Heat of Battle

The battle continues, with some of the defenders falling in battle as Aurei's group arrives to help. Meanwhile, pregnant Siris desperately tries to keep out of harm's way.

17.

Heat of Battle

(Rori, Pectros, Siris and Thorm)

 

Rori had been monitoring the battle from a short distance away as she, Pectros and Thorm tried desperately to reach them.   The vast mob of zombies had slowed their advance, though they were able to avoid injury from the slow moving animated corpses.  

The Sorceress screamed when she saw Lute fall, which only fueled their effort to plow through the undead.   Thorm gave a furious roar when he saw his friend collapse and charged forward with his axe swinging, knocking down any that got in his way.   Pectros and Rori followed behind him, travelling in his wake.

 

But Reapers were between them and Lute and turned to attack.   Thorm rushed forward, ready to do battle, but Rori had her Wand of Illumination in her hand and shot off a sunburst of brilliant white light that instantly destroyed six of them.

Then they plowed into the rear flank of the Dragonmen.   Thorm and Pectros immediately engaged them, but could not hurt them. 

The royal guardsmen fiercely fought back against the reptilian Dragonmen, while the remaining knight unsuccessfully tried to kill the ghostly undead swarming around him.  The injured Cleric weakly swung his mace at a Reaper but missed.  

Davit was enraged over the fall of Celathon and brought his fire sword down quickly on two Reapers, destroying both.  Aeric’s blade was turned away from his undead opponent, but Alvis was able to strike a Reaper, though he failed to destroy it.

Zeatt was growing more and more frustrated at the situation but couldn’t get over to Lute to help him.   She lashed out with her Rod of Flailing and destroyed two of the Reapers surrounding her.  

Dodging a wild swing by a Dragonman, Thorm thrust his Dwarven Axe deep into the skull of the creature, killing it.  Pectros wasn’t so lucky and had his blows deflected with ease.

Rori, however, fired off a missile spell, injuring an Anthrodracoi facing her.  

A Wyvern was suddenly noticed by the girl as the creature plummeted toward her with its talons extended.   Before she could react, though, three arrows shot from somewhere behind the Sorceress ended the creature’s attack.  She leapt out of the way as it fell dead in front of her, nearly missing a pair of Anthrodracoi that were advancing toward her.

 

Suddenly there was a flash of blue light nearby and four forms leapt forth, two of them dropping to the ground an armload of items.   Zeatt couldn’t believe her eyes, for it was Aurei and Eleazar, but also Sophia and Khord, all prepared for battle.   Upon seeing the Reapers all around, Eleazar raised his Great Sword Valere and yelled, “By Yesh, be consumed!”

Immediately 12 of the Reapers dissolved to nothingness. 

 

Aurei ignored the other Reapers and charged at some of the Anthrodracoi with her swords drawn.

With two swings, she had killed one, but she ran past the other, toward where Lute was being guarded by two brave soldiers of the King.  A pair of Dragonmen breathed fire on her, but still she ran forward, and though badly burned, knelt by Lute.

“By Yesh, be healed,” She croaked out and the Half-Ogre’s wounds closed up, though he still was unconscious.  

 

Khord attacked the Dragonmen who had injured Aurei.   One blow was parried by a creature, but the other thrust ripped right through him, sending him down.

Sophia simply stood still, holding a staff, smiling slightly as six Anthrodracoi charged toward her.   She looked around for a moment and then backed up some, forcing the Dragonmen away from the others.   Just as they were about to strike her, she twirled the staff forward and lightning blasted the six Dragonmen.  They were tossed backwards by the bolt, convulsing on the ground for an instant, then were still.

Only six of the Reapers remained, and one swung at Sophia, but she gracefully avoided it and quickly blasted it with a bolt of energy that destroyed it.  Another Reaper seemed determined to kill the remaining Cleric, but he deflected the scythe with his shield and returned a swing.  It too missed and the skeleton struck again, this time his blade ending the cleric’s life.

 

Sir Aeric avenged the priest’s life by striking at the Reaper and destroying it.  Sir Alvis swung his enchanted Great Sword ‘Helke’ and skillfully neutralized two of the Reapers. 

Zeatt decided to put an end to the Reaper threat once and for all.  Taking up her Rod of Flailing, she went in swinging and connected with both of the remaining skeletal animations, smashing both of them to the ground.   She knew their destruction would probably mean a vendetta by Torvus, but they had to be stopped.

 

***

Siris was ready as soon as the sphere of protection faded, and was running as fast as her swollen feet could carry her, but to what, she didn’t know.  

 

No Wyverns were to be seen, but in front of her was the sea of zombies that prevented her from seeing how the King’s group was faring. 

 

She had an arrow notched, but she would not have enough of the undead slayer arrows to keep the hundreds of creatures at bay for long.

Something moved at her from behind and she spun and fired, sending some sort of undead creature to the ground.   The zombies were now staggering toward her and she swallowed back fear as she brought another arrow out of her quiver.  

 

Glancing down at her huge belly thrusting forward from underneath her chain mail shirt, she was very apprehensive for the life she carried.   It was Lute’s baby, the one they had prayed to conceive for many years, and it grew healthy and large inside her.   She would not endanger a precious child if possible. 

 

Siris glanced around, fearful of being surrounded by the undead, but still determined to help.   

