Chapter 33: Battle Cries
By the time the wolves roused themselves, it was getting dark. More notifications, benign ones, had vaguely registered at the edge of Ricky’s consciousness:
> *Healing report: You have gained 2 hit points (67 remain).
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> *Healing report: You have gained 3 hit points (70 remain).
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> *Healing report: You have gained 1 hit point (71 remain).
After hiding the carcass as best they could by dragging it deep into the bushes, the three moved on, more slowly now, with their stomachs feeling full. Soon the small pack was leaving the forest at a steady loping pace.
A run-all-night-and-still-be-ready-to-hunt pace.
The coast was to the right, the mountains to the left, and the city of Imperialis lay directly ahead.
Home.
And it was burning.
There were many miles yet to run, but run they did, each taking the turn to lead, somehow willing each other on.
> *Achievement: Mighty endurance! You have exerted your will and toughness to overcome fatigue. +10XP
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> *Game mechanics alert: Your stamina has been increased by the power of the pack.
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> *Healing report: You have gained 2 hit points (73 remain).
They stopped, and Ricky realized that the others were transforming; soon he was looking at the waist-area of Xarok’s robes and at Gabriella’s armor. He, too, transformed, noting the greater mental clarity that immediately followed.
> *World event: You have transformed into the form of a human.
They were standing on a low hill, perhaps a mile west of town, and not far from where Ricky had once met with Xarok on the road. It was also not far from the eastmost point of Triptych Forest. Despite the darkness, a bright moon and many fires and torches lit the scene ahead.
And what a foul scene it was.
A battle was in full swing, and the smell of burning – which he had been aware of on some level even in wolf form – now seemed stark and threatening.
An enormous and ragged army of humans, orcs and goblins, many of them in chains, were being directed towards the walls of Imperialis by generals from where they sat, safely back from the conflict, in the saddle of great warhorses.
Beyond the front ranks at the walls, the group attackers consisted of a great horde of goblins, a couple of thousand or more, by Ricky’s estimate. Most had bows, and they were both firing up at the walls and also being fired upon. They appeared to be dying at a rapid pace, but the figures of green-cloaked Rokerian warriors could be seen keeping them to their task, whipping at the goblins’ backs if they slowed the pace at which they were firing. And every so often, another defender on the wall fell.
Several elephant-drawn siege towers were in position, and more still were being pulled closer, their beasts of burden being mercilessly shot at and bellowing noisily. A dozen ballistae were firing at the defenders, though more often hitting the walls. And even the remaining great dragon could be seen, once again tethered to its wagon.
Ogres in huge chains punctuated the attackers’ ranks too, but these, it appeared, had been held back for an assault on the walls that was yet to come. Further out still, more green-cloaked Rokerian warriors could be seen – at least a thousand of them in neat ranks, all directly to the north-east of the city, gathered close to the road – ready. None of these were yet attacking, or even had their swords drawn.
On the outskirts of the city there were also skirmishing bands of troops moving from farm to farm, busily burning crops and outhouses.
If the Rokerians succeeded, none would survive this.
“You still have the orbs?” growled Xarok.
Ricky nodded; meanwhile, Gabriella reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled out an orb that was identical to the one that he had found in the tower, except that it was a magenta color. “Mission accomplished,” she said. “Partially, at least. Sadly I failed to kill the Rokerian King.”
“It’s too late to worry about that now,” said Xarok. “It would have made things easier, and perhaps delayed this attack. But now we just need to get this pair of orbs to the gate.”
“But how?” said Ricky softly, still gazing at the captivatingly beautiful orb that Gabriella had won. He wondered what she had had to do in order to get it. And also, what had become of her in the refugee camp. She had survived the beating – that was all that he could say for sure.
“By getting to the safe house before the city falls,” growled Xarok in answer to Ricky’s question. “We need to get back to the gate, activate it, and go through.”
Ricky looked at his companion, frowning. “Man, I was working on it when you arrived. The elves of Channia’s tribe were going to help. Who knows what they might do now?”
