by Jason Cheek
Listening to the message, I sighed, pressing my fingers against my eyelids as we rode past the line of cavalry troopers. Though I was doing my best to keep the frustration off of my face, I had no idea if I succeeded or not. It was a struggle since I’d specifically told Domenic we weren’t setting up high walls to close off the end of the valley for a reason. Anything that he and his Dwarves could build with their Earth magic, the Orcs could deconstruct faster with their own Shamans. Luckily, Ulia wasn’t one to take any of his shit, I silently thought, as the message continued.
‘We’ve got pit traps and earth spikes setup along the whole damn slope like you wanted, but like I told you earlier, none of that is going to do much of anything with the Orc Shamans in play,’ Domenic’s message heatedly continued in my head, ‘And why you would want similar traps and defenses set up at the top of the pass makes no fucking sense but I had my people do it anyway.’
Really, I thought, silently throwing my hands up into the air, but walls wouldn’t have been an issue? While we’d been doing our best to target the bastards whenever they showed their ugly-assed faces, I knew there were a shit-ton more that we’d missed. The point of the pit traps, spikes, and low wall was to slow down the initial charge. After our initial volley, all of those traps were going to be useless anyway. As to the reason why we needed to have additional defenses set up further up the pass, I thought, was self-explanatory. I didn’t want us vulnerable to being assaulted from the rear by a surprise attack. Besides, it also gave us an additional fallback position if needed.
‘Just so we’re clear, we could’ve dropped the sides of the valley on top of these assholes or blown the whole slope up underneath their feet if you hadn’t sold me out to that fucking bitch, but now my people will be completely exhausted and out of mana by the time the enemy arrives. Fucking perfect for driving off thousands of invading Orcs. Next time, I’ll be the one that purchases mounts to run charges against the enemy while you sit back and build defenses.’
Domenic could be such a drama queen at times, I thought, rolling my eyes at all of the bitching. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Rani was back, so even if he’d waited until today to use the Moonshine Elementals, the end results would’ve been ultimately the same. Though, to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure how we could’ve taken on those advance Ogre units the day before if he hadn’t blown the entire ridge. Let alone, managed to leave Palnisdale after it was surrounded. Sometimes, you just had to roll with the punches that life gave you.
‘Even though your friend is a massive whiner,’ Ulia’s voice sounded next in my head, ‘we’ve made sure that the defenses were configured to your specifications. Also, I’ve sent an update on the path that you’ll need to take when you’re riding in.’ I was surprised at the ding that sounded in my head from the map update that suddenly came through. ‘We’ll be formed up and ready to fight by the time you arrive.’
I silently nodded in thanks as Ulia’s message came to an end. Though I had no idea that map updates could be sent out via Tengsly, it was easy enough to figure out once I knew it was possible and quickly sent the update to General Dell, Krishna, Thomas, and the rest of my friends. By the time that we reached the group, Tengsly had completed his errands and was flying back to me as General Dell began having the Dragoons form up for another attack.
“What’s the plan?” AJ called out as the three of us came racing up.
Behind us, the Dragoons’ formation split as the columns took a sharp turn and began racing for either end of the valley. The riders’ movements were precise as groups of five began stomping to a stop at around six-yard intervals from one another and sitting straight-backed in their saddles awaiting orders.
“They’re taking up a spread-out formation,” Thomas called out excitedly as Neysa curved her gallop around to fall in next to the Devil Dog Guild Leader and Sarka, while Helgath slipped around to take up a position in front of me, “I take it we’re charging in?”
“Yep,” I shouted back in confirmation as I pulled the Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty from my equipment belt, “the last of the Dragoons just picked up Zombie Hands.”
“About fucking time,” AJ excitedly hollered, as he pulled an overlarge hand axe from his belt.
“If I wanted to be a caster, I would’ve started as a mage,” Sarka yelled to me as she drew a blade with each hand and giving them a few practice swings as Neysa matched pace with her mount.
“Woohoo, let’s do this,” Hefe excitedly howled from where he rode between a grinning Bonnie Smash’s leather-clad thighs as the Half-Orc unlimbered the two-handed battle axe from her back.
