IX
"What happened?"
"We have joined the battle," Dainis said smugly, turning on Ruslan as the disfigured tracker joined him. Only a few dozen yards ahead, the war chief's vanguard force had slammed into the Bloody Fist's advance, stopping the enemy tribe dead in its tracks. Caught on a rocky formation in the middle of the forest, the human refugees that Ruslan had wanted to engage the enemy first were scrambling for cover, dodging stray javelins or firing down at any orc that tried to take the high ground from them. Dainis hefted his huge hammer over his shoulder, ready to join his troops in battle. "Now we will crush them," the war chief predicted, eager to enter combat himself.
"I gave specific orders not to attack until the human s were dead!" Ruslan shouted, grabbing Dainis by the arm. The war chief whirled back on Oleksandr's brother, shaking free of Ruslan's grip and drawing his maul back to strike his antagonist.
"They attacked us!" the war chief snarled, advancing a step on Ruslan as the tracker brought his double axe to bear. "My orcs will not run from a human, no matter what you say!"
"Your orcs have cost us the element of surprise!" Ruslan shouted furiously, refusing to back down from the war chief. "Oleksandr and Vlastimir have not even arrived with the rest of our troops! We could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers before they reach us!"
"Enough!" Dainis bellowed. "I am the war chief! Not you! And I say we join battle now!"
"It would appear that we have already joined the battle," a new voice said, interrupting the brewing fight. Ruslan and Dainis turned to the speaker, their weapons dropping slightly as Oleksandr and Vlastimir joined the pair. Behind the two leaders, the main force of the Cruel Blades swarmed forward to meet the Bloody Fist tribe, but the chieftain's attention was focused on his two belligerent subordinates. "Imagine my surprise to find two of my most capable leaders on the verge of killing each other."
"He sprang my trap too early!" Ruslan snapped furiously, pointing with his axe to Dainis.
"He would have us hide from humans!" Dainis countered, equally incensed.
"Regardless, now is not the time to fight with each other," Oleksandr said, his voice growing stern as he pointed to the battle raging only a dozen yards away. The chieftain's voice rose as he continued, until he was practically screaming at his subordinates. "Would you have the Bloody Fist see us kill our own leaders in the very midst of battle? You have both dishonored me and the tribe!"
Ruslan and Dainis fell silent under their chieftain's wrath. Oleksandr paused for a moment, his rage at his belligerent underlings holding his face in a grotesque snarl.
"It seems the humans have worked in our favor," Vlastimir put in, ignoring the others in favor of appraising the battlefield. Oleksandr, Ruslan, and Dainis followed the warrior's line of sight to the rocks where the refugees had taken sanctuary. "They engaged Libor's skirmishers for us, then took the high ground from them."
"The humans are of no concern to us," Oleksandr said, irritated by the constant references to the weaklings that had been caught in the battle. "If they are still alive after we have defeated Libor, then we will deal with them, but our fight is with the Bloody Fist. Let Libor try to take the rocks from them if he wants."
Oleksandr turned without another word, storming back to the front line to take command of his troops. Dainis and Ruslan exchanged cold glares, but Vlastimir interrupted the pair before they could speak.
"Attend to your orcs," Vlastimir ordered sternly. "We have a war to fight."
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"Why are we attacking humans?"
"They appeared in front of us," Dobroslav explained quickly, taking an unconscious step back with Ondrej's furious inquiry. "We thought we would be able to finish them quickly-"
"Your stupidity with these humans has cost us the element of surprise twice!" Ondrej shouted, backing the slightly smaller Dobroslav into a tree. With no place to run, Dobroslav could do little more than flinch as Libor's war chief grabbed him by the throat. "You have cost good orcs their lives and put our victory in doubt!"
"But we drove them back into the Cruel Blades, exposing them too!" Dobroslav pointed out, trying to dispel some of Ondrej's wrath. "They also lost the element of surprise!"
"Pray that you prove yourself to the One Eye this day," Ondrej snarled, leaning in close to Dobroslav's face. "Or you will face Predrag."
Dobroslav nodded anxiously, his face growing ashen at the thought of being turned over to the old priest. Without another word the orc turned and raced back into the battle, letting out a piercing war cry as he slammed into the Cruel Blade vanguard. Ondrej watched him for a moment, almost hoping that the incompetent scout leader's head would be taken from his shoulders, but then the war chief turned back to find Libor among the frenzied orcs pushing forward to the battle.
