Turning The Tide

Kace felt a shiver run down his spine as he ran at the front. Glancing behind him he noticed Sarah staring at him intently. 'Huh, maybe she's interested? She looks quite frustrated.' he thought ignorantly.

Controlling the pace as much as he could without alerting the Heroes, he kept his senses as sharp as possible. Over time he felt the presence of more and more Heroes joining them. 'They've got an entire army out here... This isn't looking good.'

Silence. That was all that anyone could hear. Not a single sound. Not the usual animal sounds or even the melodies that insects would play. In the absence of natural sound, the human heart instinctively comes to know fear. This kind of phenomenon is usually only found when prey is in the presence of a predator. They naturally do all they can to not attract attention. Like a prelude to death.

It was then that a ray of moonlight broke the canopy, giving light to the wooden walls that had come into view of the army. The Heroes, in their disbelief halted their advance. Upon the walls stood both goblins and orcs. In complete silence. The moonlight glinted off their armour. Ten metal spikes stood before the walls. Upon the spikes the heads of comrades who had come with the army were displayed. Their dead eyes staring enviously at their living companions.

"This... This is not what we were led to expect." Phillip said, breaking the silence as he scanned his fortified enemies.

"Sir? What now?" Sarah whispered to him.

"What else? We have to wipe this stronghold out at any cost!" he furiously replied through gritted teeth. "You! Hunter! Your job is done. Return to town and report the existence of this place, tell them to immediately start scouting for more!"

Kace nodded. He knew that Phillip was just trying to get rid of him. Most likely he was also worried that other monster dens had also became formidable in the absence of Hunters coming so deep into the mountain. It was a good excuse for him so it would be a waste not to take him up on his offer.

He fled in the direction that he had led the army here from. To make his escape look legitimate. 'Once the chaos starts I'll be able to cause some mischief.' he thought, gloating away to himself.

"ATTACK!!!" Phillips voice resounded in the darkness.

Kace had not gone too far when he heard this. He immediately leapt into the trees and made his way back to the battlefield, keeping high in the treeline and out of sight. The brutality of war was the sight that greeted him.

The Heroes had split into three separate groups. Surrounding the walls so that none could escape their sight. Meanwhile, contraptions resembling giant crossbows built by the Scavvie Tribe fired relentlessly. Followed by arrows from the archers stationed behind the walls.

Some heroes had used magic in ingenious ways to scale up to the top of the battlements. Only to be met with a viscious assault from the warriors stationed there. Sarah was one of these. She casually strolled along the walkway at the top of the walls, slaying any monster that stood in her way with ease.

Phillip was currently attempting to burn away the central section of the walls with his magic. However, much to his dismay Vaskra was using her air magic to block his bombardment. Failing to get anywhere with his assault he quickly losing his composure.

A group of the Heroes army rushed the right side. Led by a hero that Kace had not gotten the name of. His armour was gaudy and the person himself was sporting a short beard. As they rushed forward in their enthusiasm the ground suddenly gave way. About half of this force fell into the oil pit that had been concealed. The others had been lucky enough to either get out of the way in time or had simply been outside of its scope.

No sooner than had their bodies sunk into the oil a goblin on the wall gave a signal to another on the ground below him. That goblin set an arrow alight in the fire that was burning next to him. Taking careful aim he let loose his projectile. The arrow trailed a beautiful line of fire across the night sky as it peaked in it's trajectory. Then as suddenly as it had rose it fell. True to its mark. The oil lit up like a bonfire.

The flames were dancing and almost celebrating in it's desire to consume the foolish heroes that it engulfed. Screams of despair and agony reached everyone on the battlefield. Causing the monster army to celebrate.

While this was happening Sarah and Durz had entered into combat with each other. Durz was on the defensive. He had underestimated Sarah.

"Go to hell!" Durz yelled at her as she gave him a look of indifference.

Swinging his blade brutally at her he prepared himself to defend, positive that his strike would not connect. His assumption was correct. She did indeed avoid the blow however the counterattack was not what he expected. Instead of her blade what he faced was her pointing her finger at him. Electricity dancing around her arm.

"[Electro Spear]" Sarah said with the same indifference as she had shown.

The lightning rapidly rushed down her arm and left her body from the pointing finger. As it sped forward it took the shape of a spear.

"Fuck!" Durz whispered, closing his eyes.

The spear rammed into his chest, forcing it's way through armour, skin, muscle and bone alike. Launching the now limp goblin from the wall, leaving behind the scent of burnt flesh.

Kace had not borne witness to this moment though. He had noticed that Phillip had started to burn large amounts of mana to break through Vaskra's attempts at defending. As he rushed through the crowds of humans more and more of them began to fall to the traps and siege weapons. Another oil pit on the left side had been triggered and Kace could only assume that they had not had time or deliberately choose to leave the centre clear of such a trap.

As he silently slipped past the Heroes who were attempting to push forward he was calmly slitting their throats or piercing the critical organs through the gaps in their armour. They were so focused on the enemy before them that even the ones standing next to them never noticed. Instead they chose to believe that their comrades were falling to projectiles that they had not noticed.

Before Kace could reach Phillip he blasted a hole in the walls. Leaving Vaskra feeling weak and devoid of mana as she fell from the section she had been defending.

"Onward! Don't let a single one of these abominations survive!" Phillip roared, rallying the Heroes morale.

Like a sea they began to converge on the newly opened hole. Fighting broke out between the warriors of both sides atop the debris of the ruined wall. As Phillip stood laughing in triumph a sudden icy feeling washed through his veins.

In confusion he looked down. His throat had been opened from ear to ear, a short, brutal blade slightly protruded from his chest where his heart was situated. Struggling with trying to decipher what had happened he heard a voice as cold as the frozen tundra in his ear.

"You really should just die for me." Kace whispered.

Phillips eyes went wide as he recognised the voice. Right before the light in them dimmed. His soul no longer present. Kace pushed his body from his blade. Allowing it to fall unceremoniously into the dirt. With a sneer he wiped the blood off his blade on the mages robe. 'That girl needs to go next.' he thought as he deliberately displayed his disdain by walking over Phillips corpse. Grinding his face into the mud.

As the Heroes gained the upper hand the siege weapons fell one by one to their weapons and magic as the walls were overrun. Kace continued his massacre as he slipped on through the ranks. Scanning every face to find Sarah. She had already given him a bad feeling earlier so the sooner she disappeared the better.

Drums began to sound from beyond the gate blocking the cavern. Heroes that were nearby turned to look at what was coming as the ground trembled. As the makeshift wooded buildings burned from the fires that had been set with magic the gate blocking the cavern opened slowly and ominously.

When the Heroes could see what lay beyond they gasped in horror. A tidal wave of mad, screaming, heavily armoured orcs and goblins rushed out together. Their rage tore through the invaders as if they were not even there. The flow of battle had turned against them.

"Retreat! Retreat!" yelled an unknown voice.

This sparked a stampede amongst the humans. None of them wished to be turned into dinner for these monsters. Kace was standing in the middle of this. Glancing around, hoping to catch site of his prey.

He never noticed her as she had already leapt from the walls. Spotting a solitary corpse in a red robe laying in the dirt she had but a single thought.

'I really should take him back... Or I'll never hear the end of it...'