Rise of the Horde

"I understand." Hekoth nodded his head as he put his palms on the ground to seek help from the spirits to locate Xok'nath. He now knows the situation that his fellow shaman was in. At first they thought it was just poison, but now, he can't help but shake his head and show pity and admiration towards Tash'arr. Their friend had endured and kept at bay the curse, which was not a simple thing to do and didn't succumb to it.

Tash'arr noticed the look of pity in the eyes of Hekoth and stared down at his own chest. There he saw the green veins that started snaking through it. He smiled and looked down on towards them. "This might be the last time that I will seek your aid, my old friend. And this might be the last that you will see smile. But remember, I am an orc, a real warrior and till death I shall not succumb to the demons. I will defy them even in the afterlife and..." Tash'arr's words were cut short as a few more iron bolts landed on him.

"Ungrateful bastard!" he cursed and moved forward to chase down the annoying orcs that were riding around them. "I told you to be gone while I am still merciful, but it seems like you deemed my mercy as a sign of weakness. Now experience my wrath!" he shouted as he slammed his giant fist on the ground, creating huge fissures that were headed for the Rhakaddon Cavalry.

He stood up and pointed one of his huge rocky fingers at them and called forth balls of flames. The balls of fire rained down on Dug'mhar and his warriors, but thanks to their armors, they only suffered a few burns but nothing life threatening.

The fight continued for a few moments as the Rhakaddon Cavalry circled around continuously around the fire golem and showered it with iron bolts, but to no avail. Some of them even had to retreat and removed parts of their armor after being melted by intense heat that was being hurled at them.

Dug'mhar gritted his teeth and gave the order to withdraw. They are no match for the creature, and it is better for them to retreat than to risk having his entire group massacred by their powerful foe.

"This is a tactical retreat, nothing more nothing less..." Dug'mhar kept muttering to himself repeatedly to convince his heart that they didn't run away from battle but just withdrew to continue the battle another day, he considered it a draw as they weren't really beaten by their foe.

"Cowards." Tash'arr snorted and turned towards Hekoth to find out where his target is at. "By the open fields to the northeast, surrounded by hills and trees on three sides. He led the tribe to a battle against some strange orcs who are wearing armors. They carried with them a banner that even the spirits don't know about. And Yukah still lives, but he is gravely injured. He is being treated by some strange-looking orcs who wielded similar weapons to those riders that just rode away." Hekoth said continuously and breathed in after firing out his words rapidly.

"Go and find Yukah and save him. I'll go and deal with the shame of our tribe." Tash'arr answered, then went away while leaving behind a trail of flames in his path.

"May his ancestors show mercy on him in the afterlife and may our ancestors guide Tash'arr in his new journey after all is done." Hekoth muttered as he led away their tribesmen towards where Yukah was at.

*****

At the open grounds, which were surrounded by hills and trees on three sides, Xok'nath stared at the forest of spears and wall of shields. With no other choice, he ran forward but rolled down under the spears to avoid being skewered by them as his tribesmen followed after him and ramming themselves against the many spears. The sudden turn of the Yurakks caught the Skalsser orcs by surprise as they didn't notice the danger that they were headed until it was too late, the momentum of their charge carried them forward and had themselves impaled by the spears that just waited there silently.

It also didn't help that the Rakshas crouched down lower than normal to make themselves smaller and to remain unnoticed by their foes. Xok'nath rolled forward and was covered in dirt and grass as he rolled to safety. After the initial impact of the charge, he crawled away very fast and distanced himself from the deadly spears. He rolled forward under the spears because if he didn't, his tribesmen would have trampled him to death if he just stood there.

The Rakshas at the forefront took the brunt of the charge as they were pushed back, but the shields of the ones behind them helped them stabilized their footing. With the help of those behind them, the Rakshas at the forefront finally regained their control as the effect of the charge passed away.

The battle horns sounded as the war drums thundered, a sudden blast gave the command and at the same time, the Rakshas at the forefront pushed away their foes with their shields who kept shoving them back and trying to break apart their wall of shields. With every sound of the loud battle horn, the Rakshas pushed, thrust their spears forward then recovered their initial formation, it was monotonous yet very effective as more and more Skalsser orcs flooded in who didn't know and can't see what was going on the forefront.

As the Skalsser orcs from the rears pushed forward, more and more of their allies who were trying their best to distance themselves from those bloody spears were shoved to their death. Xok'nath, having witnessed the bloody and one sided massacre at the forefront, made his way at the rear and stayed for his own safety.

A few rounds of blasts from the battle horns sounded and the Fifth and Seventh Warbands came back occupying the left and right flank of the Second Warband denying their foes of their attempts to flank them as the Rakshas were deadly at the front but weak on the sides and the rear.

The last of the javelins rained down as the frontline of the Skalsser orcs got dispersed, only to be filled in by clueless warriors who didn't know that they were walking right towards their own deaths.