Rise of the Horde

Chapter 145: Chapter 14

Xiao Chen found a quiet place just behind the sentries posted in the center of the semicircular shaped camp of theirs. He was fully dressed in his armor and he had his swords on his back. His swords were a single-edged blade primarily used for slashing and chopping. The blades of his swords were moderately curved and a few inches of the back edge of his blades were also sharpened.

The moderate curve of his blades allows them to be reasonably effective in thrusting attacks, also besides slashing and chopping. The handle of his blade was made out of ironwood then wrapped around by soft cord to increase his gripped on it. The hilt of his blade was made of pure iron-steel shaped like a ball with a protruding small spike at the end to be used to pummel his foes when the situation needs it be.

But this wasn’t his primary weapon, his primary weapon was resting on his shoulders. His main weapon was a crescent-moon spear which has the properties of five weapons, namely a spear, a trident, a hook, a dagger, and a staff. It is a formidable weapon, but it needs much skill to use it.

The crescent-moon spear has one blade shaped like a crescent moon added to one side of the spearhead. There is another weapon with two blades shaped like a crescent moon added to both sides of the spearhead. It is called the square-heaven spear, probably because the two crescent moon blades on both sides of the spear head resemble a square, if you use some of your imagination.

However, this square-heaven spear is a very cumbersome weapon. It is probably because the double crescent-moon blades make the weapon clumsy in combat and require tremendous strength to wield, but he is now an orc, a creature that was famed for their love for battle and tremendous innate strength.

Midnight passed uneventfully, which bothered Xiao Chen. “Was my gut feeling wrong?” he questioned himself. The chilly wind passed by, which made him shiver, and hugged himself. He rubbed his palms against his arms, then rubbed both his palms together to warm himself up.

A thick fog descended from the mountain behind them, which made the temperature to drop lower. Xiao Chen glanced at the sentries who were shivering because of the cold. He was about to stand up and get back to his tent when he noticed a few silhouettes creeping towards their camp.

.....

He grabbed his weapon and approached the sentries. Lightly tapping their shoulders, he muttered, “Go wake up the others, but do it silently. Tell them to form a standard battle line with the Rakshas in the center...Got it?” he looked at them with a questioning gaze to which the two sentries nodded their head in acknowledgement. “Now go!” he softly ordered them and gave them a slight push.

Xiao Chen watched the back of the retreating sentries, “Now what are you guys up to?” he questioned himself as he crouched down and observed the silhouettes moving around. They were crawling towards the caltrops that were scattered just in front of the ditches that were dug up. “Enjoy our gifts...hehehe” he giggled as he watched the figures came nearer and nearer to where the caltrops were at.

“Kik! Ki!”

“Schwi!”

“Kik!”

Shrieks of pain reverberated and alerted the other sentries as they all stood up and looked towards where the sound was coming from. The silent but heavy footsteps of the Rakshas and Yurakks echoed throughout the camp as they formed their battle-line and approached their chief.

“Enemies!”

“Enemies are upon us!”

“Wake up!”

“It’s a night attack!”

“Battle formations!”

The other sentries dutifully shouted the alarm as they retreated back towards where the tents were at. During their retreat, they met the already formed battle-line of their comrades, which were moving forward slowly. “Get into your ranks!.... Quickly!... Move it!...” Galum’nor came forward and ordered them to form up.

“Trolls! Keep your mouths shut!...” Galum’nor glanced towards the trolls who were murmuring with each other as they yawned while doing a shush gesture at them. Xiao Chen kept his eyes glued on the shadows that were moving about in the darkness and tried to predict where they would be headed to.

The thick fog from the mountains behind fully descended and shrouded the surroundings, making visibility very poor. Xiao Chen could barely see a meter in front of him because of the thick fog. Retreating with haste, he joined his warriors, and he almost got impaled by the spears of the Rakshas, which he barely evaded by falling backwards.

“Chief!? Where are you!?” Galum’nor ordered the advancement of the troops to a halt. “Ugh...here!... I’m alright..” Xiao Chen replied as he got up and went beside the huge orc.

