by Tao Wong
Omrak roared as he charged, feet pounding on soft earth as he neared the cavalry group. The Sargent snarled, gesturing quickly. Immediately, a pair of them shifted their direction, heading straight for the Northerner who had outpaced the remainder of the teams. Behind, he knew that the remainder of the Fallen Leaves were following, but the Northerner refused to slow down. If the cavalry reinforcements managed to make it to his friends, it would be over. Better for him to get injured than let that happen.
Seconds flashed past, and within moments, Omrak found the raptors nearly on him. A quick sideways hop took him out of range of the first but ensured that he had nowhere to go when the second Raptor Rider’s sabre swung at him. A hasty block sent him stumbling backwards, a claw raising a bloody wound on his arm as the raptor rode past. Luckily, his new Skill had toughened his skin or else the injury would have been greater and potentially crippling.
“Close enough. Fight me!” Omrak roared, having eyeballed the distance. A pulse of power carried his words through all those around, drawing the attention of the remaining members of the cavalry who immediately turned their raptors. Even the couple of Orcs who resisted the provocation could do little as the mindlessly aggressive raptors swung their bodies towards the Northerner.
Raptors surrounding him, Omrak felt his heartbeat speed up, adrenaline flooding his system. Even the pain from the initial wound faded, and the blond Adventurer found himself smiling.
“Come. Let us seek the hallowed halls.” Omrak exhaled as he swung his greatsword in an overhand block before drawing the sword into a quick riposte.
“Are they all insane?” Gerardo snarled. He quickly raised his sword up to the side and then slashed downwards, a crescent of blue light flowing from the strike to fly towards a surprised raptor. Cut across its back, the raptor reared backwards, forcing its rider to struggle to keep his balance.
The leader of the Fallen Leaves picked up speed once his Skill had finished, rushing towards Omrak. Even as he did so, he saw a wash of power bathe the Northerner, his fast-accumulating wounds healing slightly as Daniel’s Healer’s Mark triggered. A moment later, Eiju waved his hand, finishing his own spell of blessing and bathing the Northerner with a buff to his defense.
“Just Omrak,” Rob answered.
Gerardo did not deign to reply, nor did Farhad. In a second, the warrior clad in his flowing robes had sped up, Flash Stepping his way towards the nearest raptor rider. Rather than throwing a straight cut, Farhad jumped into the air and spun. His sword held straight out from his body, he sliced across the Raptor Rider’s body as he spun, the second blade cutting across the raptor’s body as he landed. A leg dropped and Farhad continued to spin, dancing along the edges of the encirclement.
As Farhad’s initial victim fell, Gerardo and the rest of the team reached the group. Gerardo Shield Bashed the raptor, throwing the already unstable Raptor Rider to the ground before he stabbed his blade into the raptor to finish it off. Eiju, beside them, ducked to the side of the dueling pair to finish the unraptored rider as he struggled to his feet.
Behind, Rob and Kelly had stopped a safe distance from the riders, their hands weaving lesser spells to distract and injure the riders. And in the centre of the battle, Omrak stood, glowing red and bleeding, his greatsword weaving in circles to strike and injure the raptors as they neared him.
That one. Omrak grinned as he blocked the cut, sliding the sabre over his right shoulder before he twisted his wrists and counter-cut against the Rider. The Rider ducked out of the way easily, but his motion blocked another Orc from approaching, allowing Omrak to hop lightly to the side.
“Come!” Omrak roared, pulling his sword back towards left shoulder with his false edge leading. He wanted, no, needed to finish off the Rider Sargent. Both he and his raptor were buffing the entire cavalry group, making them stronger, faster and more co-ordinated. Slaying the Sargent would provide the greatest benefit. And Omrak would be able to test himself against the Sargent.
Taking up Omrak’s challenge, the raptor charged directly at the Northerner before its legs bunched and leapt. Cursing, Omrak threw himself back while cutting down only to have his sword blocked by the Sargent. As he landed, his backward momentum was halted by a strike to his back.
