Chapter 360: Chapter 344 – Letting off Steam

 

“Even saints have times when they lose their patience.” - Old folk saying.

Even as she rode behind Orica and rushed with her towards the human army, Aideen noticed that the humans seemed better prepared this time around. Not only had they come with greater numbers, but when the horde of orcs rained tens of thousands of arrows on them, many of the humans raised large wooden shields and covered themselves as well as those around them, which reduced the damage they took from the deluge of projectiles.

 

Preparation was one thing, however, while facing something in reality was another.

 

Aideen saw that while the humans weathered the storm of arrows better this time around, gaps still appeared in their formations, as people fell to lucky shots that found gaps between the coverage of their shields and pierced into flesh below. Here and there, the gaps enlarged as a fallen shieldbearer caused a larger gap and more arrows passing through which in turn led to more casualties and more gaps.

 

When the orcish formation approached closer to the human ranks, their bowmen started to step up and returned fire, but they were greatly outnumbered, even when the orcs came even closer and those soldiers armed with crossbows joined into the fray as well. If anything, when the human archers and crossbowmen came out to shoot at the orcs, the keen-eyed orcish hunters immediately shifted their targets to them as well.

 

As a result, many of the human archers and crossbowmen fell to orcish arrows, some even before they got a shot of their out off.

 

Aideen noticed the main reason for the disparity right away.

 

Where most humans struck by an arrow would be badly hurt or incapacitated – the arrows used by the orcs were larger and naturally caused more damage since they were launched from heavier bows – the same had not happened with the orcs. They were sturdier of body, more robust in construction with greater vitality compared to the humans.

 

Several of the orcish warriors at the front had more than half a dozen arrows or bolts protruding from their flesh yet they still charged on without regard to their injuries. Only the occasional lucky shot to a vital organ dropped some of the orcs, but compared to the humans the number of casualties they took was far fewer, and the sight of the orcs charging ahead with arrows stuck in their bodies had not done wonders for the human side’s morale either.

 

The human army had arrayed themselves in a tight formation, forming a long, narrow rectangle over the plains, which was something Aideen often saw in many battles. By comparison, the orcish horde looked more like an unorganized mob that raced each other to reach the human lines, with nary a sight of cohesion or discipline amongst them.

 

Looks could be deceiving as in this case, however, as in actuality the orcish horde was divided into many small groups, each small group led by a warrior whose prowess was acknowledged by their tribe, who in turn answered to older, veteran warriors who were even more renowned. Those in turn answer to their tribe’s respective warchief, and where the horde looked like a chaotic mess from the outside, in actuality there were a large collection of small units that acted semi-independently from one another.

 

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A fact the human army found out the hard way when their battle lines clashed with the orcish charge.

 

The gaps that already formed in the human army’s formation proved to be a fatal flaw when faced with the spirited charge of the horde. The orcs used their superior physicality to literally shoulder the humans aside, or cut them down where they stood, and broke the frontline of the human formation after it held for only a brief moment.

 

Some orcish warriors led the charge from atop their mounts, and the various beasts rampaged through the human formation with reckless abandon. Great four-horned aurochs lowered their massive horns and charged through a shield wall like it had not existed at all, while more nimble beasts like the large predatory felines of the prairies and the speedy feathered lizards actually leapt over them to maul those hiding behind the shields.

 

Aideen and Orica were closer to the center of the horde. Orica’s rhinoceros mount was not the fastest one out there, and she had delayed to allow Aideen to join her as well. As a result, they only reached the front after the battle had already been joined in full, the human army struggling to maintain their cohesion and formation while the orcish horde tried to unravel it into a more chaotic mess.

 

Due to their late arrival, they noticed how two groups of human cavalry – probably a thousand strong each or so – attempted to strike the orcish horde from the flanks. The cavalrymen were armed with long spears and blades on their backs, and split up into ten groups of around a hundred each per side, before they struck the orcish horde one after another.

 

The first group of human cavalry who attempted to charge through and overrun the orcs learned a painful lesson that fighting with orcs was nothing like fighting with other humans. While a few orcs were impaled on their spears or brought down and trampled by their horses, more struck back. The blows the orcs delivered straight up dropped some of the horses, while some others leapt straight for the riders and brought them down.

 

More than once, the horse proved incapable of bearing the weight of both its human rider and the orcish attacker and collapsed on the spot, throwing both human and orc to the ground.

 

When they saw the fate of the first group, the rest of the human cavalry exhibited more caution and attempted slashing hit-and-run attacks instead, but even then some of them fell as the orcs also landed their blows on either the horse or the riders. A couple Clans whose place was further on the sides of the horde had already turned to address the human cavalry as well.

 

“Can you drop me off here?” Aideen asked to Orica. “I’m thinking of helping them out with those cavalry on the left.”

 

“Certainly, Everlasting One,” said the orc with a nod. “I had thought you had not wished to fight in our battle, though?”

“Let’s just say that I wasn’t happy about some of the things I’ve had to witness today,” replied Aideen a bit more curtly than usual. “And I feel like letting off some steam right now. On them.”

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