The Battle Of Ashen Snow(2)

After the first wave, the northern border army was slaughtered like a bunch of fish being attacked by a shark horde. The Enkrean Empire's forces were annihilated, and all of their captains and veterans of the common folk were slain in battle. 20,000 Enkrean soldiers were up against 40,000 Dark orcs. It was a 1 to 2 battle and everyone was slaughtered. The border wall was destroyed, and the empire's defensive advantage crumbled.

The only forces left to fight the second wave was the reserves. 2,000 Foot soldiers, and 400 elites who were nobles that could afford metal armor were the last line of defense.

A valley with two snowy mountains on each side was the point of defense.

2,400 Enkrean soldiers were expected to hold off 30,000 dark orcs for 3 days.

It was a suicide mission.

The empire had sent reinforcements after the first wave, however it would take 3 days for them to reach the battlefield of the second wave.

This is where our protagonist Evelon, begins his journey as a reserve captain.

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"Argh!!!" Evelon was smashed to the side as his shield was bashed to pieces, and his shoulder bruised.

"Captain!!!" His men called, as they began to panic and apread apart.

"Stop you idiots! Don't break the formation!" Evelon shouted but to no avail, as it was already too late.

*CLANG*

One of his men was thrown to the side by an orcan club, and two others were surrounded by orcs.

"Damn it!" Evelon cursed as he was too naive. He let the rush of killing an orcan captain get to his head and tried to charge with his men across the battlefield.

"Form Up! Shield wall!" Evelon bellowed, as he had them assemble and he punched an orc in the face to his left to make an opening for his two men to get to safety.

"Get that guy to safety!" He roared as he pointed to the soldier who was thrown aside by a club.

"I-I can still fight Sir!" He stood up and winced before his arm swung around like a noodle.

"Aaaarrggghhh!!!" He screaned in pain upon realizing his shoulder was dislodged and his shield shattered.

"You two, take him back!" Evelon shouted after pointing, and they forcefully pulled the injured man to safety. Evelon had 7 men now. He had to make sure he didn't mess up again.

"Stop dawdling and get over here!" Evelon shouted, as he ran to the two men who were surrounded and stabbed an orc in the eye.

"Y-Yes Si-"

*CLANG*

Evelon blocked the blow at the last moment, but the other man was smashed into the floor by a massive rock club.

"Drag him back to safety!" Evelon pointed at the man on the floor who was crushed unconscious, and the other soldier nodded before dragging him away. "Y-Yes Sir!"

"Raoorrrggh" two of the orcs around them struck down their over sized clubs at the escapees.

"Hurgh!" Evelon shield bashed one club to stop it with force, and swung his sword to block the other club.

*SNAP*

Evelon's sword snapped and shattered as several pieces of iron sprayed throughout the cold snowy ice floor which was now crimson and purple with blood.

"F-!" Evelon cursed as he saw his sword snap and break.

*Crack!*

"Aaarrggghhh!!!" Evelon's stomach was smashed in with the orc's club, and he coughed up mouthfuls of blood as his ribs broke.

"Urgh..." Evelon lay flat on the floor as he saw everything in slow motion. Clubs and snow were slowly falling down towards him, and he could barely move. His strength was failing him, and he realized he was exhausted. Taking blows from a captain head on was not something a reserve captain like him could do on the first try. He was bruised all over, and his left shoulder couldn't be lifted higher than his head from over exhaustion. His stomach had a rib sticking out, and blood was seeping from his side. It felt like his belly was being torn apart by a rabid beast, and his right arm was exhausted from stabbing the tough orc skin over and over.

-This... This is as far as I go huh...- Evelon mocked in his mind. He had trained countless years in the army. He had done drills and participated in practice battles each day. He had stood ahead of the rest and became a captain by the age of 19. Yet it was all going to end here...

"Captain!!!" His men called out as his eyes moved to the side and saw their faces in the openings of their worn and rugged leather helmets. They had looks of terror, and fear as they were quivering and completely open to an attack.

-No. I can't die yet.- Evelon coughed up blood, before swinging his body onto his left side.

*CRASH*

A club smashed into the floor beside him, and purple-crimson snow sprayed all over his armor and body.

-They still need me.- Evelon rolled to his left as he continued to roll out of danger.

"Urgh..." Evelon rolled next to a dead soldier, and took his sword, aiming it up at an orc that was about to clobber him.

*SHANK*

Purple blood sprayed all over his face, as the blade he had taken sunk deep inside of the orc's throat. Using the orc's force against him, and the ground as a support, he cut through it like butter even though his arm was extremely tired.

*CLANG*

Evelon lifted his shield in time, as he blocked a club from his left and it felt like an entire mountain was crushing down on his shoulder and body. His body slid away from the force of the club, and over the low friction icy floor which was covered in purple and crimson snow.

"It'll take more than that... To kill me." Evelon smiled, while he slid away from the group of orcs, and over to his men. He lay flat on the floor with both arms flat on the ground to his sides as he was exhausted.

"Captain!" One of his men called, while the others formed a shield wall around him, and the sixth man pulled him into the formation. Evelon coughed up blood as he tried to speak when he saw this action.

