As the orcs charged out there was only one emotion that inundated Sharog's heart. Dread. The number of orcs that weren't from the sacred tribe in the settlement was a little less than 200. Putting aside the ones that had already died, she was put through the act of seeing orcs drop like flies in her surroundings.
"Shel!" Sharog yelled suddenly before casting a weakened blade of wind at an armored knight. The knight shrugged in response to the attack but this still allowed Shel to turn around and deliver a deadly axe strike with one hand to the perpetrator.
Her other shoulder was busy carrying the still body of Dakgu. One had to now suspect if he was still living, but there was also no time for such considerations in the chaotic battlefield.
The knight who was attacked with a single axe managed to offset much of the force in the attack but before he could try and attack Shel again he was slashed down from behind by another orc.
Offering no comment, Sharog and Shel got closer to each other as the green wave of orcs was finally at the cusps of escaping past the knights and exiting the icy cavern. Once they did, however, their hopeful expression changed to one of despair.
There were mages lined up and neatly waiting for them to exit. Well, that wasn't what they had actually intended to do. It was simply how things had turned out. Balin had left the flank watching mages and the bronze squad that guarded them behind.
This was made to prevent any orcs from escaping their eventual purge. Of course, Balin had not imagined that the number of escapees would have been this staggering but with the company having been split in so many areas this was an inevitable outcome.
So as the fireballs flew, and the wind cut through the bodies of orcs like butter, with those staggering numbers it was no surprise that some still managed to make their way in front of the mages.
Climbing the bodies of their charred companions, skipping over their comrade split in half, these orcs would be submitted to the same fate until another took over their position.
But… it was still pointless. The eyes of an orc rolled back as his outstretched hand failed to even reach the mage in front of him. The bronze squad was filled with experts of close quarter combat adept in spear arts. Spears could be considered by some to be the perfect balance between lethality and range. The best weapons of war.
The orcs and their axes could hardly even dent the armor of the bronze squad before being skewered by spells.
Sharog who was trying to at least balance out this situation was fighting an uphill battle. After her mana ran out, she was fighting a losing battle.
"We can't win anymore…" Sharog had run out crystals, she had run out mana, and she had run out of options. All her hopes had been dashed, all but one. The thought that he would come had not left her mind.
"Argh!" "Noooo!!!" But after seeing orcs dying behind and in front of her she started to reconsider.
Her eyes grew increasingly dull and the Shel who ran alongside her did not fail to notice this. But she also could not address it.
"Get down!" Shel said jumping atop Sharog and falling next to rows of dead bodies
The surrounding exploded into a fiery hell full of the roaring wails of burning orcs. Shel's back was singing as she tried to cover both Dakgu and Sharog at once. Sharog who was on the ground could not help but want to cry apologetic tears.
"Shel…" Sharog could see nothing more than Shel's hardened expression full of conviction and the resolution to keep on struggling. It made Sharog wonder, was this the blessing of ignorance? The inability to gauge the situation which granted unlimited fighting spirit?
An arrow then found its way into Shel's body. She spurted out a mouthful of blood.
"I'm not done yet…" Shel declared. She hadn't done enough just yet…
But as another arrow started to wander its way over, and as the size of their orc horde dwindled to half of its original in a matter of seconds, the truth might have turned out to be different.
"K- Krk" Bulwud grunted oddly as he deflected the incoming arrow only to receive another one. He was starting to believe arrows would always find a way into his body.
"Let's go" He told the two of them. As another orc died next to them from a sword to their neck.
"Watch ou-" Sharog wanted to scream but after seeing two other orcs tackle the human before they could reach Bulwud she breathed out in relief.
Shel who still had an arrow inside her stood up clumsily and tried to pick up the unconscious Dakgu again but this time Bulwud took the initiative. Sharog seeing this picked up the axe of a dead body as her own initiative.
"Let's go!" She said repeating the words of Bulwud with newfound conviction.
The slightly older orc smiled subtly before the trio, well, the quartet sang a song of defiant acceptance, for sure a dissonant song.