“Aaargh!” Omrak screamed, even as he felt the belt slung over his shoulder slide off his body, the strap cut.
The Sargent gave Omrak no time to rest as the raptor charged forwards. A quick sidestep allowed Omrak to avoid being bowled over, but he could do nothing to stop the claws that tore at his chest, battering his armor and leaving instant bruises beneath. Nor could the Northerner dodge the punch that slammed into his cheek, cracking the skin over his cheekbone. Still, it was a good trade compared to the sword on the other side.
Omrak had sacrificed his defense for an opportunity, and injured or not, he would not let it pass. His left hand flashed out and took hold of the back of the Sargent’s belt. With a mighty heave, the giant Northerner yanked him from the raptor. Even as he did so, he screamed as he felt his back and shoulder muscles tear. The Sargent slammed into the ground, his abrupt shift in elevation and direction punching the air from his lungs.
For a second, Omrak staggered as he reoriented himself. Pain washed over him and then faded as a pulse from the Healer’s Mark ran through his body. Omrak brought his sword up to guard, readying himself for another attack when he realised that the other Riders were busy, no longer focused on him. With a grin, Omrak set upon the Sargent, his greatsword darting forwards.
“Time to finish this!” Omrak snarled.
“Aieeee!” Asin screamed as she dropped, the forty feet between her and the ground rushing towards her with each passing second.
“Wooohooo!” Rita screamed beside her, the Helbing falling with Asin. A moment before the pair landed, a flare of power rushed through their bodies, pushing against gravity. The potion of air cushioning activated as the extended aura around their body touched the ground, triggering the spell.
Even so, the pair landed heavily. Asin crouched as she landed, her legs splayed apart slightly as the fall impacted her joins and the springy muscles of her Beastkin form. Unlike humans, the Catkin was actually lighter than you would expect for her size with a greater number of long muscle fibres, giving her some of the same feline ability to jump and land from great heights. Rita, on the other hand, slammed into the ground and rolled, tucking into a bowl and absorbing the impact in that way.
As the pair stood up, the remaining Archers from above began to fire arrows down at the pair of Adventurers. Not that the attacks were accurate. Angle and injuries hampered the Archers as did the loss of their Sargent. Still, Asin sniffed, it was not wise to wait around. Bounding forwards, the pair headed towards where their friends still fought, though the battles themselves looked to be winding down. Out of the corner of her eye, Asin noted the presence of a series of infantry troops rushing out to join the battle. Too little, too late.
The shock from a cut ran all along Daniel’s arm, the empowered attack almost breaking through his defense. Shoving back against the attack, Daniel took a step forward and swung his hammer low, cracking the top of the Orc’s thigh. Daniel grunted, hating the fact that he missed the knee, but he shifted his attention as the Orc Rider retreated.
Tula was doing fine, working her knife along the necks and tendons of the fallen raptors. Covering her and Camilo was Casey, his bow no longer spitting elementally empowered arrows. Still, the constant harassment and their initial losses left only a single other Raptor Rider and a single raptor alive. As Camilo spun his spear, feinting a cut before reversing the strike to lash the raptor across its throat, that number dropped again.
More importantly, none of the three sported more than minor wounds. Omrak, on the other hand, sported numerous cuts across his body as he limped forwards in his battle against the Rider Sargent. Shoving his shield forwards to force his own opponent backwards, Daniel hopped back and crouched behind his shield as he chann
eled his Minor Healing II spell towards his friend. That none of the other fighters in the Fallen Leaves were badly injured was a testament to their style, patience and the overwhelming numbers they had brought against the cavalry.
“Careful!” Casey said as he sent an arrow blowing right past Daniel’s nose. The healer jerked backwards, barely containing his spell as the arrow embedded itself in the cheek of the Orc that had charged forwards. Head snapped back from the force of the arrow, the Orc landed on the ground where Daniel crushed it with the edge of his shield as he finished the spell.
“Thanks!” Daniel said. He lifted and brought the shield edge down again, this time on the Orc’s neck to finish it off.
