"We are going to die!" Collin shouted and started to run around.
"Let's run away! There is no way we can fight these many orcs!" Brett joined the choir of despair.
"STOP!" Cless stomped her feet and tried to be louder than they. "There is nowhere to run. They boxed us and not a single one of us can outrun them in the woods at night. We are going to stand and fight!"
"You are crazy! They are going to kill us! There are three orcs for each one of us!" Alan quivered.
"We either fight together and bet on the small chance we survive or we die together. Running away is just giving the orcs your lives away." Cless tried to rein their moods in. "We hold the line. Fight side by side. We can win this!"
She was not sure. They were fifteen boys leveled five to ten. The orc scouts were an average of sixteen for the weaker group they found. There were outnumbered three to one. Their only chance of winning was how Cless and Silverfang played their cards. Arnold could help but he was level five. Cless would have to triple their combined combat value to get even.
The orcs were taking their sweet time. Hooting and laughing at the despairing humans. She used that time to simulate and run her options. They could charge down the hill and try to open a gap to flee. They could get away but the orcs would pick them by order of speed. Arnold would be the first to fall. If they sacrificed Arnold, maybe everyone else could live.
No. She wouldn't sacrifice anyone.
Giving up the hilltop was a silly move. They had the higher ground and the orcs could only approach from three sides as one of the hill faces was a steep cliff one would have to climb. If they could use the hilltop, they could win. Cless could Hallow the hilltop. She practiced before going to sleep, she could cover the entire hilltop plus a few meters on each side. And her proficiency increased. Instead of reducing the costs, proficiency increased the range and effect. A high-level Cleric could change the flow of a battlefield. But that would make her a sitting duck. She couldn't move away from where she was casting, she couldn't speak. There were pauses in the chant but those were for breathing.
She could move her arms though. Which means she could fight with the bow. The drowned screams of despair from the boys resumed as she returned her attention to the outer world.
"Silverfang, we are fighting!" She told her werewolf.
"We fight, kill, and die for glory! Command me, my alpha!" He howled back.
"Arnold. We are fighting on the hilltop. You are going to taunt the big orcs that come. Hold the line. Shane, you are to remain mobile. Sneak attack the orcs you can. Go around. Collin, and the spearmen. Form a line on either side of Arnold and hold the friggin line. We are fighting and we are winning!"
"For the Blind Eye!" Lyle seemed fearless. Cless thought it was strange but maybe he was a better actor than her.
"For the Blind Eye!" Arnold started bashing his Warhammer in the rim of his shield.
"Fuck it, you are crazy. This chick brainwashed you!" Collin snarled.
"If you run you die, Collin. Don't. Stand and fight. At least you can kill some orcs before you go!" Lawrence slapped his friend's back.
"Form a line!" Cless shouted again. "Hold the flanks around Arnold! Stand tall, Blind Eye!"
She planted the captured quivers of stone arrows around her. The good, iron-tipped arrows were on her back. Two short bows were on the ready in case hers failed. Longsword.
"Silverfang you are to run around getting targets of opportunity. Don't let any of the boys get overwhelmed."
"As you command, Cless!"
Cless decided to not save mana for after-combat healing. They either make it or don't. She cast Protection on all the boys and a seventh Light spell over the spot where Arnold would stand. The orcs clearly had night vision and they didn't.
"We are doing this!" Lance shouted to psych up everyone. "We are doing this!"
Martin lifted his maul. "Let the big ones to me. The bigger the better!"
The orcs started to shout and bash their weapons, making a rumble like a peal of thunder.
"Here they come!" Arnold warned.
The rumble sounded like a cavalry charge. Dozens of heavy feet bashing the hill, making it tremble. Cless chanted and readied her bow.
"Hallow!"
A pulse of holy light, a disk ran through the ground and glowed for a brief second. It ended a dozen meters past Arnold. Cless readied her arrows. She would shoot any orc in the eye or the neck, making the best of the Skill she won from the mercenary. She kept chanting as she aimed the bow with the line of the hilltop.
The first orc came into view and before Cless could let loose her arrow, a throwing dagger popped in his eye. It fell back, rolling down. Cless shot the second one, hitting its eye. Soon a wave of green, tusked, snarling heads sprouted all around the hilltop and Cless started to let loose arrow after arrow. For every arrow she missed, three hit their marks. More daggers flew, from Shane and some of the boys. Orcs got minor wounds but Shane got two more in the eyes.
Arnold taunted the orcs and several of them, over half a dozen made for the armored defender. They bashed each other's shoulders, bloodlust overriding any kind of reasoning. Some even traded blows but the desire for human blood was stronger than their inner animosity. The first four that reached the spears were skewered by Brett, Joe, Collin, and Alan. All around melee started as the orcs on the flanks engaged the other boys without spears.