As lightning zapped an orc in front of them, they jumped over the body and Bulwud charged forward with his axe before being skewered by the earth at his feet.
"Urg- Go!" He said before receiving a second spell. This time, it was a kill shot.
Sharog knew it was over. Time seemed to slow down as she was able to notice at least six different spells coming her way. She wanted to raise her axe to defend herself but she questioned the fruitfulness of the action. As the earth rose, perhaps to devour her, she once more questioned the futility of the action.
But she did it anyway. Her grip on this weapon tightened and she was prepared to swing at the fireball, swing at the air, swing at the water, swing at whatever it may be. But before she could do any of these things her view turned dark.
"Wh- What the hell just happened?!?" Exclaimed a mage seeing walls of earth suddenly protect a small group of orcs.
Looking around for an answer, he came to the conclusion that he might be seeing things... a skeleton!?!?
Behind the mages were rows of dark skeletons with suffocating hollow eye sockets. The darkness of their exterior made the darkness of their inside somehow seem that much more menacing. These devil skulls chuckled with their sharp fangs disguised as human teeth.
Trench who was responsible for putting up walls of earth seemed to shine when compared to the other anti-skeletons. Thus, the humans quickly took notice of Trench and the previous confusion could not be compared to the current one. Didn't they kill that one already?!? But it wasn't just that one, there was even a giant one!!!
"What is going on!?!" The knight captain of the bronze squad, Bronze, asked as he threw aside the body of an orc.
'Kill them' But the answer he had wanted did not come. Only an eerie command passed through his head. But he knew no one was communicating with him, they were the targets.
Kenny Jr. shot out fire spells alongside the likes of Blaze, Drench, and Zephyr who were no longer in a crystal body casting spells of their own water and wind.
The mages instantly tried to defend themselves by casting barriers of their own various elements. First came water, then came fir-
Before they could even finish a multitude of axes came darting through the wall of fire and continued to cut through even the wall of water.
"Wi- Wind barrier!!!" One of the mages yelled as they cast a wall of wind. The axes finally stopped but not without breaking right through the wall of air, what frightening momentum! Not even the spells that had been shot out before the axes were able to pierce through leaving the mages astounded.
"ROOOOOARRR!!!!" It was then that a much stronger sonic attack than the ones exhibited by the orcs in the icy tunnel gripped at the hearts of the mages.
It was lofty's maddened howl, it came out from the wall of the fire unharmed and burst through the wall of water as if it were nothing, the barrier of air didn't exist so it wasn't even worth mentioning.
"F*CK!" The squad captain yelled before coursing lots of mana through his body. The water and earth mixed to create a muddy color alongside the shaft and head of his bronze spear.
He then thrust the spear forward and the muddy color shot out like sticky sludge that tangled the giant being into place. Though wanting to secretly breathe out a sigh of relief, the squad captain was unable to after a green figure jumped down from the head of the ferocious skeleton.
It was Ed, his eyes sharp as his axe arced down towards the spear-wielding knight captain Bronze.
"Dam- Filthy beasts!" Bronze shouted planning on resisting the heavy strike with the shaft of his spear, but this was a mistake.
"U- Ar- gh..!" He formed incoherent grunts as he felt what he assumed was the weight of the world fall upon his arms and shoulders.
A crack then rang out as his spear buckled under the pressure and was cleaved down into two. Bronze was awestruck but he didn't forget this was a battle.
"Ah!" He shouted before using the broken ends as a weapon against the green menace.
Ed took the brunt of both ends as they slowly dug into his skin, red marks of blood were formed. Yet, Ed remained unfazed.
"You are going to have to do better than that" Ed said hiding his anger before drawing back his fist and punching Bronze directly on his face.
The squad captain shot backward falling right through the protective wall of earth. The orcs who were on the inside confused and worried finally smiled happily catching glimpse of Ed's figure through this man-made hole.
"""""Ed!!!""""" They all shouted with a slew of different tones most good and showing exhilaration in one way or another.