Chapter 25 Chapter 24 Wolves

Hamadin's hand caressed Taimeresa's tangled flanks, and gently touched the blood-stained white flesh next to the trident's wound.The steed barely responded, neighing once or twice. "Can you do to Temeresa what you did to me?" Tinteg asked Cadderly. Going to get his cane back, the young scholar shrugged helplessly, as he still didn't know what he had done to Tintag. "You have to try," Aberez begged him.Seeing the genuine sadness on his friend's face, Cadderly really wanted to say that he could heal the horse's wounds. He didn't even get a chance to do that, however, because Temeresa let out a final neigh and then lay still.With tears in his eyes, Hamaddin began to sing a soft song in a language the three companions did not understand.

Cadderly's vision began to blur, and the surrounding forest took on a supernatural silhouette, a surreal contrast too sharp to be real.He blinked several times, and more as he looked at Temeresa, as he saw the horse's spirit suddenly rise and separate from its physical body. Hamadin whispered a few words quickly into the horse's ear, and she walked slowly away with the spirit, disappearing into the woods. Cadderly nearly tripped when his vision shifted back to the real world.The young scholar didn't know how to apologize to Aberes, and didn't know what to say to him.The elf was now a king, and his father and his horse died at their feet.

Tinteg started to say some comforting words, but Aberes couldn't hear a word.The proud elf looked to his father, then to Temeresa, then picked up the bloody sword, turned and ran away.Cadderly supported the wounded wizard, hoping to catch up with him. The two orcs were the first unlucky monsters to block the way of Abereth.The elf's sword swung in fury, smashing through the monsters' helpless resistance, and killing both Cadderly and Tintag before they could join him. In this manner they continued through the forest.Albereth took the lead, his sword furious, cutting his way through the hordes of monsters in the woods.

※※※ "The trees are fighting on the Ridge of Darnay," an elf told Sheryn. "A large group of enemies has occupied the high ground." "Then we'll take back the high ground." Xuelin replied firmly.She and the elf looked around, counting how many companions there were.Including the dwarf brothers and Danica, there were twenty-three of them.Although the other elf had reservations, Xuelin had great confidence in these non-elven companions, so she just smiled and started heading south. Twenty minutes later they finally saw the mountains.A dozen elves - including a magician - join them on the way.The elves were relieved to see some sort of organized group emerge from the chaos.

Looking at the mountain from the woods across a small grassy clearing, Danica felt that the defiant name of Ridge de Nai was well-deserved.Seen from this side, the ground slopes up a hundred feet to a steep point, then thirty feet up is a vertical rock wall, and then there is a slope of about a hundred feet with thick grass, Just reached the top of the ridge.According to Xuelin, the other side of the mountain, where the goblins are fighting the remaining awakened trees, is more defensive. The whole area is rocky, almost sloping all the way to the bottom. The party could now hear the sound of fighting, and judging from the sound, the trees were struggling.Goblins occupy the top of the ridge, using flaming torches as their primary weapons.Among the enemy ranks were a few archers, who eagerly tied rags to their arrows, lit them with torches, and shot at the attacking trees.

"We have to get up there, and fast," Xuelin said, pointing to the left, where another troop of monsters was heading to join their companions on the ridge. "If the enemy gets the hill, more of their kind will come to join them. The enemy will get an impregnable base from which to start their conquest." "There are two or three hundred monsters there now," Ivan replied. "Maybe it's going to take a bit of work to get up, but still..." the dwarf said to himself, and he walked over to his brother. "Have you any plans in mind?" Xuelin asked Danica and an elf beside her.Danica looked at the dwarf brothers, who were engaged in a private discussion, pointing here and there.Ivan was the one who did the main talking, while Pikel either nodded eagerly or decisively, interjecting an occasional "ooh" or "ooh."

"If there's a plan that works, they'll figure it out," Danica explained to the bewildered elf. After a while, Ivan stomped over and announced that he and Pikel had just come up with a plan. "Get us under to the right," he said, "and it'll take a lot of rope." Ivan wetted a finger with his spit and held it up.Pikel pointed behind them, and Ivan nodded in agreement: the wind was blowing just right. Xuelin and Danica had no idea what they were doing, but were willing to cooperate with the only plan.Under the order of the elf girl, the whole team of elves moved quietly among the trees, and came to the lower right side indicated by Yiwen.They managed to get five long ropes, which Ivan said was long enough for the mission.

"Call some of your buddies to guard the woods behind." Ivan instructed, "If we get caught by some running goblins before we reach the top of the mountain, it's game over. But, you Go with some archers, and the magician, and get ready to shoot for the top of the ridge. My brother and I will get to the rocks easily. When we get there, we'll need your help." "What are we going to do?" Xuelin asked hesitantly, because the other elves were a little worried about the dwarf leading the operation. "You'll know when the time comes." Yiwen deliberately put on a trick. "Ready?"

