“Get down!” An archer from the walls shouted as a huge piece of rock was coming near them. Many of the soldiers ducked for cover, hoping that the rock wouldn’t hit them. The rock hit the wall instead, but it did not break the thick and mighty walls of the fortress.
‘BOOM’
The cannons fired at the siege towers, trying to destroy them so that none of the enemies could reach the walls.
Arrows barraged them as the mages stopped them with their magic. The musketeers and crossbowmen fired back at the enemy.
It was chaos as many were dying left and right.
“Watch out!” A crewman from a cannon shouted as he saw a boulder being hurled at them. The crewmen ran away from the cannon, heading to cover. The boulder hit the cannon, destroying its support beams and making it fall to the floor.
The crewmen looked at the cannon in horror. Then, they proceeded to run from the area.
The thing was before they ran for cover, one of the crewmen was about to light the fuse, and by accident, he set it on.
It was too late as the cannon fired at nothing, bouncing back from the recoil violently and making it fall backward and inside the fortress.
“Incoming!” one of the soldiers on the ground and near the tower shouted as they saw the falling cannon piece. Many soldiers ran, and eventually, the cannon fell with a loud cracking sound.
Support quickly arrived as they went and carried injured soldiers to safety.
Even with all the chaos, the soldiers continued doing their duty. They did not falter, they did not run away from the fight, they remained.
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‘BANG’
Barry pulled the trigger of his musket, aiming at a goblin carrying a part of a long ladder. The goblin was hit in the arm, making them drop the ladder, but the others carrying the long ladder weren’t fazed at all as they continued moving forward.
Barry reloaded; he was one of the fastest reloaders in his company. He already finished reloading in about half a minute. Quickly, he aimed at a near enemy, readied, and shot at them. Then, he would do it all again.
He was skillful with the musket and that was a fact.
‘BOOM’
Barry was startled as a boulder hit the grounds inside the fortress but that didn’t stop him from carrying out his reload.
Barry took a look at the siege towers. Most were destroyed but the remaining ones were nearing, as well as the ladders and the battering rams.
He aimed at an Ork carrying a part of a ladder. He was predicting where it would move next, finger lightly pressing the trigger.
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“Mova!” An Ork captain shouted. The Ork captain had a muscly body and armor that covered vital parts. The rest were covered in fur clothes. In his left hand was a skewed sword and on the right was a wooden shield. He was currently ordering other Orks around.
Many Orks and others were being killed by the weapons of the humans. Siege towers were being destroyed and battering rams were being lit up, causing many more to die a gruesome death.
Hagkat, a fellow Ork soldier, tasked with carrying the ladder, was scared. Like any Green Ork, he was big and green. But unlike any other, he had a disorder where he couldn’t grow bigger muscles, making him weak.
Because of it, he was bullied at a young age. Bullied and weak, but not alone for he had a friend who was with him.
And because of it, he was a hard worker, always giving it his all when given a task. With no hesitance when being given another, he does all of the tasks given to him to prove his worth.
Currently, he and his unit were ordered to carry the ladder near the walls, then put it up. It was easier said than done since hails of bullets and arrows rained down on them. Their own archers and catapults returned fire but it could only do so much.
The march to the fortress was hard enough, now it became harder. Death was just around the corner and any single one of them could die in a heartbeat.
The constant screams, loud explosions, and burning did not help his or anyone’s nerves. But orders were orders and they kept marching.
Once they finally reached the walls, they quickly set up the ladders. The ladders were quickly built and were made of trees that were near the fields. Ropes were tied and the length was long enough to reach above.
Hagkat helped in making them and now, he was using them along with his comrades in arms. After the ladders were placed, Orks were starting to climb up. But up above, a mage was pointing their staff at them. The Orks were confused by the act as they continued to climb.
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‘FOOM’
A stream of raging flames exited the staff, burning the Orks and others that were in its wake. The screams were gut-wrenching as the sizzling and boiling of their skin were seen and heard. Tons fell to the hard ground, leaving a burning corpse.
The stream of flames then moved from side to side as the staff was being moved. It then continued to unleash fire on the other nearby ladders, burning and killing many. As quickly as it started, it eventually stopped.
Hagkat looked at the falling bodies in shock, not knowing what to do, he just stood there. He looked everywhere, seeing many Orks and Goblins injured, trying to retreat. Siege towers were being destroyed after a cannon hit them. Ogres tanking hits of all kinds and trying to help the injured retreat by covering them.
It was chaos.
Then, a loud noise was heard on the walls.
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“They’re on the walls!” An archer shouted, looking at the siege tower that reached the walls. The shout was heard even from down on the ground, alerting some swordsmen and spearmen to quickly come to the top.
Barry was near when he heard it as well. He looked to the right where the siege tower was located, its ramp dropped onto the walls.
The troops near it stopped using their ranged weapons and finally switched to swords. They were prepared to fight against the enemy.