“Are you Druids ready?” I called out to Angie as the Umbra Hunters responded with an excited roar. Thrusting the axe blade into the air over my head, my voice rang out in raid chat. “Let’s do this people!”
There was an excited cheer behind me from the players as Neysa immediately began curving her galloping run around to parallel the two hundred Dragoons that were still in the process of spreading out across the width of the valley. A surprisingly complex movement to carry out with speed and precision between two independent mounted columns. At least, it was if you wanted to form up in time to coordinate the attacks. That really wasn’t a problem after the hours we’d spent repeatedly carrying out such an attack throughout the day.
By the time we’d nearly reached the base of the towering cliff, I heard the cascading command to dismount by the numbers being relayed down the line of Dragoons as I signaled for Neysa to swing around to head directly for the packed mass of howling Orcs that were chasing after us. By now, they were less than two-hundred yards away and closing quickly as we charged across the frozen rocky ground between us. While quickly was a somewhat relative term in comparison to someone from earth, after spending so much time over the last few weeks either walking or running everywhere I’d went in The World, it almost felt like I was flying in comparison.
Immediately, the adrenaline began surging through my veins with every pump of Neysa’s powerful muscles as I hunched over her broad back with Helgath’s lean leather-clad body pressed in tightly against my chest. The feeling of the Silver Dire Wolf gripped between my armored legs as we charged into battle was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before in my life. You would’ve thought that I’d have grown accustomed to the sensation after doing this for hours on end throughout the day, but truth be told, it never seemed to get old. There was something about the combination of Neysa’s heaving flanks, the fistful of course fur gripped in my sweaty fist, the heft of the leather-wrapped shaft of the war axe in my other hand, and the thunderous sounds of hooves around us filling my ears while our every movement was in sync with one another as we charged across the uneven terrain. It made me feel like an unstoppable force of nature.
On top of that, each charge presented different dangers as the Orcs were constantly trying to come up with new ways to take us out. Though, that was somewhat hampered by us constantly switching up the strategies and tactics we were using as the new Dragoon trainees entered the fray. Not that we left much in the way of survivors behind to warn the newer Orcs that made their way to the front of the horde’s lines due to the constant attrition.
My friends in the raid behind me began falling out into their normal positions. Usually, that was Sarka and Tinyr on my left with Neri being the only rider on my right, while Yun and Unalia fell back to take up a position next to Fylreh just behind the four of us. Neristhana refused to let me take up the most dangerous spot right next to the main horde’s lines.
Yun’s primary job was to keep our Holy Shields in place and take out anyone we didn’t kill. The Rangers had a similar job, but their primary focus was to be on the lookout for an any Shamans trying to get close enough to our lines to counter our charges by using their targeted Head Shots. A super important position since one cast of Earth Spike could royally screw up our entire charge at these speeds.
After that, it was Thomas, Kenzie, AJ, Krishna riding with Phoen
ix, and Bonnie Smash with Hefe filling out the rest of my left flank. Jill and Krystal were directly behind AJ while a mixture of Devil Dogs and the Uten Syn Guardians filled out the rest of the tightly packed formation. Basically, that gave us a nine-rider wide front that was five-riders deep. That was because the current strategy we were using relied heavily on the Uten Syn Druids.
While the Guardians main job, after taking out stragglers, was to back up Unalia and Fylreh if any Shamans popped up and to cast group heals as necessary. The Druids, on the other hand, were the spearhead of our charge. Their beast forms made them literal wrecking machines and even I couldn’t come close to pumping out the damage that their Werebear forms could dish out left and right.
As if reading my mind, I saw Angie’s familiar Umbra Hunter form and that of her girlfriends begin overtaking Neysa’s frenzied strides. With a surprising speed, the entire group of Druids began racing through our tightly packed ranks. Taking the lead, the thirty-eight Umbra Hunters began forming an arrowhead formation directly in front of the rest of the raid.