Gabriella cleared her throat. “The elves hate the Rokerians, that is well known. They hate the goblins, too. But it’s also well known that no elven force has defeated an army of Rokerians in centuries. Roker Bridge doesn’t even need a defensive wall, despite being only a few miles from the forest.” She shrugged. “Tells you what you need to know, doesn’t it? They have the best soldiers in the world, and that is defense enough.”
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“Yes,” said Ricky, stepping closer to the warrior. “But the elves had been working on a plan to help the defenders of Imperialis and to sabotage the attackers. I really wish you hadn’t come into the forest, to be honest. Seems they hate werewolves.”
Xarok chuckled at this. “That’s a pity. I was becoming fond of Channia.”
“Leave her out of it, man.”
The three looked on at the continued violence of the Rokerian onslaught. “They’re right, though,” said Gabriella softly. “Sabotaging the attackers is the best strategy right now. That force can’t be defeated on the field of battle.”
“We did manage to set one of their dragons free,” said Ricky.
The others looked around at him. “That was good work,” said Xarok. “But why not both, and the elephants too?”
Ricky scoffed. “Sure. And why not stop the whole army single-handedly? I did what I could manage at the time. And I think… there is a chance that their general, Amora-Kush, might still trust me.”
“How so?” asked Gabriella.
“I asked Channia to pretend that she was taking me away at knife point. And before that, I had promised to join the Green Hand Guild.”
“That was a lie,” said Xarok, frowning, “and a dishonorable one.”
Ricky glared at his companion again, suddenly realizing that he liked Xarok a lot better in wolf form. “Look, can’t you just send in some fireballs or something? That should distract them.”
Xarok chuckled, the sound feeling incongruous against the backdrop of the clashing armies. “I can shoot three fireballs per day. I might take out fifty or a hundred attackers at best before the rest rip me to shreds. No. We should transform, and get inside the gates.”
“Transform?” said Ricky. “We just used our transformation for the day.”
“Yes,” said Gabriella. “But did you not notice what time it is? Darkness has fallen. Soon, midnight will be here, and we can take on beast-form. Of course, you might need something stronger than a knife.” As she spoke, she unclipped a short sword from her belt and handed it to Ricky.
> ***
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> New item
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> Item: gladius sword
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> Class: weapon
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> Type: one-handed
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> Damage range: 8–12
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> Resilience: 92
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> Prerequisites: strength 4+
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> Description: forged in the city of Dinn in the far south in the year 201, this finely-made sword was used for many years by the gladiators of that great city. Their contests were brutal, immensely popular, and highly profitable for its ruling cartel. On the death of one gladiator, the blade was passed on to the next, but if they won their freedom, they took their gear away with them. Sadly, the bearer of this weapon didn’t get any further than Doomstar before meeting his demise.
>
> ***
> *Achievement: Armed by the team! You have gained a weapon from a fellow guild member. +10XP
“So you’re saying we should attack the Rokerians?” said Ricky, taking the blade and swinging it a few times before securing it at his belt.
“You’re not listening, Ricky,” said Gabriella. “We can’t make any real difference against that army.”
“So what exactly are you proposing?”
Gabriella glanced at Xarok, and then looked at the city, frowning. “In human form, we get closer to their army. You see that farm near the city gates? There is an intact stone outhouse – we will make for there first. Then, we infiltrate the slave warriors of Roker Bridge. As soon as we are in a position to scale the walls, we transform to beast form and fight our way into the city.”
“Attack the people of Imperialis?” said Ricky. “Are you crazy? I can’t do that.”
She shrugged a fraction. “What is your suggestion, then?”
“We do what we can to distract them. To cause a diversion. And then we go to the gates.”
“The city will never open the gates in the middle of a siege, no matter how nicely we ask,” said Xarok dismissively.
Ricky shook his head. He knew that on one level Gabriella was right – the best way to get into the city would be to join with the attackers, not take them on. But it just felt... wrong.
Perhaps his morals hadn’t deserted him after all.
