Chapter 27: Chapter Twenty-Six: Power Versus Finesse

           Leo glanced left and right as his mercenary soldiers lined up inside the apple orchards, just out of view of the orcs’ camp. They had exited from the hasty fortification they’d established—a tiny square palisade inside the orchards. It really wasn’t the best position, and it relied heavily on the orcs substituting Strength and rage for any kind of tactics. But so far, they hadn’t disappointed.

As Meryl had said, the orcs would almost certainly get smart soon, but Leo was betting a lot that today wouldn’t be that day.

Leo checked the sun’s position. It was early morning, hopefully before the slaves had been let out of their cages and sent to work the fields. The sun hadn’t chased the darkness from the sky entirely, and the night’s chill had yet to fully dissipate.

            We don’t want to fight the orc band for too long, even if we can trick them into giving us a tactical defense advantage. But we also can’t let the second team hit first. We need to move soon.

            Leo had decided to rely on Meryl for the tactical implementation of the plan to defeat the orcs. He wanted to reach the point where he understood strategy and tactics well, but he didn’t think his first exposure should be on-the-job training when they were outnumbered and lives depended on his performance.

            Leo turned and stared at Hugh. A huge part of this plan would depend on the two of them and Meryl. The dragon was a beast of a combatant, acting a lot like an actual tank—he was so hard to kill, and he moved so fast, that he could singlehandedly disrupt the lines of low-level infantry.

            Hugh smiled back at Leo, his usual baring of impressive dentation feeling appropriate for what was happening now.

            Leo turned and met Lily’s eyes. She was in the very back, prepared to aid with her healing, looking regal.

            Meryl walked up to him. “It’s time, my lord. Are you ready?”

            Leo gave her a nod.

She called out, “All right, men, you know the plan. Move out!”

            The forty mercenary soldiers jogged forward, leaving the cover of the orchard and heading out into the six hundred or so feet of dew-covered grass and weeds.

            The orcs were in the same ruin that Leo had seen the day before. They operated around broken buildings, most obviously smashed apart by dragons. Numerous iron cages surrounded the central building, a large, marble church with a single tower, upon which was the bas-relief of a tree. Surrounding that were the orc camps, all gross messes, and beyond that, a broken fence.

            They don’t even have a defensive line, or entrenchments, or a palisade… All they have is a fence they half-fixed and the cages themselves for their slaves! Did they expect no opposition at all?

            The outcry from the orcs was almost immediate. They shouted and ran around in shambolic chaos. A few brave but foolhardy orcs charged in two small groups before the soldiers were finished forming a line. Hugh and Meryl charged one group of three, who broke apart, and Leo ran at a pair, finishing them off as the soldiers formed a line.

            Then the soldiers fired crossbows into the orcs still in their camp. The distance was only a couple hundred feet, but the soldiers still missed considerably more than they hit. The ranged attacks served their purpose, however—the action enraged the orcs even further.

            Leo spotted the black-scaled orc from yesterday’s chase. The orc appeared utterly unharmed. Leo wondered if that was Toughness, Luck, or healing potions. The orc carried a giant sword but not his bow—Leo hoped it had broken in the spill Leo had inflicted on him yesterday.

            The black-scaled orc screamed and gesticulated, and soon, the remaining orcs formed a massive, vaguely circular horde. It started forward with an irregular jog, leaving about twenty behind to, presumably, guard the slaves.

            “Back slow!” Meryl called, and the soldiers began slowly retreating, the harassing fire from the crossbowmen falling off.

            “Spread line!” Meryl called, and half the crossbowmen stowed their ranged weapons and withdrew swords, fading to the sides, extending the line to thirty people. The remaining ten took spears off their backs, prepared to lend stabbing strength wherever they were needed.

            “All right, you two, front,” Meryl said.

Leo and Hugh slowed their backward walk, allowing themselves to become the front line.

            The soldiers were still about fifty feet from the trees when the milling chaos of the orcs’ charge reached them. Hugh hit the foremost group hard. He raked one with his claw from neck to navel, and the orc stumbled back, alive but grievously wounded. The second he bit in the thigh, dragging him back screaming and shaking him like a dog shook a rabbit and then slamming him to the ground.

            “For the Massive Majestic Majesty that is Leo!” Hugh screamed as loud as he could, flecks of blood spewing into the orcs that didn’t seem deterred at all.

            For fuck’s sake, Hugh.

            Even over the din, Leo heard a few soldiers laugh.

            Well, between the two ‘kills’ and the obvious fun he’s having, I think Hugh just shored up morale quite a bit.

