Scorched Kingdom

by Daniel Guevara

  Argoth knew that it was fear and not pride that guided the councilmen’s words, but regardless of the reasons it was clear that he would not get any help from them.

  “This is not what Arius would have wanted.”

  “Then he should not have abandoned his city.”

  The paladin was sure that the council was making a mistake that would cost all of them their lives. He refused to give up.

  He left council chamber, asking Khomod to follow him. He then entrusted Khomod to find out anything he could about the possible location of the Elf city, as he had only two days to prepare the city for the greatest battle the world had ever seen.

  In those two days, Argoth did his best to concentrate the majority of the Human forces on the outskirts of White Knight Keep, telling the soldiers that this would be where thy will meet the Orcs in battle. He designated nearby buildings to shelter those too weak to fight and armed anyone who can stand while holding a sword.

  Leaving only a handful of well-trained soldiers at the city’s limits, armed with catapults, to try and reduce the Orc numbers once the fight began, he ordered these same soldiers. To retreat and join the rest of the forces once the first wave of Orcs approached the city.

  At the break of dawn, as all of mankind prepared for battle, a single Orc approached the city’s entrance near the valley, to meet Argoth, Khomod and Captain Killad as they stood waiting for battle.

  A soldier gave the signal to fire a catapult, but Argoth revoked that order, telling the soldier to stand down.

  As the Orc approached the city, the tension raised, the stench of fear saturating the air. Argoth can sense it and if he can, he is sure that Xandraf has noticed it too.

  But despite being outnumbered and clearly outmatched, Argoth refused to show Xandraf any weakness.

  “It has been two days, do you have my answer?”

  “There are books in our library that contain reports of soldiers seeing the Elves marching towards the desert of the great beyond, but nothing on the exact location of any Elf city.”

  “The great beyond, well, I guess it is worth investigating, once I am done with this city of course.”

  “So you are going to attack us, despite the fact that I gave you what you wanted?”

  “Come on, don’t be naïve. You always knew that I would never leave this city standing.”

  “Yes, I figured as much. But I hoped that inside that twisted head of yours, a little bit of compassion could be found. It is clear I was mistaken.”

  “Indeed, now let me show you what I am really capable of.”

  Argoth didn’t waste time; he brought his hammer down on the Orc’s forehead. But the Orc just shook of the blow.

  Argoth watched in horror as a blazing flame consumed the skin over the Orc’s body leaving nothing but a shell of a body, with magma running through its veins. And as the blaze reached the Orc’s face, Xandraf stared Argoth directly in the eyes and said,

  “Take a good look at the face of your death.”

  Argoth charged his hammer with as much holy energy as he could and struck the Fire Orc’s head. The small amount of magma that splattered from the wound burned Argoth’s armor as it came into contact.

  And as the headless Orc fell on the ground, splattering magma as it did, the thunderous roar of the Orc horde filled the air.

  The ground began to shake, as the huge Orc army began charging towards the city’s entrance, forcing Argoth to raise his hand, giving the order for the catapults to fire.

  Huge stones rained down on the Orc forces, but this did not seem to scare them in the slightest, as they continue to run towards the city.

  “What now?” Khomod asked Argoth, as he returned to the trenches.

  “Now we fight, and most likely die.”

  “I am not sure I like this plan.”

  A second round of rocks began to fall, over the now much closer Orc horde. The huge boulders flew from the catapults and landed on the ground, crushing dozens of Orcs in their path as they rolled. But the catapult operators were unsure if they could load a third shot before the Orcs got too close.

  Argoth valued the lives of his men over a quick victory, so after seeing the speed and ferocity with which the Orcs were approaching, he lifted his hand and gave the order for the catapult operators to retreat to the trenches.

  More than two thousand Orcs made it to the city’s entrance, where only five hundred men, divided into three rows, awaited for them in the trenches that ran all the way across the narrow entrance of the valley. But these men were being led by Argoth, and he had a plan.

  The great paladin raised his hand again and shouted to all the men to wait for his command; he waited, as the Orcs now were no more than five hundred feet away and quickly approaching. The trenches began to tremble, as the Orc horde approached. But still Argoth commanded his men to wait. Sweat began to roll down the face of the men in those trenches, as the Orcs now stood less than fifty feet away and continued to get closer.

  The first Orc of the horde began to run, as fast as he could, already smelling the fear on its prey. When it was no more than five feet away from the trenches, the Orc jumped in the air, hoping to land inside the trenches and secure the first kill of the battle. But the heavy body of the Orc was abruptly bought to a complete stop, by a blast of holy energy from Argoth’s hammer.

  The Orc’s chest was crushed by the force of the impact and his body was sent flying backwards towards the horde, where it landed and was crushed by the thousands of Orc feet, Argoth then lifted his hammer as high as he could and yelled,

  “Now!”

  And with that single sound, all the men in the first row raised their shields, forming a protective iron wall against the Orcs.

  The second row of men leaned against the men on the first row, as they prepared for the impact. But even that was not enough, as some men and their shields were sent flying out of the trenches, as the Orcs crashed into the wall of shields.

