by Seth Ring
“Ah, yeah.” This time it was Delmore’s turn to scratch his head. “Orcs are incredible builders. They do for buildings what Dwarves do for smithing. That is one of the things that makes them so dangerous. They bring their infrastructure with them wherever they go. The Orcs you saw do double duty as a construction force and a combat force.”
“I guess I just assumed that they would be using the slaves that they were capturing,” Thorn said, closing his eyes to reestablish his link with Akira. “But I don’t see any slaves anywhere. If all the Orcs are soldiers then we have a serious fight on our hands, so the best thing we can do is hit them before they know we are here. Tell everyone to get ready, we're going straight in."
"Are you sure that rushing them is the best idea?" Mina asked.
"If we can trap most of them on the peninsula, we can limit the number we are facing at once, drastically cutting down on their effectiveness and hopefully preventing any of them from escaping. I want the Tenth battalion to focus on clearing scouts and the loggers, while I'll lead the First and Second battalions to assault directly."
"Got it."
As quietly as they could, the Iron Wolf Army got ready. Splitting into two groups, the Tenth battalion faded into the trees, spreading out to surround the Orc loggers. The Tenth battalion was primarily made up of players with some sort of stealth ability so it was not long before Thorn had lost sight of them completely. The other two battalions waited quietly in the dim forest for the players of the Tenth battalion to get into position. Opening his hand, Thorn summoned his tetsubo, resting the thick end against the spongy ground.
"Get ready," Thorn said over the team channel. "When we go we're going to go fast. No heroics. I want at least two players on every Orc so find yourself a buddy. Tanks, get ready to establish a defensive line at the edge of the peninsula. There are three half-finished stone buildings we will use to anchor our line; you'll see them when we break the tree line. Alabaster, give the word when you are ready."
After a moment more of silence, the assassin's voice drifted into Thorn's ears.
"We are in place, sir."
"Excellent. Let's not wait around. All units maintain silence until my signal."
Beginning to stride forward, Thorn lifted his tetsubo up onto his shoulder and broke into a run. Behind him, the Iron Wolf Army poured through the woods, their faces grim and their weapons ready.
At the edge of the forest, one of the Orcs paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead when his eye caught a leaf trembling above him. Curious, he reached out with his axe, resting the blade against the tree he had been cutting into. Faint vibrations traveled through the axe blade and up the handle, causing his eyes to widen. Lifting his head to yell, his mouth had just started to open when a thin wire settled over his neck and stabbing pain shot through his side and back. As his world darkened the Orc could see the flash of blades in the sun, cutting down his brethren. By the time he hit the ground, all feeling had faded from his body, and the last thing he saw was a giant boot landing in front of his unblinking eyes.
Chapter Forty-One
When Thorn broke through the tree line he could see Orcs falling all around him as Iron Wolf players attacked from the shadows. As formidable as the muscular Orc soldiers were, they were no match for the players and the edge of the forest was soon dyed red. Stepping over the body of an Orc that Alabaster and EphemeralWhisper had just cut down, Thorn lifted his tetsubo and pointed it down the hill toward the half-built harbor.
“Iron Wolves!”
Behind Thorn the rest of the Iron Wolf Army charged out of the woods, their voices echoing across the bay.
“KILL!”
Like an unstoppable wave, all two thousand players poured down the hill into the unsuspecting Orc workers. Those Orcs unfortunate enough to be caught on the hill were buried under a deluge of flashing spells as the Iron Wolves rushed past them, not even stopping to pick up the coins they dropped. Taken by complete surprise, it took a moment before the Orc workers realized what was going on. Throwing their tools down, they rushed to pick up their weapons. Yet before they could arm themselves, they were met with a wall of flashing steel.
At the front of the wave, Thorn was the first to reach the scattered Orcs at the bottom of the hill. Arriving in front of a worker who was still staring at the players who had just appeared in frozen shock, Thorn swung his tetsubo. It was a testament to the amazing training of the Orc soldiers that the Orc managed to bring the hammer he gripped up to his chest to try to block Thorn’s attack, but his efforts proved futile as Thorn’s weapon smashed through his defenses, sending him tumbling over the heads of the workers behind him.
