Faluel had already seen the city from Lith's memories but it was still such a magnificent masterpiece of magic and technology that the Hydra's amazement was completely genuine.
"What is this place?" Friya blurted out, her enthusiasm turning into suspicion as she finally had the time to take a good look at her allies. "I thought that elves lived inside the Fringes and had golden skin whereas yours is light brown. Who are you guys and what are you doing here?"
"Do you know where my people live?" The orc shaman couldn't believe her pointy ears.
"No, I know where one tribe is and their hospitality was far from pleasant." Friya raised her rapier, Dreadnought, staring at the rest of the members of the senate in suspicion.
"You don't look like an Emperor Beast and you…" She pointed at Syrah with the blade and then at Ryla. "What the heck are you?"
The Hati Queen was equally suspicious, moving her eyes from the women to the fallen Tyrant while pondering the events.
'The timing of the rescue was really convenient, just like the fact that this woman claims to have met elves. It's all too good to be true.' Yet Morok's conditions were truly dire and Friya's smell told Syrah that the human woman wasn't lying.
Also, she was genuinely scared.
"I'm no Emperor Beast." The Hati Queen said while studying the reaction of her alleged saviors. "I'm Syrah, a Hati. The Elder Beast evolution of the warg. This is Ryla and she is a Fomor, the next evolutionary step of the Balors who descend from humans like you."
"And I'm no elf." The shaman lowered her gaze in shame. "My name is Br'ey and I'm an orc. It means 'creature of the dark' in elvish. Before our fall, we didn't live on the surface like our cousins, but deep underground where mana crystals grow."
"That makes you the bastards who raided the cities of the Kingdom and killed hundreds of innocents!" Friya's outrage was as genuine as her increasing fear.
What Syrah wasn't aware of, was the fact that Friya's anger was actually aimed at Glemos for putting the monsters through so much suffering and her fear was due to her lack of acting skills.
She was terrified at the idea of their lies being exposed and having to fight to the death so many enemies without her dimensional magic.
"Calm down, kid." Faluel, instead, was unreadable. "We came here to help Morok avenge his father and that's what we did. The rest can wait until he wakes up."
"But, Master Faluel, they-"
"According to the demon, they possess the Tyrant's bloodline legacy and if we alert the Council, our friend will lose his birthright and these people their lives. Don't be so quick to judge before hearing both sides of a story.
"Life is often more complicated than it appears."
'Be careful.' The orc shaman said via a mind link. 'The Hydra is as strong as Glemos was and her equipment is terrifying as well. She can't kill us all, but we can't stop her from escaping either. Not with all the safety measures of the south entrance down.'
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