  “Close the gaps,” Argoth shouted, as he had no intention of letting a single Orc through.

  The men in the second row raised their shields and began to fill the gaps in the line, as the rest struggled to maintain formation against the incredible strength of the Orcs.

  Once the gaps where closed, Argoth raised his hammer again and gave another signal.

  The men on the third row stood up and, using long spears, they began to stab as many Orcs as they could through the small openings between the shields. At the same time, the paladins of the order fired holy energy over the shields.

  Quickly the Orc’s numbers began to decrease, as the range of their claws was no match for the spears and holy blasts.

  Argoth dared to smile just a little, as a glimpse of hope of surviving the battle began to enter his mind. But the Orcs stopped their senseless attack and began to crouch to avoid the spears.

  The commander had never faced organized Orcs before. But after talking to Xandraf, he knew this would not be an ordinary battle.

  Argoth was counting on something like this to happen, so the paladin turned and looked towards the few buildings that stood behind the trenches and raised his hammer, again giving a signal. Arrows began to fly from the windows of those buildings.

  The arrows flew over the trenches and rained upon the unprotected Orcs that stood in front of the shields. But these little arrows did very little damage to the Orcs with their thick skin, as it took eight or nine arrows to down a single Orc. At that rate, they would run out of arrows before killing the remaining Orcs.

  But Argoth had one final trick up his sleeve, as he raised his hammer one last time and arrows lit with fire began to rain down on the Orcs and onto the oil-soaked ground on which they stood.

  The ground quickly caught fire, violent flames quickly spreading all the way through the entrance of the valley, engulfing the Orcs.

  And as the flames spread over the paladin’s enemies, the Orcs stopped pushing and Argoth allowed himself to relax just a little.

  Th
is was a desperate measure he was not eager to use, but burning a small part of the city was a price he was willing to pay to ensure the survival of its inhabitants.

  Argoth had already evacuated must of the population towards the center of the city and even though the fires could spread and do some harm to the structures, the city of Logrant would not fall this day.

  Killad stood up and broke formation, as he was sure that this part of the battle was won. He then turned around and looked towards Argoth and smiled, as the raging screams of the Orcs finally stopped.

  Argoth smiled back; as he saw in that young soldier what King Sabras once saw in him when he enlisted for the order. But before the joy of the moment could be shared between the two men, a burning ball of fire hit Captain Killad on the back of his head.

  Killad did not scream while Argoth watched in horror, as the flesh from the young captain’s face melted and dripped like hot wax from the bones of his skull.

  And before the paladin could fully understand what had happened, a loud laughter was heard.

  “You tried to use fire to hurt me? I am fire. And now it is you who shall burn.”

  And as the men in the trenches tried to make sense of what was happening, the pushing was resumed on the Orc side, catching many distracted soldiers off guard. And from the gaps that here made, the claws of the stone skin Fire Orcs appeared.

  “Quickly, close the gaps,” Argoth shouted.

  But before the soldiers could carry out the order, balls of fire began to rain down over the wall of shields.

  The unrelenting fire quickly began to spread through the trenches, burning all the desperate soldiers as they screamed and climbed on top of each other to escape the wrath of the flames.

  Argoth lend a helping hand to Khomod and any other soldiers that he could reach, as he tried to understand what was happening.

  The paladins of the order and the archers resumed their attacks, but it was hard to aim at anything that stood inside the tall flames.

  Argoth watched horrified as his men died horrible deaths inside a pool of fire, as he stood there, unable to help them.

  Then, one of the Fire Orcs emerged from the flames with his thick rock skin unharmed and looked at Argoth.

  “I told you that this city would burn.” Xandraf began to laugh maniacally.

  A paladin raised his hammer against the Orc and fired a bolt of holy light, forcing the creature to take a step back.

  “Impressive, now, it is my turn,” Xandraf said, spitting a huge ball of fire back at the paladin.

  The paladin’s heavy armor made it impossible for him to dodge the attack. So he and his men were forced yet again to watch one of their friends die in the cruel flames.

  Argoth stood there, unable to act, watching the arrows bounce against the Orc’s rock skin.

  In a matter of seconds his mind was flooded by thoughts of doubt and regret, as he wondered if he’d ever stood a chance in this battle. And if it was even worth resisting this horrible dark magic he was witnessing. For in all his years of battle, never had he witnessed true evil, until this day.

  More Fire Orcs emerged from the flames, blasting anything in sight with flames, quickly spreading the fire.

  Argoth thought about what Arius would do in a situation like this, when all hope seemed lost. He knew he would never give up.

  So the commanding paladin of the order raised his hammer once again and, using all the holy energy he could gather, he blasted the face of the first Fire Orc to emerge from the flames.

  The head of the Orc exploded and magma rained from it, burning the ground and the many unconscious Human soldiers.

  Argoth knew that he had to move everyone away from the flames before there was no one else to save.

  “Retreat, fall back to the keep.”

  Every Human warrior and paladin that was still standing began to flee towards the center of the city. But to Argoth’s surprise, the Fire Orcs seemed more interested in making sure there was nowhere else to run, than actually chasing them, as they formed a barrier all across the entrance of the valley and raised a huge wall of flames behind them.

