To trust the orcs, or the humans?

"We are to be their slaves right? You steal us and kill those guards just to hand us over to new masters?!"

He hissed at him with an angry tone. He was hurt and confused and just down right exhausted. The myriad of emotions smelled strongly of blueberries, to Malach that meant Cyrus was deeply sad.

Malach'karh took a look back at the humans in the camp. Then looked back at Cyrus whose red eyes glared at him. The elf held himself timidly.

"They are from Yaarlarth, not Eronshire." Cyrus just looked confused as if Malach spoke another language just now. Cyrus' hands moved to emphasize his confused state as he spoke.

"I don't know what that means. To me, humans have always been my masters. The ones I have to obey. How would they be any different to me? Because they come from somewhere else? That means nothing to me! Nothing to us!" His voice trembled as he spoke in a nervous ramble.

Lowering his hood he sighed, with the light behind Malach, Cyrus could see his one mangled ear in comparison to his long pointed normal one much clearer, he didn't pay much attention before. His ear was longer than the other orcs, more elven like his.

Malach understood why Cyrus was upset, and figured the other elves would feel the same.

"Yaarlarth and Eronshire are currently about to go to war. Yaarlarth, where these humans are from, is against slavery." He tried to keep a soft tone as he explained, though he doubted that would make much of a difference.

"I am not trusting these humans." Cyrus declared flat out as he balled up his fists and slapped them over his thighs. He looked like a stubborn, defiant child.

"They could come straight from Ashuura and I wouldn't trust them. Same with you Orcs. If you're going to keep us as slaves I have no intention on making it enjoyable." He turned his head in a huff and crossed his arms.

"Are you willing to trust me, even a little?" Malach knew the answer.

"No." Cyrus snapped at him with a sharp glare. "How could I? All you've done is toss me around and yell at me. You've killed in front of me! For all I know you could want to eat us." His hand went to grab ahold of his collar once again.

Malach sighed. Running a hand down his forehead. "Let me bring you to the other elves. I don't want to have to repeatedly say why we were there, I will give you all some time to settle down." He held his hand out to him.

Cyrus looked at his hand and contemplated smacking it before grabbing it. His hand was much smaller in comparison. Malach helped him up from the stump. Cyrus' legs were limp noodles under his skirt but he managed to stand, roughly releasing Malach's hand.

"Just… keep the humans away…" Malach nodded with a hum.

He led him to the camp, making sure to keep at a slow pace for the wobbly knee elf. The elves were sitting around a fire huddled together. As Malach brought Cyrus to them they rushed to him, a mix of joy and relief came from them as they hugged him. Shireen looked at him worriedly, checking him over like a frantic mother. Finding the scrapes and cuts on his arms under the cloak she was about to whine and clean his wounds, but Cyrus pulled her into a tight hug.

Malach looked to a human Soldier who was walking up and went over to him, blocking him from the elves. He looked down at him as he towered over the man. "No humans are to speak to the elves. Make sure the other soldiers know."

The human soldier nodded with his lips in a thin tight line. "Yes sir."

He stepped away from him, looking over his shoulder to the elves before scanning his eyes around, his eyes fixate at one of the other fire circles where Durlag and the human commander was. His soldiers patted Malach's shoulder as he passed them as he made his way over. Seeing Thera next to Durlag he tilted his head and motioned to the elves.

"Bring them some water and food… And see if we have any spare clothing they could wear. Anything is better than them being practically naked."

Thera hummed in response. Her thick tusks pulled at her bottom lip as she smiled at Durlag and the human commander sitting by the fire. She left the circle to carry out the orders. She ordered other orcs to help her with the task.

The human commander stood up, they wore a thick dark blue tunic with a golden chimera embroidered on the shoulder. A sword holster hung from their waist, their greatsword laid against the log they were sitting on. They were tall, 6 ft as they stood just a foot shorter than Malach. They were quite muscular, strong facial features in an androgenous way. Short chestnut brown hair that matched their eyes.

They went to Malach and hooked their arm over his neck, yanking him down into a side hold and pulled his mask down.

"Come here ya big ugly bastard!" Her voice was deep but they were obviously a woman, they rubbed their knuckle into his head with a laugh.

Malach growled with a smile, turning himself to break free of their grasp; they started exchanging blows to the gut. They were play fighting, but still hitting each other hard enough to hurt. Durlag just laughed as he watched them. Some of the human soldiers were disturbed at how friendly their commander was with the Orc king.