            The dragon’s incredible scales made it difficult for the orcs to hurt him, even as eight to ten peeled off and starting stabbing and smashing him with spears and clubs.

            Difficult, but with the orcs’ natural Strength, not impossible. A few strikes managed to draw blood from Hugh, and Leo winced as the dragon grunted from a particularly well-aimed club blow to his back.

            Even with his magical armor, Leo was still considerably less damage-resistant than Hugh—but he was fast now, his Agility stat supernatural. Leo moved at the second group of orcs, his shield angled to deflect a spear strike, then he sidestepped the next orc’s club strike as his sword flickered out in a carefully controlled slash along the inner thigh of the first orc—which was guarded only by tattered cloth breeches. Blood from the femoral artery instantly and explosively stained the orc’s clothing, and it fell back, grabbing its leg and yelling.

            Leo’s shield rim caught the overextended club wielder in the side of his head, and that orc went down like he’d had his power cut.

            Two more slashes and the group in front of Leo was halted as well, confused by his rapid movement and obviously afraid to be the first ones to make a move toward him.

            Meryl hit the third major prong heading toward the mass of soldiers, her blade crackling with lightning.

Leo caught a brief glimpse of her as he fought—she fought better and faster than either him or Hugh. Hugh killed one and mauled a couple more before retreating, while Leo put four out of the combat but killed zero. But Meryl left three corpses and three unfit for duty before she joined them. Although Hugh broke out of his group, neither Leo nor Meryl could afford to be surrounded.

            The brief surge and retreat had done what it had needed to, however, and the soldiers made it back to the edge of the orchards.

            The orcs followed them into the trees. The battle briefly became near complete chaos on both sides. The orchards, which had hidden Leo’s force from the eyes of the orcs earlier, broke up the lines on both sides. And disorganization favored the numerous and strong orcs. Even though it was a bare hundred feet to the makeshift fortifications, Leo had to save two people who had tripped—or gotten slightly misdirected—from orcs, stabbing one orc in his lower back and knocking the other on his ass with a shield push before being forced to retreat.

            Despite his best efforts, Leo still came upon the bleeding corpse of a human soldier, face down, a huge rent in his back and neck both, as he retreated through the trees.

            A minute later, Leo joined the remaining thirty-three soldiers who had made it into the fortification. It was merely three-foot-tall stakes rammed into the ground, facing outward over a two-foot-deep trench, with a small gate, but it would be a huge force multiplier against enemies as poorly led and equipped as the orcs. They’d built this tiny version of the standard encampment in the wee hours of the morning, a small defensive position to fall back to, using materials gathered and prepped at their main camp four miles south down the road.

            It had been nerve-wracking, trying to quietly set up the surprise fortifications only a thousand or so feet from the orcs, but Meryl’s men had managed it, shielded by the orchards.

             “We have to hold, men!” Meryl screamed. “You know the plan!”

            The orcs showed their first signs of a survival instinct—they didn’t blindly charge the fortifications. Instead, they milled outside. Eventually, the eight-foot-tall, black-scaled orc moved to the front with his huge sword pointed at the fortification. Then he yelled and gesticulated wildly at it, screaming dark-sounding words as he did.

            Leo turned to the men.

Lily moved among them, healing the hurt and wounded. An advantage I don’t think the orcs have, Leo thought as a notification told him one of the orcs he’d fought had died of blood loss. I wonder what the range on soul gathering for experience is? I mean, I’m about a hundred and fifty feet and a couple of minutes from where and when I cut him, and that assumes he didn’t try to retreat.

            “Anyone know what he’s saying?” Leo asked aloud.

            “Uh, not much, sir,” a black-haired soldier said, nervously rubbing his olive-skinned hands together. “I know a bit of Blood Tribes cant, and ‘Huvesti’ is the word for human, and ‘bahk do’ means ‘to make die.’ Those words account for, like, a third of his speech. Pretty standard orc shit, my lord.”

            “Call him by his real title, Majestic—” Hugh began.

            “Thank you, soldier,” Leo cut in, giving Hugh a glare. “What’s your name?”

            “Vito, lord,” the soldier—Vito—replied.

            “I appreciate a man who takes the time to learn, Vito.” Leo handed the man a gold coin he’d taken from his pouch—over a year’s salary for a mercenary.

            The man’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates, and his friends exclaimed and slapped his back with friendly envy. Leo heard whispering about what had just happened going up and down the line.

            And now it’s my turn to contribute to morale.

            Meryl caught his eye and then nodded once—he thought in respect.