“Iron Wolves!” Thorn roared, reversing his swing to cut down another Orc.
“KILL!”
Bursting forward as they shouted, the DPS players rushed into the Orc workers, attacking with all their might. A few steps behind them, Heidi and SoulSeeker organized the tanks into a wall and hurried into position. Establishing a line all the way across the peninsula that thrust out into the Twin Bay, the tanks began to push forward under Heidi’s direction, cutting down any Orcs that slipped through the DPS players’ mad rush forward, and slowly squeezing the Orcs into a smaller and smaller space.
At first, the DPS players made good progress, pushing almost a third of the way down the peninsula. Thorn was still at the front, hammering away at any Orc in his prodigious range. Blocking an attack with the pommel of his tetsubo, he spun around, sending out a spinning back kick that obliterated the attacking Orc. Using his spin to sweep his eyes across the battlefield, he saw that the speed of the DPS players’ assault was beginning to flag as the Orcs increased in number. As more and more Orcs rushed over, the DPS players no longer outnumbered the Orcs, and while they were generally a match for the Orcs one on one, they were not able to take them down nearly as fast.
“Vanguard, pull back!” Thorn’s voice rang out in the team channel, causing an immediate reaction.
Executing all sorts of skills, the Iron Wolf DPS players disengaged with the Orcs they were fighting and rushed back through the tank line which approached behind them. Though startled by the abrupt change, the Orcs were natural fighters and stormed forward, trying to chase down the players they had just been fighting. Jumping backward, Thorn took his place next to Heidi, his eyes scanning the incoming wave of Orcs.
Most of the Orc workers had dropped their tools and picked up axes, scimitars, or war hammers. Though most wore no armor at all, Thorn could see the odd pauldron here or set of greaves there. Sprinting forward, the Orcs roared out a battle cry of their own as they slammed into the Iron Wolf tank line with a sickening thud. Two of the largest Orc warriors came straight for Thorn, attacking him together. One Orc armed with two axes slashed at Thorn’s side while the other, wielding a massive warhammer, tried to bring it down on Thorn’s head.
Sweeping his tetsubo in a tight arc to knock the two axes aside, Thorn reached up and caught the head of the hammer in his hand, his foot lashing out at the same moment. The toe of his boot nailed the war hammer-wielding Orc in the chest, caving it in and sending him flying, his warhammer still held tightly in Thorn’s hand. With a flick of his hand, Thorn tossed the warhammer up into the air and caught the handle, bringing it down on the axe wielding Orc’s shoulder with a crunch. As the now crippled Orc staggered, an [Ice Spike] flashed past Thorn’s shoulder and stabbed into the Orc’s mouth, silencing his bellow of pain.
Like a wave breaking against a stone wall, the charging Orcs slammed into the Iron Wolf tank line, their advance halted completely as the players activated their invulnerability skills. As soon as the Orcs bounced off, Heidi raised her sword and brought it down on the Orc in front of her, her voice lifting above the din of battle.
“Strike!”
Acting as one, the tanks unleashed their counter-attack, their swords, maces, flails, axes, and war hammers smashing into the Orc line, causing them to stagger back. Each a skilled fighter in their own right, the Orcs wer
e able to block the counter attack for the most part, but the real danger came from the spells and missile weapons that flew over the tanks’ heads. Waves of fire, spears of lightning, frozen blades, and a thousand other attacks crashed into the Orcs who were busy trying to ward off the players in front of them.
Threading their way through the spells came arrows, their points glinting with elemental colors. Slipping past the Orcs’ defenses, they plunged into their bodies, exploding with a flurry of elemental effects. The arrows destroyed the Orc formation, allowing the spells to land with maximum impact.
“Vanguard, forward!”
Following Thorn’s command, the DPS players dashed forward, cutting through the few Orcs who survived the rain of spells. Charging deep into the Orc formation, the DPS players worked together to cut down as many Orcs as they could. Attacking in groups of three to four allowed them to use their primary attacking abilities in rotation, overpowering their enemies with ease. As they advanced, spells and missiles rained down around them, forcing the Orcs in front of them into a defensive stance, which allowed the Iron Wolf players to maintain their forward momentum.
