Chapter 5 Chapter Three Bones and Stones

Obard King of Arrows received the latest battle report uploaded to him layer by layer from west to east, and immediately noticed the danger signal.Resisting the urge to pound the goblin herald's head into mud, the burly orc king opened his palm and clenched it tightly around his mouth into a fist.It's his signature move, and it seems to convey an emotion somewhere between concentration and fury. Apparently this was a manifestation of the ongoing emotional conflict within the leader of the orcs. Although the siege of Shallowwater ended in a crushing defeat—the dwarves hidden in the hollow statue of the one-eyed Gruumsh slipped into the center of the battle—the battle was wonderful.The news of King Bruenor's death caused dozens of tribes to crawl out of their lairs, fearing Obard; On the mouth.Obard's son, Argen, has been chasing the dwarf - according to the latest battle report, he has chased him to the bottom of the wall of Mithril Hall.

Then word came that certain hostile forces were positioned behind Obard's lines.An orc camp was raided, most of the soldiers were killed, and the rest fled back to the caves in the mountains.Obard understood the actions of his kind very well, and he also understood that morale determines success or failure at critical moments-once it is low, it is usually difficult to raise it again.In the North, the Orcs outnumber their enemies, even if Humans, Dwarves, and Elves were all put together.Obard knew that their failure was due to a lack of coordination among the orc legions and prejudices among rival tribes, sometimes even within a single tribe.Victory and recklessness can offset the disadvantages of habit, but the news of an entire squad being slaughtered like this may scare many, many orcs into caves to save their lives.

The times were bad.Obard heard that the shamans of several big tribes were coming to meet, and he was afraid that his expansion plan would be aborted before it was actually implemented.The collective negativity of two dozen shamans would wipe out Obard's backup. Things have to be done one by one, Obard blamed himself.He considered the goblin messenger's reply more carefully. What the hell is going on has to be figured out, and fast.Luckily, there's someone in his camp who can help. Obard left the attendants and goblins aside, and walked to the southeast corner of the huge tent, where there was a person he had been waiting for for a long time.

"Good day, Donya Sodow," he said to the female drow. She turned her head toward him—Obord knew she had sensed it before she spoke—and looked at him under the cover of her magic cloak, her crimson eyes as sinister as her bright smile. "I heard you won the lottery." She said, turning her face to the side, letting the white hair in front of her eyes slide away. Mysterious and seductive, always. "There's more to come," Obard said. "Argen is driving the dwarves into their caves, so who else will defend the towns and villages of this land?" "Fight a battle, win a battle?" said Donya. "I thought you'd be more ambitious."

"We can't rush into Mithril Hall to die," retorted Obard, "haven't your people already tried?" Donya laughed at this plain slander, for it was no longer "her" people.The raid of Mithril Hall by the drow of Menzoberranzan had wreaked havoc, but Donia Sodor cared little, for she neither belonged nor liked the Spider-City. "Have you heard of the bloodbath at the Tooth Tribe camp?" Obed asked. "The dreadful enemy—one or several—spotted them. Yes, I have," replied Donia. "Adnon has already set off to survey the site." "Take me there," Obard instructed.His words surprised Tangya, "I want to check it myself."

"If there are too many warriors accompanying them, then the news of the massacre will be concealed." Tang Niya explained. "You really want this?" "Then you and I," said Obard. "No one else." "What if the men who killed the Tooth Tribe are still around? You're taking too much risk." "If the enemies are nearby and dare to attack Oberd, then they are the ones to take the risk." Donia grinned after Oberd finished yelling.Her pearly white teeth contrasted starkly with her jet-black skin. "Fine." She agreed. "Come on, let's see what we can find out about this secret enemy."

The killing took place not far away, and later in the day Tanya and Obald joined the rest of her companions—not only Adnon Kryser, but Collik Suen Wee Te and Tothian Amgo - arrived at the scene early and patrolled the surrounding area. "Two attackers, no more," Adnon said to those who arrived later. "We heard that there is a pair of elves riding Pegasus in the local area. It is estimated that they did this." After Adnon finished speaking, he began to gesture with his hands in Drow Jiyu, a sign language that Obard could not understand, but Tangya could understand. It was Drow's doing.Adnon's gesture flickered.

Tangya understood immediately that she and her companions knew that King Bruenor of Mithril Hall had a very different dark elf friend, an exile who had turned his back on the Spider Queen and his dark-skinned compatriots.Apparently, Drizzt Do'Urden had fled Shallowwater, and they had become suspicious when they heard the tales of Getty's frost giants; and apparently, he hadn't returned to Mithril Hall. "Elf," said Obird contemptuously, and the words broke into a lingering low growl. The mighty orc clenched his fists again. "If they're flying around on winged horses, they shouldn't be hard to find," Donia said to Obard.

