As the free people turned their gaze towards Magnus, he felt a sense of relief.
'Nobody is staying behind, great... Great.'
"Well... First, I can't lie." Magnus exhaled gently, "Seeing all of you regain the will to live is surprising. I expected to have one or two stay behind, but I am glad."
He spoke firmly, "Very glad."
"We have each other." Arin spoke, before Volund continued , "And we're given a new chance. So why not take it?"
"Even if we die, we'd only make our acquaintances here sad." Snela gently chuckled.
"You've put in so much effort into saving us, can't go dying on you can we?" a girl, barely 10 years of age, smiled at Magnus. Endless scars covered her body, and she was missing her right hand.
'She fed the wolves...'
"So what do you plan to do next, lad?" Volund asked as grease dripped down his beard.
"While I wouldn't mind using this dogshit camp as a temporary resting place, I doubt any of you are keen on that."
Seeing them frowning and shake their heads at the suggestion, he though it was expected.
"The second option. We burn this place down after we get you all dressed and equipped. Then we find a proper spot to set up camp."
"Got any places in mind for the camp?" - Volund.
"Nope, I'm not a local, so I'm open to suggestions. A fortress of some kind would be good, easy to defend and theres only 13 of us."
"A fortress?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, got an idea?"
"Volund?" Sam looked at Volund. Magnus eyes followed.
"Well... There is a place we that matches your requirement of being a fortress. There's only one issue, and that is that it's been abandoned for years." he said gravely.
"But if its abandoned, can't we just take it? Even if the orcs made it their camp, I'd grind them into bits before anything happens." Magnus tilted his head, confused.
"Lad, this ain't just about orcs. You never know what you might find in an ancient dwarven fortress. Undead are one possibility, but dwarven traps are just as horrendous to deal with."
"Then, is there any other options we have?" he looked at the rest of them, "It doesn't need to be a fortress. It can be any place that's easy to defend. Even something as simple a hidden valley or a large enough cave would suffice."
They looked at each other with wry smiles, before Volund hesitantly spoke up.
"Uhh... Magnus, sir, where might you be from?"
'Judging by their expressions, something is up. I'll just lie since Azel is disliked by everyone, according to Ela.'
"I don't know. I got teleported here when I stepped on a trap inside Razmaru's dungeon. I don't even know what this place is called."
Seeing the stunned expression on their faces, he asked with mild embarrassment.
"Is there a problem?"
"Haaah... Lad, do you know what this place is called?"
"Nope. I woke up in the snow, encountered orc patrol and persuaded them to lead me here. And here we are."
Letting out a dry chuckle, Volund continued.
"Well, let me introduce you to Arkan Goria. An vast grassland, said to be cursed by the gods themselves. And we are deep in orcish territory, far from any reasonable people."
Magnus chuckled, "Sounds like a great place to me."
Sam continued, "It used to be part of the Azel kingdom. Then the orcs invaded, like a tide of darkness, swallowing everything in their path."
"Where did they come from?"
"No one knows, but most people believe they came from the underground." Sam continued, "Azel gave up on the entire region, saying it wasn't worth it. And now this place is a feeding ground for orcs, bandits and worse."
"As for the fortress I mentioned..." Volund spoke, rubbing his beard, "It used to be an ancient dwarven fortress. Used to be a bustling dwarven city... And my home."
His breath hitched, anger flaring in his eyes. "And then those... Beasts. They came from all sides, endlessly sieging the fortress. We could've held them back, yet they had dug tunnels into the mountain and struck from two sides. By now, it's probably crawling with thousands of those bastards."
He turned to look at Magnus, forcefully calming down," Still wanna go try to take the fortress? "
'Can I kill a thousand orcs?' he glanced at his hand, clenching his fist, 'Easily. If there's stronger orcs among them it might be annoying but manageable.'
Although he could recall a vague orc hierarchy, he didn't remember all the specifics.
'As for the undead and traps, those are dangerous. Remember Magnus, don't go exploring unknown places on your own again!'
'Not like there's an alternative though, it's a danger I totally need to take. Not like I want to test myself against a Grand Knight level enemy, hehe...'
He gave his answer confidently.
"Yes."
"You and what army? They might be beasts but they aren't stupid. The cannons would tear you apart before you get to the walls, and they're armed in dwarvish steel!"
Deciding there was an easy method to convince the dwarf, Magnus shook his head and grabbed a nearby sword.
Sqeeeeaaaaal!
Looking at the sword that was bent into an L shape, the dwarf still continued." Even if you're strong, can you-"
"Oh stop nagging, old fart. I'll go through those tunnels, kill until I'm tired, and then retreat. And after I do it a few times, there won't be any more orcs. Even now when I killed 40, I didn't break into a sweat, so have some confidence in me."
Staring at each other, the dwarf turned his head away.
"Young ones are way too reckless."
"And an old fart like you is not bold enough. Now then, how far is it?"
"Two days or marching. Maybe slightly more due to our current state." he glanced at the tired slaves.
Magnus shot up, eyeing the people here. Clearing his throat, he spoke addressed all of them.
"Ahem, now then. As you heard, the plan is going to be simple. He'll lead us to the vicinity of the fortress, I'll clear it out and we make it our base. I haven't heard any other alternative so I don't think anyone is going to oppose the plan?"
"We can fight as well!" Sam spoke, raising an axe in his one remaining hand.
"Nah, I'll take care of the orcs for now. After we take over you all can help me run the fort properly. There will be more survivors, more resources we will need to find, and more battles to be fought."
Magnus placed his hand on Sam's shoulder, "Rest and recover for one day. We march at dawn."
A day passed, and as the first rays of dawn began to shine, an orc village turned into a raging inferno.
13 figures began their march through the snow of Arkan Goria, with Magnus leading at the forefront.
Two days later, Magnus and Volund looked at a ruined fortress. A deep roar echoed from the fortress, the claw marks on the wall deeply unsettling them both.