I entered Tiger’s office, stepping in front of Marco as he tried to stop me. I tried to push through him, but he grabbed me by the wrist. He held me there while his chocolate-brown eyes pierced into me.
“Devin, come on. Please talk to me!” Marco cried.
I shook my wrist from his grasp as I entered Tiger’s office. To my surprise, the orc chief and a few of the other tribe’s representatives were already there. It seemed like they had started the war council without waiting for Marco or me. With all these people in such a small space, it was hard for me to find a spot to stand, but I quickly wormed my way through the crowd to find a spot.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dejected look on Marco’s face. It was probably time to forgive him, but I wanted him to know how I felt even for a moment longer. Seeing I wouldn’t acknowledge him, Marco shook his head and entered Tiger’s office.
“So, what’s the plan Tiger? We burn them all alive and then go home?” Marco asked.
He had that same light-hearted tone he always did when it came to killing. A part of me wondered whether or not Alfonso was right and whether we truly were monsters and on the wrong side of history. But, now was not the time for those types of sentimental feelings. Now was the time for action either in fighting the dwarves or finding a new path. A path where we would not have to continue on this cycle of bloodshed. No matter how many dwarves we had killed in the past they had only seemed to fortify themselves.
“We might be able to save a few dwarf lives and our lives if we don’t rush head-on. We can outlast them if we only starve them out! We can cause them to surrender without dropping any blood,” I said confidently in my approach.
“How are we supposed to get stronger if all we do is wait them out? Besides they won’t sit there and slowly starve. We need to take the fight to them before they take the fight to us!” Marco stated.
Then I noticed only Marco and I were arguing. No one else had said or done anything after we showed up. Now Tiger had an expression on her face like we had come into a meeting unwelcomed.
“Are you two done?” Tiger asked. “We are going with Marco’s plan more or less. We had come up with a strategy before you interjected yourself into the conversation. If you two would show up when ordered you could have had a say.”
“What about the casualties? More people will die with this strategy.” I interjected
“It’s the price of war 471 now if you don’t like it I will keep you in the back with me. That way you don’t have to participate in the fight.”
“Fine, I will only help if everything else fails,” I said as I stormed out of the room.
We had organized the troops that night as planned and now we marched toward the dwarven stronghold. The crunching of fallen twigs played out as the army marched. Tiger had assembled the entire force to launch a decisive blow against the dwarves. The front lines of our army comprised orcs and hobgoblins. My orc bodyguards were acting as de facto leaders of this group. The next line of offense was the large trolls along with Marco. They stationed him towards the front of the army to deal the most damage he could. The backline of our force was the gnomes, goblins, cannons, and 18. As the most vulnerable group, they hid behind the larger races. They also had a unique role, as they would attempt to sneak inside the fortress unnoticed. A regiment of the gnomes was to use the dwarven cannons against them. Tiger, my golem, and I were in the rearguard in case the dwarves tried anything tricky.
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"You sure you want only the two of us back here to protect the entire force?" I questioned Tiger while we were en route.
“Your golem is more than a match for them. But you are vulnerable to their assaults. So, this is most likely the best spot for you. Besides, you said that you did not want to participate in this fight.”
“You put Marco in the front. Isn’t he in danger?”
“Oh, so now you care about him?” Tiger asked.
“What he did hurt me, but I don’t want him to die,” I said
“Marco has a talent for surviving. I am sure he will be the most dangerous thing in the melee.”
The pine forest opened up as we approached the dwarven stronghold. The dwarven stronghold had a similar design to that of the Nucrestrian architecture. A large fortress wall lined the cave opening. There appeared to be one way in and out. Tiger had guessed at other paths into their fortress, but without more time there was no way to find them. So, the war council decided to go through a large wooden gate in the center of the walls. These gates were now closing as the army approached.
Cannons rang out as the gnomes blasted the fortress walls. It looked like the dwarves did not prepare for this kind of onslaught. Most likely because the Nucrestrain kingdom did not have cannons of their own. It was something that the dwarven alliances had not decided to give to our kingdom.
The first round of cannon fire did not land on our target. So, the gnomes corrected their aim and the next round of shots landed directly on the gate. The front two lines charged into the battle directed straight at the breached gate. The goblins and gnomes spread wider and tried to flank the walls. A few teams of goblins were carrying large ladders that dwarfed the small creatures.
I could not help but worry about Marco, who was on the front lines. As I thought this, the dwarves returned fire with cannons of their own. They aimed at our front lines.
“Marco!” I cried out.
“Devin, steady yourself. We need to be on alert for unknown forces on the battlefield.” The steady voice of Tiger reminded me of my side. She had remained calm in this situation. She had a look of confidence that steadied me.
“Okay,” I said, calming my emotions. I scanned the battlefield. But there wasn’t anything to see. That was other than the dwarven fort folding in on itself. It seemed like the fortress had already been lost. “This is going too well,” I told Tiger.
Tiger had the first look of panic I had seen on her face. I tried to see what she saw. Then I noticed the shape of this battlefield. The walls were sunken into the cave a good five-hundred feet. It created a chokepoint of sorts both for the walls, but also for the attacking force. Almost all of our army was within that cave.
“We fell for their trap,” Tiger muttered. “How could I not have seen this coming? I spent all that time planning.”
Then I heard explosions in the walls. They were collapsing the entire cave entrance. Rocks showered down on top of the army. Most of which had already made it into the fort. The mass of people trampled over one another as the rocks crushed them.