The Bloody Fist's chieftain was, as Ondrej expected, just behind the advancing front lines, already directing his orcs and receiving reports from all along the battle line. Pushing through the throngs of barbarians, the war chief made his way to his leader's side, joining him just as a new wave of Cruel Blade orcs tried to push the lines back to the north.
"Have we gained the eastern flank?" Libor demanded, turning to his aide as the war chief reached him.
"The humans have taken it," Ondrej replied, unable to keep the disgust from his voice.
"What humans?" Libor asked furiously. "There are no humans in this battle!"
"Oleksandr pushed a displaced village north, into our ranks," Ondrej explained. "Dobroslav's skirmishers chased them back and pinned them on a rock formation at the eastern end of the line."
"We are fighting orcs, not humans!" Libor bellowed. The explosive outburst nearly threw Ondrej back, but the war chief held his ground in the face of Libor's rage. "I want no more discussion of humans! Take the eastern flank, or we will be destroyed!"
"We can circle around the humans, and let them keep the high ground," Ondrej surmised, studying the battle to the east. Already Oleksandr's troops were attempting the same move, largely ignoring the humans atop the rock formation in their hurry to outflank the Bloody Fist. "But it will not be easy. Oleksandr's orcs have the momentum.
"Then take the momentum from them!" Libor shouted. "Don't let them outflank us!"
"As you wish," Ondrej said, bowing slightly. As the war chief hurried back to the eastern flank, Libor turned back to the orcs still arriving on the battlefield.
"Predrag!" the chieftain shouted, seeing the old priest already heading in his direction. Predrag moved easily through the crowds, as the orcs shifted constantly to allow their spiritual leader to the forefront. As Predrag reached him, Libor bowed his head slightly.
"What troubles you?" Predrag inquired, his one good eye already wandering to the wild melee. The Bloody Fist's warriors were once again driving their foes south, but it was a temporary push at best.
"The humans have cost us our advantage and Oleksandr is beginning to turn our flank," Libor informed the old priest quickly. "Does the One Eye still favor us?"
"Who gains the One Eye's favor remains to be seen," Predrag said, giving his full attention to the chieftain. "We must fight bravely to gain his full vision."
"Our flank is being turned!" Libor repeated, pointing to the east. "Our bravery alone will not carry us if they outflank us!"
"Then I will see to it that they do not turn your flank," Predrag said evenly. Without another word, the old priest turned away from Libor, striding purposefully to the east.
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"Get back from the side!"
Neuville reacted only just in time, grabbing a young boy's shirt and hauling him away from the edge of the rocks before a half dozen javelins clattered across the stone. All around the small formation, the two tribes of frenzied orcs rushed headlong into battle, throwing themselves at each other with no regard for their own safety. Even Neuville, who had seen firsthand the suicidal bravery and insane bloodlust of the mountain orcs many times in the past, was momentarily taken aback by the sheer ferocity of both tribes. On one side, Oleksandr's Cruel Blades were spurred on by their hunger, while religious fervor fueled the Bloody Fist to more and more brutal counters. Caught in the middle of it all, the ranger could only be thankful that the orcs had, for the moment, ignored the small band of humans in their hurry to slaughter each other. Whenever one tribe began to climb the rocks, a lethal volley of javelins from the other tribe would devastate the climbers and force what few survived back to the ground. Only a handful of orcs had even come close to reaching the top, and those that did had met up with Neuville's keen double axe or Thierry and Chessa's precise arrows. As long as the battle continued to rage on the ground, the humans would be relatively safe.
Of course, relatively safe was turning out to be extremely dangerous.
Neuville rushed along the edge of the rocks again, chopping down with his axe as another barbarian managed to evade his foes' javelins and find the top of the formation. The warrior had only just pulled himself onto the top when the ranger struck, shearing off a large chunk of the intruder's skull and pitching him back into the chaos at the base of the rocks. Already moving to dodge a pair of javelins cast up out of the battle, Neuville barely took notice of the fact that his last kill had been a full blooded human bearing the ritual tattoos of the Cruel Blade orcs.
