Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  The panthers were out there as well, shifting rubble, scratching out ditches, Gilly was helping to change the terrain and creating traps, sharpened stone spikes underneath a thin plate of stone that was incomparable to the rest of the ground.

  Stone spikes that were over balls of water that once superheated would expand explosively and shoot out the stone spikes.

  The final plan if everything went to hell was charges that had been embedded into the top of the long cave, that would explode, dropping the roof on the orcs and closing off the cave.

  Rugrat looked through his rifle sight, he grabbed his water hose with his fingers resting on the buttstock, taking a sip of stamina and mana potion, the adrenaline making his mouth dry.

  He pushed breaths in and out as he scanned the cave. It had been cut from the rock and smoothed out, creating a tunnel deep into the rock.

  The horns became quiet, then they started up again this time at a faster pace. Lucinda, once again blew on the horn, the others continued after her with no rhyme or reason.

  They got quieter after a few minutes and Rugrat scanned the tunnel. There was no movement still.

  “What do you think? Do you think that the Orcs are coming?” Rugrat asked, talking to George out of the corner of his mouth.

  George had forgotten his bone and padded over to Rugrat for scratches.

  “Yeah I think so too,” Rugrat said reaching up and scratching behind George’s ear, along his neck, right in his favorite spot.

  More horn blasts called out to one another before they settled down. Lucinda would add in her horn from time to time.

  Finally, it settled down. Rugrat finished his watch, stretching and getting food before helping with the defenses. They could always be improved.

  Tian Cui replaced him on watch, time passed slowly, he almost looked forward to when he had to go on watch again.

  “Go get something to eat or get some rest,” Rugrat said as he got down to the perch, the building had been broken apart and a new position in the rubble created, this way if it was hit with heavy magic then it wouldn’t collapse and it was harder to spot Rugrat and others who might be hiding in the broken houses.

  “Might do that, don’t have a good feeling about these damn horns,” Tian Cui said.

  “Me either,” Rugrat muttered, shifting some rocks and getting comfortable.

  She left him alone, George was off helping with the defenses. Erik was out there too, using his Earth magic and strength.

  “He’s always been a damn endurance freak. He still looks smaller than me but he could out bench and squat the hell out of me,” Rugrat complained but then smiled as he created a solid flame of mana in his hand.

  “Never thought of being a wizard, archer-mage is much more badass than a sword-mage.” Rugrat grinned to himself and scanned the tunnel.

  He used his sensing spells and kept watch.

  An hour or so had passed when he frowned, feeling something was wrong. He scanned again through his scope and didn’t see anything.

  Wait, I can’t see it, but he tilted his head filtering out other noises.

  “George! Do you hear something!” Rugrat’s voice cut through the area, everyone stilled and looked to George whose ears perked up and he turned towards the tunnel.

  His ears twitched as he lowered himself.

  Gilly let out a hiss as George growled.

  Rugrat used the communications channel.

  “I can hear the sound of footsteps, a lot of them walking towards us.”

  “Finish up what you’re doing, get to your positions,” Storbon said.

  Unless things came to hand-to-hand fighting, Storbon would be in charge. Followed by Rugrat, Yuli, and Erik.

  It took an hour for them to hear the footsteps clearly, another hour and Rugrat caught sight of what was making the noise.

  There was a tide of orcs. They were larger, all of them were at least commander level. They’d all reached at least level Sixty. Their bodies had a rough appearance, most of them had reached Body like Stone and some were close to reaching Body like Iron.

  Their weapons were better maintained and their armor showed some similarities. There were fifty of them altogether, including the group of ten shamans that were behind the big brutes.

  “Wait till they hit four hundred meters. Rugrat, pin them down. Gilly, Erik, Yuli, see what you can do to slow them if they charge. Everyone be ready to fire on my command. If they get into 200 meters. Yao Meng, Tian Cui, I want you to engage with grenade launchers,” Storbon rattled off orders getting everyone’s head in the game.