A part of me wished that we still had our screen of Zombie pets. It was a nice fallback to have in case the shit hit the fan. Unfortunately, we hadn’t had time to stop and summon pets ever since entering the Valley of Stone. There was something about the enclosed walls that seemed to speed up the action. That, and summoning zombies took too much time away from our charges. Besides, everyone was running low on soul stones anyway. Mostly that was because we’d used the hell out of them when we were in the beginning phase of forming our current strategy. Also, it didn’t help that we couldn’t do much in the way of looting coin or soul stones during a cavalry charge. Though, a few Guardians were assigned the task of collecting both whenever possible, it wasn’t nearly enough though to resupply the entire raid.
Shaking the random thought away, I focused back on the task at hand. The mass of Orcs was directly in front of us with the horde stretching out across the length and breadth of the valley like a grayish-black sludge eating up everything in its path. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Sarka give me an excited “Hell yeah!” as Tinyr’s eyes twinkled in excitement. AJ gave me a firm nod while Bonnie Smash and Hefe were lost in their own world as the Half-Orc did her best to keep the excited Gnome from pitching headfirst over their mount’s head.
Looking over my other shoulder, I saw Neristhana grimly gripping her hand axe in her gloved hands as she steered her mount in close to Neysa’s side. The concern for the coming fight that I saw reflected in her hard brown eyes reminded me that this wasn’t a game for her. She was the only person of The World besides Helgath that was riding with us. Unless enough of her body could be recovered for a Resurrection spell to work, she was looking true death in the eye with every charge. Nonetheless, she refused to allow me to go into battle without her being at my side.
‘Focus!’ Helgath’s voice suddenly echoed in my head as my eyes snapped forward.
Ahead of us, I saw that the mass of Orcs were now only a few yards ahead of Angie and her Druids. As I swung my Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty back over my shoulder to strike, I began casting multiple Amplify Damage spells on the Orc front lines as the ground underneath the entire length of the horde’s clawed feet suddenly erupted into a forest of Zombie Hands. With the speed and strength of the undead, the unnaturally tough bony hands locked around the Orcs’ feet, ankles, and legs, bringing a twenty-five-yard-wide swath that covered the horde’s entire front line to a complete stop.
Orcs bellowed in fear and agony as the entire mass crashed into the ground from the sudden stop. Many of the horde that were in the ranks behind the rooted Orcs joined the pileup of flailing arms and legs as they bodily crashed into their downed brethren and were immediately snatched up by even more Zombie Hands shooting up out of the ground. As if that weren’t enough, the bony claw-tipped fingers enhanced with our Amplify Damage spells began tearing bloody rivulets into any exposed flesh as the entire vanguard was brought to a body crushing stop.
General Dell had timed the spells perfectly. They hit just as Angie and the rest of her Druids were leaping into the air to attack. Their Umbra Hunter bodies blurred as the entire group transformed into their Werebears battle forms in the blink of an eye. A split-second later, the mass of muscles and claws crashed into the writhing screaming mass of Orcs in an orgasmic explosion of blood and death.
It was almost like the Orcs were being offered up on a plate as the Zombie Hands held the squirming bodies off the ground at about waist level to shred them. While the Orcs could still fight, most were too busy trying to fight off the bony claws tearing at their bare flesh or snatching up their dropped weapons that they didn’t notice the danger they were in. Once they did notice, it was only to find a massive Werebear foot crushing their skull or the Werebear’s long claws shredding their bodies.
The Werebears didn’t slow down to finish off any one enemy. Charging ahead, they rammed through everything in their path. The mass of Orcs was either crushed under the Werebears’ hairy muscular bulk or blasted into the air as if they were a rack of pins being hit by a bowling ball. Angie in particular was a sight to behold. Ripping through everything in her path, she’d yank screaming Orcs up by whatever limb or head she managed to grab onto first and used the bleeding bodies to pummel a path through the terrified enemy as her fang-filled maw tore out throats and bit off faces.
Those first few chaotic seconds of the fighting charge through the horde’s ranks was all that I saw before Neysa bodily crashed into the insane scrum. Blood sprayed everywhere as she used her Ferocious Bite and Claw attacks to tear chunks of flesh from the disarrayed Orcs that were still reeling from the Werebears’ feral assault. Even though she was forced to power her way through the packed mass of brutalized bodies, we were moving so fast and erratic that all I could do was focus on striking at any enemies flashing past my face as I held onto the Silver Dire Wolf’s back for dear life.
