worth to feed the 1% of people who work directly under the king. A complete autocracy with the king at the very top and everyone else far beneath.

Opening a large set of ornate wooden double doors, Sven was welcomed into the throne rooms main hall. Rows of royal guards lined the hall, along with servers and maids, dancers and harem girls, high ranking officials that sat in the rows of benches that led up to the raised throne. The men feasted on roasted poultry and steamed vegetables, quenching their thirst with sweet red wines or bitter ale. The room was full of festivities and merry making, that was until Sven walked into the room - the fun times came to a halt there and then. The sweet wine turned sour inside their mouths and the moist chicken all but dried up. They were glaring, Sven realized, glaring at him for being here.

"Come forth, human adventurer Sven Gate. I hear you carry with you an urgent message signed by my friend Vander, first admiral of the Vasir fleet." The king sounded as regal as the carved marble pillars that held up the rooms beautifully hand painted ceiling. At this point the butlers stepped aside and Sven followed Katarina as they both approached the king together. Adriana stayed behind with the butlers at having not been given permission to seek audience with the king. Standing at the bottom of the stairs before the orc king, Sven looked up to meet his withered gaze. He looked old and tired, his long white hair looking dry and straw like, his eyes perhaps once a vivid blue now looked milky and dusted, when he spoke Sven could see an assortment of missing teeth, those that remained had seen better days also.

"You stand before King Rammus the third, lord protector of the three desert cities and divine ruled over the Triadom." One of the guards closest to Sven announced airily. The king meanwhile approached the top step to get a better look at the white haired man, his sight wasn't what it used to be after all.

"I've known Vander a long time, he wouldn't put a royal seal on a letter and hand it to a human so lightly. No, what you have to say must be of the utmost importance. So what is it, adventurer?" The king kept himself propped up on his double handed sword. The steel shone off the light in the room, the gems that glittered off it gave the weapon an aura of serene power that Sven couldn't help but be momentarily blindsided by.

"Your grace, it would be best if we could have the room to ourselves. It regards matters of your royal gem mines, and I'm sure you would not want such numbers uttered in the company of your officials." The king nodded thoughtfully, yes his personal mines and the classified nature of them was of importance to him after all. Adriana frowned, wait, what? This wasn't what they were here to discuss... The king motioned for the men lining the benches to vacate the room, many of them grumbling unpleasantness about having been evicted on account of a human. Hatred ran deep here, Sven was now all but painfully realizing. Once the room was vacant of all officers and all that remained was Sven, Katarina and the row of guards that were sworn to protect the king, the old man turned to Sven expectantly.

"Your grace, I have to apologize for lying to you about the reason I'm here for, it does not have anything to do with the activity of your mines." The king frowned, he didn't like being lied to but he bit his tongue to hear the real reason. "Myself and Vander have uncovered a plot to dethrone you, we aren't sure who is at the head of the coup, but we're certain that out of the 24 generals you have enlisted, only 5 of them are uninvolved with the treachery, Vander included." The kings face grew dark as he listened to these words, something about his reaction told Sven that he was expecting this.

"So that's why you had those officials think the urgent message was about my mines? You're a clever one, Gate." The king suddenly felt weak, hobbling back to the throne he sat down with a long sigh. Because Sven had tricked the officials into thinking the problem was with the mines, they wouldn't be thinking that their plot to kill the king had been discovered. It bought the king some extra time to plan things out.

"We have a list of names of those involved, but no clear ring leader. Can I approach the throne?" Sven asked as he retrieved the piece of parchment that Bergh had locked away in his chest. The king seemed lost in thought for a time before nodding. Climbing the stairs, Sven handed the letter to the king, who with great trouble squinted as he read the words on the page all on his own, despite being offered to be read to by one of his trusted royal guards.

"So it is true, my men conspire against me and the realm will be slogged down in another civil war, how can we be expected to fend of the warring humans if we're too busy fighting each other?" The king sat the note down on the end of his chairs and pinched the bridge of his large nose, a man of his age being stressed out wasn't exactly a good thing. Katarina had approached the king while he read to see for herself if all this was true.

"We march against their armies one by one, under cover of night we take out higher priority targets and secure the capital, and then we can easily deal with the rest of the bastards. It may take decades, but it all starts here in this castle." The warrior princess advised sternly. The king leaned back in his chair and sighed, the bad news had caused the old ruler to show his age all the more.

"You said that there's no clear leader, but in my mind there is. There's a clear pattern here, although I wouldn't expect you or Vander to see it." The king said out of the blue, Sven involuntarily took a step forward, eager to understand what indeed was going on here. "All of those involved in my dethronement are my own sons, and out of all of my sons there's only one that they look up to." The king held out the parchment and dotted his finger against a name on the list. "Xavier, nicknamed 'dreadful' for the deeds he has committed on the battlefield, even when he was just a young boy my other sons looked up to him, feared him, respected him. He was always the ring leader, if they're going to dethrone me then he is the one standing atop them all in the hierarchical structure." The king looked solemn, but not at all surprised, to Sven it seemed like he had been anticipating this day all of his life.

"If you're here warning me of this plot then I take it you're on my side, Sven Gate?" The king looked at Sven desperately. Nodding, Sven seemed to ease his anxiety all once.

"I will fight for you, but only if you grant two of my wishes once the mission is done." Peering at Sven expectantly, Sven knelt to his side and whispered his desires into the old kings ear. Upon hearing his clauses, the old man looked at him in shocked horror.

"No! You can't, that's simply too much to ask! Even for my life!" The king went up in arms almost immediately.

"Those are my terms, I can't help you for free." Sven was about to leave but the king called out to stop him.

"Very... Very well, under my honor as a divine ruler, I shall meet your demands even if it ruins the kingdom. I would rather see the Triadom destroyed under your doing than see it fall into the hands of any one of those ingrate sons of mine." The king stabbed his steel sword into the tiled floor passionately. Sven bowed and went to leave the hall, Katarina running to catch up with him before he and Adriana left the throne. Blood will flow in the capital, every man and woman privy with what is to come knew this to be true.