Chapter 19 - The battle

The Ogroard walked, its stomach jiggling and its saliva oozing. Behind him came two dozen ogres. The goblin champion had five hobgoblins and almost two thousand goblin foot soldiers. They cackled and snorted as they moved forward. As The orc lord came forward, Connor saw his horse. It was jet black with two red eyes, looking almost non-living. With him came another thousand foot soldiers. Their faces rotted and shed.

The beasts let out a battle cry.

"RAWRRRRR."

As they started getting closer in range, Blake gave out a command.

"Archers, nock."

"Fire."

Arrows showered the blue sky like a million hummingbirds and rained down on the enemies. Some of them struck their necks, some their eyes, some struck bodies and the remaining fell to the ground.

"Again – Nock," Blake cried out.

"Fire," Blake said lowering his arms.

But this time the enemy was ready for it. The Ogroard, the goblin champion and swung their clubs creating a massive gust to deflect the arrows away.

The Ogroard took a goblin in its hands, the goblin started to cackle and bite. It took aim and threw it at the cavalry line. Two horses splattered and a dozen soldiers behind were crushed. Their blood, guts, and brains paved the way.

The Ogroard took another goblin and threw it. This goblin flew, but struck on a mace; Wyot's mace. The goblin returned killing a line of orcs, their rotting flesh defiling the earth.

Radcliffe took an arrow, nocked, and chanted,

"Everyone die and everything burn. I grant you my living body for the ashes. Come dwell in me, SALAMANDER."

A great fire volley went above and rained hell on the enemies. A dozen goblins screamed, burned, and roasted.

Radcliffe sat on his horse, with his body burning. Apparently, he cannot use that attack repeatedly.

Both sides came to a standstill.

And then they screamed.

They started charging toward each other. Orcs met with the horse cavalry and goblins with the infantry.

A soldier slashed down a goblin, crushing its skull and its brains spewing out. He stood there proudly for a second, but another goblin jumped on his back and tore through his shoulders. The soldier fell screaming and the goblin killed him stabbing him from the back.

Blake scanned the whole battlefield. Radcliffe was killing orcs from far away. Wyot was swinging his mace and tossing away goblins. Connor was slashing and spinning against ogres.

He closed his eyes, slammed his staff on the ground, and chanted,

"Equivalanto."

A white light sprayed from his staff and fell on warriors. The soldiers who were losing had their strength increased while their enemies were weakened.

Several horses were wandering the battlefield as their masters died. Vultures started coming down looking for prey.

Ealhstan took in a deep breath. His necklace started glowing. He bellowed and a boom covered the whole battlefield.

The color of the horses' eyes changed. The birds looked up and took to flight. They went on to the enemies' eyes, pulling them out and blinding them. An ogre swung its club viciously, killing soldiers and goblins in its path.

Four ogres surrounded Connor. They started swinging their clubs at his head. Eight arrows came flying, blinding the four orcs. They screamed in pain clasping their sockets. Connor jumped up and spun, cleaving off their heads. Blood spewed out raining on the ground. Connor looked around and found that the arrows came from Radcliffe.

"You have my gratitude." He whispered.

Orcs, goblins, and soldiers dwindled down around them. Half of the ogres died. But the Ogroard, the goblin champion, and the orc lord were still standing.

The orc lord charged sideways with Radcliffe behind. Radcliffe started shooting arrows with the orc lord cutting them down with its cleaver.

The orc lord chopped off an arrow, but the one coming behind caught it in the eye. He screamed, pulled out the arrow, and looked at Radcliffe with his good eye. Only Radcliffe was not there, only his horse remained. The orc lord looked around gazing. Then suddenly he couldn't look around. He felt himself flying and saw that it was only his head that was flying. Radcliffe had come from behind and chopped his head off.

Conner was facing the goblin champion. The champion swung its club and Connor parried. It swung and swung and swung, with Connor parrying each blow. Two hobgoblins came from behind, swinging their clubs.

"I am ready now," Connor whispered.

"Everyone die and everything burn. I grant you my living body for the ashes. Come dwell in me, SALAMANDER," Connor chanted.

His sword blazed. His sweat turned to steam. He swung his sword backward cutting the hobgoblins in two. He continued and cleaved the goblin champion. Its body split into two, with its meat roasted.

Wyot headed towards The Ogroard. It was chewing on a soldier. It saw the incoming enemy and spat the bones and flesh out. It held its club carrying the entails on its shoulder.

Wyot and the Ogroard swung their weapons, connecting and causing a boom across the battlefield. They swung and connected, again and again, Wyot's mace increasing in weight with each strike. At first, it weighed a hundred stones, then it became one fifty, then two hundred, and finally reached five hundred.

Wyot's crux was decreasing rapidly. He laid down his mace on the ground.

The Ogroard gleed, confident in its victory. It swung its club aiming at Wyot's head.

Wyot grinned. He gripped his mace, veins popping on his arms, blood trickling down his nose. He put weight on his legs. His thigs expanded tearing his muscles. He screamed out a battle cry.

"Uaaaahhhhhh."

He swung his mace with every ounce of his strength. It broke the Ogroard's arm and crushed its head. Its brain fell on the ground and a great gust followed behind. Goblins and orcs flew in that gust.

"Come and get some more," Wyot screamed.

Seeing this, the soldiers' morale broke through the roof. The biggest of them, The Ogroard died. They screamed and charged, tearing down monsters, not caring for their life.

It was another morning when the last monster drew its breath. The battle was not truly won, because the casualties were heavy and this battle was only one of many that were yet to come.