The call to start the battle never came. Instead, the chief looked across the field at Adam’s group and broke into a full sprint towards them. Sweat rolled down Adam’s back and the world faded away. All he could hear were the thumps as the chief drew closer.
The chief's size made his rush even more terrifying. It felt like standing in front of a boulder rolling down a hill. When he pulled his axe back for a running swing, the air gave a shrill whistle. He didn't need to roar, the young orcs were already locked in fear.
An image flashed through Adam's mind. The chief would crash into the shields, bowl over him and Max, and then it would all be over.
No, thought Adam. He urged his legs to move, and rushed a step forward to cut the chief's swing short. But after mustering his courage to charge, Adam could only watch as the chief simply smiled and slid to Adam's left. He would soon face the exposed left flank of the formation. His axe was still cocked for a swing, but instead of a shield, he was now aiming for Dax and Luke.
“Dax!” Adam yelled. “Plant!”
The chief moved past Adam with most of his momentum intact, only to be faced with the pointy end of Dax's spear. The butt of the spear dug into the ground, ready to absorb the chief's speed and impale him.
Throwing his left leg forward, the chief left a deep furrow in the ground as he tried to avoid the spear. After slowing his momentum, the chief found enough leverage to twist away from the spear and swing his axe at Dax.
Before Adam could react, he felt a hand on his arm as Luke used him for balance to stab at the chief's left bicep. The point hit home - not enough to truly wound, but enough to check the swing.
Yes, Luke, Adam thought. Just like that!
At the same time, Adam realized that he had made a fatal mistake. The chief was much stronger than an average human and a full swipe of his axe could shatter the formation. The only way to win was to stay on him, checking his swings before they made a full arc.
“Max, push.” Seeing Max rush from his right, Adam grunted a command.
Both Max and Adam charged at the chief. If they could tie him down, the formation had a chance of winning.
Roaring, the chief pushed against the earth and leapt forward. He sailed above Adam and Max before they could react. In seconds, he landed on the right side of the formation, once again facing a vulnerable backline.
But the practice yesterday had not been for nothing. Luke and Dax had not bothered to attack the chief as he practiced his gymnastics. Instead, they kept close to Max and Adam.
Adam turned his shield back to the chief, and grinned as he felt the whole formation slide with him to orient against the chief's new positioning. It was automatic. The formation felt like a lock clicking into place. It’s working, he thought.
The chief looked at the reoriented shield wall with an annoyed grunt. He started another charge, only to meet a new obstacle. Adam took full advantage of the chief's frustrated distraction and moved forward for a shield bash. Behind him, Max slid to the left to become a second line of defense.
Seeing this, the chief slid his grip up the axe for a tighter swing. The impact of axe on shield pushed Adam back a step and the chief also moved away to create distance for another charger. Before he could start, he looked down in shock as an arrow sprouted from his thigh. Sam's shot had rung true.
Adam moved in for another shield bash as the chief shook off the pain from the arrow. But it was too late. The chief had created enough space for a full swing with his enormous axe.
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Looking at the chief's planted feet and incoming axehead, Adam's reflexes twitched him into a full brace. It made no difference. The axe barely slowed down when it hit the shield and spilled Adam to the side.
As he spun through the air, Adam caught a glimpse of Luke glued to his spot in the formation. The treat of the chief's full swing had made him hesitate.
It’s a wasted opportunity, but I guess I can’t blame him.
Adam felt the taste of iron fill his mouth as his face bashed into the ground. He tried to shake off his daze and get up, but the chief was already over him.
“I surrender!” Adam yelled. By orc rules, he was out of the fight.
The chief immediately spun to face the rest of the orcs. Absent their leader, they were statues - they hadn’t moved or struck.
“Keep fighting! Go all out!”
Adam’s voice woke them up, and Max shifted left to cover Adam’s gap. The squad moved forward, but no longer in unison.
I guess we haven’t had time to establish who leads when I’m out of commission, Adam thought, cursing his own thoughtlessness.
The chief went for Luke first. Luke pivoted into the mayor’s right, cutting at his arm. The chief shifted his axe to block the attack, then dropped it to block another angled swipe at his legs.
As Luke made for a third strike, the chief's left hand darted out and grabbed onto the crossguard of his sword. With a yank, he pulled the unprepared Luke close.
But Luke hadn't let go of his sword and met the implications of physics. The chief was strong enough to pull Luke off balance and into his axe.
The axe's edge bit a shallow red line in Luke's neck. A quick surrender left only three from Adam's team still standing.
At close range, Dax's spear lost its threat. Swinging forward, the chief sent a backhand smack that knocked Dax senseless. He crumpled to the ground like a soggy washcloth. Only his steady breathing reassured Adam and Luke that he had survived the blow.
The chief then drove Max to the ground with a single full-power overhead strike. Max's shield rang like a bell as it drove him in the ground like a stake. He was awake, but Adam could see him gasping for the air after the strike.
The chief finally turned to Sam. Instead of waiting for a powerful blow, Sam's hand loosened, dropping his bow to the ground. He smiled and began backing away.
“I surrender?”
—
If only it was… different, Adam thought.
If he had a chance to show his idea in front of humans. Or against other normal orcs. Anything, really, that wasn't an ancient orc's mountain of muscles and experience.
Just as humans buckled before the might of orcs, his squad was crushed by a superior force. It was like trying to stand up to an avalanche.
At least we landed some shots. That’s something.
Around him, the orcs started gathering themselves. Sam and Luke were mostly unscathed, and Adam himself had only taken a tumble. Max was a different story - he had taken a full-force axe blow to his shield and it was a few minutes before he was able to get his legs to steady.
Dax had been hit so hard that he didn’t even know they had lost. He woke up stabbing a spear that he wasn’t holding, at an enemy that wasn’t there. It took a few seconds for him to realize the situation and look downcast.
The worst was the chief. He didn’t berate them for losing. He made no moves to congratulate them for landing some blows, which he tended to in seconds. Instead, he wiped his axe clean, inspected the edge, and returned it to the loop on his back.
“Come,” he said. “We will discuss this.”
—
“Sit,” the chief commanded. They sat.
He had led them to the war-tent. Every camp had a distinct tent meant for planning. Most of the time, it was the chief alone in the tent.
The insides of the tent were hand-scrawled maps of local terrain, human settlements, and resources. When a new feature of note was found in the area, such as a human camp or source of food, the news would be brought here.
It had been a long time since the last update. In a frontier camp that was often attacked but rarely made attacks of its own, the orcs had no new territory to add to the tent's maps. Instead, the chief sometimes used the tent to confide secrets with older orcs or to scold orcs that broke camp discipline but didn't merit public punishment.
I wonder which this is, Adam thought.
The chief moved to the head of the table, leaned forward, and rested his gigantic fists on the edge.
“When I was young, I joined camp Ozguard,” he sighed. “I trained there, became a warrior there, and took ten heads during my bloodtest. Not bounties. I carried ten heads back to camp, in a sack.”
Adam and the others sneaked glances at each other.
“In this camp, we have 50 orcs. Of those, only 20 are warriors. At camp Ozguard, I commanded a fighting force of a hundred orcs. Can you imagine what power we had?” he looked over the table of young orcs with sadness. “And now I lead just twenty. And tomorrow, if the humans attack, I'll lead even fewer.”