"You idiots! Shield wall with one man on each part wont work! Do a double layer!" Evelon bellowed with what bit of strength he had left.

"Y-Yes Sir!" They each hollered, and united into a double layered shield wall formation.

"Switch with the front when they get tired. Right now, we have to buy time." Evelon coughed up these words, and rolled onto his knees as he tried to stand.

"Captain! Their flanking us!" a soldier on the left side of the formation called, as there were simply too many orcs, and the other human soldiers were far behind them.

"Fall back! We need to stay with the rest of the soldiers, or we will be surrounded!" Evelon ordered them, as he wiped blood from his mouth with his right arm, and stood up from his knees which felt like jello. With six men left under Evelon, he had to keep them alive no matter what. He needed them, and they needed him.

"Sir!" One of his soldiers moved to support him, but Evelon just nudged him aside with his palm.

"I'm fine. Keep moving with the rest." Evelon spoke, while he stepped back and pushed the soldier away with great force.

*THUD*

A club landed in between them, and smashed into the icy floor, as snow sprayed all over their faces and armor.

"Hmph!" Evelon sunk his blade into the eye of the beast, and then headbutted it as it fell over onto its side with a cry.

"Reeerraaaaaggghh!!!" The orc rolled around on the floor whilst holding its eye in its left hand, and slamming the floor with the club in its right. Causing all of the other orcs to back up to avoid being hit by the club.

"Move! Now's our chance!" Evelon shouted, as he turned and ran back to the human formation which was meters away. The reason the path was empty of orcs was due to the fact that he and his men had gone too far out and slaughtered nearly every orc in their path. Now that they were tired and injured, it helped a lot. All of his men were covered in bruises, and their equipment had broken several times. They had taken equipment from dead soldiers, but it was so old and shoddy that they had to keep replacing them.

"Run!!! Go!!!" Evelon roared, as his men began to frantically run full force back to the human formation with their arms waving about madly. The human soldiers back at the formation behind them had only been watching all this time. They were too afraid to do anything, and were only in awe of watching Evelon's team. But now they knew what was happening, and they were also approaching them to take them into the formation.

*Thud!*

One of his men tripped over a dead orc, and fell onto the floor.

"Aaaggghhh!!!" He screeched in pain, and then tried to crawl his way to the formation, but his ankle was sprained, and he had a sword stuck in his leg.

"Hup!" Evelon ran over to the injured soldier, and put him on his back, as he stood up and slowly walked towards the formation.

"Move! Move! Get going!" Evelon hollered to the nearby men who stopped to wait for him in case he needed aid. Evelon coughed up blood, as his muscles creaked and strain was put on his injuries.

"Just move!" he thundered and ran towards the formation full force even though his body felt like it were about to break.

"Sir!" Some of the men in the human ranks spoke, as they saluted him with a fist to their chest out of respect, and opened a pathway for him and his men to enter the formation.

Evelon and his six men ran into the formation, and behind the safety of multiple human soldiers. The men who were injured were already in the back of the formation being treated.

"Captain... Do you think I'll make it..?" the man who was crushed under a club had woken up and asked him.

"You... I... You'll be fine." Evelon smiled to him in comfort. Even though the man was most likely not going to survive.

"Urgh!" Evelon clutched his side which had a bloody rib sticking out, and coughed up blood.

"Captain!" His men shouted as they moved over to help him.

"I'm fine... Where are the medics...?" Evelon asked them.

"The medics are under high pressure Sir... I don't think they will have the time to get to us. Not to mention they are probably out of mana already, and will peobably only provide bandaging." A soldier from the back of the soldier formation spoke.

"No healing magic...? Then we will have to try and stop the bleeding..." Evelon cursed and took a roll of bandage that was nearby, and then strapped it around his wounds.

"Hurggh..." Evelon winced in pain as he wrapped his stomach. his rib still stuck out, but he would leave that for later since he didn't know how to treat it.

"You there... How is the left side doing?" Evelon asked a man nearby who was wrapping a bandage around one od his injured soldiers.

"The left side is doing really badly right now... Its thinning out and the elites are on the verge of deserting the battlefield. The orcan captain is slaughtering everyone who goes near it." The man spoke with a grim tone.

"What rank would you say that captain is?" Evelon asked in a weary tone when he heard how strong it was.

"I'd say... Probably about a rank three orc captain..." The man said in a hushed tone, while he finished the bandaging.

"Rank three... Damn." Evelon cursed, as the captain he had faced was at most a rank 2 and least a rank 1. Rank 3 orc captains stood 12-15 feet tall, and weighed 1400 pounds of pure musce. They had better armor, and used actual weapons for combat. They were a completely different story than a rank 1 or rank 2 orc captain. Even Evelon figured that no man would be able to block a blow from those monsters.

"I need to..." Evelon coughed up blood as he tried to stand, and fell to his knees.

"Don't push yourself. Get some rest." The man spoke and moved to bandage another man.

"You're right... Maybe someone elae will stop it instead..." Evelon sat down and rested his exhausted body.

"Sir! The nobles are fleeing the battlefield!" A soldier called as the metal armored elites were riding away on horseback in panic.