He knew that Xarok was right, too. Nothing that they could do, even in beast form, would be a significant enough distraction to draw this huge, monstrous army away from the city, and there was no way the defenders would risk letting them in, either.
But just then, he heard a noise from off to the right, at the edge of the nearest part of the forest, and spun around.
Two columns of warriors were marching from the trees.
The elves had arrived.
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At the head of the first column was Lady Milla, bow in hand. The other side was led by Lord Tarris himself. His druid Ajaxis stood just behind him, as did Channia.
“You made it,” she called out, looking at Ricky with gleaming eyes. “I knew we could trust you.”
Ricky hurried over to Lord Tarris. “My lord, thank you for coming to the aid of Imperialis.”
> *Buff: respect. The NPC with whom you are interacting now views you as a person of honor, and will react more positively to you for the next two days.
“So you made it after all – I wasn’t entirely sure if I should believe my daughter. The time has come, Ricky. But it remains the case that we cannot defeat their forces directly. As you can see we have come with two columns, each one a force two hundred strong.”
> *Quest 054 (level 2): Work with the elves to form a battle plan.
“Then can I suggest,” said Ricky, looking around, “that one column tries to lead the enemy this way towards the hill, while the other fires on them as they advance. The Rokerian warriors are not archers, in the main.”
“What about the goblins?” said Gabriella, who had come to stand beside Ricky. Xarok had also approached, but remained a few yards away.
“I don’t think the army will take them away from the wall.”
“But look there,” said Channia, pointing, “we should also try to take out that dragon. Ricky and I know how. They won’t be able to control it, and we can use it to cause chaos in their ranks.”
“I don’t think they will trust you now,” said Ricky, pulling out the two black cubes from his tunic as he spoke. “But perhaps I could try...”
“Those are cubes of animal control,” said Ajaxis, his eyes widening. “I can do something with those, for certain. May I?”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Ricky, handing over the two large obsidian gems to the druid.
The druid just winked, and then held the objects in his hands, frowning own at them for a moment. When he stopped, he looked at Ricky again. “An enchantment. One that tends to make animals a little... unstable, shall we say. I will be interested to see what effect it has on their elephants. Now, perhaps we could do something about their mistrust of young Channia here...”
“Smoke bale leaf?” suggested Ricky.
Ajaxis’s eyes twinkled. “No. I have something else in mind. Girl, please picture someone from their army. No – two figures.”
Channia closed her eyes, and Ajaxis began to loudly incant an enchantment. The other nearby elves were looking on curiously, though most were watching the bloodshed at the city, calmly but with righteous anger in their eyes.
Ricky watched as Ajaxia continued, and soon Channia’s appearance began to swirl and distort. Her hair grew longer and changed to a blue color, and her skin darkened. In mere moments after the change had begun, it was complete: Channia now looked exactly like the demonkind general Amora-Kush. She even wore the same armor. Ajaxis himself still looked the same, but had magically taken on the appearance of one of the dragon riders’ many servants – grey, drab clothes.
“Good work. I just hope you and Amora don’t bump into each other,” he said.
“Now, let’s go,” said Ajaxis, passing one of the cubes to Channia and holding on to the other himself. “There is much more we can do if we get closer. Ricky, are you coming?”
“I will help these two companions of mine,” he said, nodding in the direction of Gabriella and Xarok. “We think we can also find a way of causing our own great disruption to the enemy.”
“Very well,” said Lord Tarris, raising his voice. “Lady Milla – take your force and advance towards the Rokerian Legion, then begin a fighting a retreat as soon as you have engaged. We will launch the ambush, firing on them from the foot of the hill.”
“Yes, Tribal Leader.”
> *Quest 054 complete: Work with the elves to form a battle plan. +20XP
Ricky found his opinion of Lady Milla improving a little. At least she could do her job without hesitation when the moment in the field arrived.
And as the elves marched off to battle, Ricky followed Gabriella and Xarok, who were already running towards the stone outhouse by the city gates.
Accumulated XP: 2280 (unspent: 280)