Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The legendary heroes.
Through the gap opened between the houses by the giant, the others began to walk through, one by one, ready to join the fight, the orc and goblin soldiers, waiting for their turn. Another group was coming from the opposite side of the road to close the only escape route. As if that was not enough, the four ogre wizards were no longer unable to cast spells, Faye's singing had ceased. Everything foreshadowed a bad end, it really had been crazy to believe that seven low-level adventurers could stop a whole horde of almost two hundred enemies. Having everything in their favor this time, the leader of the horde decided to take his time, he wanted to kill them slowly to make them pay for the humiliation suffered.
- This time I did not make the mistake of sending my smaller troops ahead, you were very clever to use them as a shield so that the giants under my command could not attack you, but now they are free to destroy you. - Said the leader of the horde arrogantly from above. He expected to see the party break down, to be driven to despair, to hear them wailing and begging for mercy, it would be so sweet. But that didn't happen, the druid was looking at him smiling, there was defiance in his gaze, as if he wasn't aware that he was completely defeated
- Oh yes, you divided your troops, and made them advance by destroying a house, good idea. - Ashram replied with a smirk. - Just as I expected you to do. - He added making the smile disappear from his enemy's face.
- Kill them! Kill them now! - Shouted the ogre chief without waiting for anything else.
- "Jor'd mjúkur" - Ashram said, while placing his hands on the ground.
A thick fog rose from the ground, covering everything, the ogres cast spells blindly, not knowing if they hit anything. The ground under the feet of the enemies suddenly lost firmness and they began to sink, as if they were in quicksand, the heavier ones sank faster and the more they struggled, the worse it was.
A series of explosions were heard, the houses on both sides of the breach created by the giant collapsed on the orcs and goblins that were still trying to cross it. Leaving them buried in rubble.
- Fire at will! cast all your spells! finish them off! - shouted the ogre chief in the midst of the fog that was now thicker because of the dust of the rubble.
- Here I am, you stinking ogres! - shouted one of the adventurers, the ogres managed to see a silhouette in the middle of the dust cloud and unloaded one fireball after another.
- You missed you slugs! here we are! - Said another voice behind them, once again the ogres launched fireballs in the direction of the shape they could see through the smoke.
- I am here! - said a female voice, from another direction.
- No, it's this way! - interrupted another, huskier voice from another place.
In response, a burst of fireballs shot out in both ways, bursting into flames all around, the fog dissipated with the blasts, but the thick cloud of dust from the explosions was much worse.
- I am here, and I will kill you all! - Said a loud voice in the midst of them.
It was the female warrior from before, who was going after them. The ogre mages reacted instinctively and four fireballs fell on her causing a tremendous explosion that engulfed everything in flames. Afterwards, the place fell silent.
- Did we finish them all? - asked the leader of the horde to his troops, trying to see through the dust.
- Yes, you killed them all, good job... - Said Ashram's voice, coming out of the dissipating dust.
Behind him, dozens of dead orcs could be seen everywhere, charred by the fireballs of their own allies. The giants were also wounded, having been hit when the wizards cast their spells blindly. The adventurers were on the rooftops, safe, though covered in dust from head to toe.
- But it can't be! We hit you, you were there! - exclaimed the ogre chief, unable to believe his eyes.
- You mean this? - Ashram asked, walking towards the place where the ogre mages were lying dead and picking up a coin from the ground to throw it into the hands of his opponent, who caught it in mid-air.
- I'm here you fool! - Said the voice coming out of the coin as a mockery, making the commander of the horde even more enraged, although there was almost nothing left of his troops.
- A copper coin, a fitting price for your dead soldiers. - Said Ashram very seriously.
- KILL THEM!!! KILL THEM ALL!!! - The leader shouted loudly, although only his giants were left standing, they were still very dangerous.
They began to hurl the rocks they brought with them non-stop, towards the adventurers, destroying the houses, without being sure if they hit the target. The mountain giants tried to run but it was extremely difficult with the soft ground. On the other hand, the largest giant, on which the leader was riding, ran at full speed releasing himself from the quicksand, and trying to catch Ashram, who was moving nimbly slipping out of his hands by inches. Mila, who was throwing fireballs through the dust the whole time, came out from one of the rooftops and blasted the giant in the back to distract him, but to no avail, he was determined to capture the druid. His other friends were too busy fighting the remaining five giants, and could not help him either. The monster finally managed to reach him with long strides and held Ashram in his huge hands to lift him into the air, in front of his face. He had him completely immobilized.
- At last, I got you!, you damned brat. You have caused my ruin, but I will delight in hearing all your bones crunch! - the ogre boss shouted. - Start begging for mercy, do you have any last words? - He continued to relish his moment of triumph. Although he really didn't intend to let the young man live no matter how much he begged.
