Chapter 18 Chapter 15 Tactical Disadvantages

Catti-brie hid behind a boulder; the sling shrieked past her, hit the ground, bounced a few times, and fell into Guardian's Gulch.She didn't pay attention to see where the stone fell, because the two surviving orcs of the three following were rushing towards her hiding place. She had already shot one of them down with the taumari, but that also attracted the attention of the giants on the western ridge. The boulders they threw could not reach the dwarves' positions, so they replaced the boulders with flakes of stone. These thin, sharp flakes whirled through the air, and most of them changed direction in flight, flying far away. They went to other places, but many of them were very close to the positions, too close to be ignored.

Another arrow hit the bowstring, and Catti-brie leaned in.The leading orc stepped into the boulder, holding his club aloft, baring his teeth. The arrow hit him in the right chest, lifting the orc from the ground, flying backward a dozen feet, and crashing into a rock. At the same time, Catti-brie was already holding the other end of the bow, swinging it to fend off another orc's attack. The tip of the bow struck the orc under the jaw, and Catti-brie turned around to continue the blow, her bow hand thrust upward. Standing on tiptoe, the orc grabbed the bow with both hands and pushed it aside.

But Catti-brie's reaction was faster, she pressed her back against the rock, and twisted her bow hard to thrust forward. The orc had to repeat the same action, turning his bow-holding hands over.But unfortunately he was standing on the edge of Guardian's Gulch, and when he realized that his foot was going to be empty, he held on to the bow tightly, which was exactly what Catti-brie wanted.When she saw that Tao Mari had protruded out of the cliff, she made a grimace, didn't think about the loss, but quickly pulled out Kajid, and stabbed forward threateningly. The ugly orc smiled maliciously at her.First he pretended to go to the right, luring Catti-brie to chop right; then he twisted quickly to the left.Catti-brie swung the sword to the left, and the orc straightened again, as if climbing a stone wall.

But Catti-brie didn't want to play anymore.She thrust the sword straight out, the sharp blade cutting through the rock and into the orc's chest, which was pressed against it. The orc's bloodshot eyes stared curiously over the hewn rock. "You almost fooled me," Catti-brie said with a wink. Another orc rushed towards her without warning, from a long distance and very fast. No, not jumping over.She saw the orc roaring past her, roaring down the valley. Catti-brie knew Wulfgar was coming. "Ready?" he said. "We're going to fight again." Catti-brie helplessly raised her free hand to him, looking out over the cliff, but she soon realized that Wulfgar was not looking in the same direction, but had his eyes set on the battlefield.Catti-brie shrugged, turned, jumped to the top of the boulder, and kept pace with the barbarian friend.

They charged into the nearest group of orcs side by side, Aegis-fang sweeping back and forth at nearby enemies. Catti-brie assisted him.An orc approached her with a shield up, a defense that was useless in the presence of Kajid.The blade pierced through the wooden shield, through the arm the orc held up, and into Shouren's chest. Catti-brie swung it to fend off the second orc's attack.The sharp blade lived up to its nickname of the Cutter, easily slashed out from the body of the first victim, easily passed through the bones, flesh and blood, and then slashed at the second orc.The first cut sliced ​​his spear in two, and Catti-brie's two consecutive thrusts opened two holes in the orc's chest.The orc backed away, trying to get back among his companions, but Aegis-fang hit him in the back and sent him flying.

She hung the Cutter back on her waist, and there was a burst of pleasure from the blade. "It's really good to eat tonight." A realization appeared in her mind. Although the words are hard to feel, the feeling of bloodlust is there.Before she could react, before she realized the sword had awakened and found its way into her consciousness again, she charged up, past Wulfgar, and among the remaining orcs. Brutality takes the place of strategy, and the Cleaver slashes at everything that moves around him.She swung to the left, cut off a shield in front of her and an arm behind her, quickly retracted her sword, and stabbed forward again, forcing the two orcs in front to back again and again, and cut off the stab of an orc on the right spear tip.Catti-brie adjusted her pace and rushed to the right, piercing holes in the howling orc.

Realizing her lone army was deep, she turned to face the two remaining orcs.Something flew over, and she ducked aside. One of the two orcs disappeared. Aegis-fang, she realized. He stole our fun!Katzhe reminded, forcing her to charge towards the last orc. The orc threw the sword over in horror, turned and ran away, the sword hit her impartially, but she didn't slow down, the orc retreated between the two companions, she still didn't slow down, and rushed up, stabbing again. Another cut. She was hit, but she felt no pain, only retaliation; the orc's weapons were vulnerable to her.

"Wait!" A voice sounded behind her. It was Wulfgar who was shouting.But this voice sounded distant and ethereal, not as real as the hunger in her consciousness, nor as deep as the anger burning in her blood. Another orc fell before him, and she started attacking the other, trying to get behind him.But the blow was too hard, and the blade passed through the orc's arm, severing his upper limb, and jabbed deep into its body, cutting almost half its torso; there the sword jammed.Catti-brie lost her balance, and the fallen orc brought the sword out of her hand.She grasped the sword and pulled it away desperately, knowing that it must be drawn out.

A creature walks past her. "Hey! You're taking the fun away!" the creature yelled at her. Catti-brie stopped drawing the sword, and that's when she realized she was nearing the end of the dwarves' line. She smiled apologetically at the dwarf, trying her best to keep her mind from being controlled by the sword, otherwise the dwarf might die under Katzhe. Stimulated by this thought, she silently held the hilt of the sword, stepped on the orc corpse with one foot, and tried to pull it out again, but a big hand patted her shoulder, stopping her. "Relax," Wulfgar said. "We are together, shoulder to shoulder."

