* * *
Duke Angus was walking the length of the wall with two squads of sol-diers, helping to seal any breach they came across. But without the towers, few breaches occurred. Ladders were swiftly thrown down or broken apart and ropes were swiftly cut. The dwarves wreaked havoc with their squish ramps, while General Ludko was having the time of his life.
After some time, Duke Angus noticed a large number of orcs were leaving the battlefield, heading north. Was the attack on the western wall a large diversion from the real attack on the northern wall? If so, it was costing them a lot in blood. But still, the orcs outnumbered them considerably, and if they were inside the city walls in the north, all those on the western wall could find their escape route cut off, or even worse, find themselves being attacked from behind as well as in front.
Figuring they could easily defend this wall with fewer troops, Duke Angus ordered Captain Hillsworth to lead two more companies to aid the northern gates, with instructions to send back a runner with word on how it goes. He also sent with them a couple of wizards. He had seen no magic thrown at them today and his wizards were causing mayhem to the attackers, but they could well be needed in the north, if that was where all the shamans were.
* * *
Master Pilk had certainly got them off to a good start, observed General Kehar. His men had quickly cut down the front three orc ranks as they were pulling themselves back up from the magical blast. But with the city gates destroyed, orcs continued to stream in. General Kehar had no idea how he was going to seal the gate once again, but that problem could wait until he had killed all the orcs that had come through them, if they could even do that much.
As his men cut through another rank, they were able to join up with what was remaining of the north gate defenders. He ordered a few men to see to any of them that were injured and get them to the infirmary. He had to find out what had happened here, and so he approached one of the soldiers that had been here to see it and was covered in blood, most of which was not his own.
Only when he neared the soldier did he realise who lay at his feet. Captain Isra was a promising young captain who had been given the duty of defending the north. Now he lay on the ground surrounded by the bodies of those who were put in his charge. He was not dead, General Kehar observed, but whether he would stay that way the general did not know. He looked in very bad shape. General Kehar finally recognised the soldier that was now bending down to aid the injured captain.
"Private Kade, what happened here?"
"Th... The Captain is dying, general. Please, get him some help," stammered Kade with a raspy voice. But even as he said it, General Kehar directed some men over to look at Captain Isra.
"The captain will be cared for, private, now tell me what happened to the gates, then get yourself to the infirmary," said General Kehar.
"I'm not seriously wounded, sir," replied Kade.
"It wasn't a suggestion, private Kade," said General Kehar firmly. "Now, what happened?" Kade told the general about the unusual battering ram that contained all the orc shamans and how it resisted the ice finger Master Tayer had thrown at it and about how it then opened up and all the shamans assaulted the gate simultaneously. General Kehar could scarcely believe how clever these orcs had been. Never before had they displayed this sort of intelligence, and now, it seemed he had grossly underestimated them. He sent Kade off to the infirmary, and once again joined the battle.
* * *
"Nice of you to finally join us, Master Pilk," said Master Tayer dryly as he sent a lightning bolt from his hand toward the large group of shaman below.
"You're still alive and therefore I am not late," stated Master Pilk in return. "Now what seems to be the problem?"
"The problem is thirty shamans against us three, now four wizards, and they are well shielded," replied Master Tayer, as he dodged a stream of fire rather than let it weaken his shielding.
"Well, I'm here now. Master Tayer, can you transport yourself back to the western wall and summon the other wizards here to help? I'll try to slow down their attacks."
"Gladly, Master Pilk. I shall return momentarily," said Master Tayer, and then he vanished.
Master Pilk looked down at the attacking shaman, who were somewhat spread out, but still close enough together for him to attempt a spell. He focused on the centre of the group and began casting. Once he had finished, a swirling fog appeared in front of the central shaman, small at first, but grew rapidly in all directions. Before too long, the dense fog covered the entire group and still continued to grow. So dense was the fog that the wizards on the wall could no longer see the orc magic users, meaning the shaman also wouldn't be able to see them.
To the other two wizards, Pilk quickly said, "Move along to a new posi-tion. The shaman won't know where to send their attacks." Then, not waiting to see if they obeyed him, he began casting another spell. Moments later a huge magical net appeared over the position Pilk had last seen the shaman. It dropped into the fog, and Master Pilk willed it to tighten up, bringing anything underneath it to the one position. Just then, Master Tayer returned next to him.
"The wizards are on their way," he stated the moment he appeared, then looking down at the dense fog. "Clever, Master Pilk. Only, how do we know where they are now?"
"I dropped a magical net over the area. It will drag any in its grasp to the centre of that fog," replied Master Pilk, as an ice bolt shot passed the two wizards. "Now we need to move and then concentrate all our efforts on that one spot." Master Pilk pointed to the centre of the fog. The two wizards quickly moved further along the wall and began to send their most powerful spells into the fog, as did the other two wizards who had moved along the wall in the opposite direction to Masters Pilk and Tayer.
