Chapter 13: Battle For The Crossroads
Morning arrived and the camp was abuzz with activity. Every single orc, troll, undead and tauren were arming themselves for the coming struggle. Lines were formed and divisions separated from each other to do their duties. Even Jack and his friends reported to their divisions.
Slowly but steadily the army began to move. Front lines of riders and behind that the foot soldiers. Behind them more riders. Following those were the spell casters and artillery. In between the back riders and the artillery was the command division, constantly giving orders to adjust their heading.
Every single soldier was eager for battle and it was hard to keep some from charging forward as they got closer and closer to Crossroads.
They topped the last hill and before them lay Crossroads. Beyond the wooden walls of Crossroads lay fortified towers and in the middle stood a larger one that served as the main military building.
But they did not advance, instead Kor'el ordered a meeting as to determine the enemies weaknesses. He relied on the outsiders for knowledge of any possible strategy from the enemy. "I think it would be unwise to send in the whole force at one time. They might do the same to the army as they did to ThunderBluff." Nell explained.
"okay, we will send down the first wave of foot soldiers to lure them into using that spell. Then we cut down those spell casters with our own and bring in the cavalry. Artillery will set up on the hill and bombard the enemies position while the flying units will take down any left by the advance from the riders. Nobody attacks Crossroads directly besides the artillery, they have fortified their position and will cut down anybody coming to close to the walls." Kor'el gave the general battle plan. "Spell casters will continue to focus on enemy spell casters so they wont repeat their freezing trick. Is this clear to all of you?" He was met with agreeing shouts and every body left again to give the orders to their men.
"You are a general right? Why didn't you say anything?" Grisha asked Jack.
"Because it isn't a bad plan and. . ." He looked around to see if nobody was listening in. "Because where I come from strategy consists of bombing the enemy from orbit around the planet until only the strongest buildings remain. Then send in heavy armor like tanks and other heavy stuff to clean up the rest. Foot soldiers only really make a difference when inside buildings. See? I am used to very different tactics than you."
"Orbit?"
"Agh! Never mind." He waved at her as he walked to his position in the ranks.
The plan was put into motion. The first wave advanced down the hill and The Burning Blade reacted precisely as Nell had expected. The main group of an enemy sorcerers shot forth a wave of energy that left nothing moving in it's wake. The spell casters on the hill reacted as was expected of them. An explosion rocked the ground at the enemies position. Pieces of dirt and limbs went sailing through the air and landed on their brethren. A new spell, under guidance of Nell, woke up the first wave.
The first wave then retreated back to the relative safety of the camp. The catapults were ordered to fire at the enemies fortified position. Massive chunks of burning rock flew through the air at the enemy. They careful not to hit any civilian structures, they didn't want to stand victor of a smouldering pile of rocks. Those that sidestepped one explosion were caught in another. As the second volley of the catapults was launched the army advanced down the hill.
The Burning Blade's foot soldiers charged at the army and engaged them in combat. As the two sides crashed into one another bodies went flying and spheres of magic were blasted to and fro.
From behind the hill the sky riders lifted of and began their attack. Their attack was made all the more easy by the fact that no enemy air unit was present. At the very rear of the flyers was Magmaradon. Magmaradon dove down into the Burning Blades ranks, crushing several under his paws, and then blasted an almost liquid stream of fire at the enemies ranks like Nell could never hope to conjure. Dozens were killed in this single attack but retaliation was underway and the black dragon lifted of and began making passes over the enemy, shooting fire every time.
Warrick and Jack had agreed that Warrick would take the shotgun and that Jack would take his personal gun and the grenade launcher. As Jack launched a grenade he knew that there was no reason not to think they would end up the victor. But at what cost? Around him he saw bodies dropping, riddled with arrows or sliced by sword or axe. Already Jack was covered in blood and other people's organs. And the battle had only just started. The grenade impacted and send chunks of flesh flying. Shrapnel from the grenade caused more harm.