A mage was there, prepared to use his staff.
A variety of enemy troops exited the siege tower and started to attack the troops. Barry quickly turned to his right, aiming his gun at the enemy.
‘BANG’
A Goblin that was exiting the tower got hit in the right arm, the bullet quickly exited and entered the chest. The impact forced the goblin to fall leftward, falling for there was no ground. The goblin screamed as he fell to the ground down below.
Barry just killed the goblin. He pressed the trigger. It did not feel too good for him. Even after that, he continued to reload his gun as if nothing has happened. As if he did not just kill the poor goblin.
Already, he finished reloading, he checked his pouch which only had a few packs of gunpowder and ammunition left.
‘BOOM’
The roof of the siege tower was destroyed as a gust of wind blew. It was the mage’s work. Many Orks and Goblins fell due to the explosion but the siege tower was still there.
“RAAWWRR”
A roar was heard from the skies. More wyverns were appearing. The ballistae were now aiming at them again. But in the ranks of the enemy, goblin shamans were chanting again.
From above them, the clouds started to descend. Then, the clouds started to thicken, covering the tracks of the wyverns and confusing the ballistae of their locations. The clouds then started to cover the enemy army as well, making the defenders stop firing. It then covered the walls as well.
Now in a fog, the troops which weren’t fighting orks and goblins were readying up their swords and shields if they had one.
Barry had his gun lowered, wondering where the enemy might be.
Suddenly, a wyvern dropped down from the skies, landing on the walls. The drop surprised and killed many soldiers. The others near ran away from the wyvern, Barry being one of them.
Too bad the ones nearer to the wyvern got burnt as the wyvern shot out a breath of flame before it stopped after a few seconds. The agonizing screams were heard by many before they eventually died down. The wyvern went towards the direction Barry was. The wyvern rampaged on the walls, not letting a single human live, eating some in one bite.
The ballistae couldn’t help them as they can’t even see where the wyvern was.
The Wyvern was nearing Barry and the others, but he stopped once he saw a mage on the ground during the whole stampede of a mess. The soldiers were pushing each other causing many to fall. Barry decided to stop running, waiting for all of the others to get away.
‘BANG’
In an act of bravery, Barry made the decision of shooting the wyvern in the chest. The bullet pierced the stony exterior of the wyvern but that did not do too much damage.
Dropping his gun, Barry quickly went to help the mage who was just beginning to stand up. He helped him by grabbing his arm to quickly stand up. The mage had his hood on, covering his hair. He also had a leather bag that was strapped on his shoulder and his staff was in his right hand.
“Thanks.” The mage thanked him, but it was quickly interrupted by the scream of the wyvern. As soon as they saw the wyvern, they quickly ran away from it. But the wyvern started getting faster and faster until it was nearly about to eat them.
The mage brought out his staff, pointing at the wyvern.
“Lux!” He shouted. Suddenly, the tip of the staff brightened until it was like the sun, blinding the wyvern for a bit. But that was not all it did. It also lit up the fog, making the ballistae notice them.
“There!” A crewman shouted, seeing the silhouette of the wyvern. The ballista quickly aimed and fired at the wyvern. The big steel bolt pierced its heart, causing it to fall and die from its wounds.
After it died, the two then dropped to the ground, sweating and exhausted. They were relieved that the dangerous threat was now dead.
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At the second layer, Medusa was seen walking toward the gate, hammer in hand. He was going to go down to the first layer to help. There, he passed by many crewmen from ballistae and archers stationed on the second wall.
The fog started to dissipate. The hordes of enemies were too much as few of the remaining siege towers made it. There, the flood started to pour with no end in sight. This was Medusa’s signal to come down and help. But before he reached the gate, a shout echoed.
“COLLIN!” Medusa stopped in his tracks as the gruff voice shouted. He looked behind him to see a man with the same type of armor and hammer as him, walking towards him. But the man's helmet was discarded, showing his short ginger hair and bushy beard. He was just a tad bit shorter than Medusa by a few centimeters.
Medusa turned around to confront the man as he neared him. Once the man was only a few inches from Medusa, he started to speak.
“Stop disobeying my orders, Collin.” The man said with a thick accent. “I know that you’ve got permission from the commander, but as captain of the unit, I must restrain you. Do not go down yet. Not until orders come from the commander.”
“Why?” Medusa simply asked, staring intimidatingly into the man’s eyes.
“Orders. Follow it, or be forced to face charges for insubordination.” The captain threatened him. “You think you can intimidate me? Bullshit. I’ve known you since training and I’ve seen you. Don’t think you can be intimidating around me huh? Well, it takes more than that.”
The captain then backed away before leaving.
“Follow orders.” He said firmly before going into another building. Medusa just stared into the ground where the captain once was, rage fueling his insides. He then sighed before going into the same building as his captain.