Chapter 15 Chapter Twelve

They passed between Shallowwater and the mountains to the north of Guardian's Gulch, like a storm whirling close to the surface, with gales and showers.Under the leadership of Obard, who had become Gruumsh, the orcs, aided by frost giants, completed the largest massing in centuries.They trampled down all the trees in their path, and no creature dared to stop in their path. Obard Arrows saw his son for the first time in dozens of days.Argen was in his command post, across from the dwarves' position. Argon came to the council in a rage, and was ready to call for more troops, and drive the dwarves down the mountain and back into their caves.Argon was also prepared to lay the blame on not having enough troops, considering that Obard and Getty might blame him for not achieving victory.

All the rage of the young impulsive orc turned to bewilderment when he entered his father's tent. He could tell at a glance that the orc leader sitting there was no longer the father he was familiar with. There were many things in him and he became stronger. A shaman whom Argen didn't know sat next to Obard, wearing a feather headdress and red robes.On the other side, in the left corner of the tent, was Gerty, who didn't look too pleased to see the young orc leader. Argen stared at Obard, the bulging muscles under the plate armor and the anger on his face caught his gaze, making the young orc unable to take his eyes off his father, "You haven't driven them out yet!" Go back to Mithril Hall," said Obard.

"They're tenacious," Argon admitted. "They took the high ground before we caught up and immediately began to build fortifications." "Is the work done?" "No!" Algen said confidently. "Our attacks are frequent and they are still working, but exhausted." "Then keep attacking, don't stop," Obard ordered, his voice suddenly getting stronger. "Either die of exhaustion, or be killed by us, let them exhaust their energy in the battle, go back to the cave!" "I need more fighters." "You don't need anything!" Obard yelled at Argen, who rose from his seat and brought his face within an inch of his son. "Kill 'em! Stab 'em! Crush 'em! Grind 'em into stones!"

Argen tried unsuccessfully to meet his father's gaze, and there was more than anger in the young orc's mind.Obard had ten times his force, and a tribe of frost giants, who could crush the dwarves with a single concentrated attack and drive them back to their lairs. "I'm going east," said Obird. "Block the dwarves along the Surbrin and drive them back underground. There I will meet the troll Proffit, who has captured Nesmeer, and I will persuade him to press the dwarves from the ground. " "We should block the West Gate first." Argon suggested, but his father cut him off with a furious "No!"

"No," he repeated, "it's not enough to drive those stinking dwarves back, it's not enough. Since they chose to resist us, they must die! You have to hold them back, no Keep attacking, pin them here, no rest. I'll be back soon, and that's the end of them." "I've already lost hundreds of people." Argen argued. "You still have a few hundred people to lose." Obard replied calmly. "My warriors will flee," Argon insisted. "When they were spattered with blood, when they rushed over the corpses of their companions to the dwarves."

With a long growl, Obard grabbed Argen by the front of his shirt, and Argen grabbed Obard's hand with both hands, trying to break free, but with a flick of his wrist, Obard threw his startled son to the ground. The other end of the tent hit the leather door curtain. "They dare not run," insisted Obard, turning to face the red shaman. "They shall witness the glory of Obard!" "Obord is Gruumsh!" cried Argans. Argen looked at them suspiciously, his yellow eyes full of surprise at Obard's strength just now. He glanced at Gerty and found that she was also full of fear and frustration at the scene just now.Most importantly, Argen reads the frustration, he thought.Gerty said nothing.

Getty Orelsdot, the leader of the Orel tribe, the great frost giant, was used to dictating all kinds of decisions of the orcs, so he didn't say anything at this time. King Obed's orc army began to rush westward slowly, forming a black mass, like a flowing river. Argen Three Fists stood on the hillside behind his troops and looked at the marching troops, feeling full of fear and aching in his heart.His father reinforced him, but of little practical value.His forces were strong enough to hold, enough to keep the pressure on the dwarves, but not enough to drive them off. But now, Obard doesn't want to drive them away.His plan was to separate the dwarves and eliminate as many of them as possible before the west gate to Mithral Hall closed.But Argen didn't understand this delaying tactic. He felt that this tactic was clearly giving up the victory that belonged to him to Obard.

A sound came, interrupting Argen's thoughts. "I thought you weren't coming." The orc said to the giantess who had just climbed up.She was standing below, just in a position where they could talk face to face. "Didn't I make a deal with you?" the giantess replied. Argen swallowed back a rebuttal, not quite used to his position in the conversation, a position he didn't like much. "Are you afraid of my father too?" said the orc. "Aren't you the same?" Gerty asked. "He got stronger," Argen admitted. "Obord wants to be ruler."