On his back he still carried the axe Jack had acquired from the centaur leader. But he only planned to use it as a last resort. He knew he had very little skill with it besides using brute strength. He loaded another grenade in the back and shot it at a demon commanding the Burning Blade around it. The grenade was well aimed and hit the chest. It penetrated the thick hide but did not blow yet. The demon touched the area and looked at the hole in bewilderment. Just as the demon decided to pull the strange object from it's chest the grenade exploded.
As Jack grinned at his work a troll looked at him as the troll suspected Jack had blown up the demon. The troll shrugged and then continued fighting.
A bolt of lightning arced through the sky and hit the defenders. Most remained unharmed by the spell but it still had the desired effect, the defenders faltered in their attacks and looked at the display while the attackers continued their effort. Many a Burning Blade ended up with cleaved of heads and cut of limbs.
As retaliation came a large bolt of magic the colour of shadow. As the bolt impacted it caused an explosion of massive proportion. The effects on those caught in the spell were no pretty. As those caught screamed their lungs out their skin began to dry out. Swellings started appearing everywhere on their bodies. The swellings burst and blood flowed freely down the pained bodies. They continued to scream as hard as they could until their lungs and throats began to fill up with blood. As most fell down, suffocating, the skin came loose and revealed the blackened muscles underneath. Any blood that came from the wounds now instantly dried and created crusts, both on the skin and inside the bodies. Not a single one of those hit survived.
As Magmaradon, guided by Palkor, came down on the responsible sorcerers, Jack saw Warrick staring at the display of dying men and woman. An arrow grazed Warrick arm but Warrick didn't even flinch. Jack ran over to Warrick and shook him hard. As the shaking stopped Warrick looked at Jack with glassy eyes. "They are all dead. . . Just like that. . . And in such a way. . ." Warrick's knees gave out but Jack kept him up with ease.
"Warrick! Look at me!" Warrick's eyes turned a bit more focused but soon turned glassy again. Jack let one hand loose and used that hand to smack Warrick over the face hard. As blood trickled down the edge of the mouth Warrick's eyes turned hard and focused.
"Don't you ever do that again! Especially in front of these!"
"You need to concentrate on the matter at hand! Not at those already dead! Concentrate on what you can do to save as many lives as possible!" Jack shouted in Warrick's ear.
Warrick's eyes now turned to an understanding look and with one more look at those already dead by the hellish spell he turned to the enemy. "I will stick close to you."
"You do that. Now come."
They ran across the field of battle. Underway they picked up the raptor. They were lending their aid where ever they could, but a lot of times their help was denied by those still caught up in animosities towards other races.
As the sound of the shotgun resounded the sky darkened and instantly clouded with black clouds. The clouds began to swirl, creating some malformed spinning motion like a bath had been unplugged. In the middle a green light began to glow. In that glow suddenly burst to life a meteor of sorts, only with green flame. A memory tingled in the back of Jack's mind as he looked up. The meteor came down in the attackers ranks. It blasted a crater and send many soldiers flying and falling to their deaths. Warrick looked at it with astonishments. But that quickly faded when something began to stir within the crater. The last bits of astonishment were replaced by plane fear as a massive figure rose from the crater.
"Impossible!" Was the only thing Warrick could utter as the figure looking like massive boulders piled on one another in the shape of a humanoid with green flames between the boulders rose to it's full height of more than a dozen feet. "I can still believe magic to be true, bit this?"
"It is real and it is going to damage if it isn't stopped.!" Jack responded quickly.
"And how are we going to stop a walking mountain surrounded by flame?"
"Leaf the pessimism to me okay?"
Jack knew this to be an infernal somehow. And he also knew they were VERY tough adversaries. Magmaradon blasted a stream of fire on it but it just shielded what apparently passed for the head and then swatted at the dragon, missing by a few inches. Jack loaded a grenade in the launcher and aimed carefully for the infernal. He pulled the trigger and the grenade went flying out of the barrel. It hit the infernal's chest. The explosion forced the infernal to stabilize itself before it would fall backwards. When it did so it turned the rock that passed for the head in Jack's direction. "And this is the point where we run." Jack said unnecessarily.
The infernal began closing the distance between them, not caring if it barged into one of his allies or one of his enemies. Every time the 'feet' came down the ground shook. Several brave soldiers dared challenge the infernal, but it just batted them away, burning them and cracking ribs. The infernal was momentarily distracted by a spell caster that dared fling a powerful spel at it. It changed course and started after the hapless spell caster.
