Rise of the Horde - Chapter 336: Chapter 336:

Among the towering trees of Kasha’norah, the elves created chokepoints to hold off their former allies who quickly turned their back against them while their small army was sent to the south to aid with the destruction of the orcs. The elven elders supported the idea of providing aid for their human neighbours to deal with the barbaric orcs to the south by containing their shamans and raining down destruction upon them from a safe distance.

“Captain, the sentries have spotted the invaders by the western entrance of the forest.” An eleven scout quickly made his presence known towards his allies who were positioned among the branches of the trees as he gave his report.

“Their numbers?” the captain’s long blonde hair danced with the wind.

“About three thousand knights accompanied by a few mages.”

“I see… Send word to our brothers and sisters to gather by the second ring of trees along the western entrance of the forest. We will try to hold them off there if we can and cut down their numbers.” The safety of the village was in jeopardy after a small army from the Threian Kingdom that was supposed to head towards the frontlines as reinforcements suddenly veered off from the expected path that they were supposed to take. Instead of coming down from the Lag’ranna Mountains directly towards the direction of the orcish lands, the small army headed towards the trees and was never seen again until the sentries positioned along the outer ring made reports of humans venturing inside the forest.

At first, the elves thought that the humans that they were tracking were just somehow lost among the trees and they were trying to find their path but a few days of shadowing them, the elven sentries finally discovered that the small human army was heading towards the direction of their village.

The elven elders thought that since they are aiding the humans in defeating the orcish brutes, they won’t point their blades at them— just yet… well until the fight with the orcs is finished but little did they know that the humans had long prepared to take care of their neighbours all at the same time. With just a handful of warriors left behind to protect the elven village, it won’t take long for the small Threian army to decimate their village if they will be able to locate it.

Traeliorn, the Captain of the Sentinels who guarded the village had already sent out runners to inform their army that was deep in the land of the orcs to make haste in their return or else the village would be destroyed by their foes. Three thousand against only two hundred warriors from the sides of the elves, they will easily get steamrolled by their foes if they will fight them out in the open but luckily, the battlefield was in the home of the elves as the ancient trees of the forest provided them with excellent covers to be able to strike at their foes down below who were still oblivious of the danger that they were heading to.

“Faster! Move! Don’t falter, we must make it back to the forest as fast as possible. Don’t be stingy with your spells and give it your all.” The leading elf shouted towards her comrades who were behind them. Some were falling behind because of exhaustion while others were being slowed down by their allies who they were providing help with in order to be able to move.

Four days they have sprinted the length of the orcish lands with the help of their magic but their bodies can no longer hold the accumulated fatigue as some of them outright gave out and fell to the ground and lost consciousness. Taking a look behind her, the leading elf halted in her tracks then headed back towards her comrades and urged them to stand up.

“We are only a day’s worth of hurrying from the forest. Hold it together. Come on now…” she was trying to encourage them with her words and providing them with the information that they aren’t far off from their intended destination already. Some did try to get up only for their legs to buckle under their weight, those who tried to make use of magic felt their consciousness ebbing away from them after realizing that their bodies no longer have any mana left for them to squeeze out.

“Princess— The warriors need some rest. We can’t go on like this. We won’t be able to do anything against our foes if we are like this when we will encounter them in the forest. They would just trample and capture us and with your identity, the elven elders and the sentinels would have to compromise for your safety.” A veteran looking male elf stated as he pointed towards their kin who were scattered everywhere, slumped to the ground because of exhaustion and being drained of mana.

“B-but the village is being attack by those treacherous bastards …We were supposed to be allies and fight against the brutes but they are aiming for our home.” the anger filled voice of Aviris came as she turned towards the direction of their home.

A heavy sigh escaped the lips of the veteran elf that was behind their young princess. Travaran had lived for more than six hundred years already and he had witnessed many shenanigans of the humans. Deceit and trickery was one of the most used tactics of theirs and a few times the elves fell for them but the impact remained minimal.

“There is never a real alliance with the humans. They would point their blades at you even after you have helped them for as long as they can gain something from it. The orcs….” Travaran’s words halted after the mention of the orcs.

The curious eyes of the princess turned towards him, expecting him to continue about the orcs who they were hunting a few days ago. Shaking his head, the old veteran elf continued, “The orcs would also do the same.”

d|

That was the words that escaped his lips but that was far from what he really wanted to say. Although they are commonly known as the barbaric brutes, the orcs is by far the noblest creatures and foes that he has encountered in his lifetime. The old scar that runs down from one of his eyebrows down towards his right cheek itched after he reminisced about the past.

*****

Among the giant boulders of the Lag’ranna Mountains and the thick shades of the towering trees of the Kasha’norah Forest, a group of elven warriors were tussling against a group of orcs. The sound of the battle that was happening was covered up by the roaring thunder and the heavy rainfall. And even the stench of blood in the air was quickly washed away because of the torrential rain but little did it help to slow down the bloody battle that was occurring.

The elven warriors were trying their best to get to the trees of the forest but the orcs knew very well of their aim as they denied them from getting on the trees. All the orcish warriors knew that if the long ears make it to the trees then the fight will quickly tilt to their side or they would easily escaped away from their grasp with the use of the thick branches.

Any elf that tried to get airborne to grab a branch received multiple attacks from almost all directions, swords, shields, rocks, branches and anything that could be thrown as a weapon was hurled towards any elf who would attempt to get up on the trees. A flash of lightning illuminated the battlefield and a bolt of electricity crashed against one of the towering trees but the participants of the battle paid no heed to the danger of nature as they focused their gazes towards their foes.

It didn’t take long for the orcs to overpower the elves who were clearly exhausted and out of mana, the scattered bodies of orcs that leads to their current location from the plains down below was a testament to the strength of the elves.

“You guys are just lucky!” Travaran mocked as he leaned against the shoulder of one of his remaining comrades who was still able to stand unlike their other comrades who were sprawled on the ground but were still defiantly staring at the menacing orcs that were grinning at them.

His blade was already broken but Travaran still held it in his hands, he clutching his blade gave him a false sense of security but they all know that their end is near. There were only six of them left from the original two hundred warriors that tried to take out one of the most powerful orcish chieftains.

They failed and the entire tribe went after them, the towering figure at the lead of the orcs who had a satisfied smile on his face was their intended target.

Travaran was prepared to receive a swift death but a sudden clang of metal woke his desire to live. A blade was tossed out in front of him and the chieftain of the orcs was urging for him to pick it up and fight him. He didn’t know what took over him or what actually happened but he managed to best the orcish chief that challenged him to a duel but not without paying a price. His entire back had a deep and long wound that exposed the bone, his left arm was broken and even his face received some nasty wounds.

After besting his foe, Travaran collapsed and his remaining allies hurried towards him. Although they were weakened, the elves were still defiant as they prepared to don one final struggle against the orcs but the orcs spoke some words in their tongue then collected the body of their chief before going away.