“Time to go,” Casey said, turning towards the incoming infantry platoon. An empowered fire arrow left his bow, only to land on a raised shield. It seemed that the spearmen in this fort carried the useful defensive equipment and knew how to use them.
“But…” Daniel looked worriedly at Omrak’s group, only to see the Rider Sargent stumble as a pair of darts burrowed into his back. His distraction was sufficient to allow Omrak to swing his greatsword, lopping off his head with a mighty strike.
“Can he run?” Casey said. There was no need to say who.
“Probably,” Daniel said, assessing the Northerner with his eyes and the weight of experience. Omrak was strong and stubborn enough to last.
“Then so should we,” Casey snapped. Together, the group hurriedly grabbed the few Mana stones that had appeared and took off running for the woods. Meeting the infantry squad right now was not part of the plan.
Chapter 14
An hour and a half later, the teams had regrouped farther down the hill. It was with the return of Asin and Rita - who had been watching the infantry patrol, recover and return to the fort - that Gerardo finally felt that it was time to call for another meeting.
“That went well,” Gerardo said simply.
“Dangerous,” Daniel said with a grimace. He had just finished bandaging everyone up, having used up the greater portion of his Mana on Healer Mark spells. For now, keeping a small reserve was a necessity just-in-case the Orcs decided to pursue them. Though, he hoped, the ambushes conducted previously kept them wary.
“We lost no one. And other than your barbarian, none of us received severe injuries,” Gerardo said.
“I am no barbarian. That is a Class that I have not achieved,” Omrak said.
Gerardo waved Omrak’s objection away before he continued. “According to Rita, there is both an Archer Sargent and an Infantry Sargent. Mini-bosses that need dealing with.”
“Archer survived?” Asin said with a sniff.
“He did. Or he was moving at least,” Rita confirmed. “Didn’t see him on the walls though. But they’ve switched out the majority of the watch to infantry anyway.”
“Smart,” Tula commented. When Omrak shot her a look of puzzlement, she smiled and explained. “We crippled and injured their Archers. If they left the Archers out there, Casey and I could finish them off given enough time.” Tula shot an envious glance over to Casey’s bow before she continued, “This way, they can watch for us and only risk their more numerous infantry.”
“And snipe at us with their hidden archers,” Casey added. “We’ll have to check to see if they’re hiding outside the forest before we try anything further.”
Gerardo nodded before he tapped his fingers. “We managed to cripple their archers and their cavalry. I say we continue to attack them.”
“And if they refuse to come out again?” Daniel said. Without their cavalry, it was unlikely the Orcs would be willing to attempt to rundown Tula and Casey again. The fact that they had been willing to even try the first time was due to overconfidence, one that had occurred because each fort seemed to be operating entirely independently of each other. If not, using the same tactics over and over again would likely have failed.
Well, that and Casey’s bow. Being attacked by an enchanted bow probably put a damper on their enthusiasm at being shot at.
“We’ll pin them down and climb up,” Gerardo said. “There are enough of us that if we can take part of the wall, we should be able to hold it.”
Daniel nodded slowly. That was true enough. The biggest concern with holding the wall were archers who could range on them without fear and the constant pressure of the infantry. On the narrow walkways, together, the odds would drop from ten to one to five to one. With superior skill and Levels, they should be able to hold.
“Any objections?” When none cropped up, Gerardo nodded. “Then we begin tomorrow.”
A day later, the group found themselves seated at the edge of the clearing, watching the fort. Rather than Orcs standing watch over the walls, they stared at a desolate, empty fort. Even Tula and Casey, with their respective farsight Skills, could not pick out any monsters.
“What do you think?” Gerardo said, frowning.
“They’ve pulled back,” Rob said.
“But why?” Gerardo said.