"Neuville!" Thierry shouted, keeping as low as he could while rushing across the rocks. Neuville turned to the younger ranger, dropping quickly to his chest as a flurry of javelins, arrows, and even a barrage of thrown rocks arced over the rocks. A quick, high pitched screech of pain issued from the mass of refugees huddled in the center of the rocks, but Neuville could do little more then ask Pelor for a bit of good fortune as his ally joined him. "I'm almost out of arrows," Thierry reported. "So's Irina. Chessa has maybe a dozen or so left. You have any bright ideas?"
"Switch to hand weapons," Neuville suggested grimly.
"I was hoping you'd have a better idea," Thierry said, forcing a smile to his exhausted features.
"Well, can you fly?" Neuville asked, sounding almost serious. Thierry paused for only a moment before breaking down into laughter.
"I can't believe this," the younger ranger said, reigning in his mirth. "We're about to die, and you finally come up with a sense of humor!"
"Save the arrows," Neuville said, giving his joke only the faintest smile before continuing, "but kill whoever reaches the top. Even if they're human."
"I saw them," Thierry said, his mood darkening with the mention of human barbarians fighting alongside the orcs. "Not with the Bloody Fist, but with the Cruel Blades." The younger ranger paused for a moment, glancing back to Irina, then continued. "I'll push Irina back with the others. Chessa might be able to help, but at least they seem more intent on killing each other for the moment."
"Keep at it," Neuville said, hefting his double axe and beginning to turn back to the northern end of the rocks.
"Hey Neuville," Thierry called out. The older ranger turned back. "Good luck."
"You too," Neuville said. The two rangers split up again, Neuville taking the north end while Thierry hurried to the south side. The younger ranger had only just sent Irina back to the huddled refugees when a terrible grinding noise ripped through the din of the battle. Thierry tumbled forward as the ground beneath him gave way, falling on top of Irina and nearly driving the pair through the terrified villagers, but Neuville barely saw the pair. His eyes were focused instead on the rock formation itself, watching in stunned disbelief as a huge slab of stone tore free of the outcropping. Impossibly, the gigantic boulder ground its way into a roughly humanoid shape, even forming a pair of sparkling, crystalline eyes and a gaping, toothless maw.
"Pelor's sunny ass," Neuville whispered in disbelief, locking eyes with the enormous elemental.
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With the battle raging around him, Dainis had long since forgotten his argument with Ruslan. The Cruel Blades' war chief strode across the chaotic battle lines, refusing to stay in the rear to command his orcs. All around him the Cruel Blades were tearing into the Bloody Fist, slowly beginning to push Libor's tribe back even as they moved to outflank their enemy. Dainis himself roared forward into personal combat whenever he could, and his magnificent, blessed great hammer had already collected a sticky paste of blood and bone fragments along its rune covered head of black steel. Already the Bloody Fist orcs, veteran warriors incensed by Predrag's fiery tirades, were beginning to give the war chief a wide berth, and those few that came too close quickly fell to the powerful berserker's thunderous blows. As Dainis' orcs pushed forward, the Bloody Fist began to fall back before them, giving the war chief the room he needed to turn Libor's flank. As long as the hole remained open for him, Dainis would be able to easily turn Libor's flank and crush the Bloody Fist between his flankers and Oleksandr's main force. A dozen or more of Dainis' most trusted orcs rushed forward to exploit the breach in the Bloody Fists' defenses, charging along the border of the rock outcropping where the human cowered in fear.
The outcropping itself suddenly seemed to come to life, however, startling the Cruel Blade orcs into momentary paralysis. The barbarians stared up in shock as a monstrous elemental, at least as tall as the highest peaks of the outcropping, slowly turned on them with a loud, cavernous rumble. With a single swat of one huge, stony fist, the elemental hurled a pair of spear wielding orcs into the side of the rock formation.
"Don't just stand there!" Dainis ordered, raising his hammer and rushing forward. "Attack it!"