In front of Jack, Warrick and the raptor sat Grisha. She was swaying back and forth and didn't seem to notice the infernal that was now heading their way again. "Grisha! Grisha! Get up!" Warrick insisted.
Jack turned and loaded another grenade while Grisha responded. "Why? Because of that thing? Maybe it is best if all died. We just keep waging war. . ."
"What are you saying? Have you lost your mind." Warrick said as Jack launched the grenade with minimal success. He reloaded but doubted it would help any.
"My mind? No. I lost my family in Crossroads! My whole family!"
"We don't have time for you feeling sorry Grisha! Now get up!" Jack interjected. "Get up or I'll carry you out of here!" Grisha stayed where she was and stared of into the distance. "Agh for. . ." He grabbed her by the waist and slung her over his shoulder. Grisha made no attempt to resist and let herself be carried away. "Here, us it." Jack gave the grenade launcher to Warrick.
Warrick took it and checked for a grenade just to be sure. As Jack began to walk away Warrick took aim and fired then turned and ran as well. Crashing noises assaulted their ears and they looked back. The fire that engulfed the infernal normally had been extinguished and the pieces of rock were crashing down. Apparently without knowing Warrick had hit the head. "Cool!"
"I call that sheer luck, warrick, not cool." Jack said. He put Grisha down and looked her in the eyes. "Hello? Anybody home?"
"Let me Jack. I don't want you smacking her as well." He pushed Jack aside and gently shook Grisha's shoulders. "Grisha! Snap out of it! There is nothing you can do for your family if they are really dead. But you don't know if they really are." The front line suddenly shifted and the enemy began to close in with them. Jack left the two and the raptor followed close behind.
Grisha is even worse than I was a few minutes ago. Warrick thought to himself. But I don't have family here. He added to himself. "I know it must be hard to live with that kind of uncertainty, but believe me, sitting here like this wont help a thing." He studied her eyes and found them beautiful. But also extremely worried and still glassy. "Have you heard what I just said?"
Grisha's flickered to his and their gazes met briefly, then she turned her gaze earthward again. "Yes, I heard you, and I appreciate what you are trying to do here but. . ." She could not go any farther. "I. . ." She paused again.
"What would your parents say if they saw you like this?"
That brought some steel back to her eyes. "You are right! What would my parents think if they saw me like this? It wont help if I just keep sitting here." She stood up and brandished the axe. She briefly threw a thanking glance at Warrick and then charged back into the fray.
Nell was standing on top of the hill, surrounded but a great amount of fellow sorcerers. All of them were flinging spell after spell behind the enemy's lines. Sometimes Nell worked together with his fellows, but mostly they chose to leaf him out of their spells. Below him he saw Jack rushing towards Warrick. He witnessed how Jack smacked Warrick across the face. He saw the infernal drop from the sky. This gave him a clue as to how much of the demons and their might had passed to his world without barely anyone noticing. He found it disturbing. To him it meant that this was barely the surface that they were scratching.
He was pleased to see the infernal getting struck to the head by an grenade and how it dropped down in many pieces. He saw Warrick convince Grisha and saw them charge into the fight together. It was good to know at least some of different races could tolerate each other.
Over the hours that passed Nell saw the horde soldiers grow more and more accustomed to the humans, they didn't keep an eye on them anymore. As the enemy's lines buckled the area around Jack seemed to become organised, while in other areas everybody was just walking in front of each other.
From his position on top of the hill he could see a large group of enemies break from their rear and circle around to attack The First Horde Army's right flank. He looked in Kor'el direction but saw him busy controlling other elements. He only knew one person in the vicinity adept at commanding troops, Jack. He ran down and demanded Jack's attention. "Jack! Over here! Come to me!"
Jack ran to him, slightly annoyed that anyone would intervene when all was going well. "What is it!" Nell just pointed over the ranks of soldiers combating each other to the group that was circling around. "I see." Jack directed his gaze skywards. "Palkor! Get here! Now!"