"King Obald," Argon corrected. "You want me to help the giants stop the orcs from rising?" "It's not an orc." Getty explained, "I want you to stop Obard for Argen instead of Getty. Argen can't get any benefits from the godlike Obird." This time Argen didn't ask Getty to correct his father's title. "Will Argon get the fame and glory?" Getty asked. "Or was it used as a scapegoat at the first moment of disaster?" Argen's lips rolled up and he let out a low growl.He wanted to beat up the giantess (of course he never had the guts), and his anger did not come from the obvious insult in the giantess' tone, but from the fact that the reasons she gave were close to the truth.

Obard would give him big wins, but in the event of a loss, Argen would undoubtedly be his father's first casualty. "What do you want from me?" asked Gerty, startled. Argon's eyes shifted to the marching orcs, and then back to Gerty's face, he stared at her curiously, trying to understand what this sentence meant. "When you beat the dwarves, you want the orcs to praise Argen," Gerty explained. "I can help you do that." Argon narrowed his eyes and nodded despite the irony. "The orcs will praise Gerty too." "If we are to share in Obard's glory, we must be guaranteed freedom from any condemnation."

It was sensible, of course, but to Argen it was utterly absurd.He was never close to Gerty in any way, and he often argued with his father and even opposed his father's alliance with the giants.Similarly, Argen also knew that Getty regarded himself as inferior to Obard and other orcs. In Gerty's eyes, Argen was just a brat. But now, they were plotting behind Obard's back. Argen told Getty to look to the south, where the dwarf camp was clearly visible on the high ground. "I need giants," he said, "to throw stones at our front." "The dwarves have too much advantage on the high ground," Getty replied. "I can't let my people die." "Then what can you offer?" Argen asked, looking increasingly frustrated. Gerty and Argen surveyed the area together. "There," said Getty, pointing to a ridge to the west, "from where we can gain the advantage of the terrain, out of range of the dwarves, and we can provide you with bouldering support." "It's too far for giants." "But the giant's ballista will," said Getty. "There are tunnels under the ridge, and the dwarves will fortify there, and it will be difficult to occupy there." "Is it difficult to explain the failure in front of your father?" The words hit Argen right where he pointed out his worst fears. "Take it there, and then I will let my warriors hold it, and provide you with protection, for our common glory." Getty promised. "It's not an easy task." Gerty and Argen looked up the hillside again, layers of orc corpses were piled up in the morning light, expressing their meaning silently. "Bah! They're fighting again, and we're just sitting here," complained Singers Macluve to Togg. Togg came to the open air on the east side of the ridge, overlooking the battlefield on the hillside.Howling orcs and goblins charged up the steep slope, his brethren ready to meet him.Catti-brie's silver bow shot a deadly stream of arrows into the rushing attackers. Hearing the explosions from time to time among the charging orc crowd, Togg laughed, knowing that it was Ivan Stone. Shoulder and his hand crossbow masterpiece. Even when he was sure of Banneker and the others, Torgg bit his lower lip, regretting that half the dwarves of Mirabar could not be with them. "They need us here." Singers reminded Torger, patting him on the shoulder hard. "We are here to serve King Bruno." "Guard a tunnel that cannot be attacked." Togg muttered. Before he could finish his sentence, the echo in the tunnel sounded behind him and Singers. "Orcs!" cried someone, "there are orcs in the tunnel!" Singers and Togg's eyes widened, they looked at each other, and then broke out in a battle roar. "Orcs!" they growled. "Orcs!" shouted Singers again, calling to the nearby dwarves, especially those farther from the mouth of the cave. "Take up your axes! There's work to be done, guys!" The dwarves of Mirabar rushed to the battle positions that had been set up; they heard the sound of metal clashing and shouts of killing, and realized that the battle had begun. Togg yelled as he walked, though he knew he didn't have to command the trained warriors.The dwarves of Mirabar knew their place. They had been familiar with every passage, every corner, and every room in the passage these days.They know where to deploy their defenses. But Torgg shouted anyway, reminding them that this was a fight for the glory of Bruenor's hammer and Mithril Hall, their new king and their new home. Togg's defensive line is very purposeful, and every arrangement can make him and Singers quickly join the battle. They rushed down a passage downhill to an oval room just below the room where they had first discovered the orcs, and there were twelve dwarves of Mirabar guarding it. Togg didn't slow down, and jumped straight into the orc team. The two orcs around him were cut down in an instant. Then he stopped slightly, stood firm, and swept out the ax in his