Chapter 5 - An orc's burden, part 2

Kozgugore could feel his very own spirit shifting. The dark confines of the hut were no longer there. Instead, he could feel the protective walls around his spirit lowering, opening himself up for the forces from the outside. It was then that he could finally feel it; that sensation Galth had been talking about for so long that he could only dream of. He could sense the spirits flowing all about him, parting around him as if he were a stone in the current of a river. He had to plunge into it to experience it, but had to make sure he wouldn’t get lost in that same current, as he was so often warned about. The trick was to jump in and stay afloat – to keep that current from fraying him apart like a piece of rotten hemp rope. He thought of this as he imagined himself jumping in.

For moments he drifted into the current, not knowing what to do or where to go. It was then that he could feel something interfering, if he was caught. Like a saving hand pulling him out of the current’s undertow. It felt like an otherworldly presence, yet still faintly familiar somehow. Like the memory of a relative long forgotten, but now resurfaced and suddenly remembered. It was then that it reached out to him. A deep breath could be heard, almost as if he was being thoroughly sniffed out and spied upon. Something was watching him, smelling his scent, and it did not take long before its presence was made known.

Above him emerged the biggest antlers he had ever seen. They towered over him, like a menacing hulk, before he could see its head and proud chest as well. And then its magnificent, shining fur, and long, sturdy legs with cloven hooves at the end of them. It was a talbuk, huge for their own standards, presenting itself in front of him. Its pearly, blue eyes gave him a searching look at first, before it inhaled deeply through its nostrils, releasing a high pressure in a loud snort. It made the surroundings shake and vibrate, which was what made Kozgugore realize that there was no real, distinctive landscape to be seen here to begin with. He looked around, before his eyes turned back to the deer’s in amazement.

“I think… I know who you are. You are Chag’ar, patriarch of the old talbuk herd in these lands, aren’t you? They spoke of you in old legends of hunts. I even saw part of your antlers, back in the great hall!”

It let out a thick gruff in response to the little orc’s statement. Its hooves scraped against the ground, and in the far distance, it was almost as if the sounds of a far-off hunt could still be heard. The sounds of orcs grunting and running and readying their spears and bows, and the sounds of talbuk dashing away into the canopy. As the sounds grew nearer, the great patriarch in front of him began to rear, standing upright on its hind legs. Only now it became obvious just how much bigger the animal truly was, and how it could trample him underfoot in but a whim. It told him just how simple life is, and how he too is little more but a fly upon this world. When the talbuk began to run towards him, Kozgu ducked and covered his head, trying to shield himself from the tremendous impact as it charged straight through him. It didn’t send him flying through the air or crushing him as he had expected, but it did give him a unique experience altogether. It’s like it sent him drifting through the spirit world, guided by Chag’ar’s swift ride.

In a flash, he could see his home village and his family. All of them working on their own chores. His father tanning the leathers. His mother tending to his sister Thrazna. Muzg, Orboz and the other children hard at work with their practice sticks. Sei’hala still waiting outside the hut, even daring a quick peek inside to check up on his progress. Then the journey took him beyond his clan’s own borders. Suddenly, he saw the dense forests of Terokkar and the green hills of the Peninsula flashing by, and then the Devouring Sea and even beyond that. Further than any of his family had ever imagined looking. There, even more lands unfolded before his eyes. Forests, snowy mountains, even rolling steppes like he’s used to from his own lands. All of it unveiled before him as the talbuk spirit dragged him along for the ride.

He felt it prying at his soul, almost trying to invade his thoughts and conscience as he was swept along. He could almost feel the earth underneath him, and smell the wild scent of nature. It was almost too intense for the still so young orc to comprehend all at once, as if he was experiencing life through the eyes of an animal rather than an orc. It all seemed so simple through the eyes of a beast. No codes of honour nor responsibilities to worry about. No civilization where all matters are complicated, but an easy, logical life. For but a split second, he felt connected to the ripe world around him, as if he was the one breathing through the trees and plants. It was then that the experience became too much to comprehend. He gasped as he could feel his grip slipping out of excitement, before he finally fell and tumbled back into that wild current again.

Kozgugore’s eyes flew open. They met with the familiar sight of the elderly shaman. As they stared at him expectantly, now grown silent and awaiting his results, he realized that everything will be different after today’s test. This meant that he will have to devote his life to the spirits that have openly accepted him today. He will have to be serious about his training now, whether he’ll like it or not. In fact, he’ll have to put everything aside for this newest priority. The realization of it all overwhelmed him, and though the elders patiently await for the young shaman to come back to his senses, he wondered just what sense or wisdom they awaited as he soon fell unconscious on to the ground instead.


