Their rear was clear for the moment as the orcs that had already passed over couldn’t get back to them due to the hole that was now in the ground. Gerard with his extra height soon caught sight of the direction they needed to go.
“Northwest,” he shouted as loud as possible, “to the forest.”
The leading dwarves responded and changed the direction of their shield push. Two lines of dwarves in front — with the front line holding their shields low and the second line holding them high — proved to be like a strong portable wall. Occasionally they’d make a small opening for the soldiers behind to jab through with sword or spear. In this way they were managing to cut a line through the orc ranks.
But the initial confusion didn’t last long and the orcs began to organise themselves. Orcs started attacking the rear of the formation forcing the men to turn and confront them whilst still trying to keep the formation tight. The flanks were heavily pressed as orcs tried to get around behind the shield wall.
Then the arrows started streaming from the wall.
* * *
O’tukka was appalled. What was the fierce one thinking? Looking at General Krak’too’s face, he could tell he was thinking the same thing. So much work went into capturing these dwarves and humans and the fierce one was simply using them as a single shot weapon — as fodder. Was this really worth the lives of the orcs they had lost in capturing this group?
As he watched on he realised that from the perspective of the orcs in this fort, this plan was pure genius. They hadn’t witnessed the heavy cost. All they could see was the five hundred captives below cutting their way through the enemy ranks. When General O’hark had given the order to fire arrows into the confused throng, General Krak’too had rightly queried this as they had all been ordered not to kill the dwarves and humans.
Gilkan’s response had O’tukka’s blood boiling as he said that they weren’t aiming for the dwarves and humans, but if they happen to get in the way of stray arrows then it’s their fault. He felt like killing both Gilkan and General O’hark on the spot as they laughed heartily at this comment. The Black Skull had always maintained a strong sense of honour, but he could see that changing.
He continued to watch the humans and dwarves battling below and admired their fighting spirit. They were sorely outnumbered and yet by working tightly together as one, they were making swift progress. All in all the barrage of arrows had actually helped them as they hampered the orcs attacking their rear, but a number of arrows had hit them as well. O’tukka wondered whether that was due to poor marksmanship or if it was simply opportunistic.
The fighting along the wall was minimal. The Red Axe had predictably formed magic gates along the battlement but they were soon closed up by their own shamans and despite his earlier comment, O’tukka had himself closed one that formed nearby. The worg riders that came through caused a small degree of chaos, but were eventually overcome. Between the arrow fire and the press of the dwarves and humans, the Red Axe were losing hundreds of orcs for very little gain. The grin on the fierce one’s face told O’tukka that he was well pleased with himself.
* * *
The shield wall continued to hold up. A few dwarves had fallen, but others were quick to take their place. The barrage of arrows from the wall had eased the pressure on their rear flank, but alerted Gerard to the fragility of the fierce one’s word — no doubt he justified the act in some way.
Gerard moved to the edge of the spearhead formation and started carving up any orc that came at him. Working along with Jeff, he occasionally crossed his blades over Jeff’s and dispatched each other’s combatant, a technique they had perfected years earlier. Jethro was also demonstrating the skills that had made him such a young squad leader as he wielded two long swords in a flurry of movement.
They were halfway to the trees, but had lost quite a few soldiers and were tiring fast. If the shield wall failed, they would be overwhelmed, Gerard knew. But all of a sudden the way started opening up. They continued to be pressured from behind and on the sides where the shield wall ended, but directly in front of them was an open path all the way to the forest.
It didn’t take Gerard long to figure out why. As he dispatched an orc, he glanced ahead and saw a fearsome sight indeed.
* * *
O’tukka couldn’t help but be impressed. The humans and dwarves fought so well side by side and their goal became obvious. If they could make it to the forest, they may be able to escape to freedom. This was the big weakness in Gilkan’s plan, thought O’tukka. Six of those humans had been fed an abundance of knowledge about the Black Skull tribe and if they were to break free here, that knowledge could be used against them.
When the way opened up, O’tukka initially thought the Red Skull had deciphered the plan and decided to let the humans and dwarves run free. But then the worg riders charged into the open pathway. He watched on with extreme interest.
The dwarves were quick to straighten up the shield wall so that it no longer had a point. The humans continued to hold firm on the sides and rear. Suddenly, the entire formation began to charge the worg riders like they were all connected by an invisible rope. O’tukka noticed a slight hesitation in some of the worg riders even from this distance.
Ten paces before they met the worg riders, the charging formation stopped dead. The dwarves in front dropped their shields hard against the dirt while the next row held theirs up high. This time they left gaps open all along the length of the shield wall and the next row — made up of dwarves and humans — angled spears through those openings.
The company of worg riders hit the wall hard. Worgs imbedded themselves into the spears while their riders were flung right over the wall where they were swiftly cut down by those behind it. Some worgs managed to jump the wall, but they were speared down in mid-flight. The trailing worgs tripped and skidded all over the fallen, tossing their riders in the chaos.