When the fog finally cleared, it revealed ten dead shamans at its centre, and a good deal of other shamans looking very shaky. Some had avoided the net and once again started throwing spells of all descriptions at the wizards on the wall. However, they were the minority, and the shamans who were caught by the net and not killed must have used all of their magic to keep themselves alive for now they began to run away from the wall in full retreat.
"That leaves twelve against four now, Master Tayer," commented Master Pilk smugly.
"Very clever, Master Pilk. I notice your power has grown considerably of late. However, I don't know about you, but I have very little magic left now, as I'm sure is the case with the other two. We expended a lot of power before you arrived."
"I understand. Feel free to leave when you must. I can hold them until the others arrive, I'm sure."
Master Tayer acknowledged Pilk's comment with a nod and began to cast another spell as Master Pilk shouted the same instructions to the two wizards further down the wall. A short time later, Master Pilk found himself alone on the wall facing eleven shamans, with Master Tayer blinking out of sight, and the other two exiting through a magic gate. He began to wonder if he had enough mana to hold them off until the others arrived, but he knew he must at least try.
* * *
Not only orcs had come through the battered northern gate, but also ogres. Whilst they weren't the brightest creature on Ka'ton, in fact they were possibly the dumbest, they were big, and extremely strong and held very little love for humans. In a battle rage they were very hard to stop. Knowing this all too well, General Kehar hesitated slightly when he came across this ogre among the crowded battlefield. That hesitation almost cost him his life as the ogre's huge club swung down at him. The general dived to the side at the last minute, saving his life, but putting him in a very vulnerable position. An orc's spear jabbed the ground near his ribs as he went into a roll, and an axe grazed his shoulder as he rolled back the other way. He had to gain his feet again or he would die here and now.
He kicked an orcs knee side on with enough force to bring the crea-ture crashing down, as he stabbed the other in the thigh, buying him just enough time to regain his feet, having to dodge another swing of the large club as he did so.
But he was back up and still in one piece, with one orc down with a possible broken leg, while the other was losing a lot of blood from his wounded thigh. The ogre, however, was uninjured and furious with the elusive human which became evident to General Kehar as the beast charged him.
Not wishing to go to ground again in case he wasn't so lucky next time, General Kehar took a large step to the side and positioned his sword so that the ogre received a nice deep gash in his side as he thundered by. The ensuing roar shook the ground as the ogre quickly spun and swung his club to ward off the human. But General Kehar wasn't there. An unlucky orc was there instead and almost lost his head as the club connected square on to the side of his face, killing him instantly.
Instead of pursuing the enraged monster, General Kehar had taken a step back. Now that the ogre was off balance from the massive swing, he charged in and sunk his sword deep into the side of the ogre's ribs. The ogre jerked and shook violently, which ripped the sword from General Kehar's grasp. The ogre threw his club around violently, hitting only orcs as the defenders gave the large dying creature plenty of room. The ogre's death throes seemed to take forever to the watching general, but in reality probably only lasted seconds, before it finally lay still on the ground with his sword still protruding from its side.
Seeing the unarmed human, an orc charged toward him, axe high up over his head, ready to slice him in half from head to toe. General Kehar quickly but calmly pulled a knife from his boot and threw it at the charging orc's exposed neck. From that range he couldn't miss, and he didn't. The knife dug deep into the orc's neck and he collapsed mid stride, General Kehar taking a step to the side to avoid being knocked over by the falling orc. "Stupid orcs," he said as he retrieved his knife and his long sword from the corpses.
* * *
Nearly out of mana, but facing only 8 shamans now, as two had left the fight, no doubt exhausting their spells, and the other dead, Master Pilk was extremely happy to see the other wizards arrive. Leaving those to deal with the shamans, and taking the visiting illusionist wizard with him, Master Pilk stepped through the gate he had just summoned, exiting on a rooftop back a distance into the city. Pointing to the shattered gate, Master Pilk said to the illusionist, "Can you replace that gate with a realistic illusion?"
"I can," replied Master Hecklar, "but they'll be able to walk right through it."
"They're only orcs. They won't realise that straight away, and it may buy our soldiers some time to clear the city."
"But the entrance is crowded with orcs. They'll realise instantly that they can walk through it," argued Master Hecklar.
"Leave the crowding problem to me," replied Master Pilk as he lapsed into spell casting. A moment later stone spikes shot up out of the ground all around the gate opening. The spikes came up in large groups, seemingly at random, before returning to the ground as if they had never been there, only to pop up again in another spot. Orcs started to scatter, most of them running away from the city.
Master Hecklar wasted no time at all in casting his illusion spell, and once again Arthea had large wooden gates on its northern wall. As the orcs noticed it, confused expressions showed on their faces and they started looking to their leaders, who looked just as confused. Eventually one of them came up with the bright idea of once again using the battering ram, and started to organise a group of orcs and ogres around it and started pushing.
