King Of Limbo

When questioned as to what his intentions were, Osar had to be very careful with his answer. Judging from how the valley rodes were staring at him, he'd be dead if he answered wrongly.

So, after taking a brief moment to contemplate how best to explain, he answered. "I understand your enmity towards us, but you must understand that it was never our intention to fight. In the same way your people follow your leadership, we followed ours. I brought one of our leaders here as a show of our desire to not follow their ways."

Osar was never one to use words a lot so he struggled quite a bit to construct a good enough sentence to get by with. Though it seemed his words hadn't gotten through because the chieftainess still looked very much unimpressed with him.

Both he and the observer waited in silence for her verdict on the matter. But rather than give one, the chieftainess asked a question. "The reasons do not matter, that doesn't change what your kind have done. So, tell me one good reason I shouldn't end both your unworthy lives?"

Osar's worst case scenario came to be. He had hoped they would forget the matters of the past once he presented them an olden one but it was clear the rage ran deeper.

Osar hadn't lived as long as the olden ones so he was largely unaware of the exact details regarding the conflict. Because of this ignorance, he was now close to facing death, so he acted fast and went on to his plan B.

"Because if you have less numbers then you'll be the next to fall to the tulsa." He warned boldly.

"!!"

The chieftainess widened her eyes and jolted up from her mat in her surprise. This lead the others to think she was perhaps angered and offended so those brandishing weapons were quick to approach Osar with intent to kill.

Luckily, she stopped them before they could put their thoughts into action. "Wait!"

They stopped at her words and backed away while looking towards her as if asking why. She then walked over from her mat and approached Osar before asking in a menacing tone. "If this is a lie then I warn you to rethink it, they are much worser fates than death."

Her warning was very much serious but so was Osar's, he could confidently nod his head and confirm his own words. "How else do you think we ended up in such a pitiful state?"

The chieftainess showed a more apparent frown before clicking her tongue in irritation and speaking more panicked.

"You fool! And you dared come here!? What if they followed you!? Dammit. How many attacked your people to leave your leader in such a state? We need to prepare."

Osar was surprised she went along with it so well, but soon it clicked. She not only knew about tulsa, but could understand how dangerous they were. But how?

He could only put his questions to the back and respond to what he was asked. "From what I know, only one. But they are many, thousands I would say. Lorserv here probably knows more than me, it's why I kept him alive. I've told you everything I know, so will you allow my people into the south?"

Osar finally asked plainly and hoped for the best. He had put far too much thought into the plan for it to break apart at such a good interval.

He knew he couldn't speak of Aron so when he spoke, he was referring to one of the tulsa he observed fleeing from the central dwelling. Now, he could only hope they question Lorserv and he reveals the threat as well, thereby solidifying the chance of his people getting welcomed to the south.

After all, even enemies could become allies for the sake of beating a common foe. Which in this case was the tulsa, in reality, Aron.

…

Meanwhile,

Aron and the group were currently traveling south and had already covered quite the distance, so much so that he now stumbled upon the highlands the Drakar had taken refuge in.

He, Jagu and the Drakarian captives all figured this out quickly because they could only pick up the very faint scent but also hear the subtle sounds.

The Drakarians all kept quiet, none showed any desire to reveal the location of their kind strangely enough. But they weren't needed and Jagu even spoke up on it in case Aron missed it.

"The Drakar, they're likely hiding in there." Jagu spoke confidently to Aron unlike before. It was clear that his victory over Rorguvv was still keeping him in good spirits.

Aron didn't burst Jagu's bubble by revealing he already knew and just went along with it. "Then let's go there, they'll be in no condition for conflict."

Having switched to a new location many times before when traveling Limbo with his father, Aron knew of the many tiring challenges that came with it.

Even if the Drakar were miraculously energetic and full of spirit, they wouldn't fight near their young. Especially against their leaders and the beings who took them down, it would be utter foolishness on their part to engage first.

As the group approached, things went as Aron thought. Although many Drakar became aware of the group's presence, none acted.

Soon Greile made an appearance while a reluctant Galar observed from a safe distance incase things turned out very bad and he had to flee.

All three Drakarian captives felt humiliation beyond comprehension. They once stood above their entire race and region, but here they were submissively following their captors like pets in front of subordinates who once feared them.

Hateful, truly hateful.

It felt even worse when Greile flew down to them and cast a pitiful glance their way. They knew then that they had truly reached rock bottom in their lives.

Greile in fact was unsure of how to address or even speak to Aron, who stood at the forefront and was directly facing her. All hope she had of once being free again was abandoned when she saw her once fear inducing leaders obediently following him with their heads lowered.

She could only do likewise and lower her head, waiting for Aron to address her first. Thankfully for her, he did just that.

"Where is Osar?"

Aron asked the more obvious question, the one Greile least wanted to answer. After all, wouldn't he be angry if he learned they were trying to escape south so he couldn't lord over them?

Her concern caused her to hesitate but she had no choice but to answer honestly. She revealed Osar's intentions in going south, a piece of news that angered only the Drakarian captives and not Aron himself.

"Ungrateful!" Amarr muttered with great anger, unable to contain it any longer.

However just one flick of the wrist from Rose had her falling to her knees in great pain. "I was wrong! Please no more!"

Words no one thought Amarr was capable of saying were repeated over and over as she pleaded for Rose to stop. She did this after a moment but made one thing clear. "I do not appreciate useless noise."

For whatever reason, Rose was especially harsh to them and treated them like nothing more than living tools. At first, they resisted but they were quick to fall under the circumstances they were under.

That brief display by Rose though had Greile and the many other observers feel great fear. Was that their fate as well now?

It all depended on Aron's next words. The fact one couldn't even see under his helm made the situation especially tense.

But the news wasn't at surprising to Arias and Rose. After all, the notes she took when she questioned Amarr, Mikaa and Rorguvv were all very detailed in regards to the southern Komi and the bad relationship the Drakar shared with them.

Although not the first, Osar and the other Drakar fleeing was definitely among the possible scenarios Aron thought they would take. This led to an answer Greile and the Drakar weren't expecting.

"That changes nothing. Although you should decide now, will you fight me now and try fleeing south, or will fight for me? Which option do you think holds a better chance for your race surviving?"

A choice? What choice? If Drakarians could cry then they would have all been shedding tears at how pitiful their lives were at that moment.

If he had said fleeing without fighting him was an option then nearly all of them would run away, but to fight? Against the being who turned their leaders into submissive pets?

They were given a literal life or death choice, so their answer could only be.

"We will fight for you." Greile replied with a heavy heart.

She didn't want her people to fight at all but even if she were south, they would likely be made to fight at the front by the other races given the bad blood.

Fighting with Aron wasn't any better because she knew just how great the numbers in the south were. The only reason neither the Drakar nor the mixed races tried starting a huge conflict for territory was because it was a losing battle.

No matter which side won, the number of lives lost would be astronomical. For Komi who cared greatly about their own kind, such an option was no option at all, and thus the two sides kept to their own matter and didn't provoke one another.

…Until now.