"Durlag told me you were having fun there. I knew you were a pervert." They gave him a few rough slugs to chest.

Malach let out a laugh, which was unusual, even for his own people to hear. Bonking them on the head he pulled them into a hug. His big hand patted their shoulder in a friendly way.

"I was being bombarded by dancers. Still got the job done. My soldiers were the ones enjoying themselves too much." He cast a sharp glance at Durlag who just shrugged with a laugh.

The human commander shook their head with a grin. "Well, we got the man we needed. I'll bring him back to Yaarlarth and have the mages interrogate him." They patted Malach's shoulder and sat down on the logs placed around the fire.

Malach sat down as well, adjusting his hair and his mask, which was around his neck so they sat more comfortably. "We could interrogate him. His magic doesn't affect us."

Durlag roughly plopped on his seat and huffed in agreement. "Aye, Leo might be turned inta the man's new pet."

Leo, which was what the commander went by, sighed with a harsh laugh and a roll of their eyes. "I'd prefer you guys to handle that, but you know how the king can be. He still is wary of our alliance, and even getting that took over a year.. It took me a lot of convincing to allow the Orcs to go into Yagwern. But.. The mages are resistant to the magic Stein can use… I guess we'll just have to rely on them." They glanced over to the elven slaves at one of the other fire circles.

Malach followed her gaze. "They're terrified of humans. One of them demanded that the humans not interact with them. I believe your plan of bringing them to Yaarlarth would only bring them more discomfort than anything."

Leo sat forward with their elbows on their knees and folded their hands. They thought it over and looked at Malach. "What about bringing them to Vibhurik?" That caused Durlag to snort a laugh.

"Did ya see how dat curly hair elf slapped and yelled at Malach? They be terrified just as much of us as dey be you."

Leo chewed the inside of their cheek as they pondered. Malach ran a hand over his beard and looked at the elves as they ate some stew.

"I'll ask what they want to do. I promised them I'd explain what happened. But reasonably, they're traumatized by just over a century of being enslaved by humans. If we get those collars off, they may be less terrified…"

Durlag huffed. "That or they'll set us all on fire. Untrained magic be da most dangerous."

"Aren't you all immune to magic?" Leo questioned with a raised brow.

"Aye. To most magics." Durlag nodded with his arms crossed over his chest. "But, fire can still burn us. Only some Orcs like Malach be able ta withstand it. Rest of his blood be back home. Speakin' of which, where would da elves stay? If Dey come with us there only be so much room. Maybe da king's longhouse can spare some space?" Durlag was teasing Malach.

"I would make sure extra supplies were sent to help. I can also ask to have carpenters sent to Vibhurik as well. If you need space that is." Leo looked between both Durlag and Malach.

Durlag crossed his arms and teetered his head. "The harvest is coming up, we have da crops fer our populace now. Winter is just 'round da corner. Would Yaarlarth be able ta spare supplies even? Aye don't know how bad winter be fer ya."

"Our harvest is looking bountiful and we have plenty of cattle. There are 15 of the elves, yes? It would be no issue to send aid."

Malach hummed. Leo wasn't lying to get on their good side. Not that he assumed they would, they had long since earned his trust. Even if he couldn't detect lies he would trust them completely. The issue lies with their father.

"Would your father even allow it? We may have enough, but considering how harsh our winters are, and how unpredictable it is, portions of our supplies often end up damaged."

Leo gave Malach a charming half smile. "He will allow it. I won't give him the option of saying no. Our alliances are important, especially with war at every corner. We can't survive being greedy when our allies need help."

"Gunna give the king da ol' razzle dazzle eh? Need us Orcs ta show ya how its done?" Durlag held his arm up and flexed it with a hearty laugh.

The 3 of them conversed a bit, Malach seemed a bit more relaxed around Leo in comparison to when he was around others.

Malach stood up amid the two laughing. "Go get some food. I'll be back." He walked away from the fire while pulling his mask over his face and made his way over to the elves.

"Well, he's as grumpy as ever." Durlag chuckled.

Leo clicked their tongue. "He just doesn't like you." Their tone teased Durlag with a smirk.

"Rude, he likes me. Sometimes."

—----------

The camp was quite noisy as the orcs and humans conversed. In the middle area of the camp site an Orc had begun serving everyone steaming bowls of stew and bread rolls.