Pikel picked up the coiled rope and slung it over his shoulder, with a small mallet in his mouth, and returned an eager "Ooh!" Ivan produced a similar mallet from one of the many small pouches on his belt, along with several iron spikes.He nodded, and the brothers started running, up the first grassy slope to the rocky ground.Xuelin, Danica, the elf magician, and six archers stood in the woods, while the sides and rear were protected by other members of the elf army.There were murmurs among the ranks, mostly admiration for the brave - though stupid - dwarves. Ivan and Pikel climbed up the rock wall carefully, and the monsters at the top of the ridge had obviously not noticed them.

Just below the edge of the cliff the Dwarf's mallet began to rattle, hammering nails into the rock to which five long ropes hung down. "Should we rush over and climb the rope?" Xuelin asked Danica, wondering if it was time to act.She didn't think it was a good plan, because even if the elves could climb the rock, they would still be exposed to open space, separated from the enemy by a slope of a hundred feet. Danica raised a hand to calm Xuelin, "Ivan and Pikel's preparations are not over yet." She said with some firmness, although she herself didn't quite know what the brothers were thinking. plan.

Danica's guess was quickly proven correct, because Ivan and Pikel were far from the end.Pikel swung first over the rocks to a higher grassy slope.The goblins spotted him immediately and cheered together.Pikel ducked behind a boulder, but was too late to dodge the first arrow. "Oh!" The dwarf wrinkled his face, and pulled an arrow from his butt - not a serious injury.Pikel glanced back toward the woods, then back to peer up the slope.The first elf arrow hit the archer who had attacked him, sending the goblin flying back over the ridge.So, despite the pain in his hip, Pikel smiled. Yiwen then came to the top of the rock wall.Using all the strength of his lungs, he yelled in Goblin, "Army of dwarves, go!" Pikel ignored his wounds and rushed alongside his brother. "What are they doing?" Xuelin asked, "and why are they yelling in Goblin that they want to attack?" Danica seemed equally stunned for a moment, until she noticed the goblins' reaction.It seemed that all the monsters at the top of the ridge fell into a state of madness, and many rushed towards Ivan and Pikel immediately, and threw the torches in their hands. "Speaking of dwarves," Danica said over the clatter of bows and arrows, and the elves began to charge at the suddenly revealed targets. "If there is anything in the world that goblins hate the most, or what they fear the most, are dwarves." "Oh, good strategy!" cried the elf magician, and he stepped out of the woods and came within shooting range, and a volley of magical lightning shot from his fingertips, knocking the two closest goblins Knocked down. Ivan and Pikel did not stay long in the battle.As the torches danced all around them, they hurried back to the rock, grabbed two of the ropes they were hanging from, and slid under the rock platform. The goblins' glee at winning—for it seemed to them that only two evil dwarves were really showing their ugly faces—only lasted until the foolish creatures finally discovered that the torches they themselves had ignited The fire was lit, and it was burning back up the hillside in no time! Hearing the startled screams from above, Ivan yelled, "Follow the fire!" and he quickly joined Pikel as they headed back up to the edge of the rock ledge. "Goblins have lived for hundreds of years, but they haven't learned what it means to be impatient!" "Hee hee," came Pikel's reply. With incredible agility and speed, Danica and the main members of the elf army climbed the hanging rope to the top of the rock face.And Xuelin, her archers, and the elf magician stayed behind and continued to attack from a distance. The flames burned towards the top of the ridge, cutting a path through the goblins.Monsters jostled against each other; many were pushed off the cliffs of the rear ridge to escape the fast-burning flames. The combustibles were quickly exhausted, and the fire died out as suddenly as it had begun, but the elves had already taken a place high on the ridge.Furious goblins charged at them from both sides, outnumbering the small group by ten to one, determined to regain lost ground. "Go forward!" Xuelin instructed, she knew that she and her fellow archers had to move forward a little bit before they could really help in this last stand.The little party of elves rushed across the first slope, grabbing the rope on the rock face. Ivan, Pikel, and Danica formed the main line of defense on the right, the shorter side of the ridge.The three worked in unison, smoothly connecting each other's attacks, inflicting great damage on the goblin army, and many elves were able to join their companions on the other side to face the main force of the enemy.However, the defense line formed by the elf army was still too thin, and every elf that fell formed a large gap in the defense line, allowing the enemy to pass through. Danica thought they would lose this battle, especially when Xuelin's team climbed up the rock wall, but immediately encountered another group of goblins, forcing them to engage in close combat, and fell into a bitter fight all at once, and Behind is the cliff. "Do you want to make an evacuation plan?" Danica asked Ivan. "I didn't say it would be easy," was