158 Meeting Drulog Again

After informing King Dave about a possible lead that the Cult of Mauri could be at, and implying that maybe Gale could have been secretly investigating, he gave me a week off to check out the only lead we've had for months, but he also insisted on Ying accompanying me, which I didn't mind at all, since he's proven to me many times that he can be relied on ever since he felt like he let me down when we fought Vernon, and as we travel to my house together he asks.

"can you really trust any information that come from orcs?"

I reply.

"not just any orc, me and Drulog were allies once during the Lizardmen civil war between the Separatists and Loyalists."

he sighs.

"alright, I'll just let you do all the talking because I'm not particularly fond of orcs."

I reply.

"don't worry, I consider this orc a friend, I'm absolutely positive that his Intel is legit."

still skeptical he responds.

"okay, I guess we'll see when we get there."

we arrive at my house where we meet up with Selshruuk and Felnor, who were waiting for me in the front porch with Ellena and Celeste, I approach them and say.

"King Dave, gave me a week off for this."

Selshruuk sighs.

"are you sure that's enough time to get this done?"

I reply.

"I have no idea, but it's the best I could do."

I then look at them and ask.

"so you guys ready to go."

as they both nod, Ellena gives me a kiss and says.

"be careful out there and remember don't push Celeste too hard."

I kiss her back.

"I know."

Celeste then asks.

"so are we going straight to the city of New Tresron?"

I nod and reply while I glance at Felnor and Selshruuk.

"yeah from what they tell me, Gresnor has been working hard to finally unite the Lizardmen and put a stop to the meaningless fighting in the region."

Celeste then asks.

"I haven't been there before, can you please think of the city, so that I can open a portal there?"

I close my eyes and think back to the time we invaded the city with Drulog and his orcs, she then says.

"okay I got it, I'll open up the portal now."

after opening up the portal, we all step inside amd come out the other side at the entrance of New Tresron where we are met with the many hard stares of the Lizardmen, I force a smile and awkwardly wave at them.

"hello."

then they all avert their attention from us and carry on with what they were doing before we suddenly appeared, and then I hear a familiar voice chuckle.

"hey Collin, how come you never write?"

I smile and respond as I spot Gresnor slowly approaching us with his wheelchair and with Drulog walking beside him.

"come on, even if I did, you can't read human."

he laughs through his snout.

"it's all good, at least I'll know you wrote to me."

Celeste slowly leans in and gives him a hug.

"it's so good to see you again."

Gresnor looks at her stomach, and says.

"I guess what Selshruuk and Felnor said about you being pregnant was true."

while she nods, he says.

"well congratulations."

Drulog who has been quiet this whole time, says to me.

"how you doing? last time I saw you, you were just a young kid."

I shake his hand.

"I've been good, and yeah I'm the same kid as before."

he replies.

"I can see."

he then clears his throat.

"anyways, let's get down to business."

I nod.

"alright then, tell us what you know."

Drulog replies.

"there have been groups of humans wearing red hooded robes entering out region."

I ask.

"so you guys didn't bother trying to stop them?"

he shakes his head.

"since they payed the fee to become citizens to our region, the governing body of the orc region didn't bother looking into them because they claimed they were escaping oppression in the human region."

I sigh and think to myself.

"that's smart of them, since the orcs hate monarchy, they hand out citizenship to anyone who claims they are escaping oppression from monarchies, and who are willing to pay the fee."

I then ask.

"so what made you suspicious of them?"

his response gave us all chills down our spine.

"they were herding large and strange looking creatures with yellowish green skin."

I look at Ying and ask.

"didn't you kill them all?"

just as surprised as all of us, he replies.

"I thought we did."

I then ask Drulog.

"did you see how they managed to herd those creatures."

he shakes his head.

"unfortunately I didn't get to witness then do that, so I can't say for sure."

Drulog continues.

"so after finding out about them from a friend who has inside knowledge, I decided to track them and let's just say, they've been doing things you humans would call weird."

I ask.

"what do you mean weird?"

he responds.

"I didn't get to see her face, but I did see a woman feeding the other humans her blood and they were also eating what looked like human meat."

I get angry and think to myself.

"those bastards still have human prisoners!"

I take a deep breath, so that I can calm myself down a little and then I ask Drulog.

"if what you say is true, then why don't your government officials do anything about them."

he replies.

"their minds are still focused on trying to re capture dangerous prisoners who escaped Burmendak prison."

I look at Ying, Selshruuk, and Felnor and say.

"it looks like, we need to properly investigate this and then tell King Dave."

as they all nod in agreement, Ying adds on.

"yeah and if Gale was somehow captured by them, then hopefully he is still alive as their prisoner."

even though I haven't thought about that, I reply with a hopeful voice.

"if that is the case then time is of the essence."

Drulog then says.

"alright then, let's get moving, the journey to my region will be long."

I respond.

"no need, my fiancee Celeste will get us there quickly."

he asks.

"using whatever spell she used to get you guys here?"

I nod.

"yeah, she just needs to read your mind while you

picture the place you found those humans."

Celeste interrupts.

"Collin, I can't do that."

I ask.

"why?"

she answers.

"mind reading magic doesn't work on orcs."

Gresnor replies.

"no problem, Drulog personally took me there to see if the information he is giving me was legit."

Celeste then says to Gresnor.

"okay, well you already know how it works, so just concentrate on the location for me."

he closes his eyes so that he can concentrate, and then Celeste says to us.

"alright, I'm going to open the portal now."

after she opens the portal, she grabs me and pulls me towards her, and she places he warm hands on both of my cheeks and says.

"please don't do anything reckless or stupid."

I give her a little playful response.

"come on, you should already know that I'm all about being careful."

even though she pouts, I hug her and say.

"don't worry, we're not looking to fight anyone, we just need to confirm that it is the cult with our own eyes."

I then look at Gresnor and say.

"please look after her for me."

he replies.

"don't worry buddy, I will."

we then enter the portal, and hope we don't run into trouble.