 

She fired at a zombie who got too close and he fell without uttering a sound.   Backing up, she had another arrow out of her quiver in an instant and was sending the shaft into the eye socket of another zombie.   What would she do when her supply of magic arrows ran out?

 

Just as she reached for yet another arrow, she heard a shrill whistle come from her right.   She fired an arrow first, and then looked in that direction.   The whistle had come from a three story tower, across the street from the palace compound.   She looked over, noticing figures at some of the tower’s windows motioning for her to come to them.  

Were they residents that were trapped?   Having no other option that seemed wiser, she quickly fired another arrow at a zombie that barred her way, then ran toward the building.    The door was shut, but as soon as she approached, it quickly opened and hands pulled her inside, and then slammed it closed again.

 

A pair of Elven men, both wearing chainmail and tabards with the coat of arms of the Duchy of Dullerm emblazoned on them stepped back in surprise.   They looked at her face for a moment to confirm that she really was an Orc, then glanced down at her protruding belly, then glanced at each other.

 

“Hi” She greeted them, out of breath from the run, “Thank you for letting me in.”

One of the two Elves leaned in closer, “Are you Siris, wife of Lute the Armorer from Westmark?”

She smiled, hoping her toothy grin would not bring to their mind any racial hatred of Orcs, “Yes, that’s me.   Is Duke or Lady Frampbrum with you?”

“Yes, they both are on the third floor.  Feel free to go to them.”

“Thank you.” She smiled as sweetly as she could and hurried up the winding stairs.  

She and Lute had met Lord and Lady Frampbrum while they served as spies on the Orc tribes to the south of Dullerm.  

 

Although the Duke and Duchess were known to be no big fan of Orcs (or Ogres), they had developed a very good relationship with them, as they provided very useful information on the potential dangers on their borders.

 

Her love of archery also endeared her to them and the couple always stopped and chatted with them when they were visiting Westmark.  

As Siris climbed the stairs, she noticed that she passed at every window surprised Halflings and Elves which she knew were most likely part of the famed elite bowmen of the Duchy.  

 

Normally she would have easily ran up the stairs, but the chainmail added to the fat baby she carried made her gasp and puff as she came out onto the third floor.   As if to protest, the baby kicked her with the strength of its father, and she doubled over in pain, tears in her eyes, but smiling happily at the health it demonstrated.

 

Lady Frampbrum looked up and saw Siris bent over holding her belly.   “Siris!   Are you hurt?!”   The elderly duchess went over to her, just as the Orc lady straightened up.

“Oh, Yesh, preserve me, you’re pregnant!”  In spite of the setting, the duchess smiled broadly and put her hand on Siris’ huge belly.  “My goodness, Siris, are you in labor?”

 

“No, Your Grace, the baby just kicks like Lute.   I still have over three months until the baby arrives.”

“Three months?!  Siris, you are HUGE!”

The Orc lady grinned, pleased at what she considered a great compliment, “Well, as they say, ‘Big daddy, big baby.’”

Lady Frampbrum nodded, “You poor thing, Yesh, bless you.  You are wearing chainmail and carrying a bow; what were you doing out there in that madness?   I thought it was you that I saw standing down there.”

Siris relayed to her what had happened.

“You and the Queen fought a demon lord while both of you are carrying children?!” She exclaimed, horrified.

“Well, it wasn’t our plan, Your Grace, but, yes, we did.”

“And Eioldth; you don’t know if she lives?”

“She lives, Your Grace, due to the healing spell in her Autocaster ring.   It is the demon poison that worries me.  What about her baby?”

Lady Frampbrum shook her head, “Oh dear, that could be very bad.  Siris, why don’t you stay here with us?   We arrived just before the attack began and thankfully we brought our elite archers with us from Dullerm.   This floor has a balcony that extends all around the tower and is excellent for archers.”   

“Lord Frampbrum has positioned our archers at each window and all around the balcony.   He is directing their shots and we’ve found great use for the Slayer arrows that we spent the winter crafting after receiving the dispatches from His Majesty.”

“Slayer arrows!   The Queen gave me a gift of 20 Undead Slayer arrows yesterday, which I have used half of tonight.”

“Well, we can resupply that, my dear!   My wizards worked for months on just arrows.   Each of my 25 archers has a quiver full of Undead slaying arrows, as well as Wyvern slayers.”

“Wyvern slaying arrows?!   Wonderful!”

 

“Well, we thought we were going to war in the east against the Guild and Lord Frampbrum and I knew they employed the cursed things against both airships and ground forces, so we thought they would come in handy.”

“They weren’t inexpensive to have enchanted, I can tell you that, but they have proven very effective tonight.   Stay with us, Siris; it is safer here and from this vantage point you can do the most good assisting the King.”

 

The Orc lady touched her belly and nodded, though she felt somewhat guilty that Lute was out there with the King and she was not with him.   “Thank you, Your Grace.”

 

“Come with me, dear, out on the balcony; it has a steep overhang, so the Wyverns can’t pluck us off and you’ll see our strategic advantage.”

 

Siris followed the lady onto the balcony, praying she could somehow help the others.

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"...injuring a Anthrodracoi..." I believe "a" ought to be "an."
"...dropping to the ground an armload of items to the ground." It seems like there were two versions of this, and one of them was never deleted.