The Orc soldiers clashed with the Dwarves and Humans just within the camp. Nearly all of the Dwarves wielded axes and wore shields and metal armor, while the Humans favored leather armor and longswords. The Orc scouts tried to take up positions around the battle. Their main attack weapons were the poison darts that they threw, so they maneuvered to positions where they could hurl them at more vulnerable areas of the defenders. They aimed behind or on the sides of their targets when possible, but even with these measures taken, the darts were mostly ineffective, bouncing off of armor or missing their targets entirely.
The female Orc leader stood outside of the camp and began chanting a spell. Vines sprang up out of the ground near two of the Dwarven defenders. The vines grew quickly, spiraling up their legs and circling upwards until the men were completely entwined. One of the Dwarves made a futile attempt to hack at the encircling growth, but the Orcs around him cut the man down before he could free himself.
The defenders also had a caster. A Human in a tunic and a cloak stood next to one of the wagons, hurling balls of swirling green energy at the Orcs closest to him. One such ball struck a scout who had ventured too close. Upon impact, the energy ball engulfed the scout, and he briefly glowed with the same green color. The scout shook violently as if having a seizure before dropping to the ground, unconscious or dead. There were two Humans next to the caster who appeared to be his personal guards. These men had weapons drawn, but they made no move to join the fray. The caster seemed more interested in his own defense than in joining the battle for the camp, but if that changed, Harb could tell that he would certainly pose a problem.
Harb watched the battle unfold and finally chose his time to strike. During the initial clash, the close-combat fighters on both sides employed special moves. Harb waited until most of the defenders had used a second round of these to make his move. He ran towards a Human who seemed to have the upper hand against his Orc opponent. Harb activated his own special move, cleave. His greataxe glowed as he swung it overhead as if he were chopping wood. The Human had been too focused on the Orc that he had been fighting to notice Harb until it was too late. The axe took off the man’s arm at the shoulder, and Harb’s follow-up strike took off his head. The Orc that he had helped looked up at him with wide eyes before nodding and saluting him. He then moved farther into the camp, looking for another opponent.
Harb, on the other hand, didn’t immediately engage anyone else. His energy, already low to begin the fight, was further depleted by the use of the special move. There was also a 30-second cooldown for the move, and he wanted it to be available again before rejoining the fight. Its high energy cost made him consider keeping the attack in reserve unless he needed it. He had noticed the defenders using their specials multiple times, but none of the Orcs had used one a second time. It might be that theirs had a higher cooldown rate, but Harb thought it more likely that they were just too low on energy to be able to use one. Both sides had lost people, but the frontline Orcs looked exhausted and on the losing end of the skirmish.
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Harb felt that he needed to act to prevent being on the losing side. He ran to another pair of combatants, an Orc and a Dwarf. This time he didn’t rely on his special move and instead utilized basic attacks to distract the Dwarf. One such attack forced the Dwarf to extend his shield-arm above his head to prevent Harb’s overhand attack. The Orc took the opportunity to strike at the Dwarf’s weapon arm, successfully disarming the man. They made short work of him after that.
His partner moved towards a large group of people, but Harb circled around looking for smaller fights to engage. The scouts were having more luck hitting the Humans than the Dwarves with their darts, so Harb focused on looking for isolated Dwarves to harass. He assisted in killing two more Dwarves, but the Human caster had started lobbing his energy spell at the Orcs in melee to a devastating effect. Upon impact, the magic caused the target to shake violently, so anyone unlucky enough to be struck by one would be easy meat for his foes. There were some near-misses of Humans nearly moving in the path of the spells, as well as a few errant throws that hit a wagon or the ground, but the only combatants hit had been the Orcs.
Well, here goes nothing, Harb thought as he ran directly for the Human caster. He was nearly there when the bodyguard closest to him alerted the caster and moved to intercept. Harb tried to keep the man between him and the caster as a precaution. Still, he was more than a head taller than the bodyguard, so the spells could easily be aimed high enough to go over the man. Fighting in single combat was a good deal different and more difficult than when he had double-teamed an enemy.
The guard immediately unleashed a special move. His sword glowed briefly, and he swung it in a semicircle, nearly striking Harb in the waist. Harb dodged back and swung his greataxe in retaliation, but the man’s sword switched directions the moment that he had committed to the attack. Harb was unable to dodge or parry the strike, and he suffered a long gash across his chest. There was pain, but not much.
Harb was not a match for the trained swordsman, and he spent most of his time on the defensive. He suffered multiple wounds, including a bad wound to his forearm. It had caused bleeding, which had him losing HP for an additional 15 seconds. His health bar showed that he was just under half health, so he decided to use his special attack before it was too late. Before he got the chance, however, a dart struck the guard in the neck. The man immediately removed it and renewed his effort to kill Harb.
Harb’s hands were slick with blood, and his weapon began to slip in his hands. At the sight of the blood, he had a sudden longing to drink it. He was inwardly revolted at the thought, but then he remembered that his spells require blood to cast. The guard began to slow as the soporific effects of the poison from the dart started to take hold. Harb took the opportunity to bring his arm up to his mouth to drink from the cut that still flowed with blood. He felt power surge within him, and he growled an incantation—where the words had come from, he had no idea. His strength was greatly increased. He felt strong enough to hold his weapon in just one hand. He swung the axe down at the man, who was now barely able to stand due to the poison, cutting him down with one strike.