hand.Singers also jumped down and landed among the orcs rushing in. With reinforcements the Dwarves grew more ferocious, and they hacked a way through the Orcs, trying to connect Torg with them.Immediately the odds turned in the Dwarves' favour, and the Orcs kept falling and trying to escape, only to be overrun by their fellows rushing in from the tunnels, and there was chaos. "After killing enough, they will naturally retreat!" Togg shouted.Naturally, this is the essence of fighting the orcs. A few minutes later, the ground was already splashed with orc blood, the invaders retreated steadily, and the dwarves pushed forward to the entrance. Togg was among them, and the dwarves formed a circular arc with the opening closed very small, so that the moment the orc rushed in, many weapons would be concentrated.Amazingly, the orcs were still charging in, one after the other, stumbling over the corpses of their fallen companions.Five orcs fell, and every dwarf was wounded. "These fools are much more stubborn," Singers shouted beside Togg. He said, knocking down an orc with a hammer. "Too tenacious," Togg whispered. He didn't want other people to hear his words.To his disbelief, the orcs were still pushing in through the tunnel, each hacked to the ground before they stepped into the room, but they kept coming. The echoes of the shouts of killing from other tunnels came in, and Togg realized that the battle was not only so difficult here, and every front was under tremendous pressure. As time passed by, more orcs rushed in, and more orcs fell down. Togg looked back behind the line, where a messenger dwarf was waiting for him. "Position number two!" he called to the young dwarf, who ran away, delivering his orders along the way. "Listen to him!" Singers called to the other dwarves. "Tighten the formation!" He ran behind a boulder at the entrance of the tunnel and pressed his back against it. "Listen to you!" shouted Singers. Torgg slammed the ax into the nearest orc, then pulled it out with the other hand, and slashed at another running for his life.Behind him, the dwarf frantically cleared the rest of the orcs from the room. When he felt that the door was temporarily safe, Togg shouted: "Action!" Singers pushed the stone away hard, and it rolled towards the entrance, and Togg stepped back and hid aside. "Go! go!" cried Singers. The dwarves rushed south with their wounded and dead comrades on their backs. By the time they reached the next exit, the orcs had cleared the barricade, and several spears came flying, one of which struck Singers. "Ah! God damn it!" he cried, grabbing the shaft of the spear and pulling it out of his right hip. Togg had already carried an unconscious companion on his back, but he still reached out and grabbed his best friend and pulled him aside.They rushed out of the room and into the tunnel, where a series of rockfall devices were set up to slow down the pursuers.They walked through the tunnel with ease, and the dwarves' defense line was organized again.They've been in the tunnels for days, long enough for any dwarf to turn it into a heavily fortified position. Togg was soon back in the fray; once again the limping Singers was at his side, swinging his hammer ferociously. They stood with a few dwarves in a sloping room full of stalagmites, with their backs to the slope.Every step the orcs made in this vast room cost dearly.The dwarves fought valiantly, and the blood of the orcs covered the ground again, and the corpses piled up layer by layer. But these tenacious creatures are still charging upwards. "These bloody idiots." Singers cursed again. Torgue didn't respond to his friends, and they began to understand that the orcs were here to take the tunnels, and they wanted nothing to do.When a group of dwarves unexpectedly pushed in from the west passage, they realized that this time they were in big trouble. "Giant!" they yelled before Togg could ask why he had abandoned the line. "Giant is in the tunnel!" "Giant?" Singers repeated. "The giant is too tall." The dwarves began to move closer to Togg, killing orcs who stood among them as they went. "Giant!" insisted one, as they reached their leader. Torgue didn't ask him, but looked over his shoulder, and the figure of a giant, or rather a giantess, confirmed his words.Her body filled the entire space, and she was walking towards the west entrance. "Kill her!" Torgg ordered, eager to announce his discovery to the dwarves. The dwarves sped past him, past their newcomers, their hammers raised, ignoring their warnings. Twelve warhammers spun and flew over, each one seemed to be able to focus on the target accurately, but without exception, they changed direction in front of the light blue-skinned creature. "Magic?" Torgue said softly. She seemed to hear his words, but also seemed to be laughing at him. An evil smile broke out on the face of the giantess, and she began to wag her fingers. Torgue's companions charged. A sudden blizzard filled the room, the ground became slick, their feet slipped, and they couldn't see clearly. "Packed formation!" Torgg's roar changed to that of the magic blizzard. A bright