"It is lucky that Zugbu was not the commanding general at the Battle of Brunag."
"A talented intelligent orc."
"I am not afraid of an orc army for their commanders are muscle heads due to their strength-based culture."
"But one commanded by an intelligent shameless orc like him...
"Is a truly frightening prospect!"
Archtorius Shadowspire Imperial General of Chavaria.
.....
The night began to pass and linger into the early morning as Lucius Aurellion led the other half of the Chavarian cavalry that had not fought yet in the previous skirmishes consisting of 10,000 horse archers and 5,000 elite Chavarian royal knights, one of the foremost heavy cavalry present in the world as off the backs of these demonic knights the Chavarians would construct an empire.
By Lucius' side, ever protecting and watching over the members of House Aurellion, rode Leon Mantelon drops of clear rainwater drip slowly from his helmet, which encased his head in a layer of hard steel.
…..
3 hours earlier
After sleeping for a bit at the doorway to Lucius' to ensure his lord's and friends' safety, he was woken up by the sound of clinking metal plates and the squeak of leather straps which attached Lucius' customised armour to his muscled body. Leon's turquoise eyes gazed slightly unfocused to a soldier helping Lucius into his armour, waking his wayward mind up as he quickly got up, his movements catching Lucius' attention, who sighed at the exceptional senses of his bedraggled friend who, even when sleep-depraved and sleeping like a new-born babe still managed to discover Lucius' and soldier despite being as quiet as they could an eerie silence even falling onto the camp as men exhausted from working in the rain slowly regained their strength through the night.
"You weren't thinking of leaving without me, were you?"
"I was. You have fought two battles, Leon, leading 1 for many hours and have ridden for many hours today. You need your rest for the battles to come! The captain of the royal knights should be enough protection for me as he is an expert-level fighter."
"What if you face a master? From the looks of it, my lord, and from watching your performance against that orcish captain, your fighting capabilities seem to have declined if even a captain can disarm you in 10 seconds, a vice general would kill you in a few seconds! I will not have you die, my lord, due to your care for me!"
"Fine, fine, you can tag along, be careful not to fall asleep on the horse, though, with the current weather, I doubt that would be possible. "
Lucius said as he went to leave to go on the night raid, which, whether successful or not, would at least prevent the enemy from getting a good night's sleep while the majority of Lucius' army got a good night's rest to be ready for the inevitable battle the next day with Leon quickly falling in line to his left behind him.
…..
Dashing along the vast open plains of the steppe in front of them, it did not take long for Archtorius, who knew that the army was quickly approaching the enemy camp, to use the light of the 2 am moon to look around and promptly found the scouts that he had expected to see the large green shadowy frames riding their growling wolves who viciously gnashed their razer sharp teeth smelling the scent of man and horse far in advance of their riders allowing Zugbu to know about the presence of the Chavarians 1 minute in advance to the more sensitive Archtorius.
Just as Archtorius found them preparing and drawing his bow, ready to silence the orc, a bright red flair soars through the sky like a shooting star coming down to earth before exploding like a firework in the sky, giving the nearby camp a clear warning of the approaching Chavarians. This was quickly followed by other red flares, which created a primitive network for the flow of information and alerting the alliance armies' camps to the presence of a Chavarian attack. In the distance, shouts of orcs and men who, using replenished reserves of energy, ran to their ambush and defensive positions show an expected vigilance though most expected to be able to take them by surprise and wondered why they were found so quickly.
'Did someone leak something?'
Leon and Archtorius thought to themselves as they frowned at the flair, as this meant that the enemy was ready for them and may have set up traps and ambushes in advance. However, as both men looked towards Lucius, they were surprised to see a slight smile on his slightly scarred, gaunt face as they both heard a small, almost indecipherable mutter come from Lucius disguised by the loud pitter patter of raindrops which fell on this fated bloody night.
"So they're not completely incompetent after all."
Lucius commented something only his two vice generals could hear, one due to his close proximity to Lucius and someone who has never strayed too far from his side since the raiding force had and the other through his well-trained scouting senses.
As they both tried to think about what new scheme Lucius could have cooked up behind the scenes, more flairs, this time coloured an amethyst purple, shot up into the sky, as in the distant camp, torches and braziers were quickly lit around both camps as soldiers rushed to take up many the different positions and ambush spots which they had been instructed to take up only hours earlier. The metal-clad soldiers, still wary from exhaustion but with enough energy to put up a small fight, quickly and quietly got into positions like shadows stalking their prey as they waited for the Chavarians to attack or pass through.
A large tongue of bright orange fire suddenly sprang towards Lucius as a coating of wind kept the rain from dousing the raging fire, briefly lighting up the shadowy figures in front of the Chavarians to reveal largely tusked and pale, green-skinned orcs looming over a much smaller orc who conjured the deadly magic small flames still pouring out of his pudgy fingertips.
As Lucius brought his steel gauntleted hands to attempt to protect his face feeling the intense heat of the fiery tongue get closer and closer to him and charring the flesh of 2 knights nearby him who fell screaming from their horses, their skin cracked and pitched black. A large invisible protective shield appeared in front of him as lightning-like sparks flew out from where the fire and this shield met, reflecting in Lucius' wide dark chestnut eyes as the hands lowered.
Behind him, white and yellow divine-like light pouring like a river out of his outstretched hands rode Leon a look of intense concentration on his face, sweat pouring down a small scar on the side of his face as he protected his friend and general from the tongue of fire, which quickly evaporated against the protective shield like a drop of water in a desert.
