She had been gone for a long time, too long. Even taking any distractions into account Rebecca would have returned before now, so now he could only assume that something bad had befallen his guardian and he would have to rescue her.
Orcs weren't known for great intellect, but they were far from stupid. They knew warfare, they knew the hunt, and they knew the ways of strength in numbers. They made up for their lack of knowledge or tactics with these things, and as a
culture they have managed to keep their heads above the water in these advanced times.
He broke their little camp and headed out. Rebecca was a powerful and cunning creature, but if she was unable to return then it means the orcs got the upper hand and either killed or captured her...
If she was captured he would do whatever it took to rescue her.
But...
If they killed her there was no power in heaven or hell that could prevent his wrath from incinerating the barbaric orcs from existence.
He trudged through the Blightland tundra, his bronze shot boots cracking the frozen crust on the ground as he made his way North-East in the direction he knew the orcs to be last time they spotted them.
The problem was that he had relied on Rebecca's tracking ability up to this point. He wasn't a talented tracker himself by any means, though he had picked up a thing or two in his travels. But at this point all he could pray for was that they hadn't moved camp since yesterday.
He didn't have as sharp of senses as Rebecca, and so the smell of orc escaped him as he passed through a copse of trees.
Their attack was swift and deadly, even his great size didn't intimidate a well coordinated ambush. Two orcs dropped from above and their spears both impaled him through the throat from behind. He gurgled and went down to his knees. Two more orcs appeared from the brush on the sides and stabbed him in the throat from the front, the weak point that his armor didn't cover.
He seemed to struggle for a moment, his hands clawing to remove the barbed spears, but finally with a final gurgling sigh his arms fell limply to his sides and he sat kneeling in the snow as if he were praying with his mask lifted to the sky, four spears protruding from his throat.
The orcs began chuckling,
"That was too easy!" One of them declared to the rest.
"The giant man didn't even have time to put up a fight, dumb adventuring scum!" He kicked the kneeling giant that was only maybe a foot shorter than them while kneeling down.
They all had a good laugh! And that made them pause... or at least, the orcs paused, deep and boisterous laughter was coming from the pulverized throat of their victim, his chest was even heaving with each deep laugh like they had made the greatest joke known to the world.
The orcs stared in shock and awe as the giant stood up, pulling out one spear at a time. To their surprise no blood spurted from the wounds, but shreds of bandage wrappings came off torn by the barbed spear heads.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Well done! A flawlessly executed ambush, I applaud you for your great skill and resourcefulness! Really if this hadn't been the most obvious place to stage an ambush in a tundra I never would have suspected a thing!"
He lets out another chorus of laughter as the orcs still stood dumbfounded that he was still alive.
He snapped the spears all at once in his grip and dropped them to the crusted snow.
His voice remained light and jovial but his words were far more ominous.
"Now, you have dared to try to kill me, indeed if the deck wasn't stacked against you since even before you were born you might have succeeded. I should kill you, in fact I could do so easily, raise your corpses and use you to attack your own comrades... But no, you four have shown me that you have worth, that you are strong but also intelligent and cunning. I would have great use for you if you would choose to serve me."
The orcs seemed a bit shocked as their minds seemed to have finally snapped to attention, still not comprehending what had happened but understanding that they weren't about to die.
"If you choose not to be my followers I will still allow you to live, to go your own way. But I would ask that you aid me in finding my guardian, a female that is like a cat and a lizard combined. I believe you or you comrades might have killed or kidnapped her. I would like to know which and where your comrades might reside so I can show them the error of their ways."
The orcs stood still up to now, but now they turned to each other and deliberated amongst themselves. They spoke Orcish which he didn't understand, and so he made it a point to try to learn it some day.
After some discussion they approached him again. He was prepared for some petty declaration of honor and loyalty to their brethren and another futile attempt on his life.
But he was both surprised and pleased when they all four went to one knee with their fists on the ground,
"We will serve you, One-who-defies-death. You are worthy as the keeper of our honor. We vow to follow and serve you till we die, let us be your servants!"
He nodded to them,
"I accept your vows, rise and be my children. Tell me where I can find my lost child and we shall go to save her."