CHAPTER 28 - I’m sorry I
Leo
I am now trapped here in a tight spot. I had to commit and now it’s already too late to turn back.
I have the wave of beasts chasing me around, as I go from one street to another, where the battlefield of both tribes of orcs is happening.
I feel the tremors in the ground of the herd of beasts chasing me as I dodge everything that has been thrown at me. As I go through group after group of both sides while I am being attacked with swords, maces, axes, and even fists are thrown at me as I pass in between the orcs.
They just try to kill me the moment they see me, but they do not dare wait long enough before parting ways to let the herd advance after noticing it. Most of them though, too engrossed in their fights, don't make it on time and get squashed into the ground by the stampede.
Following my plan I take out every single group in sight from both sides and then turn in the direction of the weaker but more numerous tribe to make them bring everyone to the battlefield and defend their base.
Just as I planned, the moment I arrive before their base a whole army is waiting for me, only for me to turn around and go the opposite direction. I rush to the other tribe after making sure that the orc army is following me.
I do not forget to get rid of any groups of them that I see on my way either, lowering their numbers as much as I can. The other tribe might seem like a pinch due to their lower numbers, but they actually have the advantage.
Using their stronger bodies and bigger size they take the smaller ones in pairs, even trios sometimes while not losing ground at all. I know that because a lot of the groups I run across are fighting, which is why they are kind of focused on the fight and can’t react in time to dodge the beasts.
By the time I start running low on stamina, I have a clear line of sight of my goal. In front of me, only a couple hundred more meters or so my destination lay. The orc's tribe, they are already outside too with an army to fend off the attack, but their army is clearly smaller than both that are chasing me.
‘This is the hardest part of the plan.’ I prepare to conclude playing my part in this place.
As I deliver both armies to the doorstep of these guys, I will need to make all of them lose track of me in between the mob of monsters and beasts without dying. The orcs were already fighting and probably want more than anything to finish up this war so it shouldn’t be that hard to lose them once I make some distance, but the hedgehogs…
The smaller ones I can probably just outrun or use the armies as a shield or barrier to slow them down, but if the bigger one decides to keep chasing me instead of helping its breed to escape their now encirclement of the orcs… I am not a fan of my chances against that guy right now, it's probably as strong as the leader of the orcs.
Choosing to act first and think less, I dive into the second army of orcs, trying to both not get killed and escape at the same time.
Dodging the first row of spears by sliding down in between their legs I use their bigger bodies to block each other's attacks just as I did the first time I was ambushed by orcs, just that this time they are like a thousand times more.
I only managed to cross a couple of meters in between all the attacks running at me and the biggest hedgehog is already on me. Even in between the crowd of monsters it somehow seems to find me and is about to charge through the army too.
Fortunately, it only manages to knock a couple of rows of orcs before it stops. It’s stop forced by its new contestant, the most likely leader of the stronger orcs appears to battle with it.
He stops the charge of the beast with some effort but manages to take its attention from me into himself, and for that, I am grateful, cause that's my call to leave this place.
My job is already done, I am sure they will need some time to fight it off between the three sides so I keep avoiding all the attacks coming my way until I get deep enough to boost my legs and jump out of the range of the army.
I dodge a spear that pierces at me, and making use of the space that such a large weapon needs I jump and step with one foot in the face of the wielder and then the other onto its back, making use of their bulky build and propelling me far enough to avoid getting a spear through my chest when landing.
Leaving the battlefield, I run to the nearest buildings to make them lose track of me and then assure myself that there is no one tailing me just in case. Not noticing a single soul following me, I rush to the base of the orcs to check what I came for.
Minutes later, I get to their base, where only a few orcs remain guarding the place from trespassers. They are probably about ten or so by my rough estimation, but there could be more or less of them depending on various variables, so I decide to get rid of them as I go to not get surrounded later on.
The war has just started, but the beasts are probably either helping it last a lot longer or shortening it so I don't want to waste too much time here so as not to get caught by their main forces.
I would like to be there for the end of the war too, to see if there are any spoils or a chance to get rid of the winners. If the winner ends up being the beasts I wouldn't care that much as they are mostly in smaller groups around one area, but if the winner is one of the orcs tribes we are going to have a nuisance to deal with for a while.
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Pushing all those thoughts apart, I make my way to the orc’s base entrance. I can already see from afar that there shouldn’t be more than 2 or 3 orcs on each side of the improvised wall that they set up.
I get close to the wall without getting spotted by the two orcs on top. I take out the rope I prepared beforehand to climb it. The wall is not as well made as the one of the other tribe, maybe due to the lack of manpower in comparison.