Dainis' order galvanized the warriors, but it was already too late. A pair of orcs threw themselves at the monster, but their blows had little effect on the stone that comprised the elemental's body. With slow, ponderous determination, the monster brought its fingerless fists together, slamming them down on one orc at its feet and driving the unfortunate warrior straight into the ground. Another orc lunged at it from the side, but the elemental simply appeared to sink partway into the ground and ram the barbarian into the rock formation in a single, devastating motion. From the top of the outcropping, a human tumbled to the forest floor, but the poor child could barely regain his feet before the elemental mindlessly crushed him beneath one fist. While his orcs had fought with fanatical bravery against the Bloody Fist, the unstoppable earthen juggernaut was quickly beginning to rout the Cruel Blades.
Without another thought Dainis shot forward, his thick braid trailing behind him like a pennant as he raised his maul and met the elemental head on. The war chief leapt up as he drove in on the thing, slamming his maul into the monster's lower chest with a thunderous crash. The elemental staggered beneath the mighty blow as stone cracked under the weapon's impact, but the alien creature quickly regained its composure. Dainis had only just landed on the ground when the elemental sank down and lowered what appeared to be its shoulder, blasting the wind from the war chief's lungs as it hurled him back into the Cruel Blade lines. Gasping for breath but refusing to show weakness to any enemy, Dainis surged back into the fray, this time remaining low and striking at one of the elemental's stubby legs. Once again the war chief's maul thundered home against the creature, this time causing it to lurch slightly as it nearly lost its balance. Still the earth elemental plodded onward, forcing even Dainis to back off a step as the thing marched slowly south.
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"The One Eye must favor us. Even the earth battles for the Bloody Fist!"
"Stop gawking and keep moving!" Ondrej shouted, turning back on the awe struck soldiers following him around the rocks. The war chief himself was elated with the earth elemental's appearance, no doubt summoned by Predrag, but the monster would not last forever. Already Dainis, the feared war chief of the Cruel Blades, had engaged the monster in combat, and each crushing blow the massive orc delivered sent cracks through the alien creature's stone body. Spurred on by their leader's relentless assault against the elemental, the rest of Dainis' men were rushing back to the fight. It was only a matter of time now before the elemental collapsed under the sheer number of orcs swarming around its legs and hacking at it with axes and hammers. "Turn the flank! Quickly!"
Ondrej's orcs rushed forward to take the eastern edge of the fight, but already it was too late. With a final, agonized rumble, the earth elemental slid sideways and crumbled to a heap of broken stones, shearing of even more of the rock formation with its death throes. The collapsing monster opened a new route for the Cruel Blades, and Dainis was quickly leading his own orcs through the breach. Ondrej's berserkers surged forward, screaming with bloodlust as they tried to cut around the Cruel Blades and take the flank. Ondrej himself took the lead, shrieking in rage and lifting his huge morningstar as he stormed forward.
The two forces met with a thunderous crash. Ondrej's morningstar slammed down on the first orc he met, literally driving his foe's skull down into his chest. The Bloody Fist war chief refused to slow as his rage overtook him, hurling his slain enemy aside with his shield to meet the next orc head on. That one lunged forward with a long, serrated spear, but Ondrej accepted a glancing blow from the weapon to close in and crushed that orc's skull with a powerful backhand stroke of his heavy weapon. All around him orcs from both sides ripped and tore at each other; hammers and maces smashed bones while spears ran through their enemies and exploded through the backs of the impaled. Swords and axes chopped through wooden shields and ripped through limbs with equal ease, but even the badly wounded orcs fought on with a stubborn refusal to die. Through it all Ondrej could not be stopped, until his momentum had carried the frenzied war chief to his goal.
Dainis surged out of the swirling melee as Ondrej turned on him, the Cruel Blade's gigantic maul slamming down on Ondrej's shield and smashing the wooden device to splinters. Ignoring his lost shield, the Bloody Fist war chief rammed forward with all his strength, dropping his shoulder into Dainis' gut where the elemental had struck him before. Dainis let out a roar of pain as fractured ribs finally broke beneath Ondrej's assault, but the pain only drove him to greater heights of frenzy. Dainis leapt back to his feet as Ondrej's morningstar crashed into the ground, shattering the rock where the Cruel Blade had fallen but missing its intended target. Dainis whirled quickly, bringing his maul around in a devastating arc that caught Ondrej in the side, hurling him through the battle until he slammed into the base of the formation. Gasping in pain, the Bloody Fist's war chief regained his senses in time to see Dainis racing forward, his maul raised to strike the killing blow.
