Who Cares

"You mean this troll... is the one who killed my people and then scalped them? You killed him? Why?"

Kilrogg asked in surprise.

The old chieftain of the Bloodfang Clan knew that Orgrim had asked Zul'jin for that troll, but Zul'jin had hidden him in the middle of the troll camp.

Orgrim had also considered using force, but there was no way to take the troll without clashing with hundreds of trolls.

And once a clash broke out, their alliance would truly be over.

Kilrogg knew that a Blademaster was powerful, but he didn't believe Kaldara could fight his way through hundreds of trolls and emerge unscathed, let alone find time to cut off the troll murderer's head.

Besides, even if he could, why would he take such a huge risk? Kaldara wasn't a Bloodfang Orc, after all. He belonged to the Burning Blade Clan.

"Why? Ah... well... as I said before, we're one Horde. Yes, that's it. We should stand together."

Kaldara spoke noble words, but for some reason, Kilrogg couldn't help feeling he wasn't being serious.

"How did you manage it?"

Setting the other questions aside, Kilrogg first asked the one he cared about most.

"Well..."

Kaldara hesitated and said nothing.

Seeing Kaldara's expression, Kilrogg suddenly figured something out, then smiled.

Kilrogg had an ugly smile. Age had wrinkled the skin on his face like dried fruit peel.

But who would dare laugh at him? He was the chieftain of the Bloodfang Clan, and no one had that kind of nerve.

Kaldara did, though. As a young Blademaster, he didn't yet know what it meant to be afraid.

"You look awful when you smile, Kilrogg," Kaldara said with a frown.

"So what? I didn't become chieftain because I was handsome," Kilrogg said unconcernedly.

"That wasn't the troll, was it?" Kilrogg asked.

"You... figured it out?" Kaldara asked in surprise.

"You just found some random troll, killed him, cut off his head, and brought it here, didn't you?" Kilrogg asked.

Kaldara said nothing, but Kilrogg knew he'd taken that as confirmation.

"Did Orgrim tell you to do this? Then why didn't he discuss it with me first?" Kilrogg was curious.

"It wasn't Orgrim. It was my own idea."

Kaldara shook his head. Orgrim Doomhammer truly had nothing to do with it.

"You?" Kilrogg's doubtful tone made Kaldara feel insulted.

"What's wrong with that? It was simple. You just needed a troll's head to appease your people."

"And what difference does it make whether that troll was the one or not? Don't they all look the same to us?" Kaldara said quietly.

"That's true... but what about Zul'jin? Did you think about how he'd react?" Kilrogg asked.

"It doesn't matter. Zul'jin won't react. The Orc invasion is the trolls' only chance in thousands of years to return to their homeland. They won't let it slip away so easily."

"In other words, Zul'jin wants even less than we do to see a conflict break out between the Orcs and the trolls. All his bluster before was just talk," Kaldara replied.

"That definitely wasn't your idea..." Kilrogg shook his head, certain of it.

"Why?" Kaldara asked curiously. It certainly hadn't been his idea, but how had Kilrogg figured that out?

"Since when did the Burning Blade Clan's Blademasters stop being eager to fight and start studying troll history?"

Kilrogg had hit the nail on the head.

"Well..."

Kaldara realized he'd given himself away.

He was an Orc, not a troll.

Kaldara was a Blademaster, not a scholar. He barely knew Orc history, let alone troll history.

"Anyway, Orgrim didn't order me to do this. I'm leaving."

Kaldara had meant to show off his intelligence for once, but the cunning Kilrogg had seen right through him.

It left Kaldara a little embarrassed. He'd lost interest in saying the many things he'd originally planned to.

"All right... whoever it was... he's certainly a clever fellow," Kilrogg said.

"Was it really that hard to figure out?" Kaldara didn't think it was anything difficult.

"The whole thing isn't hard to understand, but it is hard to think of..." Kilrogg shook his head.

The old chieftain had always prided himself on being clever, yet he'd been at a loss over this situation.

Kilrogg certainly didn't want the Horde to split, nor did he want his clan to come into conflict with the Blackrock Clan.

But Kilrogg was old, after all. He could understand how the young Orcs in his clan felt, and why they wanted revenge.

Age made a person weak. Perhaps Kilrogg was craftier than he'd been when he was young, but he'd also grown somewhat softhearted.

It was fair to say that if Kaldara hadn't brought the troll's head, Kilrogg had no idea how things might have turned out.

"Thank that fellow for me," Kilrogg said to Kaldara.

"Forget it. I don't think he'd like hearing about this."

Kaldara waved casually, then turned and left the Bloodfang Clan's territory.

Kilrogg stood where he was, watching the Blademaster leave. He waited until Kaldara vanished into the distant shadows before turning back to his people.

"Chieftain... um..."

A young Bloodfang Orc held the troll's head gingerly, unsure what to do with it.

"This is the murderer who killed our people. Hang his head from the Bloodfang Clan's war banner and plant it at the camp entrance."

"Let them all know—Orcs and trolls alike—that the Bloodfang Orcs will repay blood with blood," Kilrogg ordered.

"Yes, Chieftain!"

The Bloodfang Orc's face lit up with excitement. He ran off with several companions to carry out the task Kilrogg had given him.

"Chieftain... that Blademaster from the Burning Blade Clan..."

An elderly Bloodfang Orc thought something was amiss. Why would the Burning Blade Clan help the Bloodfang Clan? They usually had little to do with one another.

"I know what you want to ask... but don't worry."

Kilrogg waved a hand and looked up at the bright twin moons in the sky, which still filled him with unease.

"In this strange world, if the Orcs want to survive and make this place our new home, we have to stand together."

Kilrogg said suddenly.