Chapter 226: Searching through memories

"Let's hope you will show me what I want…" Aiden muttered, dazed as he continued to look at the Orc's Heart resting in his right palm. If everything followed the same pattern, once he swallows it, he should start seeing images, memories of the creature. 

So far, it happened only when he absorbed intelligent creatures like humans and the goblin leader.

"This doesn't get any more pleasant…" He mumbled heaving a heavy sigh. Taking one more last moment, to prepare himself, he quickly reached for the heart and bit on it. 

Just like with the guard, the warden, and the goblin before, he couldn't help but let a contented smile appear and slowly dominate his expression. Whilst the taste could be improved, the effects are always incredible. He felt a surge of power, spread out his body, warming his entire being. 

A wave of notifications began to resound in his mind with their familiar bell-like sound, however, before he could take the time to slowly open them up and go through them, images started to slowly fade in and appear in front of him. Just like before, these weren't his own memories, but the past life of the deceased Orc.

Gom lived the typical, average life of his species, Mountain Orcs. Years, a few decades ago, just as his race would suggest, they used to inhabit the higher peaks of a faraway mountain. Gom wasn't the brightest, nor the strongest of his species, one could say he was pretty average. After being born, he was quickly being taught the harshness of the world. 

Orcs don't believe in the traditional setup of families. The children were grouped together after the first year of their lives and left out to learn to survive on their own. 

Just as expected, Gom wasn't an exception either. As soon as he got 1 year old, his parents put him into the group and left him to survive for himself. 

Although the memory of Gom's early years held many interesting facts, Aiden was focused on one particular memory, and didn't want to waste time on his deceased enemy's early years. Flicking his fingers, he tossed the memory aside, only for a new one to appear.

The new vision was several years later. Gom was now a full-fledged warrior of his tribe standing in front of the tribe chieftain's hut amidst several dozens of other warriors and group captains.

He stood behind his own captain, a larger, robust orc. The captain had his body covered in several larger and smaller scars, blemishes, reminders of his past achievements all over his body. These weren't ugly in their eyes, they were marks of a fierce warrior, something every orc would be proud of. Gom couldn't help but be envious of his captain as he looked over his past achievements. These marks sadly weren't present on him as of that moment, he was still a new joiner of the ranks of warriors.

Unsure how long they stood outside in the cold, harsh weather, but eventually some movement could finally be witnessed from the hut's entrance. Not long after, an old, saggy-looking figure walked out. He looked aged, much, much older than the rest of the members of the ones gathered in front of him. Using a similar-looking gnarled and gemstoned branch as a walking-aid, the elder slowly moved towards a small podium that was erected just for this very special occasion.

Looking at the figure, Aiden wasn't entirely sure, but he couldn't deny that he looked very similar to the old orc shaman he met. But how could that be? If these memories are true then this figure is probably the chieftain of their tribe. How did he got demoted to some outcast, living at the edges of his tribe? What could have happened?

Before he could continue thinking, lamenting about the issue, the old orc began his speech. To Aiden's great surprise, in the memory he could completely understand their speech, it sounded sophisticated, different from the gnarling, throaty voices that he so far heard.

Looking through the crowd with a solemn look on his face, the old orc raised his arms. 

"Fellow Brethren! My proud warriors! Today I bring a piece of great news to you! From today, we are no longer alone! From today, we join the…"

As the old orc chieftain continued with his speech, the image suddenly turned fuzzy, distorted. In the next moment, the vision faded entirely, and the next one played without any interaction from Aiden.

'What the…?' Seeing how the image of the gathering of the orcs has suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by another memory, made Aiden raise his brows with confusion. 'Was it that same strange magic that controlled the Goblin's memories? What kind of magic is at play here that can affect the memories even after death?' 

Confused by the events, Aiden could only sigh and focus on the next memory. Whatever happened it doesn't matter in the end. He was getting closer to the specific vision he was hoping to reach.

The next images were meaningless events from Gom's life. After the speech, they joined the horde which already had several dozens of similar tribes in it. It had an incredibly massive headcount, a fearsome army to face for any nation. Still, it was continuously growing. Unfortunately, Gom knew little to nothing about the higher-ups but it was common knowledge that they were very powerful with a vendetta against the 'sins of humanity'.

Whatever the reason was, the top branch was way too powerful for Gom to get into contact with. Even if he did so, most likely the related screens would just distort, like before.

Eventually, Aiden reached the last three images, the last memories of Gom's life. The last one, the newest would be their encounter, that was for certain. While it would be interesting to see if he could understand their speech from back then, now living it out as the person himself, Aiden discarded the idea quickly. It wouldn't bring any benefits to him, nor to the situation. He also had to be quick, as the girls would probably get back soon.

With that in mind, Aiden decided to select the second image. The first could be an earlier moment after all. But the second was the last memory before Gom's fated meeting and demise with Aiden, that memory could hold the secrets he was hoping for. Who sent them? Who knew about them camping here?

Gom and his friend were inside the dark room. There were no light sources in it at all. The only illumination it received came from the outside, through the thin cracks between the wooden panels in the door. Just like their weapons, you could recognize the crude handiwork of the orcs in it. It served its function, but it was very simplistic, raw, coarse in its design. 

Gom and his friend were the only orcs present in the room, they were waiting for somebody who previously sent after them. Acknowledging the summons, they immediately made their way and were patiently waiting for the arrival of this person. Through Gom's emotions, Aiden quickly realized that whoever was supposed to come, was someone higher in the ranks, someone that neither Gom nor the other orc would have no contact with whatsoever.

Eventually, the door was pushed open, disturbing the silence with a loud creaking noise. An old, saggy-skinned old figure walked in, using the now-familiar gnarled stick with the gemstone at its head as walking aid. What was different however was the fact that the figure had its face hidden with a large voodoo mask. Still, even without that knowledge, Aiden was more than certain that this figure is the same as the orc chieftain in the previous memory and ultimately the old orc shaman he encountered. 

Slowly pacing forward, the orc eventually arrived in front of the kneeling orcs. Both Gom and his friend instantly went on their knees when the old orc arrived and kept their gazes plastered on the ground. It was a show of reverence and respect towards this figure.

"Rise, my brethren." Reaching out with his hands, the old orc lifted both orcs heads to look at him and made them stand back up.

"I have something for you two, something you will probably like very much." The old man continued. Even without seeing, just based on the tone, there was probably a grin stretching across his face. 

He pulled out a pergamen, with the rough depiction of the surrounding section of the forest and placed it in front of them.

Before the two could ask anything, he circled a small, elusive spot a bit further away from their current location. It wasn't too out though, it was still within the relative distance.

"Go to this place. There's a goblin there with his two human slaves. Take the slaves and show that pesky little shit his place!" He remarked with clear anger in his voice. "The two slaves should both be females, and whilst I have no knowledge of how they look, they do seem to act very strangely… a bit too close to their supposed master. In any case, grab those slaves and leave the goblin badly beaten, but don't kill him! We need the goblins in the next phase. Go!"

Nodding, both orcs took one last look at the map and turned to leave the dark room. Their mission was now clear, and it was one that could turn out to be quite enjoyable!