all the dwarf replied, chopping down a goblin who was too close. Then a strange cloud, thick and green, came over the goblin army, just a few feet away from Danica and her dwarf brothers.The three companions couldn't see what was happening beneath the opaque layers of cloud, but they could hear the goblins gagging and choking.A wretched monster shambled out, too absorbed in clutching at its churning belly to notice the impending doom - Ivan and Pikel knocked it to the ground at the same time. Most of the goblins who managed to escape the cloud that made them nauseous ran out from behind the cloud, heading down the slope, in the opposite direction from the battlefield.There wasn't much room for them to run though, for there waited the sullen and overwhelming Abereth, his sword slashing at the stunned and weakened monsters. Then suddenly the magical cloud dissipated, leaving a dozen goblins helplessly exposed at the top of the ridge.Ivan and Pikel started running towards them, but an enraged Abereth was ahead of them, hacking and slicing along the way.Without saying hello, the unsmiling elf brushed past the dwarves, Danica, and the first elf army.He killed the intermittent elf defense line on the left, and rushed towards the overwhelming goblin army. No goblin's sword or spear seemed to be able to hurt him: he didn't even waver all the way.He had slain for a moment in rage, and the goblins were running in all directions, trying to escape his dreadful sword, and the elves who had gathered behind him. The ridge on the right was quickly swept away, so Ivan and Pikel led a few elves down to support Xuelin and the archers.Danica didn't join them because she saw someone, a friend she couldn't ignore. Cadderly and Tinteg were ready for a tough fight as those goblins who had escaped the mist and Abereth charged.Tintage said a quick incantation, and Cadderly stood there in amazement to see some images of himself and Tintage running out, making their actually just two look rather large.The goblins, who were already in a panic and lost their high ground, did not dare to approach this unexpected army at all, and all turned and ran towards the woods screaming. Then the goblins all disappeared, and Danica was with Cadderly.For both of them, if only for a moment, the world seemed to settle down again. On the entire Danai ridge, the battle became one-sided.With Abereth leading the attack, and Shaylin and her archers able to attack again, the elf and dwarf brothers routed the goblins and swept them out.Ivan and Pikel led an enemy party around the foot of the hill and delivered the stupid things to the four wrathful oaks waiting there. After just ten minutes, the war ended, and the owner of the Denai Ridge was Abeles. ※※※ "Give me six hours, a dozen elves - including your wounded magician - and move those trees to where I say, and I'll hold this place for a hundred years, and another hundred if need be That's fine too!" Ivan boasted.After the dwarf led everyone to attack the hill, none of the elves in the camp doubted his words. Abereth looked to Cadderly. "The trees will move where we ask them to," the young scholar replied confidently, though he wasn't quite sure how he knew this would happen. "It's up to you to decide how to defend the ridge," Aberes said to Ivan. "Our attacking force can use it as a base." "And you won't attack blindly," Cadderly said aloud, looking toward the nearest oak tree. "Yes, Hamadin?" The dryad came out after a while, wondering why the young scholar could see her.No human, or even an elf, should be able to see through her disguise. "You will guide the elves," Cadderly told her, "to find their enemies, and their lost friends." The dryad started to turn and go back into the tree, but Cadderly yelled, "Don't go!" so vehemently that Hamadin couldn't move. "You have to do this, Hamadin," Cadderly ordered, looking suddenly terrifying to all who watched the scene.Surprisingly, the dryad turned and nodded in agreement. Cadderly nodded too, and walked away.He needed to be alone for a while, trying to decipher what happened to him at every turn of the situation.How could he see the soul of that horse?Although he didn't ask, he knew intuitively that neither Aberis nor Tintage saw it.And how did he know that Hamadin was among these trees?Also, how the hell did Cadderly manage to order a feral dryad like that? He really didn't understand at all. All that night and the next day, Ivan and Pikel deployed the defenses of the Ridge of Darnay, while the elf squad--Ivan called them "wolves"--slid into Simista, Under Martin's guidance, he dealt heavy blows to the disorganized enemy army.More elves are found in the forest, or the elves find their way to a new camp on their own.Soon, Abereth's forces were systematically riddled with holes in the encircling monster hordes. Cadderly remained on the ridge, with Tintag and the other wounded, while Danica soon joined Shaylin in setting off to hunt the monster.The situation wasn't so bad that Cadderly had to work hard to find the healing power that he had used to save Tintager, and Cadderly thought it was a good thing because he didn't believe that healing power would flow through with the same intensity again. His whole body. He knew that something was happening around him, or in himself, but he didn't want to rely on this unknown existence, because he didn't know what it was. ※※※ The real test of Ivan's defenses came the next evening.A horde