flame fell from the sky and fell among the dwarves, and the three dwarves who were close together were burned to death. "Get out!" Shouted Singers. "No!" growled Torgg, his eyes burning with rage as bright as the giantess's magical flames, and the exile of Mirabar strode toward the kneeling behemoth. She looked at him, eyes full of hatred, and began to cast the next spell. Togg raised his battle ax and ran, his roar overcoming all the noise.He ignored the storm, ignored the fear, ignored all magic, jumped in the air, and rushed towards the giant. A burst of severe pain struck, as if a hand had grabbed near his heart, causing his whole body to freeze in the air. He tried to cut the ax down, but the arm would not obey him, and he could not relieve the great pain in his body, the pain of the magic grip. Torgue tried to move towards the giantess with all his strength, but couldn't move, and then he was ejected.For a moment, he tried to maintain his balance, but his legs didn't work either.Togg stumbled back a few steps, and gave the giantess a strange and unbelievable look. Then slowly fell down. Behind him the dwarves rushed forward, calling their chief by name, bending their way through the blizzard.Gerty wisely left after using his most powerful spells, leaving the situation to a group of orcs behind him. He didn't seem to feel the pain from the wound on his buttocks, and he didn't feel that the blood was constantly flowing out.Singers struggled to get to Togger's side, slapped Togger's face hard, and shouted at him to wake him up. Togg panted heavily, and looked at his friend with difficulty. "I'm hurt," he said softly. "By Moradin, she broke my heart." "Well, but your heart is harder than a rock." Singers growled at him. "Stop talking." He picked up Togg on his back and walked the other way.Step by step, carefully cross the icy slope. They passed through that room, and through many passages, and the battle continued, the dwarves of Mirabar fighting for every inch of land. But the orcs are too tenacious. They are willing to pay a price of ten to one to defeat the enemy. Relying on the advantage of numbers, they are advancing room by room and passage by passage. Not far from the southern exit, Singers rallied the remaining Guardians. "Dig the fortifications and prepare to fight for Mithril Hall! They regard us as brothers, we must not lose face to the Warhammer clan!" There was a burst of cheers, but the sound was not loud.A third of the dwarves had fallen, including Torg, their leader and spirit. But the dwarves obeyed Singers' orders without a murmur.On the last stand of the tunnels, at the end of the maze of tunnels, they were well prepared, and if the orcs were to drive them to the exit near Guardian's Gulch, it would cost them hundreds of men. The dwarves dug and waited. They distributed light weapons to their immobile companions and waited patiently. They bandaged their grievous wounds, clutched their weapons in their wounded hands, and waited. They kissed death goodbye and still waited. But the orcs who had occupied three-quarters of the ridge did not rush in again. "This is their most tenacious performance." Banneker observed the orcs and goblins charging for the last time. For an hour, they kept coming up and fighting, and this battle alone left more bodies than all the previous battles combined.The defense line of the dwarves is still strong, they stick to their positions, and not a single orc rushed over. But they're still coming. "Stubborn? Or stupid?" Tred asked. "Stupid," replied Pike Stoneshoulders. His brother laughed: "Ho ho ho ho." Pike's laughter suddenly stopped, and Banneker's expression also froze. They noticed that there was movement on the defense line of Torg in the west. A group of wounded dwarves were carrying their dead compatriots out of the tunnel. "Moradin," murmured Banneker.He realized that the battle on the hillside was nothing compared to Togg's side, more like a feint to attract fire. Banneker narrowed his eyes, and the muscles on his face twitched involuntarily. Wounded and dead dwarves were constantly being carried out from the south entrance of the tunnel. Those dwarves came to Mithril Hall from their safe homes in Mirabar, and they didn't wait to enjoy The first ray of sunlight to Mithril Hall gave its life. "The retreat was orderly," said Ivan Stoneshoulders. "They didn't retreat, they just retreated, I suppose." "Go to Torgue," Banneker ordered, "or whoever is leading their retreat, and see if they need assistance." Pike agreed with "oh oh", and rushed out with Ivan. Tred nodded to Banneker and followed Stoneshoulders. The other two quickly came before the dwarf commander, their tensed faces covered with orc blood. "What's the matter?" Catti-brie asked. "They died a lot in the tunnels, but what are those tunnels worth? They don't lead to Mithril Hall." "But they don't know," Banneker said. Catti-brie didn't think so, and there were other reasons, she believed.When she saw the look on Wulfgar's face, she knew he was thinking the same thing. "Go," Wulfgar said. "I sent Stoneshoulders and Tred over there," Banneker told them. "Not