“A losing proposition,” Daniel said softly, eying the building. It made sense, at least to him. With two archers and the pair of shield-bearers, the group could pick off any Archers or Infantry that stood on the walls. Knowing that, and without their cavalry, the Orcs were better off staying off the walls. They might even decide to stay in the fort itself, giving their Archers a field of fire into the courtyard and the walls while forcing the Adventurers to contend with walls that refused to fall.
“We go in?” Omrak said as he pulled his sword out of the sheath before resheathing it.
“We go in,” Daniel agreed. Gerardo opened his mouth to protest but then shut it, shaking his head only slightly. In the end though, whatever their personal feelings about the risk involved, they had no choice.
Of course, they did not just plan to go directly in. Safeguards were needed to allow the group to retreat in the case of overwhelming force or an unexpected level of resistance. Plans had to be made on who went in first, how they would go in and what objectives they were to complete. And, most importantly, they had to decide how they were going to breach that final defense – the gates of the fortress itself.
For that, Rob, Kelly, Eiju and Casey were tasked with using their magical expertise and Casey’s bow to develop a solution.
Plans made, the group got to work.
To start with, the entire group decided to move up towards the wall. While the rest of the team waited below, Asin and Rita climbed the wall again. Tula and Casey kept an eye a short distance away on both the wall and the front gate, in case the Orcs decided to sally forth. A few tense minutes later, the pair had quietly ascended the wall to find the rampant and courtyard empty. Having planned for that eventuality, the pair moved immediately to the front gates after signalling their findings to the group below.
As the pair headed for the front gates, so did the group below. They moved quickly and smoothly co-ordinating their pace as best as they could. Even if there was a trap for their scouts at the gatehouse, the Adventurers would face it together.
At least, that was the thinking they had beforehand. Unfortunately, none of that mattered when the pair came to the gatehouse and found neither Orcs nor traps. Puzzled, the duo double-checked everything once more before they finally made their move, working the crank to raise the heavy bar that blocked their way. Whether by design or plain inattention to detail, the crank and its chains creaked and groaned as they worked, alerting the Orcs within the fort. In seconds, arrows began to fall around the pair working the crank.
“I’ll cover, you keep cranking!” Rita said after a moment. The fact that the Helbing was of little use in working the crank was rather apparent, the small Adventurer having to leap into the air and use her body weight to help turn the crank at the required intervals.
Decision made, the Helbing pulled forth a large kit shield, a defense that literally dwarfed her body and which she used to help shield the Catkin. Even then, her small stature and t
he number of arrows falling meant that Asin would be sure to be hit at some point. Already, Asin was bleeding from a pair of shallow wounds.
“HELP!” Rita called out. “Help!”
A few seconds later, her cries for aid were answered as a ghostly, magical hand appeared. The hand quickly gripped the bar and helped raise it, the additional leverage making Asin’s job easier. However, the Catkin could not help but snarl slightly as an arrow buried itself in her shoulder, almost making her lose her grip on the crank.
“Damn. Sorry!” Rita said. After eyeballing the damage, the Helbing grimaced and said. “Hold on. This is going to hurt.”
“Wha- AAARGH!” Asin cried out in pain as Rita yanked the arrow out before pouring a healing potion on her arm.
“Back to work,” Rita said.
Snarling, the Catkin’s tail lashed out behind her before a near miss made the Catkin curl the tail up behind her body once more. Focusing on the crank, she worked it faster till the bar was fully elevated.
“Done!”
“About time,” Rita said. Shoving the shield upright, Rita spun around, grabbed the iron bar that held the crank in place and slammed it into place. As an arrow cracked into the ground next to the newly exposed Helbing, she added. “Time to run!”
“Yes!” Asin said, already loping away without prompting.
Outside, Daniel jittered as he listened to the continuous thuds of arrows landing, the yelps and occasional cries of pain from his friends. Beside him, Rob had his eyes closed as he focused on the Magic Hand spell, only to snap it open after a second.
“Done!” Rob cried.
“Push!” Gerardo commanded. Together, the group put their backs into the gate, pushing to swing the gates open. It was only Kelly who stood aside, her eyes glowing with power as she held the edges of her spell together, waiting.