            Leo already understood that on this world, Toth, one powerful individual could make a huge difference. No enemy had stood out to him at all, except for the black-scaled orc. Wanting to gain an edge before the fighting started, Leo used analyze on the enemy leader. His magic reached out, forming into his Mind ability, and information about his enemy flowed back into his brain.

            The black-scaled orc…

Chargath Bone-Eater
Level 7	Earth, Body	Health: ~25	Stamina: ~20	Essence: ~5
Physical Attacks: By weapon + Strength, ~+75% You are reading story Elf Empire at novel35.com			Defenses: Armor 3: Scales, Earth magic
Special Abilities: Earth and Body magic, details unknown
So, in case you were wondering, Grakith Demonborn got into the pants of, like, every orc lady out there. And a few really unlucky and traumatized elves. He left his quarter-demon children all over his short-lived empire, and now most of them are warlords, chieftains, or lieutenants in one of the Blood tribes or another.   Chargath Bone-Eater is the idiot version of Demon-Daddy’s children, however—dumb as rocks and lacking almost all magical aptitude. Sadly, when you level, you can always just stack attributes and, in the case of Body magic, healing, and that’s what this guy has done. When your only job is killing things, sitting squarely at room temperature in the IQ department isn’t the worst disadvantage.

 

            Well, that wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but it gives me something to work with, I guess. No real weaknesses here, however.

            Leo knew how he would try to fight him. He would rely on his own advantages—fast movement and critical hits. A single critical hit did three times the damage of a normal hit for Leo, thanks to his twenty-plus Agility bonus and his Predator perk.

            Scale-butt is probably a lot tougher than I am. Maybe I shouldn’t have sent Wolten with the other team, after all.

            Chargath finished his speech, and a few axes were handed to some of the largest orcs. The orcs slowly broke apart and then coalesced into three groups. Half the axes went to the right group, and half to the left. Chargath and his group of orcs, the smallest one, walked squarely in front of the gate.

            Then Chargath screamed, “Korth!” and pointed with his sword.

            “I’m going to stop the breachers on the right,” Meryl said. “Hugh, take the left. Lord Leo, make a name for yourself with Chargath’s head if you can!”

            The two moved to their positions, and Leo moved forward.

            “We’ve got your back, my lord!” one of the soldiers cried out.

            Chargath charged, running straight at the gate. As he got close, he raised his hand, and the earth around the spikes rumbled.

            Oh, Damn, Leo thought. We’re not the only people with levels. And I’ve only got ten men to defend this charge.

            Chargath swung his arm to the side, and the earth around the spikes on the ground moved, dumping them, and the gate itself, onto the ground, useless as defensive emplacements.

            Leo moved forward almost without thinking. The gate was two men wide, and Chargath had a buddy orc with him. Leo ducked under the swing of the massive sword, but it had been a feint. Chargath’s kick caught him in his side—his armored side, fortunately, but the sheer power of the demon-orc threw Leo back, rolling, into his own men, fouling them.

            Two died almost instantly, one to Chargath’s backswing, which the soldier tried to block but instead hit so hard, the blocking sword was shoved back and the man’s face cut near in half. The other took a club from the side orc and went down. However, one soldier held his hand out and fire spurted from it. It barely singed the orcs, but they shied back for a critical half second that allowed them to recover. Thank the gods of this kooky world my soldiers are Level Two.

            Leo scrambled to his feet. The normal orc that had hesitated took a spear thrust in the leg, dropping to the ground, and caught a sword on his club, only for a spear to take him in his exposed underarm.

            Chargath swung a mighty blow, and one of Leo’s soldiers lost an arm, screaming, and was then kicked in the chest, flying backward. Chargath advanced a few feet.

            Leo knew his second level, well-equipped men could handle the orcs in the narrow, two-man-wide passage if he could drop Chargath—but it had to be fast, or Chargath would clear a path into the heart of the fortifications.

            He rushed Chargath, watching for his kicks and punches. He ducked the sword again, but this time leapt sideways, dodging the follow-up kick. As Chargath lowered his leg, Leo saw his moment—the quarter second when Chargath would have both feet planted, before the sword could be brought back.

            It was the cheapest of blows, but Leo didn’t want to lose any other men. He darted in and stabbed Chargath dead-center in his breeches, then danced away.

            As Leo leapt back, Chargath let go of his sword and grabbed his crotch, screaming. It was a terrible sound, bass somehow while still being a scream. Leo had expected him to be treble now, but apparently, that wasn’t a thing with orc-demons.