  Rugrat shifted so he wasn’t lying down but kneeling into the pile of rubble so he could traverse, select and shoot on multiple targets faster.

  Rocks shifted under him as they dug into his legs and knees.

  He breathed out, forcing the dust away from him as he shifted his shoulders to perfectly secure the rifle, pinching it between his shoulder and his collar.

  With a breath out he regripped his foregrip, he allowed his gun to float, scanning the enemy line, watching the ugly damn bastards as they continued forward.

  Rugrat picked out his target an ugly-looking bastard that was shuffling forwards, wiping his snout on his forearm, right in the middle of it all, he was the largest orc he could see. Rugrat picked out three other orcs along the line looking to get the greatest effect with his combat technique.

  Tension racked up as the seconds went by.

  “Fire!” Storbon’s order was a welcome relief.

  Rugrat fired, doing what he was born to do.

  The line erupted with fire, everyone shooting into the oncoming orcs. The ground started to shift and change, Rugrat hit two targets, black circles appeared on the ground below them and chains shot out, grabbing onto their main targets and digging into their flesh.

  The other chains grabbed at the orcs nearby, pinning down the line so that the orcs behind them ran into their backs.

  The line was in disarray. The firepower hit them like a hammer, taking out a dozen of their number, with time to aim and Erik sharing the weaknesses of the Orcs, they went for knees and legs which were smaller and compact, having troubles supporting the weight of the orcs’ bodies.

  The sudden fire surprised the orcs and put them on their back foot, they were surprised, but their surprise turned to anger as a third of their fighters sprawled on the ground, their legs broken.

  George let out a roar and sent fireballs into the orcs, those on the ground could only scream out, trying to pull their bodies out of the flames as the rest of the team focused on cutting down more.

  Poison based off of the orc plague covered the rounds. Erik had created a concentrated version and combined it with several poisons, it was just a matter of time for the orcs who were hit.

  Rugrat had created four more chains of darkness and two more chains of adverse effects.

  The orcs while they were strong in body, and had a high mana resistance, they didn’t have a good affinity to mana, they had to force their way out of the spells with their bodies.

  They were being clumped up and captured, George worked with Rugrat, attacking the orcs that were stuck in the chains.

  The chains bit in harder and George’s flames drove them to madness.

  Orcs collapsed after one another.

  The shamans put down their totems, creating a barrier. The orcs were rushing forward, quickly passing the barrier that couldn’t extend far due to the low tunnel.

  Tian Cui and Erik had been focusing on the shamans, several had been hit with rounds.

  Just half of the orcs were left alive, and half of that were captured in chains.

  Their poisons were the kind of variety that fed off of mana and were eating the shamans from the inside.

  The shamans behind the barrier started collapsing, unable to take the wounds. The orcs upfront stepped into the traps, the ground collapsed under a group of five, and they disappeared never to be seen again. George ignited a barrage of steam-spikes.

&n
bsp; They pierced through several orcs, pinning them to the wall of the tunnel.

  The rest were finished off before the grenadiers even had time to pull out their launchers.

  “Cease-fire!” Storbon siad after a few moments.

  Everyone eased up, Rugrat could feel the adrenaline streaming through his body as he breathed out, forcing himself out of the black and looked over the line.

  He canceled some of his spells the chains moving around lazily as there were only corpses in their range.

  The orcs were dead or dying.

  George let out a low growl, Rugrat looked over at him and then back to the tunnel.

  “Don’t get too comfortable George thinks that there is another group coming, looks like wave tactics,” Rugrat said.

  “Yuli, reset the pits. Erik, could you get Gilly to reset the steam spikes?” Storbon said.

  “On it!”

  Rugrat stuffed the empty magazines into his storage ring and put down fresh ones, checking the magazine in his rifle, tapping it on his rifle to see where it was hollow or not.

  “Half mag,” Rugrat thought for a second before tossing it into his storage ring and pulling out a fresh mag.