Jack's loud voice was carried over the wind and Palkor heard it. He halted Magmaradon in the air and searched the ground for Jack. When he found what he was looking for he descended gently. "You don't really have the right to command anybody. . . but okay I am listening."
Jack explained his plan and Palkor took of again. Jack barged back down with Nell in tow and searched for his companions. He found the three he was looking for and gathered a few others and moved to intercept the circling group. All in all he now had command of one and a half dozen men that were willing to listen to a human, excluding himself. The intercepting part went flawless but they were outnumbered ten to one.
"Over there! You fill that gap!" Jack shouted at the orcs and other horde races. A line was holding back the assaulting group and would be only a matter of time before the line would buckle. He saw another gap appear in the line and saw nobody to fill it. He decided to do it himself. Putting away the gun and grenade launcher and wielding the axe he ran to fill the gap. One enemy came through the gap before it could be closed, but he died instantly as a stream of fire conjured by Nell reduced him to black ash.
He sliced upward at the next enemy that dared come through. The axe cut through the flesh and bone with ease. The blade went all the way up and exited near the shoulder. The body dropped down, pumping blood from the wound. Another came in it's place, this one an undead. It surprised Jack how many different races had apparently been corrupted. So far he had seen orcs, humans, trolls, undead, very tall humans with pale skin and long pointy ears and even a few centaur. If the Burning Blade only corrupted a small amount of one species to join their cause it wouldn't be to bad, but they corrupted many species, and many times a small amount could end up as a big amount.
The undead fought with both skill and the demon induced rage, it made for quite a fight. Jack barely had any skill in use of an axe. He used the large axe as an shield, deflecting blow after blow, but never getting the chance to strike back. The undead grinned at him maliciously and the jaw seemed to come loose. Jack took the axe, that was meant to be used by two hands, in one hand, and with his free left hand he searched for his gun that was hanging in the chest holster.
He pulled the gun free, but in doing so didn't pay good attention to his adversary. With an ear piercing echoing cry the undead brought his sword down on Jack's chest. But to the surprise of both no flesh was pierced. The blade didn't even fully cut through the cloth. Jack was the first to realize what had saved him from a deadly blow. The harness contained pockets in which plates of armor could be kept. The plates were designed to let nothing pierce them.
Jack squeezed the trigger while the gun was aimed at the undead's head. The bullet ripped through the skull and shattered bone. Any brain matter that hadn't completely decayed yet now flew freely through the air. Surprisingly the undead didn't drop yet. Instead it took one more step back to stabilize it. Before he could any more another bullet struck it in the head. This time the force of the blow jerked the head backwards, which in turn caused the neck to snap. The sound send chills down Jack's spine. Greenish ichors and puss burst from the wound. The body finally dropped as their was nothing left that commanded it.
Relieved that the plating actually did it's job as it should Jack looked around. To his left he saw a tauren fall under the overwhelming might of four burning blade, horns chopped of and a great slach across the chest that let loose a river of blood. The line was buckling. He hoped his ace in the hole saw it to. And the ace did. Magmaradon dropped down right in the middle of the enemy's ranks, crushing a dozen. The tail went back and forth and slammed down on unsuspecting Burning Blade, crushing and pulverizing bones. In the direction away from the defending line a great stream of fire engulfed several more.
Those missed by the dragon now turned around and gazed at the dragon, momentarily all thoughts of combat had faded away. Which suited Jack just fine. "Push them hard!" He shouted above all noises of metal clashing on metal and leather. They did just that, within seconds the line had moved so that Magmaradon was no part of the line, instead of behind the enemy line.
He saw Warrick and Grisha work in tandem again, they made a good team that way. One held the enemy's attention while the other would strike unnoticed.
The raptor grabbed a throat and began shaking her prey, causing dozens of wounds, sprying blood in and on the already bloody mouth. After the body was dropped the raptor's head swung to Jack momentarily. Blood of a multitude of races decorated her maw. The head refocused on the enemy.
Nell was casting devastating spell after devastating spell, sending many a Burning Blade flying through the air and landing on their comrades. To Jack it seemed that if he had to chose a single entity in the army and say he or she was the most powerful of them all it would be Nell. But even Nell seemed tired from casting that many spells. His breathing fast and irregular. The shoulders slightly hung as if they were but appendages without muscle. Every time a spell was cast it took longer for the next to be cast.
