Chapter 96: Dinner I

Words : 1025 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Vacuse frowned and blinked several times. He was beginning to understand the High Commander. It wasn’t only his hatred for the Orcs that’s making him angry. There was also the fact that by making an alliance with the Orcs, they would be taking away his power as High Commander. The High Commander guards against the wilderness and the threat that was the High Chief of the Orcs. And it sits on a bulk of the Vorrakyn’s weapons reserve. But. The High Chief of the Orcs was long dead and the Orc Clans had destabilized. That already took a lot of power from the position of the High Commander. And the weapon reserve? Since the Vorrakyn had grown weaker, they had withdrawn a lot of weapons from their once great reserve, leaving a ghost of it behind. And since their territory had long since shrunk, power had been cut down. An alliance with the Orcs would render the position that guards against the Orcs quite useless. All this thought flashed in Vacuse’s head and he smiled at the High Commander. "Uncle, you’ve been sitting here so long you’ve forgotten what a Vorrakyn is. "I guess a lot of us are forgetting." "What do you mean?" Rhydian asked in a voice like ice. But Vacuse merely shook his head. "You should search it out yourself, Uncle." Rhydian didn’t like that, and the space around them only tightened, but Vacuse only smiled. Indeed, he had his own plans and ideas. The Orcs are a threat that he wouldn’t dare to ignore. But he didn’t say any of that out loud. He would deal with it when he got there, but for now, he would fight to make friends with the Orcs. The dinner resumed, but the air was even more awkward and tense than it was before. So much so that Captain Mera had stopped eating and kept her eyes on what was happening, her face pensive as if waiting for the High Commander to make a move. But the High Commander didn’t do anything. In fact, he seemed more at ease than before, with his face calm. His daughter, Draya, made small talk with him, asking about what happened in Kragthar and what the current situation was. Vacuse answered the questions as well as he could, even giving more details than he should, and that was to absolutely impress on them that the Vorrakyn were indeed facing great threats and needed the alliance with the Orcs. Suddenly, Rhydian shook his head. "I asked, and I have already begun to mobilize, but your father stopped me. I would have been in Kragthar by now and crushed the whole of the Red Leaves." Vacuse didn’t say anything for a while. He was beginning to see why Drenvar and not Rhydian was the Dragon Lord when one was obviously stronger than the other. Drenvar had the subtlety to lead a now complex and greatly weakened Vorrakyn. But Rhydian had the strong, unyielding mind of the old. Maybe when the Vorrakyn were at their peak and they could simply crush anything in their path, then he would have been considered a great leader. But now, the Vorrakyn were being forced to play politics rather than use brute force. Vacuse looked at Rhydian in the eyes. He had stopped smiling entirely and his eyes were cold. "Tell me, High Commander. If you had gone to Kragthar, what then would happen to the wilderness and Standpoint?" Rhydian narrowed his eyes. "And yet, you are trying to make friends with the Orcs." Vacuse was getting tired of speaking with the man. "The Vorrakyn has multiple enemies, High Commander. You should focus on your wilderness." Rhydian growled. "There won’t be any wilderness to speak of soon." Vacuse’s eyes flickered as he stood. "I agree. You should send your daughter to Kragthar. It would do her more good for her mind." His attendants, as well as Draya, rose with him while the High Commander sat still in his place. Vacuse turned and began to go to the door, only to stop and turn back. "Rhydian Vorrakyn. You should sharpen your sword. I will need it soon." Rhydian’s eyes glittered. "You are not the Dragon Lord." Vacuse only nodded in agreement. "No... I am just a Dragon." Then he turned to go, his attendants following before him. Draya bowed respectfully at his retreating back and turned to face her father. "What do you think, Father?" Rhydian sighed. He looked weary and not like the iron-cold Commander earlier. "I don’t know, Draya. I feel old like the walls of this building. The fight today was the closest to fighting I’ve done today. This post... is more like a prison." Draya’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything for a long time, then, "What do you want to do?" Rhydian’s eyes flickered with a bit of light. "We’ll see. The winds of change are blowing, and we will see where it will put us. But we won’t blow where the wind wants." ☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆ Nothing strange happened that night and Vacuse slept peacefully. The next morning, he dressed and prepared for the journey ahead while Captain Mera told him of the casualty list of the Black Accord attack the previous day. "Some of the diplomatic members died, including Lyra’s teacher. We also lost six Dragon Guards and four New Dawn members. We lost the carriage. Oh... the Orcs lost three members and seven hyenas..." Captain Mera listed all of them, and Vacuse listened carefully while he prepared himself. He began to walk out of his building and outside where people were already waiting for him. "Send compensation to the family of all that died. You know how it’s done in the Dragon Guards. The Orcs... since Ragna saw what happened and who eventually saved him, we’ll just say our condolences. "Also send word to Father about what happened." Immediately they saw him, all of them, apart from Rhydian, bowed to him. "Greetings, Dragon heir!" Vacuse strode to the High Commander and bowed with sincerity. "Thank you for yesterday, Uncle." He smiled without warmth. "I am only doing my job."

Chapter 96: Dinner I

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