The Beast King let out a deep roar, his bloodshot eyes scanned the horizon, as if expecting the Pegasus Rider to rise from the horizon. "You might as well send a message to other commanders, this is a small-scale harassment." Adnon made a suggestion to the orc. "Donya and I will make sure Gerty doesn't worry too much—" "Turn fear into courage," Donya added, "and put a bounty on whoever decapitates a criminal. But this is enough to make other tribes prepare for war on the way over. " "Besides, at first glance, it seems that a small army has been raided, so the risk of the rest of the army being attacked is also small." Adnon said. "The orcs were not vigilant enough, that's why they died. Simple as that, isn't it?"

Obard's roar died down, and he smiled approvingly at his drow advisor.He went back to survey the garrison and the dead orcs, joined by the other two drow. Not the surface elves, Adnon fluttered his fingers, and signed to the three drow companions, but Keerike Suen Weitt didn't look at him at all, but left the camp.The wounds were all slashes and cuts, not stab wounds from elven weapons; and no orcs died from flying arrows.In the battle of Qianshui Town in the north, those condescending elves did use arrows. Tusi'an Amgo circled around the corpse, bending over to examine with the highest level of concentration in the group.

"Drizzt Do'Urden," he whispered to the three.Obird was walking towards him, so he made a few gestures, Drizzt preferring the cutlass. Ke Erli Ke returned after Obard, the plump priestess whispered in secret, and there were big cat's claw marks outside the camp. Drizzt Do'Urden.Tothian gestured again. On a hillside in the northeast, Argen Three Fist saw the black orc army climbing the hill. He had driven the dwarves to the edge of the cliff, and his only thought was to kill them all.Argen, who has a certain respect for the toughness and workmanship of the dwarves, can understand that if they sit idly by, their defenses will be strengthened every hour.However, his own army was really not ready to attack; nor did the giant reinforcements catch up with the orc legion.In addition, many recruits in the team may not even know the battle cry and the rank of each leader. Argen's military strength is numerically increasing, and armaments and tactics will soon follow, but so are dwarven fortifications. The orc leader who was still struggling to break through the siege of Qianshui Town weighed again and again, and sent hordes of troops.At least, he thought, the dwarves had no time to dig deeper with this wave of attack. However, when the orc line rolled close to the edge of the uphill, the dwarves jumped out angrily, and suppressed their own team.Seeing this scene, Argen couldn't help showing bitterness.Flying Rocks and Throwing Stones held up the dwarves' heads with the deadly silver arrows that crippled Argen's head in Shallowwater.Argen knew that the number of orc deaths was rising by the dozen.Panic rose in the hearts of the soldiers who survived the first barrage; their bewilderment and fear immediately turned into a better opportunity for the dwarves to fight back, allowing the aggressive bearded warriors to charge into the enemy line. The orcs who turned and retreated blocked the advance of the rear row of aid, and the chaos at this moment provided more opportunities for the war-thirsty dwarves. The rain of arrows kept pouring out, and a tall tower-like figure in the southeast of the dwarf team, fighting endlessly despite the pain, never left the archer. "What should we do?" a scrawny orc asked Argen.The creature ran around, jumping on its feet, "What should we do?" Another orc captain ran over. "What shall we do?" it parroted. A third voice came from the side, "What should we do?" Argen was still watching the fierce battle on the rocky slope.The dwarves were retreating, but most of the dwarves who did so piled many orc corpses at their feet.Now that the two sides are engaged in hand-to-hand combat, Argen doesn't seem to want to form a formation; and the dwarves have assembled into two neat squares, surrounded by a wedge in the middle.When the wedge is inserted forward, its bottom is smoothly connected with the two corners of the phalanx; and the two phalanx rotate around the connection point.One side of each phalanx was broken and fitted with wedges, thus making it a defensive phalanx; while the flanking dwarves rearranged into a more defensive formation. In Argen's view, this behavior was shocking, showing what he and his father had been trying to get the Orc Legion to master.Now that the battle has turned into a dwarven carnage, the soldiers undoubtedly have a longer way to go. Argen, who had been immersed in the veteran dwarf's military parade for a long time, almost left the orc captain jumping up and down around him and shouting "What should we do?" Finally they realized that the dwarves had turned the battle into their own rout, and asked the question again. "Retreat!" Argen ordered. "Get them back, get them all back! Until Getty's giant arrives!" For a few minutes, Argen watched