However, is not something of importance now, the wall is high enough for me to be more convenient, and easier to just use a rope to surprise the lookouts so I do just that. I stealthy throw the rope just high enough to get it stuck in one of the wooden spikes popping out of the wall and start climbing.
When I get to the top of it, I take my stance on top of the wooden spike and then jump over the last part of the wall at both lookouts. I infuse one of my axes with qi and throw it at the one overseeing the other way, taking advantage of his lack of vision in my direction.
The other one notices me soon, but not enough to stop the ax I threw at her companion which breaks through his defense and gets stuck on the back of his head, once more showing just how sharp the weapons that some of them carry are.
Giving up on saving her already dead partner, the female orc rushes at me with her weapon at the ready. This one carries a club, just the same as the other lookout I just killed.
I can’t let myself be deceived by the club's appearance though, cause I am aware that if I were to strike it with both my axes it would still withstand a few clashes.
Not wanting to drag on the fight, I use a vertical slash with my remaining ax to draw her attention from my next move. The moment our weapons collide I perform my best to block it without losing footing and then strike with another blow to her abdomen.
Thankfully, I am now strong enough to at least not be overpowered by their raw strength, which helps me stand my ground after the exchange and follow up with another hit, this time a kick to the back of the knee.
The blow, empowered by qi, makes her flinch and get on her knees, making it easier for me to free my ax from her club, using it again to kill her with a decisive chop to the neck, cleanly severing it and finally ending her life.
Not wasting a single second, I rush to recover the other ax, throw both bodies inside into a corner to make it harder to notice that someone has broken in and then I go to the next group of lookouts.
For the other three posts, I do the same, killing all the guards that were left here in pairs to defend the base. I try to make it as quick as I can, but it only gets easier now.
The first pair was the hardest because I had to show myself from the front to actually deliver the attacks, but for the groups after, I just needed a timed surprise attack from the inside to easily dispatch both of them each time.
Not expecting to receive any attack from the inside of the base when the alarm hasn’t been raised, if there is even one or an equivalent, I make quick work of them all without any issue.
Once all lookouts are taken care of and hidden, I go inside the base to see for myself what I am dealing with, still cautious of any hiding enemies.
I see a couple of buildings a bit bigger than the rest. Both of them are guarded by a pair of orcs, so I swiftly take care of them.
The first building is some kind of warehouse where they have all kinds of food stored. Mushrooms, a couple of normal animals from before the invasion, and lots of meat of every type, probably from all the other monsters that roam the city.
Not interested in their food supply I start making my way to the next building, but the moment I am about to leave the warehouse I notice an orc at the door, looking at me. I try to throw my ax fast enough to avoid being discovered, but before It lands the orc already screams loud enough for all orcs in the base to come running.
I run to recover my ax from its body and prepare to move somewhere where I can hide inside the settlement to see how many orcs are still alive in the vicinity.
“You… Where are you going.” I hear a voice in my head telling me so and I turn around to face the new arrival.
The new orc stays in the doorframe, blocking the obvious escape route of the building. The orc is a female with tattoos running along her whole body.
Her size and height are similar to her peers, but gray lines of something similar to ash run through her skin from top to bottom, resembling an outer cardiovascular system with lots of gray veins that connect the whole body from outside the skin.
“You are the one who killed our fellow guards, right?”
Not knowing what those tattoos are for and seeing that this orc is not your regular monster, I try to establish communication, that way maybe I can get something out of her.
“How is it that I can hear you inside my head? What did you do to me?”
“I merely connect my thoughts to you to be able to communicate despite our differences in languages.” Her answers seem honest and somehow it makes sense in this kind of world we are living in now.
“To answer your question, yes. I am the one who killed your guards, but I wouldn’t have even come here if you all weren’t taking prisoners and killing our kind. What do you have to say about that!” I try to buy time too as I think of a strategy to leave this place alive.
A few orcs have already arrived here, probably all of the remaining ones in the base. I count up to five of them, three behind the female one I am “talking” to, and two more behind me, probably guarding another exit that I was unaware of.
“We can’t choose not to take prisoners, that is one of our missions in the end.” She looks at me with a now more serious expression.
“Are you going to surrender yourself now, or are you going to resist? You are already surrounded, and I don't plan on letting you run free out of here.”
After issuing her ultimatum, she takes on a fighting stance and both her and all the orcs around me take out their weapons and point them at me. I reach inside my head trying to get a hold of whatever she sent my way to talk to me. I sense something going on, but I am not able to fiddle with it so I just use my thoughts to scream at her.
“Fuck off!”