            His face a rictus of agony, Chargath reached down for his sword. Two spear thrusts from soldiers hit him, doing light damage, and Leo rushed in. He slashed the back tendon of Chargath’s right leg—hard—and Chargath fell to a knee. Leo felt a brief working of magic before he jumped out again to avoid Chargath’s sudden grab.

            Then the demon-orc climbed to his feet, his face no longer communicating pain.

            What the heck? Leo used analyze again, scanning the sheet quickly as he moved in and out of combat range of Chargath, trying to keep him on his back foot and not clearing more space for the orcs behind him.

            He saw the information immediately.

Special Abilities: Move Earth: Can spend essence to shift earth at up to 5xOccult feet. Resilience, Rank II: Gains a health back every 6 seconds

 

            Leo knew he wouldn’t be able to end the fight with hit and run strikes.

Chargath had simply healed—his groin had obviously healed and taken the pain with it, as had the supposed crippling blow to his tendon.

            I need a couple of big hits in a row. Please, new and improved elf body, don’t fail me now.

            Leo gave another hit-and-leap-away attack, waiting and watching for what he hoped would be Chargath’s change of tactics.

            Chargath bunched the muscles of his legs and Leo knew it was time.

            Leo leapt forward, flicking his blade out. He dropped partially, dodging the sword swing. But when Chargath started to charge after Leo’s expected leap out of danger, he instead stepped in, thrusting his blade up as hard as he could, into the neck of the giant brute.

            His sword half-severed Chargath’s head, but Leo knew better. Anything short of dead was a slight delay at best. Even as Chargath grabbed at his grievous wound, Leo stepped under his huge arm, rushed past him—almost into the next orc—turned, and slammed his sword into the other side of Chargath’s neck, while angling the surprised orc’s club swing away with his shield.

            The beast’s fingers prevented a lot of the damage, being lost along the way, and Leo stepped back. He saw Chargath’s stance change and moved sideways around him, trying to avoid the other orc’s strikes as he did, causing the orc with the club to stumble forward.

            Chargath turned, swinging his sword with his right hand while holding his neck with his left. Leo’s movement away caused the other orc to catch the sword, and he died in a welter of blood.

            I need to finish this!

            Leo let go of his shield, grabbed his sword in two hands, and swung at the back of Chargath’s knee as hard as he could while the mountain of flesh was facing away from him. The hit was dead on, and the leg was cut to the intersection of the bones. Chargath fell back, and Leo continued his mad movement around.

            The spear of another orc took him across the outside of his thigh. Leo felt the agony in his leg and tripped at the same time, stumbling forward toward his men and collapsing even as he completed his circuit around Chargath.

            He scrambled away, jumping unceremoniously into the line of his men to escape any further attack, and rolled over.

            To see the mountain of flesh charging him, spewing blood from multiple wounds he hadn’t healed yet, his eyes wide, dilated, and bloodshot.

            I think I pissed him off!

            Leo yelled as the mountain raised his sword. His men hit Chargath a couple of times with spear and sword, and a crossbow bolt from someone slammed into his chest, but nothing seemed to stop him as he rushed to Leo. He towered over the otherworlder, pouring blood, and raised his sword. Then it came down at Leo.

            He heard his name screamed from both Lily and Hugh in antiphonal chorus.

            He reached out with his magic and pulled one of the wooden stakes on the ground next to him across his chest as Chargath’s blade fell onto him.

            The blow hit the stake, cutting completely through it and partially though Leo’s armor. Leo took five damage from the transferred blunt force, and his ribs cracked. But he survived. He stabbed his sword up, hard, into Chargath’s unmentionables a second time, and Chargath screamed.

            More sword slashes and spears hit the demon-orc, and blood rained down on Leo. Then a couple arrows slammed deeply into the orc. Leo rolled away and stood as Chargath teetered, his insanely high Health, Armor, and Regeneration slowly failing him.

            The orc raised his sword again, but it was slow and awkward. Another arrow slammed into the giant before Leo could engage. Chargath finally toppled, dead.

            Leo saw Lily standing, her magical bow in her hands, about ten feet from him. Right, she has a magic bow. Since her illusions hide it underneath hair and dress, and she almost never uses it, I keep forgetting that’s part of her gear.

            Leo heard drums.

            His remaining soldiers, delivered by galley to the orcs’ base to secure the slaves hopefully without loss and take the orcs’ stronghold from them, hit the orcs’ rear as planned.

            The orcs’ attack failed utterly as they tried to turn to meet a second front.

            The battle, although costly, was won.

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