The next morning, the elves didn't wake me up until late morning and when I got up they were already ready to go. I also hurried to stow my tent and after a short dry breakfast and some cold tea we continued on our way.

I continued my conversations with Agradela and the other elves and learned much of them, of their customs, foreign policy and treatment of orcs.

Hours passed and we progressed through the difficult terrain and soon my hounds caught the scent of a large group of orc pursuers.

"My hounds smelled the orcs chasing us. We don't have much time, we need to ambush them." I quickly warned Agradela.

"Good thing we practiced a few times for that. He was absolutely right that they would hunt us down and find us. I'll give the orders, you get ready with your part." Answered one of the elves.

That's right, the day before we had already started to figure out what to do in case the orcs caught up with us. Today we had even taken the time to draw up some more concrete plans and preparations.

This of course cost us some time and effort, maybe a percent or two of the time needed to escape to the elven territories. But the time investe would greatly help in case the orcs founded us.

I knew that our chances depended primarily on how many orcs would be sent to hunt down a group of wounded, once already enslaved elves. If their group was large, the elves would have no chance of surviving. They knew this too, but had decided to fight to the death rather than let themselves be captured a second time by the orcs.

I also decided that if the group following us was too large, I would support them with my animals from afar, using my merge with shadow skills, and after losing my first animals, I would immediately summon a new group of hounds with whose help I would enter the forest and head into human territory. Yes, yes, I know what some of you think - I was a coward. But so what, everyone is afraid of death, even if it is not a final one.

So, most of the elves came back with me on our trail, to one of the slightly more suitable spots, and we made a simple ambush between the trees. We didn't have enough rangefinders, so the ambush wasn't going to be very effective. But it would have been better to fight in a place we have chosen, at a moment we have prepared.

So, while the elves were getting ready, I set a few simple trip traps with my ropes and got a good look at the terrain. My Imp kept circling around and kept an eye on the path the orcs would be coming from.

After I finished with the ropes, I helped the elves pile branches and earth in the form of simple fortifications. I had plenty of firewood that I had taken from the orc camp and we made quick use of it as building material. Here, too, we laid three unstretched ropes, which we covered with leaves.

Soon the orcs showed up before we had time to do even half our work, but we were still able to build some simple fortifications.

We hid among the trees and when the orcs got close enough, we met them with a volley of arrows and bolts. I slowly began to count our opponents and assess my chances.

"As we had hoped, the orcs have sent mostly part of the fighters from the nearest fortification but still left most of the garnisons to guard their fortifications. Thus, their numbers are less than those of the orcs in the fortification I had released the elves from. We can manage." I thought, and wondered once again how painful it would be to die hacked to death by heavy orc swords. Or worse, from some excruciating abdominal wound, tortured by the merciless orcs.

"Fire at will." shouted Agradela and the elves began to shoot their arrows. I too had prepared quite a few bolts placed on the ground near me, ready to fire. From the many battles, I had grown comfortable with this already accurate weapon, and my bolts slammed into the first orc bodies one after another.

After our first attack, the orcs didn't panic. Commands were heard in their guttural tongue, and without lingering, the fearless orcs attacked us. I could see the first ranks advancing in tight formation, guarding each other with their shields. Despite their casualties and wounds, the orcs did not stop for a moment. I couldn't help but admire their fighting spirit.

At that moment, I gave the order and the hidden elves stretched the first two ropes.

Ropes suddenly appeared in front of the densely packed orcs, level with their feet. Some of the front ranks managed to jump over the ropes, others stumbled, and some slowed their pace and continued cautiously forward, unsure of what other traps we had prepared for them.

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This gave us extra time to reap more lives with our attacks.

The orcs also had archers who fired back at us. However, we had partial cover, and the orcs were in a hurry and didn't have time to aim well. However, a few of their arrows found their target and killed or wounded several elven defenders.

After stretching more ropes and slowing down the orcs, I commanded my huge bear to show itself from among the trees.

It was considerably taller than the orcs and was making fearsome sounds. In its hands it held the body of a deer I had killed a week ago and stored in my ring. The bloodstained bear growled thunderously, challenging the orcs.