-Kuro, now! - Said Ashram, Mila's little cat, stuck his head out from between the druid's clothes and opened his mouth, out of which came a beam of fire that went to hit the giant's eyes directly, burning them and leaving him blind.
- AAAARHHHGG!!! - The huge monster let out a terrible shriek of pain, releasing its prey on the spot, who fell to the ground like a feather, to disappear from sight.
The giant struck blindly on all sides, splintering the surrounding houses. In vain did his boss try to calm him down. He was moving so frantically that it was hard to keep his balance on him.
- I'm here you slug! - said Ashram's voice.
Like a storm the giant threw himself in the direction of that voice, hitting with all his might and this time he hit, one of his giant companions fell dead.
- You're a moron, mule head, I'm here! - Said the same voice and the giant continued hitting with his iron mace, blinded by anger, and by the fact that his eyes were burned.
Another of the giants fell to the ground, making the earth tremble. His mates rushed at him to try to stop him, otherwise he would kill them all one by one. In the struggle, the leader of the horde lost his balance and fell to the ground, giving himself a tremendous blow, he was left lying face down.
- You are very weak, I didn't even feel that blow! - Ashram's voice continued, coming from the coins he was using as an intercom and throwing to the other giants to provoke the blind one.
While the giants were busy, Ashram very calmly approached the defeated commander lying on the ground.
- Have you ever played chess? - Ashram asked in a condescending tone. - There are times, when no matter what you do, you are still going to lose, if your opponent can see what you are going to do, ten or fifteen moves in advance.
You lost the game as soon as you entered the chessboard....
AHHHRGHHH! bellowed the leader of the horde, throwing himself on the druid. He could still win, if he managed to wring that brat's neck.
- I knew you would do that too... - Said the figure of Ashram vanishing like the air between his fingers, it was nothing more than an illusion.
- Release the river! - Ashram ordered over the intercom.
- Immediately! - replied a female voice.
Away from there, Kunoichi had placed the explosive walnuts on the pillars of the town's aqueduct. Receiving the signal, she detonated them with a great roar that was heard all over the place. The river flowed down the streets sweeping everything in its path, the villagers had not left much behind in their flight, except for some carts or goods that they could not carry with them.
Zafiro, Mathew and Runkdar, who were initially struggling to hold off the giants, moved away from the scene at a signal from Ashram, climbing onto the roofs of the houses that were still standing.
The water torrent struck with such power that even monsters as large as those giants had trouble standing upright. The force of the waters made them fall, they tried to stand up but slipped in the thick mud. However, it was not enough to drown them.
- I'll come for you Grulp! said the leader of the horde, swallowing large quantities of water.
- No, you won't, the game is over... Checkmate... - Ashram replied. He pulled Kuro out of his clothes and made his paw touch the water, upon contact a strong electric current flowed through it, making it boil and electrocuting the giants that were still standing. Once the electricity stopped, Zafiro took care of the surviving monsters. Putting an end to that nightmare. The villagers could now sleep peacefully.
- May the water wash the dirt from their souls.... Said Mila approaching to receive Kuro.
Ashram handed him over, patting the little black cat on the head. - Good job boy.
- Miauuu mia! Kuro said.
- He says we make him work too hard. - Ashram translated immediately.
- We did it! It's a victory! said Zafiro enthusiastically.
- A victory, yes, but at what cost? - Sentenced Ashram looking at all the destruction caused, many of the houses were shattered and uninhabitable, they would have to be demolished and rebuilt. But that was not all, although the water had put out almost all the fires, the town was now a quagmire. It would take them months to completely rebuild it. Of course the villagers were alive to be able to do it, being alive is always a door to many possibilities, death on the other hand, to only one.
- I'll be back in a moment. He said as he climbed onto Zulki's back, who jumped between the rooftops and was lost in the distance.
- Does he always have to leave us to fix everything after the fight? - Mathew complained, holding the wound on his arm which, although not serious, was making him cranky.
- He has a good reason... - Mila replied, "Have you already forgotten what happened to Faye?
During the fight, one of the giants had thrown a huge rock in the direction of the bell tower. Over the intercom Faye had told him she was fine, so he didn't go for her right away, but she could also have been hurt and lied to him so that he wouldn't be distracted in the middle of the battle. Therefore, he was rushing to check that she had not been seriously injured.
He approached the bell tower, or rather what was left of it. All was silent, a few rocks thrown by the giants when the dust cloud blocked their sight, had fallen on one or two nearby houses, but most of them were intact.
- Faye! Where are you? Ashram called, forgetting that he could use the intercom.
- Here... - whispered a soft voice from the rubble.