Shane and Silverfang weaved around, hitting targets of opportunity and helping where possible. The first orcs to die were pulled back by their frenzied brethren to make room for them to fight. Cless kept shooting into the fray, aiming at the orcs arriving behind the first line. Her leadership proficiency and her Warmaster bonus compounded with the Hallow spell made each one of them fight as if they were ten levels above their own. Hindered by the Hallow spell and the advantage of higher ground, the orcs were no match for the line of inexperienced but inspired and consecrated fighters.
Her quiver of good arrows ended, she switched to the stone-tipped arrows. Cless started to miss half of them until she remembered Balthus training and tried to understand the bad arrow before she shot it. Her accuracy increased to two out of three. The third wave of orcs was defeated, a pile of bodies in front of them and the boys used the pause to catch their breath.
"Push the bodies down the hill or we are going to have trouble!" Lyle shouted. They heaved and pushed the bodies down the hill.
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Silverfang howled loudly. His howls echoed on the hills around the rising side of the valley. It was a longing, sad howl. A requiem for them?
"Reform the line! Incoming!" Shane shouted as he cartwheeled back and a flight of stone-tipped arrows flew up and past them.
"They are bringing archers. Whoever has knives to throw hold onto them for the archers! Cless, get ready!"
She glanced down and nodded at him. Cless still had two quivers of stone arrows. She kept chanting. If she dropped the Hallow spell, she wouldn't have enough energy to recast it. She felt she could use one Mending and that was all.
Another volley of stone-tipped arrows came and the boys tried to defend and dodge. Some of them were grazed, the divine spells overlayed one over another and their armor helping to avoid incapacitating injuries. But it disrupted the line and the orc warriors timed their arrival with the flight of arrows.
A wild and chaotic melee ensued. Cless slowed down her rate of fire to get better accuracy and the most value out of her arrows. The boys were felling the orcs, but they were getting hit. Only glancing blows and nicks here and there but they were piling up.
She had no idea how long were they fighting. Cless was on her last quiver. Her arm hurt. Her boobs hurt from the shaking of shooting even protected inside the brass-iere. Then the boys started to falter, their wounds past their own pain threshold. Lyle, Martin, and Kevin were the first to falter and lose their footing. Silverfang pounced the orcs to avoid a killing blow and Shane dragged them in, closer to Cless. She knew they were alive. All they had to do was to keep alive until she could heal and stabilize them.
Then it was Collin, Brett, Joe, and Andre. They too were dragged back but now the line was thinned out. With half the boys down, Shane and Silverfang had to join the fray and push back the orcs.
Cless ran out of arrows. She had nothing to do. She dropped her short bow and kept chanting as tears flowed around her. The groans of the wounded and bleeding boys at her feet were unbearable. She drew her longsword and held it. And yet she chanted. The only reason they were still holding was the double-edged effect of the Hallow spell. But she wanted to fight.
Cless was there, able-bodied but rooted to the ground.
Herbert and Jerry jumped back to avoid some nasty blows and crawled behind the others. Nine boys down. Six boys and one Lycan fighting. Silverfang dove into the orcs with abandon, taking hit after hit on his gleaming fur under the moonlight. The wounds closed but not as fast as Cless remembered. He too was getting tired.
And yet she chanted. Her spell-prayer mixed with tears and her own sadness a requiem to those soon to be departed.
Silverfang howled loudly once again. It was one of pain, of longing to see family, of despair, and also of vengeance. The howl echoed once again on the hills surrounding them but this time it was not Silverfang's pitch. It was disjointed, a badly rehearsed choir of canine voices. Movement on the undergrowth of the surrounding hills told a tale.
A tale of a union without words. Of brotherhood across species. Of bonding against a common enemy. They were driven from their hunting grounds by the orcs. They were hunted and eaten. But they bid their time. And this night, they would charge rent of their ancestral grounds. With fang and claw, they were going to charge flesh and blood. Roars and growls at the foot of their hill. Lawrence fell with a blow to the skull. The orcs shouting in their guttural language, some of them wary and the ones far behind glancing at their backs.
And they came. Wolves red, brown, black and even white pounced at the orcs, drove their teeth on their ankles to hamstring them.
Silverfang chortled. The bloodied werewolf tore one orc's throat and howled, unleashing his fury. The beast was back. Now that his master and companion was threatened, he would fight like the wild monster he was.
"Reform the line! Stay together!" Arnold shouted. He was wary of the wolves. The wild animals' allegiance was unknown.
But Cless knew. She knew because the wolves that entered her hallowed ground gained her bonuses, not her penalties. She was the general, Silverfang was the captain. The wolves their shock troops.
The cavalry that day came on four legs, but without riders. The six lights she placed down the hill went out, their duration exhausted. The orcs' morale broke and they lost their will to fight. They were trying to flee the sea of fur but wary of climbing the hill. Too much orc blood drowned the grass on the hill.
Cless raised her sword up when Lyle was looking at her. She smiled and swung it, pointing and glaring at the orcs fighting the wolves. Lyle looked at Silverfang fighting the orcs and he shouted.
