Chp.17: Exterminate the defense

Sarpa clearly saw the red glow of the fire and the pall of smoke billowing into the sky, darkening even more the night sky (which was already very dark by itself, since this was a moonless night). The time had come. From that moment on, every second would be extremely precious: he couldn't afford to waste time. He stormed out of the tavern where he was staying like a lightning, running faster than he had ever run in his life. He went to the chieftain's house, and there he found Goroth gathering his soldiers. "What happens?" he screamed.

"Sarpa!" Goroth looked happy to see him. "It's happening. We are under attack!"

Sarpa obviously had to act as if he didn't know anything, so he feigned shock: "The fairies?" he asked.

Goroth nodded. "Exactly. They started burning the city and they already killed some of my soldiers. Some of the guards told me they were shot with arrows"

"In this forest only the fairies use them... it's definitely them!" Sarpa exclaimed. "How many are there? Do we know their numbers? Have we at least some clues?"

"The guards could see nothing but a few shadows. Some speak of several dozen fairies, others say there are only four or five. We know nothing" Goroth answered.

Sarpa gritted his teeth, pretending to be worried, even though deep inside he was satisfied. It was clear that, for the time being at least, the plan was proceeding well. He looked towards the chieftain's house and noticed that many children, women and old people were gathering nearby. "The special unit is doing its job" he commented.

Goroth nodded. "Yes. I don't know how to thank you, Sarpa. Your idea was providential. The population had never evacuated so quickly"

"You'll thank me later! Now we can't waste any more time!" Sarpa exclaimed. "Chief in charge, go and gather all your soldiers, and buy as much time as possible. I will help the special unit lead the population to safety. You have my word that I will do everything possible"

"I don't need your word. I know I can trust you" Goroth told him. "Go do your duty. I'll do mine"

Sarpa nodded, then he ran off as fast as he could. Those last words hurt him a little, knowing that he was actually helping to kill an ogre who trusted him. But despite this, he didn't look back and didn't lose even a small part of his determination. He rushed along the streets, making as much noise as possible, and began to lead the civilians towards the chieftain's house, near which was the entrance to the underground cavern. Now, that was his only priority.

Goroth, meanwhile, gathered all his soldiers. 300 ogres came before him and took the best weapons from the armory. Goroth wasted no time in making grand speeches: as soon as his small army was mustered, he rushed to the spot where the fire was raging, ready to face whatever pitfalls awaited him there.

However, to his surprise, they found nothing when they arrived. The ogres in the area had already fled and the only thing left was the fire which was rapidly spreading and spreading smoke everywhere, making it hard to breathe. Because of the narrow streets, just reaching the point where the fire started cost the lives of many soldiers: the inexperienced and undisciplined troops ran without any order, pushing their comrades against the walls where the fire raged. The burning ogres then ran in desperation to their fellows for help, spreading the fire and increasing the number of casualties. Before even reaching the epicenter, at least fifty soldiers died and another thirty were seriously injured.

Goroth didn't even notice it: also new to command, he didn't yet know he had to keep an eye on his own soldiers and their movements. His eyes were focused on where the fire had started, but where there was no sign of the enemy. The ogres gathered in the plaza, surrounded by the burning buildings.

And then, an arrow came. Goroth dodged it just in time, but it still scratched his right cheek, opening a deep cut. "They are here!" he roared. "Be ready!".

All the ogres looked towards where the arrow had come from, and in doing so they made another fatal mistake. Now, the other sides were completely unchecked. And while the ogres were busy staring at where the arrow had come from, behind them two silvery creatures leapt off the rooftops and struck the ground with the backs of their scaly paws, where a strange rune was engraved.

In an instant, the ground flowed away as if it were liquid, creating a hole about ten square meters wide and five meters deep. Ogres crashed into it and many of them were crushed by their fellows. The few who hadn't fallen into the newly formed hole were pushed in by the two silvery creatures or even killed directly by them. The ogres inside the hole also began jostling and climbing on top of each other in an attempt to get out, killing each other in the process. If anyone had kept count, they would have realized that by then more than half of the ogres (about 170 soldiers) had already died without even having had a chance to graze the enemy.

And whoever survived didn't last long. The two silver creatures leaned over the edges of the hole, watching the ogres stir inside. Those who weren't too busy trying to get out and noticed them saw a monstrous reptilian snout upon which several runes were inscribed.

That vision lasted less than a couple of seconds. Then, the silver creatures pressed one of those runes. And then hell come.

A cascade of yellowish-orange flames, several hundred degrees in temperature, descended upon the trapped ogres. Only a few of them were hit by the fire, but they were all so close that the flames spread rapidly. Pretty soon, the whole army was burning. The soldiers tried to save themselves by using their mana to fortify their skin, trying to resist the immense heat, but then the silver creatures pressed another of the runes into their snouts, generating a second cascade of flames. And then another. And another one. And another one more. The ogres managed to hold on for less than half a minute before their defense gave way and the fire returned to consume their bodies. By the time the two creatures had finished pressing all the runes on their snouts, the ogres were completely charred.

