Dangers Await Inside FrontHold

Alex, dressed in his new black leather armor, sheathed his new sword in one side of the belt Ratamir gave him and the dagger in the other. Alex would prefer to use the small blade at any time of the day, but the sword could become valuable, too. He would not rely on luck. Whatever was waiting for them inside the city was dangerous.

They reached the gates, and to their surprise, the door was shut but not locked. The wooden door had an inside mechanism that helped open it, but they needed brute strength to open it from the outside.

Everyone, except Val'Mari and the priest, leaned against one of the parts of the gigantic door and opened it slowly. Alex put all the force he could muster in the movement. After a couple seconds, the crackling sound intensified as the grunts of the group increased.

They all almost fell as the doors stood open. What they saw inside was a simple city, almost medieval by Earth standards, but ultimately empty. There was no one on the streets or in the little houses. Val'Mari ran towards them and passed everyone, shock on her face.

The black smoke thickened itself in the distance, and Ratamir assumed the head of the group, looking up to Val'Mari.

"Where are everyone?"

"Probably on the city hall," she replied, trembling.

"Point the direction."

Her hands moved towards the black smoke in the distance, "From where the smoking is coming,"

"And the dungeon?"

She locked her eyes with Ratamir and didn't need to say anything for everyone to understand that the dungeon was close to the fire, too.

They started to sprint towards the black smoke with speed. Even the priest and the dark elf continued with them, determination in the duo's eyes.

As they stepped on the streets, the smells, the smoke, and the screams intensified. Ratamir had a black mace full of spines in his hand, Tal'Dore held his bow with tight hands, and Ravi ran with his sword sheathed but with one hand on the hilt. Bogath had determination stamped on his face as he ran with his staff in both hands. Tina had fierceness in her eyes as she also ran with sword sheathed close to Alex and Rel'Tir, who was clearly scared but ran with determination nonetheless,

"Don't fuck this up!" Alex shouted to the other white elf as they ran, and the boy nodded to him with no trace of annoyance or anger,

"I'll not!"

"Good!" Alex replied as he accelerated his pace. He expected Tina's reality check on the boy to be fruitful. The fewer problems he had to deal the better, but he would keep both eyes wide open towards the elf's direction.

As the trio ran to a corner, Tal'Dore aimed his bow and shot fast. Alex almost didn't catch him downing three orcs in the distance. They were all in similar black leather armor, probably members of the same group of bandits from the day before.

Alex had no time to be impressed as a group of orcs jumped from inside the houses. He counted three running towards him, Tina and Rel'Tir, who were the group's tail. Other orcs erupted from the building, but they were in the front part of the group.

All of them had axes in their hands and evil faces, ready to murder. Alex didn't wait and ran towards them, Tina following instantly and Rel'Tir one step away but following nonetheless. 

Alex swung his dagger, but as the orc he was facing tried to hit his arm, he stopped the movement. He gave one step behind, and taking advantage of the missed strike from the orc, he hurled himself towards the monster's neck. The blade entered deep, and Alex cut his throat with speed. As he fell to the ground, he heard another axe slicing the air.

The second orc had just dodged an attack from Tina and tried to hit Alex on the floor. The young elf rolled on the ground, and as he crouched, he stopped the hand of the orc with his own. Tina thrust her sword into the monster's heart, and Alex saw the shock on his face as he died slowly.

Seeing Tina's difficulty removing her sword from the dead orc's body, the third one tried to strike her. However, Rel'Tir frustrated his attempt with a strong blade swing, taking a good gush of the orc's neck. Tina released her sword and, with a swing, finished the monster,

The creature dropped to his knees as he bled,

"Are you okay?" Rel'Tir asked,

"I'm fine," Tina replied resolutely,

Alex looked towards the rest of the group, already preparing to keep fighting. Still, he was surprised when he saw they were already waiting for them. Their fight had ended, and ten orcs lay in the ground. Some were utterly burned, others full of arrows, and a third bunch with smashed faces or severed limbs and heads.

Ratamir smiled from ear to ear,

"It looks like we finally have some good recruits!" Everyone else was also smiling, even Val'Mari. Ravi was the only one who snorted on the spot, but Alex saw him slightly smiling as he turned back to the front of the street.

"Where?" Ratamir asked to Val'Mari,

"This way!" She said, pointing, and they started to sprint once again.

The building on the sidewalks started to burn, showing that they were close to the source of the fire, but what was really denouncing the proximity was the cries of help, the screams of pain, and the growlings in the distance.

The buildings started growing as they reached the city's center. They were probably entering the commercial part of the city. Stores were on the ground, and houses were on the second floor. These ones were really close to each other and had wood all over their foundations, making the fire spread quickly.

Val'Mari and the priest were already coughing when they reached a street so hot that it was impossible to follow through. The dark elf got a few steps back, reassessing their route, and pointed to another lane.

They started running in a side street when Alex realized all the roads leading to the same place, the city center and probably where the city hall and the dungeon stood. There were few connections between the streets, and they only got fewer and fewer as they approached the center.

"Can we continue?" Ratamir asked, and Val'Mari didn't reply. She had pleading eyes. "Do it, Bogath!" Ratamir shouted. Alex couldn't see the Orc performing all the magic rites, but a gigantic amount of water appeared from his staff. Like a wave, it washed the street and made the ground tremble.

Alex was in front of one of the alleys connecting two streets as the orc made water appear out of nowhere. The ground shaking beneath Alex's feet made a strange noise, and it was at that moment the young elf realized it wasn't the ground trembling. It was the building at his side falling. With shock, Alex saw wood, clay, and rock falling above their heads.