While the fire and shield clashed, a small pool of clear water seemed to float in the darkness, seen only by the most perceptive of beings as it slowly got bigger and bigger until it sped in the shape of a spear towards the position of the orc piercing through the steppe as the raindrops seem to combine with the spear of water making it bigger and bigger forcing the small orc to conjure his own barrier to protect himself.
Another clash of magical power occurred; however, instead of sparks this time, large bubble-like drops of water fell from where the two forces met, the spear of water attempting to pierce through the shield of yellowy light as the small orc kept up with the attack which erupted from Archtorius who like Leon was surprised at the tremendous magical power that small orc wielded as Archtorius felt like his water spear had hit a brick wall.
From behind him, Archtorius could hear Leon's slightly laboured breathing, who obviously had to put in much effort to protect Lucius from that last flaming attack. Still, it was only for a second as Archtorius felt the sudden explosion of killing intent from Leon's direction and the ominous creak of a bow being drawn.
After protecting Lucius from the tongue of flaming magic Leon's sense of danger gained from countless battles and years of war spiked as he began to send his remaining magic power into the arrow and bow that he was drawing, the runes on the limbs of his bow and shaft of his arrow glowing a dirt-like brown before turning to a cold steel like grey light.
Zugbu had a slight smile on his green-pigmented face enjoying the confrontation between him and the Chavarians, two skilled magic users and himself. But suddenly, like a student caught by a teacher at school, the hairs on the back of his neck rose; standing straight like a statue, Zugbu looked with surprise at the faceless, helmeted man who towered over his compatriots drawing his bow, killing intent piercing him with the strength of a thousand swords as his danger sense was alarmed fearfully, and Zugbu began to prepare a second barrier.
"TWANG!"
A thundering sound came from the bow as it shook violently just as the spear of water evaporated in the air, unable to get through the strong magical barrier surrounding the small orc. The arrow flew through the sky faster than a bullet and crashed violently into the magic shield. The immense force of the arrow immediately shattering the shield which surrounded the small orc, but just as it broke, another appeared around the Zugbu, who had prepared a new one when he felt the killing intent bore into his body.
As sparks flew from the arrow which hit the magic shield, the two forces, one protective, the other deadly, sweat began to pour down the face of the orc as he felt the magic barrier that he had just cast get weaker and weaker until the small orc realised that it would not hold. His brain immediately went into overdrive in the 2 seconds that remained before the shield broke. After discovering that he could not protect himself directly, Zugbu cast a powerful gust of wind just as the second barrier began to crack before shattering like glass, the golden pieces falling to the ground before disappearing.
The arrow, which initially would have pierced through the heart of the small orc, instantly killing him, was pushed slightly by the wind embedding itself into Zugbus' upper right shoulder, the steel arrows punching through the dark green leather armour of the orc like a knife through butter. The arrow's steel tip gleamed in the moonlight as the head appeared out the other side of the orc, ignoring any flesh and bones in the way as the steel tip seemed to spin while crashing through the small orc rupturing the flesh as half of the wooden shaft embedded itself into the small orc.
A small stream of watery blood flowed down the orc from where the arrow had punched through his green skin, the torrential rain washing the blood away as an audible cry of pain passed through the lips of the orc, the bloody water embalming itself into the land.
'Fuck! A master archer! Why the hell do they have a bloody master archer?'
Zugbu cursed in his mind at Leon, immediately turning to retreat and run away as he felt Leon's predatory gaze locked onto him like a sniper, imagining the demonic helmeted faceless man drawing another arrow as if he were hunting a vicious animal.
Zugbu could hear a slight twang of the bow as he moved his body slightly and felt the air break next to him as a red feathered arrow just barely missed as his eyes widened in fear.
'Damn!' Leon thought as the orc returned his runed bow to the leather pouch attached to his saddle and saw the small orc return to the murky darkness of the night and out of sight. Even Leon's experienced eyes could no longer locate the small orc.
'Seems I really am tired! That arrow should have hit despite the wind, rain and darkness. At least I know to be more on guard now.'
Leon thought as he lamented his inability to kill the small orc magician who nearly managed to kill Lucius with his fire. A slight flicker of anger still lingered in the big man at the orc who so boldly tried to kill his friend and lord.
As the Chavarian army proceeded forward, Lucius recognised the red feathered arrow stuck into the ground at a slight incline which was quickly snatched up by Leon, who lent down while riding and returned the muddy arrow to his ornate pelican encrusted quiver.
"See told you that you're too tired! Look at that terrible shot! Since when were you a failure? Even my wife shoots better than that, and she's half the size of you and uses mythril axes!"
"A master archer not even being able to shoot a midget off a wolf that is not even retreating in a Z shape! How Shameful! What will I do if you collapse from exhaustion, huh? Carry you on my horse? Do you want it to die from carrying two useless sacks of meat? Go back to camp and recuperate from exhaustion! Do you think that master spearmen and archers are cabbages at a market? Even if I die, it would be a travesty if you do!"
Lucius said jokingly to his friend, suspecting that Leon would be the mentor who would guide the dynasty if Reginald succeeded in the quest.
"Anyone else smell a roast? Ahh, too soon."
Archtorius said joining in on the fun his breathing finally returned to normal after it was labored due to fighting with the strong, magically gifted orc as he noticed the two charred knights groaning in pain as they hung across the saddle of one of their comrades.