Thorn maintained his position in the tank line, keeping a careful eye on the Orcs rushing toward the attacking players. He could see a thick block of Orc soldiers forming up in the distance. It looked like they were surrounding a particular Orc who held a tall staff or spear, but they were just too far away for Thorn to see them clearly.
“Tanks, forward!” Heidi shouted, taking a step forward with her shield raised in front of her.
Mirroring her, the rest of the tank line advanced as well, pushing forward into the peninsula. With nearly 900 tanks from the three battalions, the Iron Wolf tank line stretched all the way across the base of the landmass. In front of them, the half-finished buildings of the harbor stood in well-ordered rows. A wide road ran down the center of the peninsula, splitting off to each of the six piers jutting out into the twin bays.
“First Battalion, take the road. Second Battalion, lock off the right side, Tenth Battalion tanks, take the left.”
Hearing Heidi snapping out commands to the different battalions even as her eyes raked across the charging Orcs, Thorn could barely suppress his smile. At first, he had been nervous about putting a player that he had just met in such an important position, but after watching the Society of Roses try and recruit her, he knew that there would be no issues with her abilities. Despite being new, Heidi had quickly solidified her position as the best tank in both Nova Luna and the Iron Wolf Army. A combination of a pleasant, humble attitude and overwhelming competence had blown any complaints away.
Turning his attention back to the group of Orcs in the distance, Thorn saw the figure in the middle lifting its staff and a sense of danger ran through the back of his mind. The figure was too far away for his [Spiritual Sense] to reach, so Thorn closed his eyes and focused on his connection with Akira.
[Akira, can you see what is going on in the center of the peninsula?]
[Of course, master!]
[Only if you won’t get caught.]
[Master, I am the best Ailuridae. The big dumb slow Orcs couldn’t catch me if they wanted to.]
A furry red streak flashed past Thorn’s shoulder as Akira launched herself toward one of the half-finished buildings. Scrambling up the stone side, she dashed across a long piece of timber and jumped to the next building. Accelerating until even Thorn had trouble following her form, she jumped from building to building, working her way down the peninsula. Within a few moments she had arrived near enough to the block of Orcs to see what was going on.
The Orcs who had gathered were all thickly built, their bulging muscles making the Orcs charging toward the Iron Wolf Army look small. Holding their position in a solid formation, these Orcs appeared to be a bit more disciplined than the other Orcs, though Thorn could still detect some of their impatience from the way they fidgeted with their weapons. Standing at the center of the formation was a smaller Orc who was dressed in a long, ragged robe and carried a tall staff with a beast skull rattling on the end. The smaller Orc was twisting and turning in a strange dance, bizarre sounds drifting from his throat to mix with the rattle of the beast skull.
[Akira, can you keep an eye on him? I think he is up to something dangerous.]
[Should I attack him, master?] Akira wiggled her body in excitement. [I could just burn him all up!]
[Hold on, we’re going to come up to attack that group. Once they’re distracted, you can attack.]
Opening his eyes, Thorn looked down at Heidi who stood next to him.
“One of the shamans is ahead and he seems to be summoning something big. I’m going to take the Titan Squad to deal with him. Stay here to run the tank and DPS line. Try and push up as fast as possible. The sooner we can end this, the faster we can get our spawn point established.”
“Got it.” Heidi nodded and immediately began to reorganize the tanks and DPS players to accommodate the change.
“Titan Squad, to me.”
Close to one hundred players swarmed toward Thorn, quickly forming up next to him. As he lifted his tetsubo to order the charge, Athena called for him to wait.
“Hold on there, Thorn. Give me a second to work my magic.”
Lifting her hands, Athena placed them together in front of her chest, as if she was praying. A glowing red halo began to spread from her feet, spinning around like the petals of a flower. Faster and faster the petals spun, until they formed a blur under her feet. Suddenly the petals began to spread out around her, filling the air with glowing red flowers. As the flowers passed through the players around her, they began to attach to them, spinning around them and covering them with a red glow.
