Chapter 14: Orcs and Wargs_Mortal games of the gods

When the meeting finally ended, it was already nightfall. We decided to split into two groups.

The combat group consisted of Ale, Bea, and me, with each of us serving as subcommanders of one of the three companies. Each company was composed of three squads, each containing 3 warrior griffons, 3 protector griffons, 1 bard harpy, and 1 harpy from each of the six magical classes we had discovered: time, space, life, death, mind, and identification. In other words, each squad had 13 members, making a total of 40 fighters per group. We would head out every evening at dusk to kill the surrounding undead, collect cores, and rescue survivors.

The protective group consisted of Dani, Ángela, and Carlota. Ángela and Carlota would protect the base while Dani used his ability to enhance our combat skills and ensure no one betrayed us.

We were given a wooden cabin where Dani slept, as thanks to our white flames, we didn’t need to sleep and could contribute to the watch. Although we didn’t stay too active to conserve energy for the day, the undead were more active at night, so we had to act several times.

The next morning, I approached the members of my company in my phoenix form. A blonde harpy, about 30 years old, came up to me.

"Good morning, my name is Ari. I am the company commander because of my experience in the army. However, the higher-ups have requested that you be the subcommander, a novice who looks like a small eagle and has no experience commanding troops. You're surprised that the leader is a harpy and not a griffon, aren't you?"

"A little, Commander."

"That's because griffons fight on the front lines and can't give orders. Additionally, my class is Mental Mage, which allows me to communicate telepathically amidst the chaos of battle. Anyway, that over there is Grigoris, the huge griffon with scars. He also served in the army and has considerable knowledge about leading griffons. Harpies have more of a support role. Your role will be to support Grig and heal anyone if they get infected. Honestly, I would have rejected a novice with an unknown class if I hadn't been told that you could cure newly infected people."

"No, Commander."

"I hope you can keep up with us. Anyway, each company is responsible for a different area: east (humans), west (orcs), and north/central (undead). But don’t be mistaken, the undead are a plague that can be found in any area. Each day we cover a different zone, and today we patrol the west. We return once we’ve rescued more than ten survivors, the harpies with space have their dimensional pockets almost full, or it's close to 1 PM, whichever comes first. There’s a lunch break, and then we head out again at 3 PM. So, our schedule is basically from 7 AM to 2 PM in the mornings and from 3 PM to 9 PM in the afternoons. One-third of the crystals obtained go to the settlement, another to the griffons, and another to the harpies. You will count as a griffon. Additionally, there’s a bonus for those who contribute significantly and for the commanders. Any questions?"

"None, Commander."

"I expect punctuality and discipline. If I tell you to fight, you fight. If I tell you to retreat, we retreat. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Perfect, let's head out now. We’ve already lost five precious minutes talking."

She then addressed the rest of the soldiers.

"Soldiers, today is only our second day after the meteors fell, but we must either adapt or perish. Personally, I prefer the first option. For that to happen, you need to follow my orders. Remember, griffons handle the attack while harpies support from behind. This is the new subcommander, who will attack alongside the griffons. Introduce yourself."

"Good morning, soldiers. My name is Juan, and I am a phoenix. My race allows me to shoot white fireballs that heal, kill undead, and even cure zombification, while my red flames are destructive."

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A harpy asked hesitantly, "Subcommander, and your class? I can't find any information, and I'm a divination apprentice, so it must be rare or higher."

"Indeed, but for the role I currently have, my class doesn't matter much. Any other questions?"

There was a unanimous shout, "No, sir!"

Ari nodded. "Perfect, today we're covering the west area. Let's move out."

One advantage of being a flying company was our speed and ability to avoid obstacles. We easily destroyed the zombies, at least those in the streets. Each squad split up, one led by Ari, one by me, and one by Grig. My squad found several survivors and inactive meteors thanks to the divination harpies. Whenever someone from another squad got infected, I quickly moved to their location to heal them. We returned early, around 11 AM, because we found many survivors, and Ari seemed pleased. Some fauns came to inventory the meteors, register the new people in the Archive, and present their new homes.

"Good work, so good that you can rest until 3 PM."

I stayed with Ari to talk to her.

"Commander, I still have quite a bit of energy left and can activate my abilities in my human form as well. Harpy and griffon abilities aren't effective in closed spaces like buildings. Do I have permission to clear nearby buildings? I won’t stray far, but the longer the surroundings stay uncleared, the more dangerous it becomes."

After some hesitation, Ari said, "Alright, subcommander, but be back before 2 PM. The cores you get will be yours. Do you need more equipment?"

"No, Commander. Thank you."

I went out and cleared all the nearby western buildings adjacent to our area. There were several zombies, but none too strong. I returned with several cores but no meteors, as I didn’t venture too far. I headed to where the twins and the rest were eating.

"Sorry for the delay, I wanted to use up all the phoenix energy that Ale’s ability grants me. How did it go for you?"

Bea answered with a smile, "I did well, but Ale got scolded quite a bit for being too reckless. As expected."

"That harpy sure lives up to her name, she’s bossy."

Dani sighed wearily. "Ale, don't start again. Anyway, my morning was also interesting. I made contact with the human side, and they requested a meeting. This time Bea and

Ángela will stay while the rest of us attend the meeting. They’ve asked us to bring some meteors, all the martial ones and those of the human, beast-man, rattling, goblin, and orc classes. Those last three because orcs are also attending the meeting. In fact, they’ll pass through our area, and we’ll escort them. So this afternoon only one company will go out to escort us, the one that covered the human front this morning, which means Ale’s company."

"Great, I get to see the bossy one again."

We headed to the western part of the wall, and around 4 PM, we saw 30 orcs and 17 goblins approaching, mounted on black wolves. The orcs and wolves looked huge, but the 12 green zombies following them looked even worse. Three even had horns. Ale quickly threw fireballs at them, killing them. When Ale went to collect the meteors, one of the goblins stepped forward and picked them up. In his shrill voice, he scolded us.

"These meteors are ours. We lost 13 of our members and haven’t gained anything in return. Besides, we saw the zombies first and didn’t ask for your help."

"But you were fleeing, and I defeated them."

A particularly large orc dismounted his wolf and spoke in a deep voice.

"The truth is, we underestimated the zombies. We thought we could outrun them with our wargs, but that wasn’t the case. Let’s split the cores and meteors in half. You can even keep the extra meteor. We didn’t come seeking a fight but friendship, so we shouldn’t argue over trivial matters."

Power: Orc

Level: 1

Exp: 0/10

Energy: 10/10

Rarity: Common

Race

A being can only have one race. Offspring will inherit this race.

A humanoid being with greenish skin, long tusks in the lower jaw, and great height.

For each level in this race, you get 1 point in strength and toughness.

Race abilities:

* Warrior

Power: Warg