the transmission and feedback of orders, and felt that his soldiers were better at retreating than charging. Many orcs were left behind as they ran down the rocky slope—the stones on which were red with blood.Hundreds of orcs, dead or dying, howled and howled.Until the nearest dwarf walks by, shutting them forever with a final blow to the head. But there were also many dead dwarves among the reddish-brown stones.Compared with dwarves, no amount of orc deaths is insignificant.Argen accepted the reality that his army still needs to grow and grow, and he still needs to let them attack the dwarf front. If the orcs can't kill them, let fatigue drag them to death.The orc leader knew what lay behind the ridge, behind the dwarves. He knew he had cornered the dwarves.Regardless of whether there will be more dwarves in Mithril Hall, copying their own rear from east to west in an attempt to rescue the team; The results are different. Either way, Argen's popularity with the swollen ranks of orcs would grow. "We know it's Drizzt Do'Urden, but we need to tell Obard that the culprits are surface elves." After sitting down in a sheltered cave, Tosi'an Amgo and his three companions discussed the progress just now. "So Obard hates the surface elves even more." Donya said, smiling sweetly, the corners of her mouth almost touching the long plain hair that covered her refined cheeks. "He will definitely work hard for this kind of thing," Ke Erlike said. "More importantly, we eliminated the possibility of Obard suspecting the existence of hostile drow," Adnon-Cryser said. "He seems to have known about Drizzt for a long time." Ke Erli could infer. "Yes. Perhaps we should get this out of the way before it's revealed and turned Obard's face," Adnon said. "It seems like he's always overgeneralizing." "So is Gerty," said Corlick, "we all are." "It seems that Drizzt and his friends are an exception." Tothian's self-evident statement made several people yawn. The four drows were silent for a while, and then looked at each other, as if they had realized some kind of philosophical sign; but it was immediately obliterated by utilitarianism. "Are you sure we should eliminate Drizzt's threat?" Corlic asked Adnon. "You think he's our heart disease?" "I think he's going to be a big problem for us," Adnon corrected. "It would be of great benefit to kill him." "Menzoberranzan thought so too," Tothian reminded them. "I doubt cities have recovered from the consequences of their folly." "Menzoberranzan is not only against Drizzt Do'Urden," Donya put in. "Won't Rose rejoice in the death of the exile?" At the same time she finished her question, Tang Niya turned to Ke Erike, and the priestesses in the team, Adnon and Tosi'an also turned their heads.Ke Erli shook her head at the inquisitive eyes of several people. "Drizzt Do'Urden is not our confidant," Corlic said. "The farther we are from him and his scimitar, the better. Goddess Lolth has always made reasonable demands on us. I would not want to be involved with Drizzt Durrul any more than to lead Obard into Mithril Hall." Don's fight; he's not what we're fomenting war on. You remember our wishes and plans, don't you?My fun, as always, should not have ended with Drizzt Do'Urden's cutlass. " "What if he finds us?" asked Donya. "If he doesn't know our existence at all, how can he find us?" Ke Erlike said, "This plan is more feasible. My favorite war is the kind that can be seen from a distance and not played with." When Donya turned her face to Adnon, her sour face was clearly seen; and the latter's face was not without disappointment. But Kerri has a supporter. "I agree." Tothian said. "After leaving Menzoberranzan, the meaning of Drizzt Do'Urden is to bring trouble and disaster to those who are hostile to him. After the skirmish in the Upper Darkness and Mithril Hall, I heard in my wanderings that There are many scattered internal rumors in Menzoberranzan. Apparently, shortly after my city attacked Mithril Hall, Drizzt returned to Menzoberranzan and was captured by House Baenre and held in the family dungeon." After hearing this anecdote, everyone's faces were full of surprise, because the powerful and tyrannical Baenre family was very famous in the drow of the Underdark. "Then, he returned to his friends and left disaster behind." Tosi'an continued. "He was a cruel joke played by the goddess Rose. I am afraid he is the goddess appointed, wearing a rebellious cloak, spreading chaos widely. More than one Menzoberranzan has claimed that they firmly believe that Drizzt Do'Urden was guided by the Lady of Chaos at all, and that the Goddess depends on him for her gratification." "If we worship other goddesses, your words can be regarded as blasphemy." Ke Erli could face the extreme sarcasm in the dialogue, and giggled. "You don't believe me..." Tang Niya opened her mouth to refute. "I don't need to believe it," Toth'an interrupted her, "Drizzt Do'Urden is neither as powerful as we thought, nor as lucky as we thought, nor even blessed by God. All in all, all in all , I just have no interest in hunting him