Changing the position of her hands, Athena began a different prayer and a bright yellow glow began to form at her feet, repeating the same process that the magical red flowers had taken. Within less than a minute, there were three different colored flowers rotating around each of the players in the Titan Squad. Done with her prayers, Athena drew her sword and lifted it in front of her chest. Crossing her other hand across her blade, she tapped her gauntlet against the metal, causing a chime to ring out over the players under her buff.
The three rotating flowers, one red, one yellow, and one blue, pulled together in front of each player, linking together with a green vine made from energy. As the vine spiraled around each player, long thorns sprouted from it, giving the magical buffing spell a fearsome look.
“There we go. Strength, endurance, and mana buffs with an added damage reflection. We’re good to go.”
Marveling at the sudden strength and energy that filled him, Thorn smiled thankfully at his aunt.
“You heard her, soldiers. Our goal is the Orc shaman in the middle of the peninsula.” Lifting his tetsubo, Thorn pointed it forward. “Titan Squad!”
“KILL!”
Energized by Athena’s spell, the Titan Squad rushed forward. With Thorn at point they smashed through the Orcs like a river bursting from a dam. Athena and SoulSeeker flanked Thorn, their shields held up at an angle to knock any Orcs that survived the spinning tetsubo to the side. Mina ran between them, right behind Thorn, her three icy orbs rotating at full speed, a constant torrent of [Ice Spikes] pouring out of them.
Each step Thorn took shook the ground, knocking dust from the half built structures around them. Spreading his [Spiritual Sense] into the ground in front of him, Thorn used the earth element to harden and smooth it, giving the squad a solid path to follow. Each step carried him forward a tremendous distance, causing the Titan Squad to have to sprint to keep up. Between Athena’s buff, [Pack Travel], and the smooth ground they were rushing over, the Titan Squad stormed forward at an unbelievable speed.
As they closed in on the group of large Orcs, Thorn could see them beginning to react. The biggest of the Orcs let out a guttural roar, calling for the surrounding Orcs to rush toward the advancing players, trying in vain to slow them down. Though more and more Orcs rushed into the Tit
an Squad’s path, the sheer momentum of Thorn and the players behind him could not be stopped. His whirling tetsubo turned into a meat grinder, ripping apart any Orc foolish enough to get close.
Seeing that it was not helping, the big Orc roared again, causing the regular Orcs to step back. Gathering half of the larger Orcs around him, the big Orc lifted his double-handed axe and roared, igniting a crimson glow that surrounded him. As the veins on his neck and arms began to swell, the Orcs around him threw back their heads and echoed his roar, causing the crimson glow to swirl around them as well. As the glow sprang up around each of them, it began to link together, growing into a towering flame that reached into the sky.
A ferocious grin spread across Thorn’s face as he saw the Orcs begin to charge forward. Picking up speed, he lifted his tetsubo and let out a roar of his own.
Chapter Forty-Two
Despite the burning excitement that filled him, Thorn found his mind operating at an unbelievable rate. His [Spiritual Sense] enveloped his mind, keeping it clear and cool in the midst of the adrenaline that coursed through his body. The world seemed to slow down around him, everything in his vision jumping into sharp relief. A million details were laid out in front of him, but rather than being overwhelming, Thorn found it simple to shift his focus from one detail to the next. As his foot landed on the dirt road, countless new details flashed through his mind and a clear plan began to form.
The Orcs who had ignited their ability swelled in size, already muscular bodies becoming even more exaggerated. Roaring challenges, they charged toward the incoming Titan Squad, their weapons raised high.
Keeping pace behind Thorn, Mina flicked her wand, sending a stream of [Ice Spikes] toward the incoming wall of muscle. The razor sharp shards of ice whizzed past Thorn’s head, crossing the distance to the advancing Orcs in an instant only to bounce off without doing a thing. Thorn’s eyes narrowed slightly as he saw the red glowing haze that surrounded the Orcs eat away at the sharp points of the [Ice Spikes], turning them into little more than ice cubes.