Life was flowing at full speed on the Orc Steppes; millions of living beings continued to live by keeping pace with the cycle of nature. With a single exception.
The Old Main Orc Tribe, frozen in time with the end of the Great War, was the sole place on the continent devoid of life. Whether this was a natural result or if the Khan wanted it this way was unknown, but for the first time in many years, four living people had set foot here.
"Ainle, Guardian of the Druids, welcome to our lands!"
While the Khan greeted the young druid walking with his sky-blue clothes waving, he bowed slightly.
"Supreme Khan of the Orcs!"
Seeing the orc inside the coarse-colored, unkempt robe, Ainle responded with the same demeanor; the leaders of the two lineages had met in the place called the Death Zone.
Nafız and Alyon did not make a sound; they were waiting for the decision the two mighty individuals of the new generation would make.
"Khan, although the way you protect your lands pleases me as a friend, my Druid pride is hurt. You need to step into the role our ancestors assigned to us!"
The leader of the orcs was leaving his tent for the first time since coming out of seclusion. He was obliged to do this to protect the continent's lands.
His weak physique had collapsed thoroughly; the number of bloody tattoos running down from his eyes was greater than the last time Nafız saw him.
"History is dead; we are still alive. If we try to hold on to the failed examples of the past, our end will not be different."
Ainle smiled; he could understand that the orc across from him was wiser than even the person from whom he inherited his self had ever encountered.
"Then let us take this responsibility together as equal and brother races, let the two lineages unite as one nation!"
With the end of his words, an object flew into the air from Ainle's hand; growing slowly, it appeared in the middle of the old battlefield.
The great pyramid from the Wild Swamp continent was now rising over the Orc Steppes; the Khan looked at the young druid with curiosity.
"The great legacy my ancestor left behind, the druids' greatest trump card in the past, the Pyramid of Hope!"
Nafız and Alyon were hearing these words for the first time too; they wondered about the actual function of the structure they had passed through by piercing the entire city to get inside.
"When the young orc lord's attitudes began to worry my ancestor, he built the Pyramid of Hope in a city whose entrance he closed with a labyrinth. When they completed it together with ten supreme druids feeding the giant magic circle, their plan was to use it to protect the two races when the time came!"
"Come with me, Orc Lord, fulfilling my ancestor's goal is not possible without you!"
The two leaders entered the pyramid side by side; when they arrived at a door with shapes on it, Ainle opened it for them by waving his hand.
A few seconds later, they arrived at the room at the top of the pyramid; a sphere floating in the air was trembling as if it was waiting for them.
"Your captivity ends, Khan of the Orcs; the druids have come to do their part!"
Placing his two hands on the sphere, Ainle spoke slowly; at the same time, a bright point appeared at the top of the pyramid. The Khan did not question; his orc instincts told him he could trust the person across from him.
"To friendship!"
The Khan placed his hands on the vacant part of the sphere; Alyon and Nafız's eyes were on the light that suddenly appeared. At first, there was only light, then symbols in blood-red color began to appear.
When the symbols, which started to spread from the summit to the base, touched the ground, something that would not be forgotten for centuries occurred.
The symbols the Khan engraved on the Orc Steppes and the Wild Swamp began to shine madly. A breath later, they were being pulled toward the pyramid like ships pulled into a vortex.
The current had reversed; symbols had started to flock from the ground to the summit. The light appearing at the peak looked even brighter and larger. The light developed moment by moment; it grew so much that it was visible even from very far away, like a flower bud about to explode.
Just as every bud opens when the time comes, the bud at the top of the pyramid exploded with a great noise. A red and green wave of power rose rapidly; they were rising to the sky like two snakes advancing by intertwining with each other.
They were rising incessantly; there was no one living on the two continents who didn't see this event, they were almost dancing in harmony.
Then suddenly they collided; the sky was washed with light. Millions of living beings had to bow their heads; the blinding brightness forced them to do so.
When ten breaths passed, the green of the earth and the blue of the sky returned, but there was one more thing with them now. Those looking carefully could see the transparent layer high in the sky; unlike them, someone flying would fall into astonishment in the face of the existence of the shield covering both continents.
This was what happened; the Orc Steppes and the Wild Swamp were covered by the energy rising over the Pyramid of Hope.
The energy gushing from the top of the pyramid was spreading in the shape of a dome and returning to the ground, from there collecting back to the pyramid and gushing to the sky.
When Ainle's legacy combined with the Khan's power, the seals on the fate of the two races were broken; they would be able to decide their own futures themselves.
"Well, Effendi Alyon, the horn has passed the ear!"
Nafız spoke by slapping the back of her friend who always stood by her side after what she saw; there was a look in her eyes unique to people from whom a great burden had been lifted.
"Speaking of horns, it came to my mind; there is a job I have been thinking about for a long time. Since I found my axe, I can start; will you come with me?"
Nafız was surprised, and at the same time, the sudden offer tickled her sense of curiosity.
"You said 'let's go to death', did we say 'nah buddy, I got shit to do'?"
"You started talking weird again, but anyway, fall in behind me!"
"So you're saying if you're chasing a dream, I should fall in behind you!"
Alyon scanned his friend from top to bottom, then started running by turning his direction to a familiar place.
They passed by the orcs' new Main Headquarters; no one noticed them. Even though Kasaphaydo was in the Wild Swamp, his tribe's order was praiseworthy.
The duo spent the night there; giant bonfires were lit. The orc warriors living through those days told stories of how they saved them once upon a time and burned the traitors alive.
When the morning dawned, the duo was on the road; before noon, they were walking among other tents. Their armor or weapons were not on them; apart from their appearance, they had no difference from the normal orcs around.
When they came to a place, they stopped. They walked toward the entrance of a tent that looked somewhat large but ordinary, at the foothills of the slope.
"Halt!"
Two axes descending in front of them blocked their path crosswise; it was two of the burly orc warriors shouting at the same time.
"Are you thirsty for death? Don't you know it is forbidden to enter the tent?"
The two friends looked at each other, then suddenly started laughing with laughter. Years later, they had failed to enter this tent again.
They moved away without insisting, started running without minding the angry curses of the guards. As the sun was setting, they were at the place Alyon wanted to come. The smell of blood had dispersed unable to resist the passing time, but its color had never changed.
Climbing step by step, the duo advanced to the cave whose entrance they knew like their names; when they overcame the short tunnel, they reached the wide void. The hill made of skulls was in its place; dried blood stains and hoof prints on the walls were saying hello to them.
"Let's stay here tonight, tomorrow morning I will tell you what we will do!"
Although everything necessary was found in their interspatial rings, Alyon and Nafız collapsed at the bottom of a slightly sloping wall. Leaning their backs against the wall and their shoulders against each other, they fell asleep.