Chapter 437: Take me to your leaders

Belladonna did as the voice said, mostly out of curiosity than any real fear. She could tell from the spear alone that she was in no real danger from this hunter.

The spear was not enchanted in any way, nor was it thrown with significant strength that would suggest physical enhancement. As for magic, well the those who could sling fireballs and sent bolts of lightning arcing from their fingertip at will often gave up the pursuit of ordinary weapons, or at least used them as a last resort when it came to close quarters combat.

Even the Magic Swordsman, the dreadfully common class amongst the player base would not resort to these methods.

On the other hand, the spear was also what made her curious. It was simplistic, crafted from a stick of Ironwood that had a sharpened beast bone tied to the top as its blade. Not only did that mean it was crafted from the materials of the city, but the wood was weathered and the bone head was chipped in places, which meant that it was not newly made.

It was old, perhaps only a few years. But that was interesting enough.

As the dog scrambled away from her, Belladonna rose to her feet and turned to face the hunter. She was about to speak, when she paused to stop the spear that came hurtling towards her face.

She snatched it out of the air and tilted her head, giving the hunter the look of a disappointed mother, alongside the signature sigh of resignation.

"What manner of beast are you..." The hunter muttered, as he took another spear from the bundle tied to his back, "If you were my kill, the Elders would finally see my strength."

All the while, Belladonna looked over him curiously.

Green skin, less leathery than the dog, and tall. At least 6 foot 5, by her rough estimate. He had small, but well defined muscles, and was wearing clothing made from some very familiar hide. Just like the dog, and the skeleton she had seen before, the hunter had a large underbite that gave him a jutting jaw that made room for the pair to stubby tusks that poked out from behind his lips.

An Orc, of course.

"Think of the most dangerous beast in this city, and then realise that I could kill it with one hand. I am the beast that you do not want to hunt, even if my gorgeous face would improve any room in which my head was mounted."

Belladonna joked with a sadistic smirk, tossing the hunters spears at his feet.

He stumbled back, his eyes wide with panic and horror as he struggled to find the right words, before finally landing on.

"Speaks... It speaks my language."

Belladonna frowned at his strange reaction, before sighing and rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I do. And since I speak, that means we can talk and come to an agree- Would you stop doing that?" She grumbled, catching yet another spear that came flying at her. She snapped this one with her bare hands, which made the Orc flinch in horror as he watched the discarded halves be tossed to the ground.

"Alright, I tried the nice way, so we are going to go with the fast way."

Belladonna crossed the distance between them in an instant, suddenly appearing in front of him, their noses nearly touching as she hovered at his eye level. The terror in his eyes slowly melted away, as his trembling body grew limp as he became absorbed in the hypnotic, crimson glow of Belladonna’s eyes.

"You mentioned Elders, bring me to them. Now."

"Yes Mistress..." The Orc muttered mindlessly, before turning on his heels and starting to stagger drunkenly away.

"Do it quickly, I don’t have all day." Belladonna added, causing his drunken stagger to speed up into an unsteady, wobbling jog.

She sighed, that would have to do.

The hunters dog glanced between its retreating master in confusion, and the prey beside it, before growling lowly at the prey. However a single glance from Belladonna was enough to calm it and send it staggering after its master.

She sighed again, took a moment to glance at her messages to see how the others were doing, before starting to follow the Orc as he wobbled through the Elven streets.

***

At the first sign of movement, a Brutish Orcish guard nudged his companion, before quickly rising to his feet and lowering his spear in a defensive position.

They didn’t bark orders, they barely breathed, as they waited to see what would appear through the thicket of twisted tree houses. It could be a beast, in which case making noise could scare it off but it could also attract it.

Their best hope was to hope that it had not noticed them, and was simply passing by on whatever hunt it had set out upon. That was if it was a Beast, as these Guards knew from experience that there was much worse lingering within these walls.

It was only by luck, and the grace of the Gods, that those creatures rarely took interest in them. However on the few occasions that they did, it always left devastating results.

Their grip on their spears tightened when they saw the shambling humanoid shape, their worst fears seemingly coming true, before the shape finally came close enough to make out the details and they could only sigh in disappointment.

Their faces twisted with disgust at the sight of their kin running towards them, and doing so without a single kill trailing behind him.

"You dare show your face here, with neither blood or meat to show your accomplishments? Little Milk drinker, coming running home. Why?"

The guard barked, stepping in front of his kin and planting a hand on his chest.

Compared to the guard, the Orcish hunter was a runt. The guard was easily a foot and a half taller, and had a much larger body with bulging, rippling muscles compared to the more lean and toned physique of the small hunter.

His skin was also covered in soft white scars from blade, tooth and claw, whilst the young hunter’s was smooth and perfectly green.

"Must bring her to Elders... Must bring her to Elders..." The Hunter muttered over and over, his expression blank as he forced his way past the guards, or at least he tried.

His smaller frame was nothing in comparison to the strength of the guard, who easily overpowered him and shoved him away in disgust.

But every time he was shoved away, the hunter simply clambered back to his feet and tried to wobble past the guards again. He was shoved, punched and tripped but nothing was stopping him. He just kept trying, muttering incessantly the entire time, before the guards finally tackled him to the ground and restrained his arms which still barely stopped his wriggles and attempts to get free.

It was enough of a commotion that it gathered plenty of notice from the other Orcs within the camp, and eventually drew one of the Elders out to investigate.

"What is going on here?!" The Elder barked as soon as he approached.

"Elder... " The Guard muttered, "The greeny was sent on his hunt, but came back soon after empty handed. When we tried to send him back, he kept fighting. He... he is asking for you."

"For me? Why would this whelp want me? Does he think I would save a worthless green skin like him?"

"Must bring her to Elders." The hunter muttered, raising his head and trying to see the man he was desperately muttering about.

"Bring her..." The Elder muttered, looking at the worthless hunter with a mixture of disgust and contempt.

"Who must you bring to the Elders, Whelp?"

"Me."