Thera and a few other orcs had taken the time to bring the elves each a bowl and a roll. As well as some extra tunics they had to cover the elves up. Most of the tunics had to be tied onto them since the elves weren't as bulky as the Orcs.

The elves had been starving and eagerly ate the stew, it had a mix of potatoes, vegetables and boar meat. They were nervous, but thanked Thera and the others for feeding them and giving them clothing.

When Cyrus was handing Thera the bowls that were emptied he felt awkward. "Would.. You like help with.. cleaning?"

Thera gave him a big toothy smile. "The lot of you are ready to pass out from exhaustion, you don't gotta help with anything."

Cyrus smiled up at her in return. "Thank you miss Thera." He gave her a half bow.

Thera raised her brows and her green cheeks flushed. She nodded to him and took the stack of bowls to be cleaned.

Cyrus was still wearing the cloak Malach had put on him, it came down to the middle of his thighs. When he sat back down near Shireen he laid his head on her shoulder and stared at the fire. Shireen's lovely humming relaxed them.

He was falling asleep when Shireen moved, and he saw Malach'karh coming up to the circle. Shireen gave him a bright smile, the rest of the elves lowered their heads and thanked him. Zestari went up to Malach'karh and hugged him. Which not only confused Malach but also Cyrus.

Shireen held Cyrus in a side hug and spoke lowly to him. "He found us in the tunnels, and ordered the orcs to keep us safe. Then he went to go find you when we said you created a diversion for us to escape."

Cyrus felt bad for being so rude to him. But then stopped feeling bad when he remembered how rough he was with him. 'He may have saved me, but he treated me like a sack of potatoes.' He was still pretty bitter about it all.

Cyrus sighed and spoke in elvish to Shireen. "He saved us. But I still don't like him."

Shireen chuckled, whispering to him in elvish, "You seemed to like him when you were on his lap." Cyrus flushed red and scoffed. "I was pretending…" Shireen gave Cyrus a knowing look.

Malach awkwardly patted the girl's head with a soft touch until she let him go. He pretended he didn't understand what Cyrus and Shireen said. Even though he knew elvish quite well.

He took a seat on one of the logs away from the elves that mostly cluttered closely together around Shireen out of habit.

"I want to first say that I am sorry for the things you witnessed today. And for our treatment of you during the fighting." Malach's voice was deep and euphonic as he spoke. Even through the mask and over the cracking of the fire they could hear him, his voice carried very well.

The elves were obviously tense as they sat there. Malach didn't want to rush, knowing they were quite overwhelmed but knew they needed rest so he figured he better make this quick and as understandable as he possibly could.

"Secondly, I want to clarify with you all. You are not going to be anyone's slaves. Not mine, not any of my soldiers, and definitely not the humans you see within the camp."

A brown haired elf with light orange eyes spoke up with a mousy voice. "What has happened to our master?"

Malach's blue eyes drifted to her. He kept a calm and steady pace as he spoke. "He will be going with the human soldiers to a kingdom called Yaarlarth. They plan to get information about Eronshire and the fortresses it has to aid in the upcoming war."

He waited patiently for anyone else to ask something before he continued. His eye caught someone stir. They were hesitant to speak. He figured they were rarely allowed to speak in Nual, unless amongst themselves.

"You needn't be afraid of asking questions. I will answer you."

A tall thin elf with black hair and olive skin cleared his throat. "Is… Nual one of the fortresses? Does this mean our people will be free after this war?"

"Nual is one, yes. And one of the main goals of this war is too abolish slavery in the lands of Eronshire. We will work on freeing more as we can. We targeted your master as he often traveled to the capital of the kingdom and he is one of the more powerful slave masters in Nual."

Shireen pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. "If he is going to Yaarlarth, where are we going?"

Malach leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his long dark purple hair spilled over his shoulder. "Where do you wish to go? We obviously can't just release you in some random town and expect you to survive. Regardless of where you go, you will be taken care of. You can be taught how to live on your own. Yaarlarth is a human kingdom. It is large, located on a very spacious flatland just on the outside of the western forests. Or you can come to Vibhurik with me. Which is obviously an orcish kingdom. It's deep within the western forests."

"Do you live in the trees?" One of the elves asked. Malach shook his head.

"No, we do have outposts that are high up in some of the trees around our borders, but our homes are on the ground."