Ondrej reacted in the nick of time, kicking off of the rock face and throwing himself forward at the last possible moment. With his momentum carrying him forward, Dainis could not react to the sudden move; his maul thundered into the rocks even as Ondrej shoved his morningstar forward like a spear into the Cruel Blade war chief's already damaged ribs. The two orcs tumbled back into the swirling melee, bouncing off of dead and dying warriors from both tribes as they kicked and clawed at each other. Dainis' maul dropped from his grasp, but the Cruel Blade simply forgot the weapon as he tried to rip Ondrej's morningstar free of the war chief's grip and bit down on the Bloody Fist's exposed neck. Screaming in pain, the Bloody Fist war chief ripped free of his opponent's teeth and tusks, giving up his morningstar as he clutched at the wound spurting blood from his neck.
"I kill you with your own weapon!" Dainis shouted, charging forward with Ondrej's morningstar raised over his head. The Bloody Fist war chief stumbled backwards, turning and ripping a pair of javelins free of an orcish corpse. The Cruel Blade slammed into Ondrej as he turned back, jamming his two hastily claimed weapons forward as a single spear just as Dainis reached him. The force with which Dainis brought the morningstar down shattered Ondrej's shoulder, but the attack ultimately did more damage to the Cruel Blade. Dainis fell backwards as he stared down, dropping Ondrej's weapon as he feebly clutched at the pair of javelins that had pierced his heart and lungs. The Bloody Fist war chief crawled forward to retrieve his weapon, but Ondrej was far too badly wounded to even attempt to capitalize on the advantage Dainis' death had created. Both the Bloody Fist and Cruel Blade tribes fell back the slightest bit, still locked in deadly battle but unwilling to try another flanking attempt against their enemies.
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With the furious battle taking place at the foot of the rocks, she had hoped the orcs would ignore the humans for the time being. Instead, both sides only seemed more intent on reaching the summit.
Chessa raced across the edge of the formation, driving down with her short sword through the exposed shoulder of an orc that had nearly reached the top. The village leader ripped her sword free in a spray of blood and dashed ahead, nearly colliding with Thierry as the younger ranger rushed towards the same orc that she had seen. With their supply of arrows nearly depleted and the battle only just beginning, the two archers had abandoned their bows in favor of hand weapons, trying to conserve their ammunition for when it would be most needed. Irina and Teodora had both been set to the task of gathering up any javelins that landed on the rocks or firing on orcs that got past the three defenders, while Neuville protected the entire northern edge of the formation himself. Chessa's entire body ached from the strain of the forced march through the night and the wild melee she was now caught in, but the woman refused to slow even the slightest bit in defense of her charges. Oleg alone was left to keep the refugees together, keeping them as close to the center of the formation as possible and using what little cover the rocks provided to protect them from the javelins and arrows streaking over the makeshift defenses. Still moving on nothing but adrenaline, Chessa sprinted again to the western edge of the rocks, launching a vicious kick that cracked solidly into a half orc raider's jaw and sent him flying off of the wall to crash into the battle below. Chessa herself cursed in pain as she hopped back from the edge, certain that she had broken her own toe with the force of her kick. Still the woman turned quickly, ignoring the flare of pain as she sought her next target.
The battle died down as suddenly as it had started. For the moment, no more orcs attempted to scale the rock formation, while the previously chaotic, bloody battle had subsided to more measured feints and careful skirmishes. Below her, a cadre of Bloody Fist orcs helped a badly wounded comrade away from the dying battle, while the Cruel Blades carried off the slain champion that had defeated the earth elemental for them. Chessa turned back to Neuville, thinking that the orcs might have focused on only one side, but the battered, bloody ranger had simply dropped to one knee in exhaustion as he leaned on his double axe. Slowly the village leader limped over to the man's side, looking down on the bodies scattered across the blood soaked forest floor. Neuville barely looked up as she came to his side.
"Is it over?" Chessa asked quietly, watching the Bloody Fist orcs retreat slightly. To the south, the Cruel Blades had similarly withdrawn, but neither side seemed ready to leave the battlefield. Neuville stood up slowly, considering the corpses littering the rocks, but a renewed series of war cries rose from both sides as the orcs regrouped and charged again.
"Not by a long shot," the ranger said, preparing to meet the next rush.