  “If I’ve got more magazines, might as well put them to use.”

  They had just about finished resetting when the next group of orcs appeared.

  “I hate it when they’re smart,” Rugrat muttered.

  The shamans had created a relay, putting down a totem, creating a barrier then the group would pass through, another shaman would put their totem down, the formation would move forward again, constantly remaining undercover.

  Rugrat had an odd feeling looking at them and the expressions on their faces. He wanted to ask the others but now wasn’t the time.

  “Rugrat put a few rounds into the barrier. Yuli give me your best estimate of how strong it is,” Storbon said.

  Rugrat cleared up his gear and aimed at the orcs. He gave the barrier a double-tap, the shaman near the rounds jerking back from the two ripples that formed on the barrier.

  Rugrat turned and left his position, moving to another.

  A shaman’s totem let out a blast of green light, it hit the position Rugrat had been some ten seconds after he had left it.

  The rubble exploded into a dust cloud.

  “Based off of the mana used, we could break the barrier, would take like fifteen minutes to break just one of them, the totems really boost their power and we can’t employ explosives at this distance,” Yuli said.

  “Rugrat?” Storbon asked.

  While he wasn’t a pure mage, he had the greatest sensitivity and control over mana.

  “We’ll just waste ammunition shooting at it, unless they can get out in the open and we drop spell after spell on their heads I say it would be good to see how our traps work.”

  Rugrat wanted something to do but sometimes the best thing was to do nothing. They had a lot of ammunition, but once it was spent then they would need to manufacture more themselves, all of them had the gear to do so, but they couldn’t make it in mass quantities like the ammunition factory in Alva or Vuzgal.

  They sat there and waited as the orcs kept moving forward.

  “Damn, there is another group,” Erik said.

  Rugrat used his scope to look past the first group of orcs, there was another right behind them and catching up.

  “And it went from fifty to a hundred,” Rugrat muttered to himself, not transmitting it. Instead of fear, he felt anger, he felt excitement, the stronger the enemy, the greater the challenge. He felt that he could unleash more power.

  He was scared but his mind turned that into nervous excitement and anger, they were the strongest tools one could have, fear kept you alert, being afraid made you tactical in your actions, excitement made you move, anger made you think of how every action could have the greatest impact.

  But, there was no hint of panic, no hint of desperation. He was closer to George than he was to other people, he was a true hunter, a predator.

  “Hey Erik,” Rugrat asked on a private channel.

  “What is it?” Erik asked.

  “Are you grinning, you battle maniac?” Rugrat could feel every fiber of his being alive, an unconscious grin on his face, hidden under his helmet.

  “As wide as you are,” Erik said.

  That’s my brother, he understands me down to my core. He felt a deeper attachment to Erik and the others with him, he would do anything for them and they would do the same for him. It filled him with energy!

  Rugrat breathed deeply, the motions calming him down, the pain from his body from being in awkward positions, for leaning on rubble and holding his rifle, it faded away to the back of his mind.

  The orcs were reinforced and they started to progress faster, using twenty shamans to advance.

  Suddenly massive pits opened and holes opened up in the formations!

  Twenty or so orcs tumbled down into the massive pits, others that were behind them were knocked forward accidentally, they feel nearly ten meters to meet the three-meter long spikes and sharpened pyramids.

  They cried out as the orcs forced their way back.

  “Fire in the hole!” Storbon said.

  The tunnel shook as explosives that were behind the pits went off, poison-covered shrapnel, rusted weapons from the previous owners of the castle that Rugrat had cut apart with his mana blades, stabbed into the orcs, they let out screams as the poison took root.

  The formations were falling into chaos once again, the orcs wanted to charge forward but unlike the common orcs, these commanders had some more control.

  Rugrat watched forcing himself to breathe and drinking from the tube inside his helmet that was connected to his water bladder.