Cyrus fiddled with his hands anxiously as he processed what he heard.

"So... We would be free? I assume we would have to earn our keep in some way in either place… How long would we be allowed to stay? Would we be forced out sometime?" His anxiety was bubbling in his stomach. That or it was the stew. Either way, he was expecting the worst at every passing second.

Malach felt a ping of sadness at Cyrus' phrasing, and tone. He wanted to punch Stein a few times to make himself feel better, but he clenched his fists and kept his tone calm and non threatening.

"You would be free. You would be treated as citizens, taught skills needed for every day survival in either kingdom. You would be free to choose if you stay or go. As for earning keep, in Vibhurik the most that you would ever be asked to do is aid in cooking or cleaning. Which is something everyone aids with, even myself. We aren't a large kingdom, like Yaarlarth, so my people eat together in the grand hall. We have no servants. Though we have people with skills in certain areas, most of us take turns tending to the crops, chopping wood, hunting. I'd assume you can have a similar expectation for Yaarlarth. They are just a much larger, more populated and an obviously wealthier kingdom. Their people are treated moderately fair from what I have gathered upon my visits."

He watched them as they were still unsure.

"You don't need to come up with an answer right this second. If you want, you can decide in the morning. The humans will be leaving before we do."

Shireen bit her lips and she pondered. "Would we sleep right here?"

Malach shook his head. "No, you can all fit in my tent. I'll have some beds set up for-"

"Your tent? Where will you sleep?" Zestari blurted out. Then immediately shrunk down awkwardly, realizing she just interrupted a king.

Malach softly smiled, hidden under his mask. "My tent is the largest, aside from the medical tent. I will be outside the tent to make sure no one bothers you."

Cyrus tilted his head in confusion. "You aren't going to sleep?"

Malach shook his head, standing up. "I don't need sleep yet. The tent should be ready in a half hour. If you're still hungry, feel free to eat more."

The elves were confused with the kindness from the Orc. Malach left the fire circle, heading to his tent which was behind the food tent. Malach's tent was oval and almost 3 times the size of the other triangular tents set up. His tent had a triangular entry. Two torches stood right outside the tent, the dark hide flaps for the entry were held closed with bone toggles.

He clicked his tongue to one of his soldiers, a female Orc named Naruz. When she came over she huffed at Malach, ready for an order.

"How many furs do we have?" He asked lowly.

She crossed her arms, looking up at him with a bit of sass. "To spare, about 6. Humans might have a few, I know they have extra wool rolls at the least." Malach nodded to Naruz.

"Bring them for me." He wiped his boots off on the hide outside before he unlooped the bone toggles on the tent flaps and ducked inside when she left.

While in there he moved his armor that was laid out onto a crate full of clothes to the far left of the tent. There was no lantern lit in there, considering he didn't need one to see he got one lit and hung it from one of the posts. The bed was to the right of the tent. It was quite big, a pile of thick furs big enough for his size laid on top of the hide covering the floor. For elves it could probably fit a few comfortably he figured.

When Naruz returned with more rolls of furs and some wool pillows she walked right in the tent. "Where do you want these?"

"Just cover the floor in here with them, enough room for the elves to sleep."

She raised a brow at him, taken back at his generosity. He shot her a sharp glance as he picked up her surprise, a scent of grass in the air coming from her. She looked away from him and quickly started helping him lay the furs out. They stayed rather quiet while laying the furs out. Naruz looked at Malach a few times, her blue gray toned skin was a bit flushed every time he looked at her. Unable to smell his emotions or read his expression it was hard for Naruz to tell if he was looking at her out of annoyance or interest.

Naruz was hoping this was her chance with Malach, it was rare to be alone with him. "Malach," She patted the fur flat and stood up to look at him.

He knew where this was going, he knew she liked him, it was obvious. Sighing softly he shook his head. "Naruz… I'm not interested."

She huffed. A tad disappointed. "Let me know if you change your mind." Her tone was seductive, she closed their distance and ran a hand down his shoulder onto his arm, hoping maybe to suggest to him they didn't have to be serious, if that was what he didn't want.

He looked at her with a blank look. Tilting his head to the tent entrance, silently telling her to leave.

Having no choice but to accept his rejection she left the tent, her ego a little bruised. Malach let out an annoyed sigh when she left. Leaving the tent himself now that the beds were set. Hopefully it was enough room for the elves.