Catti-brie let go of her sword hilt, put her foot down, and took a deep breath. "The sword is hungry," she explained. Wulfgar smiled and nodded. "Rage and hunger are the only things it feels." Catti-brie looked back at the bloody path she had made, at the orc corpses all over the ground, and at herself, head to toe was splattered with orc blood. No, not just orcs.Only then did she feel the piercing pain. The flying sword drew a long wound on her left arm, a wound on her right buttock, and a spear pierced her right foot. "You need a priest," Wulfgar said.

Catti-brie gritted her teeth and endured the pain.She shook Kakid to pull it out, and a gust of blood spurted from the orc's wound and splashed all over her. "One more bath," Wulfgar said, half humorous, half pathos. Banneker Braunenwell put two stubby fingers in his mouth and blew a sharp whistle.The orcs fell back again, and the dwarves were in pursuit, forming their usual formation.But this time the orc turned; from his vantage point he saw that the orcs were moving west. Banneker whistled again and again, ordering the commanders around him to gather the dwarves.All the dwarves, whether officers or soldiers, were aware of the urgency of the matter before the order was issued to the scattered troops.Their bloodlust took them too far to the northwest, too close to the ridge where the giants stood.The pursuing army stopped, and at the same time, the giants rained stones. The dwarves retreated, the orcs fought back, and the hunter became the hunted. "These pigs are smart," Banneker cursed. "With the giants on the ridge, they have a big advantage," said Togue, who was standing next to Banneker. This advantage can become a disaster for the dwarves.The orcs pursued them, and the giants threw stones at their aid on the hills, almost cutting deep into the dwarves' defenses. The two dwarf commanders held their breath, praying that the dwarves would get out of the effective range of the giants and reorganize their defenses against the orcs.Banneker and Togg calculated the distance and called to their respective commanders to tell the remaining dwarves to return to their positions to meet their companions. The situation quickly changed.Some of the retreating dwarves suddenly broke away from the main force, turned around and rushed towards the orcs. "It must be Pant and the others." Banneker whispered. Torgue saluted the Ripper squad with a hand on his helmet. Pante and his legion rushed towards the orcs desperately, and the pursuit line quickly collapsed. The giants began to focus on that area, throwing stones and attacking concentratedly, but the number of orcs there was much more than that of the dwarves, almost five to one, and this ratio continued to decline as the giants continued to bombard them. The dwarves fled back and re-entered their defenses unknown, all eyes on the ongoing battle, on the Ripper squad.There were less than half of them left, and they had turned back down the hillside at this time, running a zigzag route to avoid the stone throwing. But the throwing was so dense that the dwarves let out a sigh each time Panter's men fell.One figure caught the eyes of all the dwarves, and it was Panter himself, rushing up the hill alone, with two wounded companions on his shoulders. Cheers went up, "Pant! Pant! Pant!" He fell far behind and became the target of the giants, and the stones continued to fall around him.But still he charged forward, growling at every step, determined to bring back his two wounded companions. A stone fell behind him, rebounded and hit him in the back, sending him flying forward.The two wounded dwarves rolled off his shoulders, and all three hit the ground hard. Above them, the cheering ceased and there was silence. Panter struggled to his feet. Another sling hit him, and he fell face down. Two figures rushed out from the line of the dwarves, striding towards the three dwarves. Surprisingly, Panter stood up again, turned to face the giant, and raised one hand, resting his elbow on the other, so that he could raise his fist high and do it to the giant. Made the rudest gesture he could think of. Another stone hit the rock in front of him to the right, bounced high, and hit the back over the top of his head. Panter stood still, gesticulating the giant with the most venomous curses. Catti-brie wished she had brought the bow, at least to delay the orc charge. Wulf joined her, and Aegis-fang remained in position. "To Panter's side!" cried the Savage, turning and running towards the other two badly wounded dwarves. Catti-brie rushed to the stubborn Battlecry and grabbed his still-raised hand. "Go away, you fool," she called. "They'll hit you!" "Bah! Those stupid big guys are not so smart!" Panter roared. He withdrew his hand from Catti-brie and pulled the corners of his mouth with two fingers, grimacing at the giants in the distance. But he became serious almost immediately.Not because of Catti-brie's constant pleas, but because he saw Wulfgar running past him with an unconscious dwarf on his shoulders.Panter saw him approach another Ripper member and picked him up easily, Catti-brie grabbed him again, Panter didn't struggle.Katie pulled him to run up the hillside, throwing stones densely, but luckily none of them gathered the three of them and the two unconscious dwarves. Wulfgar was not slowed in the slightest by the two dwarves on his shoulders.Soon they were out of stone-throwing range, and the dismayed giants began throwing flakes again; sharp flakes with pointed horns flew all over the sky. When they came back the Dwarves cheered, and a hundred or so raised their arms and made various rude gestures at the Giants, expressing their contempt for the flying flakes of stone. "Get the bandages ready," Banneker said to Pike Stoneshoulders.The latter is jumping around excitedly. "Oh, oh," cried the dwarf, saluting Banneker with one hand. A flake of stone came flying and snapped off Pike's arm at the elbow; the green-bearded dwarf looked at it puzzled, stumbled forward, and shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn't figured it out yet. His eyes widened when he saw his own arm, a severed hand?by his side? His brother Ivan Stoneshoulders appeared beside him, tore a piece from the cloak and bound it tightly around his bleeding wound, and the dwarves nearby shouted to help. Pike sat down with the help of his brother. "Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo," he said.