"Arnold! The wolves are on our side! Charge and finish the orcs now! Before Cless' magic wears off!"
And the six remaining boys charged down the hill, killing the orcs. Silverfang howled and growled. The boys, no the men shouted their warcry as they pummeled the last surviving orcs on the hilltop.
"For the Blind Eye!"
And it was over. Cless' throat was rasp, her voice faltered. The chant interrupted, the spell canceled. She was sensing less than five orcs remaining. Cless fell on her knees and reached for the wounded boys next to her. She could cast Mending three times, some power regenerated during the fight as Hallow doesn't require a power upkeep.
she touched Lawrence and he was breathing still. The left side of his face smashed, bone showing on his cheeks but the skull was intact. She used mending on him. The second one was for Andre. Lyle somehow got back on his feet so the last mending was for Martin.
Collin, Brett, Joe, Herbert, and jerry, five out of the seven deserters with them were there, bleeding. Some still conscious, sending pleading glances at the guild master they scorned, the healer. There was Kevin also, but he seemed further from dying than the some of them.
Cless cried and prayed. Her Power exhausted. She remembered she had three stat points remaining. Without a second of hesitation, she set them on Magic. one more mending. The worst was Collin, the only one of the deserters stuck at level five. She healed him. Drained again. She could only pray, and look inside at her own reservoir of magical power. She willed it to fill faster. She wanted to suck in the magic in the air.
Cless was unaware of what was going on around her. She only knew that she had five warriors that depended on her to survive.
And the voice of the system spoke on her ear.
> For defeating 63 orcs, you earned 3400 Class Experience Points. You reached Cleric level 16. +1 Health. Your Exp contracts earned you 134,658 Class Experience Points. You reached Cleric level 23. +1 Health, +2 Intellect, +4 Magic. For using your Class proficiencies, you earned 12,000 Class Experience Points. You reached Cleric level 24. +1 Health. Your professions leveled up.
She recovered magic power upon leveling up. If she gained one main level, it would recover entirely, but it was still something. She could use Mending twice more now. Joe and Kevin were chosen.
She saw the plate-clad Arnold in front of her, but she could only hear muffled sounds like she was underwater. All Cless could think was to recover enough Magic to heal the three boys still bleeding next to her. Cless motherly placed her hand on their foreheads, she tried to speak but her voice was spent chanting. She looked around and saw movement, she thought she saw a red Silverfang walking around. She thought she saw the first light of Dawn break through.
Then it happened. The sound rang in her ear and she screamed in despair.
> Herbert and Brett died without repaying the owed Exp. +6 to all base stats gained. Skills earned. Check text notification for details.
Jerry was still alive, barely. He was bleeding from a belly puncture. Cless prayed Mending but fumbled the words, her voice cracked. She felt her own blood in her wounded throat. Cless prayed Mending and nothing happened. Cless prayed Mending and nothing happened. Cless cried. Cless screamed. She asked the One God to grant her more magic.
> Jerry died without repaying the owed Exp. +3 to all base stats gained. One Skill earned. Check text notification for details.
She pulled Jerry near her and hugged him. She cried until her consciousness faded into sleep.
> Name: Cless (no surname)
>
> Race: Human.
>
> Level: 22 ( 231,774 / 253,000 Exp)
>
> Class: Cleric 24 (284,635 / 300,000 Exp)
>
> Profession — Warmaster 10 (52,743 / 55,000 Exp) — Weaponmaster 10 (52,743 / 55,000 Exp)
>
> Base Stats — Strength: 25 — Agility: 25 [33] — Health: 37 — Intellect: 37 — Magic: 43
>
> Available Status Points: 0
>
> Skills: [ Absolute Contract (S) ], [ Giant's Stamina (E) ], [ Trick Shot (D) ], [ Dangersense ⦅C⦆ ], [ Nimble Step (D) ], [ ???? ], [ ???? ], [ ???? ]
>
> Proficiencies:
>
> Appraisal — Status: 22
>
> Crafting — Crude Weapons: 5 — Arrows: 1
>
> Magic, Cleric — Mending: 23 (+1) — Detoxify: 16 — Light: 21 (+3) — Turn Undead: 4 — Blessing: 10 (+2) — Holy Bolt: 12 — Purify: 9 — Protection: 14 (+3) — Hallow: 20 (+13) — Flametongue: 1
>
> General — Prayer: 22 (+5) — Scribe: 2 — Houseworking: 6 — Math: 3 — Reading: 8 — Forestry: 9 — Skinning: 7 — Herbalism: 3
>
> Social, general — Negotiation: 15 — Persuasion: 3 — Bluff: 3
>
> Social, martial — Leadership: 22 (+2) — Intimidation: 19 — Tactics: 20 (+3)
>
> Movement — Tumbling: 3
>
> Weapon — Long Blades: 18 — Short Blades: 2 — Unarmed: 11 — Archery: 23 (+1) — Spears: 3 — Maces: 22 — Staves: 4 — Axes: 9