  Take your time, reorganize yourselves. Rugrat’s eyes fell to the orc bodies on the ground from the last group, they were showing pustules and their bodies were turning black and grey. Most wouldn’t see the green or red mist that was coming off of them.

  The poison created from the orc plague was transforming the bodies, incubating in them and spreading at a rapid rate.

  The orcs that had been hit with the shrapnel were looking bad as the poison spread through their bodies.

  They were pushed forward as they skirted around the spike pits.

  A trap formation went off, creating blades of stone they cut out like a blender, slicing through the orc’s legs. Other orcs pushed around them, avoiding where they fello the ground as orcs moved around, steam spikes shot out and speared orcs some passing through two orcs before they lost their momentum.

  More shrapnel bombs went off and the shaman that was controlling the forward totem was killed.

  “Fire!” Storbon said.

  Erik fired so fast it was as if his rifle were automatic while he cast Unhallowed Ground; the red and black circle lashed out at the orcs in its area of effect draining their life force and leaving deep wounds on their bodies. Yuli and Gilly shot spears out of the tunnel walls, floor, and ceiling. Yao Meng, Tian Cui, Storbon and Rugrat targeted the shamans with their poisoned rounds.

  Lucinda joined Erik as the two of them shot as many orcs in the legs as they could.

  George glowed with blue flames as he unleashed a ray of fire.

  Rugrat was shooting without feeling the recoil, following a shaman to the ground, till a tombstone appeared before he selected another target. He imbued his combat spell onto his bullet and fired, striking a shaman. Chains of adverse effects wrapped around them, the different colored chains and mana blades stabbed into them.

  He switched targets, seeing them drop he altered his aim and fired.

  Another shaman’s barrier snapped into place as Rugrat’s round struck the barrier, the chains and blades appeared, attacking the barrier.

  The spells that were inside the barrier wreaked havoc. Even the orc commanders that were more coordinated than their common orcs, were unable to take it some started to rush forward and others joined them, quickly leaving the mana barrier. />
  Yuli activated the buffing effect of the formation, increasing everyone’s power. Trap formations were activated, the attack spells killed those in their area of effect. Sometimes it killed a couple of orcs, others took out nearly a dozen sowing destruction among the orcs.

  Rugrat was moving and shooting at the same time, cartridge cases spat out the side of his rifle. His rifle was like a snake, he would switch from target to target, firing as fast as he could, the dust around him thrown up in excitement as his bolt slammed to the rear.

  “Reloading!” he smacked the old magazine out, grabbing one near at hand, slapping it in and hitting the bolt release.

  He fired on the orcs again.

  “Back in!”

  Tracers cut into the orc ranks as they ran through hell, the altered terrain slowing them and the traps reducing their numbers.

  The orcs reached the above ground obstacles like mid-calf tall small stone walls, and holses perfectly sized for someone to put their foot in accidentally. They yelled out in frustration, getting caught up in the obstacle.

  It turned into Yao Meng’s killing field as he fired his grenade launcher, the round landing among the stuck orcs, clearing the barbed wire patches.

  Storbon controlled the explosives and the traps, using them to the most effect, targeting the shamans.

  The orcs weren’t advancing in any way as some threw their weapons in frustration but were unable to hit the enemy.

  A group of shamans sent out attacks, hitting the trench where Lucinda was.

  “Motherfucker!” She yelled as she ducked down and ran.

  “You good?” Erik yelled.

  “Fine!”

  Everyone’s hearts calmed as they kept focused.

  The shamans were hitting back.

  Yao Meng let out a yell as he was struck and tossed backward.

  “Mana barrier! Erik!” Storbon yelled.

  Yuli activated the mana barrier, covering the defenders.

  “On it!” Erik stopped firing,. He turned and ran, the trench he was in turned but he jumped, clearing the trench and the obstacles between it and the next trecnh, he hit the ground rolling.

  He got back up to his feet, leaping between trenches. He slammed into the wall of a trench with a grunt. The stone cracked as he got up and moved to where Yao Meng was.