They finished of the group that planned to circle around with ease now that they had a dragon with them. Those still alive gathered and made known who was injured and how many were dead. From the fifteen three had died and more were injured, but not mortally injured. Three dead opposing one hundred and eighty. That was quite a feat, but they did have a dragon to rely on. Palkor took of again and began assaulting the Crossroads remaining fixed defences. The others returned to the main front and melded back into the fight.
Nell took his time to rest for a few moments. With tired legs he slowly walked back up the hill. When he reached the top the division commander ran to him. "Where were you Nell! We cant have one of our strongest weapons walk away like that!" So that was how he saw Nell at the moment. Nell just pointed a small distance to the side of the front where one hundred and eighty dead bodies lay. The commander followed the gaze and saw what Nell meant. "In that case. . . Take a few moments rest, nobody can endlessly cast spells." That fake concern send shivers down Nell spine, but he obeyed and sat down and drank from a flask of water.
The Burning Blades lines shattered, soldiers began pouring through a multitude of gaps. Some attacked the enemy from the rear, while some charged on to Crossroads. Within minutes the filed was theirs and the whole army moved on to the taking of Crossroads. The catapults stopped firing so they would not hit their comrades. Only light resistance remained in Crossroads and the town was soon taking.
Grisha stepped over the smouldering piles of wood that once surrounded her parents home, and her home. A smell of decay was already present from the orcs that had fallen in the battle in which the Burning Blade had taken Crossroads. Bodies were strewn around, most here were the casualties of the catapults. Some bodies were half burned while others had been blasted to parts. She stepped in small dip in the ground and her armoured boot sank in it. She looked down and discovered her boot was now completely submerged in dark red blood, the blood of orcs. Disgusted she pulled the boot free. The blood had seeped over the top of her boot and had filled up her boot from the inside, her feet were being drenched in her kinsman's blood.
For the first time she really looked at her armour. It was splattered with the blood of al the races that had been on the battlefield. And for the first time she saw the arrow sticking out of her shoulder. The disgust had reached such a high level that she became light-headed, Blackness spread across her vision. Her knees would have given way if not for the sudden support given to her in her back.
She turned and saw it was the raptor who had given her the support needed so she wouldn't fall into the same mess as her boot had been stuck in only moments ago. The raptor gave her a penetrating gaze, then the maw gently bit in the leather armour that covered Grisha's chest and tugged on it as if the raptor wanted her to come with. Still feeling light-headed, but eager to put her mind to something else, she followed the raptor.
She lead her to Jack and Tal'grush. Tal'grush had kneeled to the ground and was hunched over another orc, a dead one. Only when Grisha got closer did she see that Tal'grush's shoulders were heaving up and down and that slight sobbing noises came from him as well. What could possibly make someone like Tal'grush nearly break out in tears? Jack was standing by the side of him with a look on his face like he had seen this kind of thing before.
Jack noticed the raptor scraping his leg and he looked up at Grisha. Grisha's eyes had a red tinge to them, but not from rage, more from grieve. Jack then looked at Tal'grush and put his hand on Tal'grush's shoulder. To Grisha's utter amazement Tal'grush did nothing to move the hand away. "Who is it?" Jack gently asked.
Tal'grush lifted his head. His face was a distorted mixture between rage and immense grief. "My mother."
"What!" Jack looked at the still female body. "But what is her body doing all the way out here? on the battlefield?"
"Some say she had been fighting along with the Burning Blade, but I. . ." Tal'grush lowered his head for a moment and then rose it again. "I can't believe that. . . I just can't believe she would do that. She would never do that! Not willingly."
"Wait a minute!" Grisha said. "The army you found near ThunderBluff was missing a thousand orcs. Could it be that they. . . Corrupted. . ." She didn't get much farther because Nell suddenly teleported into their midst. He had been standing some distance away and over heard them. A distance like that he could easily bridge.
"I think you are closer to the truth than you think. It might quite possibly be the truth." Nell spoke.