“Give it back, beast boy! I made that myself!”

“Haha! What’s wrong, Orboz? Been sleeping with the pigs for too long again? Try and take it!”

Kozgugore dashed through the village, evading one orc after another as Orboz chased him around for the trinket in Kozgu’s hands, which soon switched hands from Kozgu to Muzg as he threw the object over through the crowd.

“How about I break -your- little toys in half?! Where’s your totem?! I’ll shove one end in your mouth and the other in- OUF!”

Orboz looked up, and met with the sight of Battlemaster Galrat looking down on him. Orboz let out a quiet, pathetic sound that awfully resembled a whimpering puppy as he scrambled himself back up on his feet.

“What do you three think you’re doing?!”, he shouted as he not only grabbed Orboz by the shoulder, but turned to face Kozgugore and Muzg as well. “Two of you should be making yourselves useful in the training fields! As for -you-…” He pointed over to Kozgugore, who swallowed as he did his best to straighten his back to the battlemaster. “I don’t even know why I bother with you on the regular trainings any more! You’ll soon be stuck drinking tepid liquor and sitting on your ass to ponder the meaning of some stupid element or another! Don’t you have a ‘totem’ to finish?”

The three of them nodded, before Orboz was pushed forward towards the other two, who nearly stumbled over the bigger youngster. While Galrat kept his judgemental eyes upon them, they quickly removed themselves from his presence, puffing sighs of relief as soon as they were out of sight.

“Ha! What a bore”, Orboz exclaimed as he snatched the trinket from Muzg’s hands. “I don’t need any more training. I’m ready. They should just allow me my Om’riggor and let me join the -real- fights. That old coot just refuses to admit it.”

“Really?”, Kozgu replied. “Then why are you still wasting time with us and hacking up wood like that thing?” He pointed to the small trinket, made of wood and having small runes etched into its surface. It had a hole at the top of it, identifying it as a piece of a necklace of sorts.

Orboz scoffed. “Someone needs to make sure you two stay out of trouble! You’re the biggest pests in this village. Worse than the rats.” He snorted as he raised the wooden trinket in his hand, dangling it by the top. “And -this- is a warrior’s rune. My father has one too. And his father before him! He says it’ll bring me the strength I need to become a war band leader one day.”

Kozgugore looked at the thing, trying to make out the runes on it, but soon enough his gaze was attracted by something else entirely instead. His brown eyes peered past the trinket, noticing two young she-orc girls walking by instead. He recognized one of them as Narva, the blacksmith’s wild girl, and the other as Grushka. And Grushka, she was a different case entirely. Tall for her age, a lean and strong posture and long, brown hair flowing down her shoulders. He had seen her walking around before, and practising with the battlemaster’s group as well. He remembered her as headstrong, but disciplined at the same time. Orboz once tried to make a bad flirt with Narva, but when Grushka intervened, he was quick to return with a bruised lip.

He could hear Muzg next to him laugh. “Keep -us- out of trouble? I covered your back last time you didn’t show up on training! Besides, what -were- you doing back then anywa-“

“Hey! Narva!” Orboz had clearly followed Kozgugore’s gaze, waving over to the two girls instead of paying any more heed to Muzg. “When the she-ravager there is done with you, I’ll find you! No orc or beast will keep us from being together!”

Orboz’s yelling did indeed catch Narva’s attention. What it also caught, however, was Grushka’s attention. She turned her gaze towards him, before she pointed two fingers at her eyes with the most vile, meanest look any orc youngster could ever lay eyes on, and pointed them straight back at Orboz, indicating she’d definitely be keeping her eyes on him. His face grimaced at the sight of it, subtly shuffling back against Kozgu and Muzg, before he regained his composure as they disappeared from their sight.

“Thunder and fire. That girl scares me to death. Worse than the battlemaster does. Come on Muzg. I’d rather waste my time with him than get the angry eye of death from -her-.”

As the two orcs parted, Kozgu was left to his own thoughts again, left to realize that he did indeed have a totem to finish. After he woke from his day-long slumber following the ritual, the elders had told him to start making a totem of his own to help control the spiritual connections and currents through his body. It meant becoming of great importance to his people, but it also meant a great responsibility resting upon his shoulders. Both of which were something he would rather not think or worry about yet. With a deep sigh and a heavy burden on his heart, he began to head back to the forest to find a suitable piece of wood for his totem. Eventually however, he ended up meeting with his new friend Gruk to explore the wilds together instead.