* * *
General Kehar was battered and exhausted as were all the soldiers that had grouped around him, trying to push the orcs back out the city gates. They were making progress, but were tiring quickly while they were fighting an enemy yet to lift a weapon. They were also much reduced in number. General Kehar had a sickening realisation that they were not going to succeed here. They would all be killed and the orcs would enter the city unhindered. And what would that mean for those soldiers on the western wall? He hadn't considered that until now. If they failed, it would doom all those fighting on that wall. Their retreat would be cut off, and they would quickly find themselves fighting on two fronts.
He was just about to order a nearby soldier to report to Duke Angus and ask for some more support when he heard the ruckus up ahead. The orc he was fighting became temporarily distracted by it and found General Kehar's sword through his heart as payment for his lost focus. After buying himself a quick breather, General Kehar looked ahead to see what had the orc's attention.
The orcs were running in all directions around the opening where the gates had once hung and it didn't take long for him to notice why. Spikes were springing up from the ground without warning, killing any orc who happened to be in the area. The general knew this had to be the work of one of the wizards, most likely Master Pilk, but he got quite a shock a moment later when the city gates appeared once more, seemingly out of nowhere.
His heart lifted as he realised they may yet be able to clear the city. With that thought in his mind, he spurred on his soldiers with a huge battle cry. A few moments later, his confidence grew even more as he noticed Captain Hillsworth charging the orcs at the head of two hundred men. That was right before a crudely made sword plunged through his chest.
* * *
It happened so quick, Captain Hillsworth didn't even have time to shout a warning. As the orc retracted his sword, General Kehar collapsed to the ground. The evil grin on the orc's face made the captain sick, and even when he saw the soldier next to General Kehar run the orc through, it didn't cure that sickness. He wanted to be the one to kill that orc, to avenge his friend, but now he couldn't. He knew it was a selfish attitude as General Kehar was much loved by all the men, and every soldier on this battlefield would want to avenge his death.
Bringing his attention back to the battlefield, Captain Hillsworth found himself very confused. Hundreds of orcs were within the city walls, and hundreds of corpses lay on the ground before him, mostly orc, but with a good many human mixed in there as well. Yet the city gates still seemed to be intact; not only intact, but totally undamaged. Where did these orcs come from?
He came upon the orcs in a fury, imagining each one was responsible for the great general's demise. Wielding two long swords, one of which held an enchantment to enhance the speed of the wielder, Captain Hillsworth had the first orc dead on the ground before his soldiers caught up with him. Blocking a clumsy thrust of a spear from the next orc in line, he spun a full circle and stabbed the orc in the back with his left hand blade.
Now in the thick of the orcish ranks, he stabbed to his right, then quickly back to his left, dodging the attacks from the orc in front of him, as orcs on both sides of him dropped to the ground. The one in front died soon after. Killing two more orcs after that in quick succession, Captain Hillsworth's earlier question was finally answered. An orcish made battering ram sped through the city gate, and yet the gate remained intact. Only then did the captain notice the shattered remnants of the city gates scattered on the ground further ahead.
An illusion, it had to be, and he knew exactly which wizard would have been responsible for it. The illusion had been effective, though, as now a huge gap existed between the orcs inside the city, and those without. Not to mention that the battering ram was now rolling over the top of the orcs, and those that were pushing it were falling over as they expected a jarring impact. Also, as orcs got distracted by the strange happenings behind them, they became easy kills and Captain Hillsworth and his men made them pay the price. Buying himself some room, he sent one of his men back to the duke to report and told him to assemble two squads of pikeman and have them sent back. Then he re-joined the ranks of his soldiers and started pushing the orcs back.
Chapter 13
Desperate Measures
"Have you heard how Captain Isra is?" asked the young man that Cressida was tending to.
"I don't know who Captain Isra is, I'm sorry. Now just be still and let me worry about your wounds," replied Cressida.
"But, but I must know," replied Kade.
"Fine. Vik, run and see what you c
an find out about this Captain Isra," said Cressida turning to the boy. "Now, will you hold still," Cressida stated firmly more than asked. The soldier had sustained many superficial wounds and a few not so superficial ones and kept insisting that he was all right and that she should be treating those that are worse off like Captain Isra. It was true that none of his wounds were life threatening but the man was still in a bad way and needed treatment. Due to the orders that had been given to all the clerics, Cressida knew she wasn't to use up any of her magic on him. This required a fair amount more time that she was sure would be better spent on healing others, but she understood why the order was given. The clerics couldn't save them all, as much as they would like to.
"So, this captain is a good friend of yours?" asked Cressida. Even before she got a strange look from the soldier she knew it was a stupid question.
"I was in his command. I was almost beside him when he went down," started Kade haltingly, staring off into the distance as if he was reliving it in his mind. "I could have saved him. If I had have killed those orcs near me a little quicker. But as I got to him, an orc stabbed him in the side. I killed the orc a split second later, but the damage was already done."
The Gate - A New Breed of Orc (The Gate Series Book 1) Page 29