"You mean my parents could have been amongst the Burning Blade right now. . . Or already dead in the attempt to keep Crossroads in the Burning Blades hands?" Grisha said with fear filling her voice more with every she spoke of it.
"Yes."
Now Grisha's knees did give way. "But. . . That. . . is so. . ." She got no further, tears flowed freely over her cheeks.
Jack put a hand under her arm and gently pulled her up, and then did the same with Tal'grush. "Let me just help you get away from this field of death." Both readily let Jack half carry them away.
Of the twenty thousand that made up The First Horde Army seven and a half thousand had died in the battle. That was more than a third. They counted ten thousand dead Burning Blade. Considering the fact that the Burning Blade had the advantage of fixed defences the death toll could have been much higher on the Horde's side. However amongst the dead lay many loved ones and friends. Amongst them lay a few of the dragon slayers, including Heln.
So that they could forget the death and destruction they had helped create a party o celebrate their victory was given. Not all participated, mainly those who had found family and friends amongst the dead. Still the many camp fires were surrounded by ten thousand orcs, undead, tauren and trolls.
The three humans were sitting on a row, Jack in his chair. Jack was teaching Warrick chess. Warrick already knew chess, but not how to win. . . It Surprised the two that chess was known amongst the people of this world, although the units did carry different names like Grunt and Warlord.
"Ha ha, checkmate, I got your king. . . Uh Warlord AGAIN." Jack informed Warrick.
"Agh! I should have seen it coming." Warrick replied.
"But you didn't. That is what makes me good at this game." He smiled brightly at Warrick. "That is how many again. Five wins for me and. . . Zero for you. "
"Yah, you continue rub to in and I'll smack you for a change."
"You can just say you are a terrible loser."
"And you are a terrible winner." They both had to laugh at this. "Why don't you go find someone who is a match for you?" Warrick suggested.
Jack didn't respond and put the board away. As soon as the laughter had faded his mind had gone back to the aftermath of the battle. Mainly to Tal'grush. There had been a time that he was like that. But that seemed millennia ago. That moment he felt as old as the stars compared to Warrick, and those of the Warrick's age like Grisha. He wondered what had happened to the demon, he had not seen, or heard, it since his rescue from the cave in Mulgore.
He brought himself back to the present and saw Warrick staring at something. He followed the gaze and saw who Warrick was looking at. She looked like a human just like Grisha nearly looked like one. There were only a few differences, first was the blue hued skin. Second tusks jutted from the lower jaw. Third, there were only two toes per foot. Her hair was a deep red colour that seemed to be natural. It went into a long tail on her back and reached all the way down to her waist. Jack saw how beautifully slim she was as well, not to thin, not fat. In her own she was a beautiful sight.
"Go for it." Jack whispered to Warrick. Warrick looked at him with an innocent face, but Jack moved his head in the troll's direction. Warrick got the hint that Jack knew and understood the encouragement and stood up and walked in her direction.
In his place dropped Grisha. "Where is Warrick?" She asked. Jack repeated the action of a few seconds before and she looked at Warrick. Warrick had managed to begin a conversation and it seemed to go well. Until the troll's hand suddenly collided with his head. He slowly walked back and sat down next to Grisha.
Still rubbing his cheeck he said. "You knew this would probably happen, Jack!"
"Probably."
"What were you talking about with her?" Grisha wanted to know.
"Nothing. . ."
Grisha got the hint. "So she is beautiful and at least gets to be looked at by you and I am not beautiful enough to stare at!"
"Grisha, it is not like that." He stammered.
"Of course it isn't." Jack added.
"Keep out of this!" Warned Warrick. Jack grinned at the response
"You know what? I think I will go to my tent and sleep." Grisha announced. She stood back up and walked away.
Warrick huddled a little bit closer to Jack and said. "Women." With an acted voice of contempt.
"You have hurt her feelings, you should make right. Go teach her chess or something." Jack suggested.
Warrick stood back and picked up the board and the pieces he put in the box, he took the lot and followed where Grisha had disappeared. Jack looked to his other side and saw Nell, practically asleep. That moment Nell did fall asleep and he slowly fell backwards. Jack just frowned at the display.