Seeing the dozen pair of eyes shake with emotion, he let them enjoy this moment.
'Their captors are dead, brutally murdered before their eyes. That ought to give me some credibility amongst them, right?'
Seeing them not speak up after a while, he mulled over what to say.
'Ah!'
"As you can see, you're free now. No more cages, no more starving. No more waiting to be slaughtered like cattle."
He paused, his voice sinking slightly.
"I don't know your stories or what you've been through, and I can't promise what's coming next."
He smiled slightly.
"But I can promise it's going to get better."
A gruff voice came from one of the cages.
"How can you promise something like that, lad?"
Turning to look towards the speaker, Magnus was slightly surprised. A dwarf, barely up until his chest stood there, covered in tattered rags. One eye was covered by an eyepatch, a scar peeking out underneath.
"What's your name, friend?"
"Names Volund." he nodded towards Magnus.
"Magnus. What did you mean with what you said?"
"Do you know we have lost, before being captured by these roving bands of bastards?"
"I don't."
"I saw my brother get eaten in front of me, as one of these bastards ripped him limb from limb. Snela," he pointed towards a middle aged woman in a different cage, "Lost her family. Eaten in front of her, while she ended up locked in here."
He pointed towards a man in a different cage, "Arin lost his child. Four year old girl, smashed by the swing of an axe."
He turned to Magnus, his eyes still hollow, "Do you want me to continue? If not..." he paused, choking as he held back tears, "How can you ask us to keep going forward?"
Magnus answer was simple.
"Revenge. I can provide you with revenge."
"Revenge? You? You might be strong, but you're no match for chieftain,warlords or champions."
"I may not be a match for them now, but I will be in the future. And while I can't promise to slaughter every last orc, I'll kill as many as I can."
"Lad, you'll get yourself killed! Stop thi-"
"Let me join." Arin cut him off.
"Arin!?"
"I don't care if I die, you know that Volund. If I get to see one more of these bastards bleed..." he clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, "I'll even sell my soul to the devil."
"Oi, I'm no devil."
"You sound like one, whispering tempting words." Arin spoke, grabbing one of the orcish axes off the ground.
"I'll join as well." A one armed man stepped out of his cage, fury evident on his expression.
"Even you, Sam?" the dwarf asked, surprised.
"I don't care what happens with me, but if I get to drag even one of them to hell with me, I'll take any chance to do so." A ferocious grin appeared on his face, also picking up an axe.
One after another, people agreed to join Magnus little party.
In total, 7 people agreed to join him. Some of them to kill one more orc, others for another chance at life.
'While I want to get more of them to join... Their eyes...'
Empty, hollow, devoid of light. He knew what they would do once he left this camp, yet...
'I don't know what to do. I don't know what I should even do for them.'
He shook his head, turning towards the only pair of eyes left that wasn't fully empty.
"Volund, what about you?"
After a long pause, the dwarf shook his head.
"Okay." he responded, before crouching down and grabbing the dead female orcs body.
'I did say it would get better. At least I have an idea how to make it better for them right now.'
Looking at him in confusion, the rest of the people saw him throw the body onto the pile of corpses. Going around the village, he began by picking up corpses and flunging them there as well.
Some of the survivors joined in, even the reluctant Volund had thrown a few severed heads onto the pile.
Next, he gathered the torches burning around this place, handing one to each person. While the ones with empty eyes looked confused, they also accepted them.
"Gather here, all of you."
Although hesitating, Arin was the first to step next to the pile of corpses. The others followed, and soon only those who gave up were left.
"All of you, please." an honest plea escaped Magnus lips.
Soon enough, the pile of corpses was surrounded by 12 humans and a dwarf. One light swing, and Magnus threw the torch onto the pile of corpses.
The fire, seemingly too weak, almost went out.
Another torch landed next to it, the fire slowly starting to spread. Arin turned to look at Magnus, smiling.
Torch after torch smashed into the pile, and soon, everyone had thrown their torch. The pile caught fire quickly, the flames radiating heat far and wide.
As the pile of orc bodies burned, Magnus slipped away for a moment to raid the supply shack. When they saw him return, he had a. pig in one hand and a large skewer in another.
"Even if some of you want to stay, we can't leave you all on an empty stomach."
With a swift motion, a pig was roasting on top of the orc fire. Although some frowned in confusion at roasting a pork over orc corpses, none spoke up.
'Good, good.'
Another trip to the warehouse, and everyone had a piece of white bread in hand. Though it wasn't what orcs usually had, these bastards seemed to have robbed a caravan recently. Imitating a simple hamburger, he began cutting off pieces of meat, letting them fall into the bread.
"Ah..." a tear ran down Volund's face, as he savored the greasy meal. Only then did he fully realise...
"I'm out..." he muttered quietly.
'Probably their first warm meal in months, maybe even years. Poor bastards.'
The rest of them seemed to be experiencing some sort of catharsis, as their faces begun expressing many different emotions.
'Rage. Sorrow. Despair... Hope.'
A long time passed, only the sounds of quiet sobs and crackling fire audible. Although he knew he couldn't exactly rekindle every fire behind their eyes...
'I want to try, at least. Seems like I succeeded far more than I expected, though.' he smiled, gazing at the 12 fiery pairs of eyes.