The dwarven shield wall held firm and began to push forwards once more, slaying the fallen riders and the furious beasts. A short time later, the entire company of worg riders had been slain.
“The prisoner’s will break free,” stated General Krak’too in annoyance.
“They are still surrounded by the enemy. The Red Axe won’t let them get away, and the chaos they have already caused has been worth it. They fight good, General Krak’too. You did very well to capture this many with so little loss. They are killing more than two to one even among that throng of enemies. The Red Axe will be down fifteen hundred soldiers or more without the loss of even one of our own. Surely you cannot deny the effectiveness of that?” said Gilkan turning to regard General Krak’too suspiciously.
O’tukka felt like mentioning the orcs that had been slain whilst capturing the humans and dwarves, but thought better of it. He had, perhaps, an inkling of a plan as to how he could benefit from this turn of events.
“Very wise plan, my fierce one, but will it work a second time?” Great Shaman O’tukka could see clearly that General Krak’too was not sincere about his compliment and by the warning expression on the fierce one’s face, he could tell that was also noticed by Gilkan.
“I don’t see why not,” growled the fierce one, “and if this battle continues to go well, I will double the troops under your command, general. I imagine you could bring me a great deal of captives with over a thousand warriors.” General Krak’too’s face softened and he bowed his head to the fierce one.
* * *
The last of the worg riders were dead but the throng of orcs started to press in again. Major Isak’s loud, clear command to charge was heeded by the remaining soldiers.
Gerard was near the front on the left flank, swinging his great sword furiously as he charged on. He hit very few orcs but managed to keep them from pressing in. The formation formed back into a spearhead shape again as those in the front and centre position came across less resistance than those on the sides.
The furious charge which was triggered by Jerzy’s quick thinking had
succeeded in dramatically reducing the distance to the forest and, hopefully, freedom. Relatively few enemies were in front of them but their own numbers had almost halved. The orcs around them were a lot more reluctant to charge in at them, for which Gerard was very thankful as his arms were getting heavier.
A short time later they had a clear run all the way to tree line. The orcs pursued them for fifty paces or so before giving up the chase. A shout from Major Isak for a shield wall on their right flank told Gerard why this was. The shield wall was half in place before the volley of arrows came in. Gerard’s left leg exploded in agony as an arrow sunk in deep. Soldiers collapsed all around him as the arrows hit their mark. Jeff had somehow avoided all the arrows, but Jethro was not so lucky. A quick check told Gerard that the three arrows that had stuck into his chest and stomach had been fatal.
The world seemed to slow down all around Gerard. He hadn’t known Jethro all that long, but they had shared so much in that time. Gerard could still picture vividly the moment he had found his wife and daughter slain by orcs. It was Jethro that managed to get him moving again after that and seek revenge on those that had been responsible.
That action soon brought them to the battle where they had been captured, but Gerard had once again witnessed the bravery of that young lad as he turned and confronted the pursuing orcs to help buy time for others to escape.
Then they had been confined to a cell together as they taught and were instructed by their captors. Jethro had helped him on numerous times in this setting to come to terms with the death of his wife and daughter and to not blame himself for that outcome.
Now they were no more than one hundred paces from possible freedom and this brave young lad had been struck down. Where was the justice in this? Was this some cruel joke of the gods? Gerard found it hard to breathe all of a sudden as he swallowed against an unmoving lump in his throat.
It took him a moment to realise that Jeff had grabbed him around the shoulders and was prodding him onwards. Then he heard the shouts of someone he assumed was Jerzy, to run on. Gerard couldn’t put any weight on his left leg and was relying heavily on Jeff to keep him moving.
A quick glance to his right showed him that the remaining dwarves had a mobile shield wall in place. As he watched these brave dwarves, a fireball engulfed them; a shaman was obviously nearby. Gerard felt the heat of it from where he was and expected to see all those dwarves dead as the flames cleared. But he had forgotten about their resistance to magic. The flames did not take a hold on them, and although it had knocked some of them off their feet, they were all quick to regain them and re-form their shield wall. Those dwarves surely were amazing thought Gerard as he hobbled on.
He found himself in the shadows of the large trees a short time later and Jeff propped him up against a solid tree trunk. He scored the shaft of the arrow about a hand’s width out with the sharp edge of his sword and snapped it off. The pain thundered through Gerard again forcing him to growl out loud.
“Steady on, big fella. That should stop you bumping it too much for now, but I’m sorry to say the fight’s not over yet.” Jeff pointed back the way they had come and Gerard noticed a great number of orcs charging their position.
“We can’t outrun them. We have to find a good defensible location and quickly,” said Gerard. “Where’s Major Isak?”
“He’s further ahead. C’mon, let’s catch up to him,” replied Jeff.
With the motivation of the charging orcs and the support of the trees all around him, Gerard found that he was able to move along quite quickly without too much pain.
Following the shouts of Major Isak, they were able to find him a short time later. Gerard was about to ask him about finding a place to make their stand, but was cut short by a loud horn blowing in the distance. The pounding footfalls of the pursuing orcs came to a halt and soon after those noises began to recede until the forest was quiet with the exception of the loud breathing from the exhausted survivors. Gerard dropped to his knees.