  When Argoth finally made it to the center of the city, he was surprised by the fact that the Orcs on the hills had not attacked yet. And it was then that he realized that Xandraf had sacrificed all those Orcs in order to force a retreat and have all the Humans in one place.

  “This was all a giant trap, and I fell for it.”

  “What do you mean? Khomod asked.

  But before Argoth could answer, he saw the Orcs that had been patiently chasing them up the valley come to a sudden stop, as they reached the center of the valley.

  “We’re surrounded,” said Khomod.

  “No, we are exactly where he wanted us to be.”

  Every Human soul inside Logrant city watched in horror as the Orcs on the hills surrounding the city changed into Fire Orcs and placed their hands on the ground, transforming the hills into magma.

  The magma flowed slowly towards the city, surrounding it in a burning ring of fiery death, filling the hearts of every Logrant citizen with uncontrollable fear.

  Panic began to spread as the people of Logrant tried to escape, climbing over one another in their panic, tearing each other apart, anything that would spare them from their deaths.

  “So this is what he wanted.”

  “What do you mean?” Khomod asked.

  “He doesn’t simply want to kill us; he wants to watch us suffer as he slowly burns us. That is why he brought us here; that is why he made sure no one escaped in any other direction. And that is why he is using magma that will take hours to reach us, as his weapon of choice.”

  “What are we going to do now?”

  “Honestly, I do not know. We have done everything that we could; now we have to trust the light and wait.”

  The next few hours felt like days, as the burning magma slowly made its way down the mountains. The citizens of Logrant city turned to despair and even madness, as the time of their deaths approached. Some decided to take their own lives before the time came. Others turned violent against each other. And only a few of them entrusted themselves to the light as they waited for salvation.

  But no matter what they did, the inevitable end finally arrived, as the magma breached the city’s borders and began consuming everything in its path.

  Some citizens had climbed trees and poles to escape the magma, but they didn’t understand the pure heat that burnt them without touching them, melting their flesh as their skin caught fire.

  The screams of burning people quickly became unbearable. A group of men tried to make an escape, running past the Orcs that guarded the way to the valley’s entrance. But they soon found themselves facing a twenty foot wall of fire - no one could escape their fate.

  Argoth watched the citizens of Logrant suffer, as he stood there powerless to help them. And as everyone moved towards the center of the city and surrounded the keep, Argot looked towards the sky and said,

  “If there really is a god, then help us. For I know that not everyone here is worthy of your salvation, but some are.”

  The sky grew full of golden light, as a huge pillar of holy energy emerged from the tower in which King Sabras was resting. The pillar of light reached the clouds and then it showered the area where the helpless citizens were, forming a huge holy shield around them and protecting them from the burning magma and its heat.

  “What is going on?” Khomod asked Argoth.

  Argoth smiled.

  “King Sabras has come to our rescue; his body may be frail but his connection to the light is as strong as ever.”

  “Does this mean we are safe?”

  “Yes, at least for the time being. Although I am not sure how long will the king’s body endure.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “Now we wait for Arius to help us.”

  “Do you really think he can?”

  “I cannot know for sure, but there is nothing else for us to do but wa
it and trust in our king and prince.”

  And as people wondered how long the shield could last, Argoth wondered where Arius was. And how could he save them, as the fate of the entire Human race now rested on his shoulders.

  ◆◆◆

  The outsider’s caravan approached The Fire Mountains.

  Just a few miles away, traveling in one of the caravan’s wagons Arius was uneasy, as he felt the stress that was being placed over his father’s body.

  “Is something wrong?” Licius asked.

  “Something isn’t right.” Arius replied.

  “What do you mean? Can you sense a trap?” Korgat asked, as he walked beside the wagon.

  “No. I just have a strange feeling, that’s all.”

  The prince searched within his soul, as he tried to make a connection with his father in order to speak with him. But before he could accomplish his task, the caravan came to a stop.

  “What happen? Why did we stop?” Arius asked.

  “We are here, take a look at the Fire Mountains,” Korgat replied.

  The Fire Mountains tinted the sky red with their fire, a beautiful yet menacing landscape, where life was not meant to flourish. And in the middle of those mountains lay a huge volcano whose summit reached the clouds.

  Korgat saw Khall and the troops he had gathered waiting for them in the distance. The former Outsider king smiled.

  He commanded the caravan to move forward and meet with the rest of their troops.

  “Khall! You lucky son of a bitch, I thought you would have run as far away from here, as you could,” Korgat said.

  “Run away? And leave all the fun to you, no way.”

  “Are these all the men you could gather?” Arius asked, as he counted no more than three hundred men with Khall.

  “Yes, not everyone is eager to fight to their fucking deaths,” Khall replied with a smile.

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Arius.

  “We should camp here and rest for today and use the cover of night to assess the situation,” Licius said.

  “Fuck that,” said Korgat. “I didn’t travel all this way just to wait some more. I want to bash some fucking Orc heads.”

  Licius gave the Outsider a look of disapproval, but before he could say anything else, he was interrupted by Arius.