Broken Skull

The battle had been going on for a few minutes now, and the main force still hadn't shown up yet. The gate had closed and fighting could be heard from the gatehouse, the sounds of orcs howling and dying, blood spilled all over the place, corpses piling up everywhere.

I stuck the broken haft of a spear through the throat of an orc who'd underestimated the fact that skeletons don't get tired. My [Haste] had run out at this point with me constantly having to expend it in a fight that continously taxed me to the limit. I didn't even know how many skeletons were left standing on my side. All I knew was that I was going through one fight after another, stealing weapons and desperately fending off those that came my way, which was quite a few. The arrows had stopped, though the magic hadn't ceased for even a moment.

I elbowed an orc in his unprotected stomach, before breaking off my thumb in his eye socket, the pain excrutiating. A hand grabbed my leg and I swung downward with a cleaver, using my de-thumbed hand to grab his mace as he seemingly raised it to me as an offering. That mace got stuck in the caved in chest of another, his broken sword sharp enough for one more kill.

I hadn't stopped roaring once, the noise echoing all around me, an endless rallying cry. On occasion I still received a response in the form of a mental war cry, and the screams of a dying orc in the distance. My left arm was grabbed, I switched the blade to my right, stabbing the offending orc up through the mouth, before ripping the sword back out, waving the sword in a threatening manner at another orc who'd been about to take advantage of my distraction. He sneered at me instead, a row of yellowed teeth opening to reveal a filthy maw. An axe split his skull as another skeleton leaped into the fray next to me, covered in blood and missing his right arm, wearing torn cloth for makeshift armor. He moved forward, sidestepping a blow that would've sheared off his right arm if it had still been there, and kicked the orc between the legs before ripping the axe from the head of the previous kill.

I lunged at an orc that was trying to hit him over the head with a two handed mallet, knocking the weapon aside with my bad arm, the broken sword blade stabbing into the exposed arm pit. It died with a gurgle in its throat, and I caught the mallet as it dropped. It was surprisingly heavy, and it took me using both hands to bring it back up in an underhanded swing at another of the filthy monsters that surged forward.

Almost equally surprising was when the head of the mallet came off mid-swing, breaking the orc's jaw as he was totally unprepared for a projectile attack. "Heads up!" I heard the words from behind me, a dagger landing at my feet. I picked it up quickly, discarding the hilt of the previous weapon.

The orcs were all around us now, the corpses making the ground slick with blood and filth.

They were about to surge forward once more, before a massive volley of arrows brought the ones around me and the legionairre down, the arrow shafts pincushioning them. A few scraped across our bodies, though none actually damaged us. Skeletal bodies filled up the gap, weapons shiny and clean and hungry for blood.

The orcs outside of the fort died in droves, just in time for the gate to begin rising again. Skeletons charged forward to force the gate open just a little more, others diving into the chaos inside.

I surveyed the area around me as the last of the orcs outside were dealt with. The Cursed Legion had suffered massive casualties, though neither of the mages had died. There were maybe a tenth of the total forces remaining at this point. Those who survived did not celebrate however. Some sat down, while others looked for the comrades they'd lost in the last several minutes.

Still, the battle raged on. I did not urge the Cursed Legion onward, as they'd earned their rest. I didn't have that luxury though, so I left them with Lakus who had greeted me not long after the main forces had pulled us out of danger. I trusted him to get them back safely. I found an axe that hadn't been totally destroyed yet, and ran for the open gate.

I actually found the number of skeletons trying to join the fighting inside a hindrance, the press of bodies making it difficult to make any headway as our numbers streamed inside. I diverted straight for the gatehouse as soon as possible, still seeing a few orcs fighting, though their numbers were quickly dropping.

Up the stairs I ran, kicking a remaining orc down into the mess of violence below. Axe rising and falling, I carved my way through the dwindling numbers until I linked up with Lilith's team. As it turned out, they'd had quite the scuffle, a well armed and armored orc lying dead on the floor beside the winch to raise and lower the gate. Lilith stood over the corpse, rapier stained and a little bent.

When she turned to me, her head tilted a bit as she walked over. She touched my head, and apparently I actually had a hole in it again, though this was in the back of the skull on the left side, with cracks spiderwebbing outward. I also didn't realize I was even missing a few ribs. At this point, head trauma was a given, so I didn't even feel annoyed by it.