Hurriedly, the druid approached with great concern. Behind a rock was Faye, lying on the ground with debris on top of her. Apparently she was much more seriously injured than she had admitted.
- It can't be! Why did you tell me you were all right? - he asked, quite upset, as he removed the debris from her and checked her vital signs.
- I don't think I'm going to be able to come home with you.... - she whispered, losing consciousness.
- No! It can't be, I'll heal you right away! - He answered very distressed, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not find the wound, there was no blood, maybe it was an internal bleeding.
He was in these reflections when Faye surprised him with a kiss, which left him even more bewildered than he already was.
- I'm not hurt, I just have a little bump on my leg, look. - She said lifting her skirt slightly to show a bruise on her thigh.
Ashram turned red and recoiled in shock.
- You think this is a joke?! - He replied more embarrassed than annoyed.
- Don't be upset, it made me very happy to know that you care so much for me... She said trying to calm him down. - Am I very important to you?
- You are ALL very important to me. - He replied trying to regain his cool.
- Now please get on, we are going to meet the others. - He added, climbing onto Zulki's back and making a space for Faye to mount comfortable.
The young girl wasn't about to give up so easily, so she climbed up behind him and hugged him tightly. They galloped off like the wind, even without going at top speed, Zulki was very fast, one would say she was on par with a thoroughbred horse, although being a weasel, she was longer, had a long tail and made jumps that made it difficult for the inexperienced rider to hold on. It was in the midst of these leaps that Ashram noticed two soft, warm bumps on his back. They were Faye's breasts, of a quite respectable size, which he could feel bouncing on him as she hugged him too tightly.
- Faye, can you stop sticking to me so much? - Said Ashram red as a tomato at the situation.
- No, if I let go I'm going to fall off, in fact, I'm going to hold you tighter. - She answered stubbornly and tightened her embrace even more.
- But how stubborn you are, girl... - He exclaimed with a sigh of defeat.
She smiled, satisfied that she had gotten her way.
- By the way, how did you manage to get to safety? - he asked, trying to occupy his mind with something else.
- You were really worried about me, weren't you? You can't fool me by pretending to be serious. Although I find it adorable... She said with a smile from ear to ear. - Well, it seemed to me that although the bell tower was far from the battlefield, it was a dangerous place because it can be easily discovered with the naked eye, it is the highest point of the village, so I set one of the coins to transmit as a speaker, while I sang from below. I wanted to go meet you, but with the orcs roaming around, it was too risky, so I better waited for you to come for me.
- Very good thinking. - He said pleasantly surprised.
After a few minutes they arrived at what had been the battlefield, the panorama was desolate, orcs, goblins and giants dead all over the place, it was necessary to clean everything as soon as possible or it could become an infectious focus. In fact, in medieval wars, more soldiers died from diseases and infections than from the battles themselves. From the other side of the road/river, came Kunoichi sailing on a log and using a stick as an oar.
- I'm glad everyone is well. - She said as she rejoined her companions.
- Fine is an understatement, I'm injured. - Said Mathew showing his wounded arm.
- You call that a wound? Runkdar had three spears in his belly and kept making bad jokes. - said Zafiro mockingly.
- Everyone is a critic... - Replied Runkdar philosophically shaking his head.
- What is necessary is this. - Said Ashram casting a healing spell on Mathew and Zafiro.
- Thank you hairy one. - Said Mathew. - Wait a minute, my wound is still there, you didn't heal me.
- Right, what I did was neutralize the poison, otherwise you''d get a fever like Faye. Those are my last two spells, I don't have anything else until tomorrow, it's been an exhausting day... - Replied Ashram.
- What surprised me was seeing Kuro casting a fire beam and Ashram turning invisible. - said Zafiro.
- I can answer that, said Mila, witches' familiars, don't have magical powers by themselves, but a competent witch, can cast spells through her familiar, even if they are far away. So it really wasn't Kuro, but me - Mila said confidently with her hands on her hips. - It's a combo we haven't used for a long time, since Ashram was carrying Kuro hidden in his clothes, I could cast illusions, turn him invisible, etc, without being next to him. It just requires coordination, ho ho ho," said Mila showing off a bit, at the same time they both bumped fists.
- Look who's coming. - interrupted Runkdar, pointing to a crowd approaching with torches. - They are the villagers coming to thank us.
- You think so? they don't look very friendly to me, so I'd better grab my CATling machine gun. - Mathew said, grabbing Kuro and holding him like an assault rifle.
- Meow! - said Kuro, not very happy to be considered a weapon.
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Radical_Manga
Radical_Manga Long time ago i read somewhere, "good strategists take advantage of opportunities, great strategists craft their own". Thank you for your support, i hope you enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to vote, it helps me greatly :D if you leave a review or comment, that would also make me happy.
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