This bought us more time, and further broke the Orc momentum. Seconds passed one after another, and my bolts never stopped whistling through the air.

At that moment my bear stepped towards the orcs and they prepared to meet it. However, I wasn't going to sacrifice it that easily, so I just had it circle the orcs while challenging them with thunderous roars.

At that moment, a command was heard and the orcs attacked the bear. I hastened to call it to me, and the elf defenders of the barricades clutched their weapons tightly.

Our carefully executed plan gave us time to kill and wound many of the orcs and break their formation and momentum. My bear maneuvers were confusing the enemy, and the traps from earlier were making them wary.

I used my spells to light a few small fires of pre-prepared dry sticks and leaves. They had an additional psychological effect on the already confused orcs. All of which bought us enough time to further reduce their numbers.

When the orcs finally reached our barricades, I sent my bear into the melee and retreated in a flash to give me time and distance to use my crossbow and magic.

The elves with longer weapons, spears and shields, had formed a brave if inexperienced wall as they watched the dwindling orcs and held their weapons with trembling hearts.

Agradela also joined the battle, as she began to guide her mana and sent it in towards the ground in front of the barricades, kneading it and turning it into a thick sticky mud.

The Orcs had lost a lot of their numbers and we were outnumbering them. They also had many wounded and when they finally engaged with my bear they had to pay a heavy price in blood for killing it. After that they tried to split and attack the defenders from two sides.

This confused the inexperienced elves, but not their archers. After a brief calculation, I made my decision and began summoning my hellhounds. I had drawn the diagrams beforehand and now fed them manna. That left only the finishing touches. So the completion of the ritual took less than two minutes.

During this short time, some of the orcs jumped over the barricades and began to surround the defenders. This provided an opportunity for even more orcs to jump the barricades and join the battle.

At that moment, my hounds materialized and I hurried to send them into the back of the orcs who had lost their battle formation.

Agradela also led the few more experienced elves of our reserves in a desperate counterattack. The greatly diminished orcs on the left flank, separated by the barricades and by their attempts to attack the elves on both flanks simultaneously, quickly began to lose their lives.

At that moment, the thunderous voice of the orc leader was heard and he, along with the rest of the living orcs, attacked the nearby elves with new strength.

The orc attack was quite ferocious, and I immediately focused my hellhounds on the midst of this battle, and especially on the hulking orc leader who somehow stayed alive, even though I had hit him with my crossbow earlier.

I believe that the larger orcs could use their mana very well and thus their strength and stamina was exceptionally high.

The elves' casualties started to pile up, but my hellhounds were destroying the last desperate orcs. At that moment I pierced their leader with a second bolt, which stuck deep into his chest. Three large hellhounds took advantage of that and jumped on top of him, ending his life.

I then had the last hounds to howl loudly and charge into the surviving orcs. Two minutes later the last orc died and the battle was over!

I surveyed the battlefield. Many elves lay covered in blood, wounded and dying. Although they were outnumbering the orcs in the final confrontation, they were not soldiers. Only their life in a world torn by wars with bloodthirsty enemies had taught them to more or less use some weapons and stand together in the face of dangers.

"We've lost nearly half of our people," Agradela told me. "In addition, we have many more wounded."

I looked at her and slowly nodded my head, my sympathy showing in my eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more. When I return to my people, I will honor their determination."

"We are grateful for all you do," Agradela replied, tears welling in her eyes.

I walked over and tried to comfort her. Then I said:

"It's all the fault of the damned orcs. We lost a lot today, but many managed to escape the horrors of slavery and save their lives. Let us not think of the dead but of the living. Our responsibility is to them. Let us not spend any more time here. I do not think we can afford a second such battle."

"You're right, you're right." nodded Agradela, and wiped her tears resolutely with her hand. "Let us bury the dead and move on."

I summoned my imps and sent them to bring me the weapons, valuables and supplies of the orcs. During this time, I began to absorb a massive amount of mana and practice my skill of absorbing life and magical energy from my living and dead opponents.