down." "Agreed." Kerri said. Donya and Adnon looked at each other again, but they just shrugged. "It's really fun." Banneker Braunanwell pointed to the well-arranged troops and said to Lockbottom. "It's a pity that many soldiers died in battle." "More orcs die than dwarves," Lockbottom pointed out. "Having not killed enough, the remaining manpower cannot cope with the remaining enemies. Look at them, they fight in excitement, and bear the enemy's attack without complaint. If death is the will of the gods, they will gladly die in battle. " "Because they are fighters," Lockbottom reminded him, "dwarven fighters. The title is not for nothing." "That's right," Banneker agreed. "It's not for nothing." "Your strategy defeated the orcs," Lockbottom said after observing. "I have no strategy." The dwarf commander objected. "It was the idea of ​​the Stoneshouldered Brothers—I mean the crazy one—with Mirabatog's help. I was just thinking that I didn't find such a group of good friends until now." Lockbottom nodded and continued to watch the dwarves' formation performance. Three chained teams were advancing deeply towards the orc troops down the slope. "Hundreds of years from now, a child of any race will definitely come here." Shaoxie, Banneker said.He didn't even look at the fight again, just focused on the corpse lying on the rubble. "He will see the white bones, the remains of soldiers who fought in this battle on this plateau. They may be mistaken for stones, but soon someone may discover what they really are; The conclusion of a great battle. Will the people of the far future understand what we do, understand our motives? Will they understand our original intentions, or are we different from the orcs who invaded here?" Lockbottom looked gravely at Banneker Braunenwell.Although he is not usually in pursuit of fame or fortune, nor does he offer advice without asking Bruenor, Dagna, or the other generals, the tall and strong dwarf has been a prominent figure among the Warhammer Clan for centuries.However, another side of Banneker is quite different from the general public in the clan; he has a very different worldview, always using the perspective of future historians to clarify and evaluate the major events of the present. The scream on the right drew their realization, and the two saw Wulfgar and Catti-brie fighting in unison on the flanks in unison.The orcs charged at them here and there, but many were brought down by the endless stream of arrows from the woman's deadly bow; those who escaped perhaps hoped to be killed by the arrows, for they were all killed by Wulfgar the Barbarian. And Aegis Fang, the devastating magic hammer that Bruenor himself forged for him.The moment Banneker and Lockbottom focused their eyes on the two, Wulfgar blew one of the orcs' heads off with such force that the barbarian and other orcs who approached were sprayed with brains. An arrow whizzed past Wulfgar, killing another orc; Aegis-fang opened and closed, sweeping down the remaining two.One of them fell to the ground, and the other was knocked sideways and flew far away. Catti-brie hit the flying target; Wulfgar took care of the lying orc with a smash. "The two of them are creating a legend that will last a hundred years," Rockbottom said. "Brilliant in time," Banneker said. "They too will be forgotten." Lockbottom looked at him strangely—he was overwhelmed by Banneker's gloomy attitude. "On the way home," Banneker explained, "King Bruenor passed through the Marsh Pass." Lockbottom nodded knowingly, because he was in the queue at the time. "Do you see any bones there?" Banneker asked. "It's too many to count," replied the pastor. "Do you think that when they fought in the wild marsh pass a long time ago, they also fought bloody battles stepping on the corpses of their companions?" Lockbotham considered for a moment, shrugged and nodded again. "Can you name them?" Banneker asked. "Do you know who they are and their lives? Do you know how many orcs and monsters they killed in that battle? How many people do you know died holding the heads of their companions?" This question made Lockbottom feel sad.He looked back at the main battlefield, where the dwarves had defeated the orcs and were driving them away. "Don't chase down the slope!" Banneker ordered. "We knocked out their souls." Lockbottom whispered. "They weren't there," said the Dwarf Overseer, "but they came to spoil our preparations. These fortifications don't wait for anyone, so we don't have time to hunt down that motley crew.Bring the lads back to work, it's just harassment.The big war is coming. " Banneker turned his head back to look at the cliff, hoping that the engineers had not delayed the construction of the rope ladder to the bottom of Guardian's Canyon. "Harassment," he repeated again and again when the fighting subsided; many of the dwarves returned to their former posts, each doing their part. He saw the dead and wounded covering the blood-flowing stone field. He thought of the bones that would soon be laid out on the ground, that they would be as hard and silent as rocks.