Scouting
Decker had led Mistress Cali around the fort to the northwest corner. He had remained well back from the fort as she was not all that adept at travelling quietly through the grove. He cringed many times as she crunched down on a stick or a bunch of dried leaves. He paused often to listen for any signs that their presence had been detected and so it had been very slow going through the grove.
Decker looked at the height and construction of the wall and held little doubt that he could scale it in a heartbeat. The sharpened angle logs were a hindrance to a charging army, but for Decker they made it a simple climb. However, he held concerns about Mistress Cali making it up without help or without making a lot of noise.
She was a short, petite woman who had bouts of clumsiness. Her shiny black hair was tied up into two unusually shaped buns resembling the shape of a protea flower. She had intelligent blue eyes and a very pleasant smile. While she carried a dagger on her belt along with her many wands and potions, Decker imagined she was just as likely to injure herself with that weapon before getting near an enemy.
“I know a simple levitating spell,” whispered Mistress Cali, obviously recognising his concerns, “It doesn’t last long, but it should be enough to get me to the top of the wall.” Decker nodded his head and gave her a smile.
He kept his eye on the wall and watched the slow, deliberate march of the perimeter guard. Decker observed that the guard on the walls had been doubled. Two orcs resided in the corner tower, while another two paced the perimeter with a staggered march. Decker wondered at this.
This meant they would have less time to get over the wall and would have to be extra quiet in doing so. He explained this to Mistress Cali and told her to make them vanish as the two pacing orcs met in the centre of the wall. She nodded.
Decker felt a tingling sensation flow through him as the invisibility spell took hold; he could still see himself, but his view of the world around him seemed to be less tangible. As a ranger, he had his own type of magic provided by Zyneste, the goddess of nature, so he was no stranger to the sensations of magic. So when Mistress Cali started running, he did also.
Reaching the wall, he leapt high, placed his foot on top of an angled log and pushed himself up higher, landing softly on top of the platform. He had outpaced Mistress Cali by a great margin, so he had time to turn around and watch her approach.
As she neared, she began to float into the air. She was obviously using the forward motion of her run to propel her onward as she left the ground, but she had mistimed her spell. She was moving too fast for her levitation spell to give her the needed height. Decker wanted to look away to avoid witnessing the inevitable collision but found that he couldn’t.
Mistress Cali swung her legs around over her head, placed her hands on top of the platform beside him and gently pushed herself off. Surprise trundled through him. He turned around to follow her trajectory and was amazed to the point of immobility to see her land softly on her feet on the other side of the wall. She looked back at him with a cheeky grin and waved for him to join her. He shook his head and jumped down beside her, barely making a sound.
The Gate glowed eerily nearby. Remembering Mistress Cali’s warning about the length of her spell, Decker crept quietly forward so as to avoid alerting the orc guarding the gate. He readied his bow, nocked an arrow and stepped through it.
The shocked expression on the orc guard’s face made him realise that his invisibility did not transfer through the Gate as Mistress Cali suspected. The arrow in the orcs throat prevented him from sounding an alarm, but it would not be long before the body was noticed.
Once again feeling the tingling sensation through his body, alerted Decker to the fact that Mistress Cali had re-cast her spell. He started walking towards the fallen orc with a view to dragging the corpse to a less obvious location, but Mistress Cali held him back. She shook her head as he looked at her and gestured that they should move on.
They walked through the centre of the camp with a
ll haste and were well away from it when their invisibility wore off. Decker was quick to pick up the well-worn tracks and began following them at once.
A short time later he found some tracks that led off the main path and into the rocks on the side. Curious to find out why the orcs had diverted from the path, Decker followed them.
It wasn’t long before he discovered two orc corpses, both had vicious neck wounds. Decker scratched his head in confusion. What had killed these orcs? Had some of the captives escaped? If so, where were they now?
“What killed them?” asked Mistress Cali in a whisper, creeping up behind him.
“Their wounds look like those made from a sword, or dagger. That one died without much of a fight,” replied Decker pointing to the orc further down. “This one did fight judging by the scuff marks and this chipped rock, likely made by a downward chop of his axe.” Decker walked to the end looking for more signs of the combatants, but the solid rock left very little. Reaching the end, he discovered a small cubby and squeezed inside.
The light was poor, but the rocky floor was covered in a thick black powder which showed the footprints clearly. After some investigation he found three different boot prints, all similar in size. They aren’t wide enough for dwarven boots. They looked to be human boots of either small adults or perhaps teenagers. Not quite sure what to make of it all, Decker returned to the main path.
* * *
“They haven’t returned!” shouted Cressida without greeting. Master Pilk was in his small office in the Castle reading the books Grand Master Reibeck had loaned to him. He had been told his sister had come to see him, so asked the servant to show her in. “And I found Jaz’s pack missing.”
The Gate - An Ancient Connection Page 8