My first swing of the Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty was against an Orc that was stumbling back to his feet after having his arm ripped from its socket. The absolute look of shock on his stunned face as his decapitated head went flying away brought a grim smile of satisfaction to my lips. That was because the Zombie Hands rooting effect counted as the target being incapacitated for the magic axe’s unique proccing attack.
At the same time, Helgath sprang away from me with her daggers leading the way. Both blades took the eyes of an Orc that was trying to swing his two-handed greatsword at Neysa’s stretched-out neck a second before she wrapped around the Warrior’s head like a face-hunger on crack. Screaming in fury, she tore into the Orc with her daggers plunging again and again into the bellowing Warrior’s face and head as he reeled from the furious blows.
I barely had a chance to flip the Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty around for my backswing to hack through another Orc’s defenseless neck sending her head flying too. As I swung the oversized hand axe back for another strike, Helgath’s urgent mental cry flashed through my mind. Momentarily making sure I had a solid grip on Neysa’s flanks, I released the handful of silver fur I’d been holding onto for dear life and flung my riding arm out to its full extension.
In the nick of time, Helgath sprang away from the enraged Orc to clasp my arm. Working in synergy with one another, I swung my arm forward to physically throw the Half-Orc at her next target. As Neysa’s Ferocious Bite chomped down on an Orc that was on its hands and knees in front of her, Helgath slammed into the Orc’s partner on the left that was staggering back to its clawed feet. Yanking my free arm back, my other hand shot forward as my Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty decapitated the Orc that was staggering to its feet on the right.
While Neristhana wasn’t a part of our shared mental link, she still managed to catch things that we missed in the tumultuous fray. Keeping her mount tucked in next to Neysa, the Gnomeling trampled any enemy in her way as her hand axe flashed out in quick darting attacks that sliced wrists and fingers. While they didn’t kill t
he Orcs outright, they stopped many of their retaliatory strikes that would have severely hurt any one of us as her eyes scanned for any threats that might take us down.
I was vicariously aware of my friends fighting for their lives around me. Sarka and Tinyr were working together with a practiced ease to take out the Orcs around them. Using Shield Bash, Sarka would send Orcs careening into Tinyr’s blades while her sword hacked into heads and shoulders. It was an incredible feat made possible by having access to stirrups and a saddle which allowed her to drop the reins and fight two handed.
On Tinyr’s opposite side, AJ was laying about him with a fury as his oversized hand axe chopped at everything in his mount’s path. And even though Hefe and Bonnie Smash shared no mental link with him, they’d been teamed up together for so long that their attacks seemed to coordinate together automatically. I saw the Half-Orc’s two-handed battle axe take out an Orc that was aiming a spear at AJ’s head as Hefe physically leaped between the two mounts with his punch daggers stabby-stabbing the enemy in-between them in an attack that was on par with what Helgath was pulling off.
Enhanced Shadow Bolts and arrows were slamming into the Orcs at regular intervals, especially for any enemies that we missed. Behind us, Fylreh was unleashing an Enhanced Multishot that sent ten arrows into whatever she was targeting. More than once, she kept Neristhana from being dragged out of her saddle. An issue that popped up when the Orcs outside of the multiple Zombie Hands spells AOE began hacking the arms away to attack our flanks. As the horde drove in to snatch the lone Gnomeling from her mount’s back, the Centaur’s arrows ripped the onrushing Orcs’ hit points away as Unalia finished them off with selective targeted Head Shots, while Yun added his support with either a quick heal or Enhanced Shadow Bolt as needed.
All of this was being done at a flat-out gallop with only split-seconds to react to the enemies around us. Though I couldn’t keep track of everyone in the raid, after ten hours of fighting together off and on like this as a single unit, had us working together like a well-oiled machine as we sliced through the horde’s ranks like a razor-edged wave. Though, if not for the Druids leaving a swath of pure destruction in their wake, we wouldn’t have been anywhere near as effective as we were. It was relatively easy to finish off an Orc that had its arm ripped out of its socket or had been stomped half to death while it was fighting off masses of Zombie Hands.