The two creatures obviously were none other than Darbi and Rhaegal, who had fulfilled their task in a masterful way. When the ogres had arrived, the three dragons had remained hidden among the roofs waiting for them all to arrive in the square; then, Haku got their attention by shooting an arrow at them. Haku had expected to have to do it several times, but apparently the troops were really very inexperienced since as soon as they noticed the arrow everyone turned to where it came from. By then Darbi and Rhaegal had leapt off the rooftops and activated the runes on the backs of their paws, which held the strongest spell they knew capable of punching a hole in the ground. These runes could only generate a hole of five cubic meters, but since they struck in two and from two different angles, the hole was twice as large, trapping all the ogres inside. After that, they'd used the runes containing fire spells engraved on their muzzles to set them on fire.

The two dragons had engraved those runes on their scales several days ago and all that time they had been very careful not to activate them. Thanks to them, the plan had been an absolute success: within just two minutes, all the 300 ogre soldiers who were supposed to protect the city were reduced to smoldering flesh.

Well, not all the 300 ogre actually. One of them was still alive.

Goroth, with his strength of an almost level gold, had managed to withstand even the constant cascades of flame that had been poured over him. In doing so however he had wasted an enormous amount of mana and even so his skin was burned and flayed. More than an ogre, he now looked like a walking corpse. But despite that, he was still able to fight. With much effort, he climbed out of the hole with his weapon in hand.

Once outside, he tried to focus on his surroundings and just had time to notice Rhaegal lunging towards him; he swung his sword and the dragon stopped, retreating a few steps. However, soon after Goroth sensed movement behind him and ducked, narrowly avoiding Darbi's jaws which closed on his shoulder instead. The ogre howled in pain and yanked the dragon away. It rolled a few yards and then scrambled to its feet.

Darbi and Rhaegal, now together, began to advance towards Goroth, snarling like two rabid beasts. The ogre was badly injured and all of its skin was burned off. Goroth knew he couldn't stand a long fight, and that he had to end it now; with a roar, he strengthened his body with his mana like never in his life, pumping the muscles of his arms so much that the handle of the sword in his hands almost broke. The two dragons, feeling the immense pressure, scrambled back, but Goroth lunged at them like a bull, ready to slice them.

He never reached his targets. Suddenly, the world turned upside down and his body lost all feeling. Goroth saw the world spin around him and then he hit the ground. It took him a few moments before he realized that someone had just cut off his head. That was his last thought: then, there was only nothingness.

Rhaegal and Darbi breathed a sigh of relief. "You took your time" the latter grumbled looking at the shadow that had appeared behind the body of the ogre and that had cut off its head cleanly with its tail.

Obviously that shadow was Haku. All that time he had remained hidden for a precise reason: to let Goroth, the only ogre strong enough to resist the trap, convince himself that only Darbi and Rhaegal were his opponents and focus exclusively on them. In this way, he had been able to attack him from behind and cut off his head cleanly.

The three brothers had agreed to that plan over the course of the three-day wait. They had indeed done the right thing to send Sarpa ahead: if they hadn't known about Goroth, then things could have ended differently. In fact, in the original plan Haku should have joined his brothers in burning the ogres in the hole; if they had done so, however, they would have revealed his presence and killing Goroth would have been much more difficult, and perhaps one of their own would have been injured or even killed. Instead, knowing in advance of his presence, they could have organized a better strategy.

Yes, Kotaru had been right: they needed Sarpa. Once that story was over, Haku should have thanked his sister.

"You know I had to wait for him to focus on you" Haku replied to Darbi's joke. "You, rather, shouldn't have attacked him like that. You got hit for nothing"

"I saw an opportunity and I took it. I was hoping I could rip off his head and save everyone any more headaches" Darbi responded. "In any case, the important thing is that everything went well. We won, didn't we?"

Haku smiled. Yes, they had won. Now, the city's defense was completely routed. They could do whatever they wanted! "Let's finish the job then" he said, and picked up the arrow he had fired earlier and which was still stuck in the ground. He held it to the fire until the tip glowed with a yellow glow; after which he threw it into the air with all his strength.

A single flaming arrow might not be very visible to the newcomers, but to the eyes of the dragons it was clearly visible. And their sisters who were waiting outside the walls easily noticed the signal.

While Darbi, Rhaegal, and Haku completed their plan, their sisters had arranged themselves along various parts of the wall. They had had to go far from each other, since the wall was five kilometers long, but that didn't matter since all the enemies were busy doing other things. As soon as they saw the flaming arrow, they took the small ovoid objects they had stolen from the fairies and activated them near the wall.

The wooden wall caught fire in record time. Each of the ovoid objects burned at least a hundred yards of solid palisade, and the fire spread rapidly. Within minutes, the whole wall was ablaze, which soon began to spread into the city as well. The dragons entered through the main gate, now unguarded by anyone, and closed it behind them, trapping all the inhabitants inside.

Now, the massacre could begin.