to Torg." Wulfgar shook his head. "Those tunnels are of no value to our enemies." he added, gesticulating the entire hillside with a wave of his arms. Banneker nodded in agreement, but he didn't say what he was most worried about. It was becoming more and more obvious that he knew, and others knew, why they made such great efforts to capture the tunnel. giant. Wulfgar and Catti-brie left, soon after the three dwarves. "Let's go to the top of the hill," Catti-brie explained. "Then take my brother!" Ivan shouted. "He's more useful on the outside than on the inside." "Er bro," Pike called, moving away from the dwarves to join the other side. No one said anything, they all knew the important role of this dwarf "bargain". Catti-brie and Wulfgar continued on, and soon they came down the hill and began to climb, until they came near the mouth of the tunnel through which the wounded had been evacuated. "We're still guarding!" said a dwarf who was seriously injured but still able to walk. "I never doubted you could do it!" Catti-brie called to him, her dwarf voice on full display, and in response the dwarf raised his fist and waved it in the air, the motion causing him a sharp pain , but he tried hard not to show it. Wulfgar scrambled up the steep slope, his strength and size allowing him to leap over the short ruined wall with ease.At every difficult place he would stop, turn around and give Katti-brie a hand.They were all a little worried about Pike, even Wulfgar couldn't reach him when he was lying on the rock.Pike smiled and waved him back, began to say some incantations, then stopped, staring at the hillside and laughing. The dwarf with the green beard reached out and clasped the softening stone, shaping it into the shape of a step, and then came to them smiling again, beckoning them to go on. The road at the top of the ridge is rough but barely passable.The mountain wind howled and blew on their faces. They came to the lee of a jutting rock and found the first frost giant climbing up the ridge.Catti-brie raised the Taumari to shoot, but Pike grabbed the bow and shook his head, waving his fingers in front of her eyes to signal her to look the other way. More giants are coming. "An arrow," Wulfgar said softly, gripping Aegis-fang tightly. "Shoot and run." "Ready," Catti-brie assured him, and she motioned for Pike to release his bow, and Pike stepped aside. Screaming, he sprang out from behind the rocks, and ran south, only to be chased by the nearest giant, howling. An arrow pierced the giant's chest and exited his back, and a spinning hammer came flying and smashed in the same spot.The giant staggered and fell. Wulfgar and Catti-brie heard him growl but didn't look at him, and they were already running, quickly catching Pike.Wulfgar reached out and lifted the dwarf up, and galloped on. Jumping from rock to rock and landing on the platform, the catapult grazed their heads as they fell. Not far from the entrance of the tunnel they encountered Ivan and Tred again, and Singers and a very weak Togg. "Magic," Singers explained to them. "The giant witch let it go, almost hitting his heart." After speaking, he lightly tapped Togg's shoulder. "Hurt." Togg's voice was extremely weak. "Seriously injured." "Ah, you can't get over a witch's tricks," Singers assured his friend.He patted Togg again, but Togg held up a hand to stop him. "The giant is up there," Wulfgar explained to the dwarves. "If they're going to come down, we're going to have to go deeper." "They won't come down," said Catti-brie. "They just want to occupy the high ground, and now they have." "The orcs won't come either," Singers said. "We've collapsed the tunnel a few times and they can't reach us now." "They've got what they want," Catti-brie replied. She looked at the south exit of the tunnel, where it was quiet again, the stone throwing had stopped.After a while, Wulfgar and the others began to look there too, as the setting sun cast long shadows on them, quietly covering the area. Catti-brie looked toward the main body of the dwarves, far to the east. "The Giant's sling doesn't get there," she said, and looked at the ridge again. Wulfgar stood up quickly, Catti-brie close behind.They came to the top of the ridge, and even under the cover of night, they quickly made out the movement of the intruders.The giants were bringing many parts up the western slopes, and the rest were assembling them into siege engines.Catti-brie visually checked the position of the dwarves' line of defense, which was within reach of the giants. But what about the ballistas of the giants? This one Catti-brie really understood how dangerous their situation was.Many orcs died, and they bought control of the battlefield at the cost of hundreds of people.The solidarity they displayed now surpassed anything Catti-brie had ever known of the evil pig-faced creature. "Bruenor always said the orcs and goblins didn't rule the North because they didn't understand unity," Catti-brie whispered to Wulfgar. "So Bruenor is now dead, or dying," Wulfgar replied. His distressed tone suggested that he was making the same calculation. They are in trouble.