“Defensive line! Get the Yurakks into Torhterra Formation and the Rakshas to brace for impact. And get the trolls to prepare to hurl their javelins at my command...” Xiao Chen gave his orders in a hush tone as they waited for their foes to show themselves.

Shrieks of pain continued as their goblin foes went through the first defensive line, which was the littered caltrops. Exclaims of surprise soon followed and the sound of the bodies falling forward. They are already in the ditches and are only a few meters away from their defensive line.

Xiao Chen gripped his weapon tight with the heavy spearhead pointing downwards. In front of the trolls, Draegh’ana, Aro’shanna, Adhalia and Grogus joined in with the little goblin, obviously trembling in fear as he had his knife out in front of his chest.

Their goblins prisoners noisily cheered as they heard the commotion going on. They were hurling curses and insults at Xiao Chen and his warriors, but ropes tied to a tree trunk just nearby just beside Xiao Chen’s tent tightly bound them and prevented them from escaping.

There was an eerie silence as the night critters went silent and scurried away. Howls similar to that of wargs echoed, accompanied by the loud shrieks of goblins.

“Xiu!”

“Xiu!”

“Xiu!”

The whistling sound of arrows soaring through the air followed after the howls. “Arrows! Rakshas! Tuck tail!” Xiao Chen warned as he quickly sought refuge behind the Yurakks who were in their Torhterra Formation. The Rakshas laid down their spears on the ground and brought their shields above them like you would with an umbrella.

They waited patiently for the storm of arrows to end. The sound of the arrows bouncing off their shields and ricocheting away continued for sometime. Xiao Chen perked up his ears to listen to the movements of their enemies.

The sound of massive and rapid footsteps charging forward was heard by him clearly. After hearing the last sound of an arrow bouncing off the shields of his warriors, he bolted out from the safety of the shields. “Rakshas! Restore formation! Brace for impact!” he shouted as loud as he could.

The Rakshas were quick to pick up their spears and brought their shields in front of them. Restoring their defensive formation, they waited for their foes to come charging in to their deaths. As Xiao Chen had anticipated, goblins came crashing in unaware of the danger that was waiting for them because of the thick fog.

“Galum’nor! Head to the left flank and take command of it! Make sure that no enemies will get past you!” he glanced towards the big orc who was obviously itching to join the fray as fast as possible. “Yes, chief... Hahahaha! Time to bash some goblins!” he heartily laughed as he slung his sledgehammer on his shoulders and sprinted towards their left flank.

Howls similar to that of the wargs sounded from the right flank of their enemies. “Don’t tell me they have wargs!” Xiao Chen exclaimed in surprise. “No chief! Those are just wolves!” Draegh’ana explained behind him as she too came out from the safety of the formation formed by the Yurakks.

Xiao Chen calmed down after hearing Draegh’ana’s words as he observed the progress of the battle. The current engagement was tilting to their favor as their foes continue to come charging in into the forest of spears presented by the Rakshas, who just stood there and braced themselves, just waiting for their enemies to deliver themselves to them.

“Trolls! Show them no mercy! Fire away!” Xiao Chen shouted as the trolls came forward with their first javelin ready to be thrown. They positioned themselves just right behind the Rakshas as to not accidentally hit them while raining down on the goblins. With the solid wall created by the Rakshas, the goblins were in their mercy as they hurled their javelins one after another without even properly aiming. They just hurled their javelins forward as aiming specifically for any target was impossible because of the thick fog. _{????????????????????????d. c????m}

On the side of the goblins, javelins rained down on them out of nowhere as they can’t see them coming while they charged forward. They were starting to huddle up together just in front of the forest of spears as none of them was foolish enough to charge towards their certain doom. Some of them headed to the left, while others to the right to seek better places to attack.

Xiao Chen nodded his head at the progress of the battle. Their foes can’t do anything against the solid defensive line created by the Rakshas as the trolls kept peppering them with their javelins.