She didn't complain about me though, since she was missing three ribs, her left arm was cracked, and three fingers were missing. Instead we both just left the gatehouse, seeing the battle below already coming to an end as the fresh skeletons tore the remaining orcs apart with numbers alone.

There weren't nearly as many buildings as I'd imagined, only a command tent and various other ramshackle tents scattered about. "Food" could be seen dumped into a foul pit in the far right corner, unless I was wrong and it was all just waste. From the command tent a much larger orc emerged, swinging a rather heavy looking mace about, smashing and shattering bones left and right. His armor was also complete enough to cover his entire torso, though his legs had only untreated leather to protect them, and nothing to protect his head. I would've marvelled at his battle prowess if he wasn't systematically cutting a swathe through my people, so I raised an axe before yelling out a command.

"Archers! Fire at their leader on my command!"

I held the axe in the air as the few that joined me on the wall readied their bows and arrows. I waited until the orc was focused on bringing the mace down on a less equipped skeleton before letting my arm drop like a guillotine. The arrows flew through the air, some hitting legs, another stabbing into a gap in the armor around the neck, and a few sticking into the ground. "Load and fire again!" I shouted the next command as the orc staggered, his attack missing entirely. Another volley of arrows slammed into flesh and armor and dirt. Another step backward. A third volley of arrows, another step back.

It took a full five volleys to finally put the orc down, the durable creature letting loose a final roar that was comparable to my own. He finally fell over, over a dozen arrows sticking out of his body, three of them having sunk into his head.

It was an odd feeling, staring down from a higher position at a monster that could have very well been like me. "The strong cannot fight alone. To do so is to risk coming up against a wall you cannot overcome regardless of the effort given." These words I muttered to nobody but myself.

Those words were heard by none other than me as everyone cheered for our victory. We'd taken the fortress. The fourth floor was officially ours now. All we had to do at this point was begin recruitment and training for the day when we could attack the outside world.

"Let's inspect our new fortress, shall we?" Lilith was already heading for the stairs, though I didn't move to follow. "I'd say we can see enough for the moment from right here. There's a lot of changes to make as well." I called down after her. She didn't stop walking, so I begrudgingly ran to catch up with her. "You can see things from up there, but it's best to actually see everything." I said as she pushed her way through to the orc leader, whose corpse lay there in the dirt, eyes glazed over and staring up into nothingness. "Start peeling off their equipment! Just because the battle is won doesn't mean you get to slack off!" Her shout brought about laughter and good cheer as everyone began to pick through the spoils of war. Tyrant even showed up to coordinate the effort, turning two of the tents into one better built armory. There was even an extra table in the command tent that Tyrant got a hold of, using it to inspect each piece of equipment that was brought to him, while Lilith worked with Iliana the healer to ensure that the wounded were taken care of.

Lakus on the other hand worked with the dead, getting a tally of how many fatalities we'd suffered in the battle. While he did all this, I went into the command tent to survey what we'd gained. The only table left in there had weapons scattered about on it, charred meat of some sort, and a goblet made of iron. In it was either some sort of alcohol or blood. I couldn't tell the difference so I just poured it out onto the ground. We'd melt down the useless thing later and make an extra dagger. I began tossing anything that could go to Tyrant into a corner, and setting up parchment and other things we'd use for making a plan of attack and organizing ourselves on the table. the bed that was there was also dragged out, something I'd decided to use for kindling to burn the bodies, depriving the dungeon of any other resources it could get. It wouldn't last long, but it didn't need to. The bones of our comrades would be used to hurt the one who'd put us in this hell in the first place.

It took hours, but eventually things began to change inside the fortress, as orc bodies were stripped of all equipment and burned, and our fallen comrades given their last opportunity to strike back against their oppressors. When bones were added to the fire, those that did it were solemn, while when an orc was thrown on, it was done with merriment. I didn't partake, instead staying inside the command tent while Lilith gave a speech to cement our victory. While I would be a leader as much as possible, that also meant ensuring that we could win the next battle just as we had done with this one.

Lakus joined me inside, and we began planning for the immediate future, listing out everything that had to be done to prepare for what I hoped would be our next and last major battle. I doubted that it would be the last one if we succeeded though.

There was always another fight to win.