of more than two hundred monsters, ranging from skinny goblins to giants resembling a small hill, came to claim the high ground again.There were only about twenty elves on the ridge, Cadderly and dwarves, but two wizards were among them.After two hours of fierce fighting, more than half of the enemies were killed, while the rest were driven into the forest sporadically, becoming the best prey for the "wolves" prowling in the forest. During the battle, not a single elf was killed, and although two were scratched by the stones thrown by the giant, the whole battle did not reach the point of hand-to-hand combat.Before the enemy had even crossed the steep rock face halfway up the mountain, they were overwhelmed by traps set by the dwarves, volleys of arrows, magical attacks, and four towering oak trees. According to Yiwen's estimate, the most difficult part of the whole war was to clean up the corpses of many goblins after the end. "I forgot about him," Ivan said to Cadderly, pointing beyond the woods that darkened as night fell.Three elves, with a companion Cadderly had forgotten his existence in the chaos of battle, emerged from the woods. Zirkan Rufo was leaning heavily on one elf, and, even with a cane, needed the support of another elf.The lean man's leg wasn't broken, as he had feared, but it was so badly bruised and sprained that he couldn't support his weight.Instructing his escorts to take him to Cadderly, he struggled for a few minutes to negotiate the natural obstruction of the ridge, and finally Rufo fell with a thump on the grass next to Ivan and the young scholar. "You guys are so loyal," said the thin man in a bad mood. "Hey, you climbed all the way to the top of a tall tree trying to escape the fight," Ivan retorted, more amused than angry. "You're on top of a mountain!" Rufo protested. "'Dodgetop' would be a more appropriate term," Ivan replied. "Hee hee hee." Rufo didn't have to look back to know that the laughter was coming from Pikel, who was walking behind him. "Can't you at least give me something to eat?" Rufo snarled at Cadderly. "I was under a fallen oak tree all day yesterday, miserable and hungry!" "Hee hee hee." A distant answer came. ※※※ Danica and Xuelin came back not long after, and they found that Rufo was not very happy to be back in the camp.The lean man struggled to his feet next to Danica with defiance. "Another person who was supposed to be my friend," he said angrily. "Where was Danica Maupassante when poor Rufo was in need? What kind of ally is that, I ask? Individuals don’t care about other people’s life or death!” Danica's eyes fell on Cadderly first, then Ivan and Pikel, and the thin man continued to chatter. "It's all your fault!" Rufo was so angry that his anger was getting hotter and hotter.Danica clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "Everything—" After saying these words, Rufo suddenly fell to the ground and passed out. Danica shrugged, but it wasn't that she was sorry for the punch, she just admitted that she might have punched Rufo impulsively.She expected Cadderly to scold her, but the young scholar couldn't because he didn't want to fight the tide of approval around her. ※※※ When the friends went to see Aberez later that day, they found that he was smiling more than they had seen in many days combined. "There is good news," the elf explained. "Among my people, seventy more are found alive, and the number should increase, because there are almost twenty elves that have not yet been found, and Hama Ding told us that there was a battle in the east. The road to the east through the Snowflake Mountains is clear again, because a small group of priests has come from the library of Mengzhi. Under the guidance of the dryad, a hunting party of ours has joined They are on their way to the Danai Ridge." "The number of enemies still far exceeds us." Xuelin interjected, "but the enemies are disorganized and chaotic. In addition, Ragno and Dorigen are both dead..." Cadderly suddenly let out a strange noise from his throat, which made her stop, and everyone turned to look at the young scholar. "Dorigen is not dead," he admitted.All eyes on him turned to disappointment, but the accusation that hurt him the most, by far, was Danica's sharp tone. "You didn't finish her?" the young woman cried. "She's lying at your feet, defenseless!" "I have no idea." "I'm screwed!" Rufo cried. "Dorrigen will screw us, screw me! You idiot!" he yelled at Cadderly. "Do you want to sleep again?" Ivan asked him, and Rufo knew from Danica's scowling that he'd better keep his mouth shut if he was smart. In this conflict, though, Rufo has an ally. "Stupid!" roared Abereth. "Why?" he demanded Cadderly. "Why did you let the magician escape?" Cadderly couldn't defend himself, because he knew that his sympathy could not be understood by the newly appointed Elf King.But he was also really amazed at how Aberes had forgotten so quickly what he had done in the battle, at the Hildritch Trees, at Ragnol, and at the rescue of Tinteg. "Dorigen can't use magic anymore," Cadderly said weakly. "She's badly injured, and all the magic materials have been taken." Cadderly subconsciously put a hand in his pocket, feeling that he never The ring that Dorigen brought from her hand.He considered giving them and Dorigen's wand to Tinteg to see if they would be of any use in battle, but he dismissed the idea and decided to examine the dangerous ones himself when he had time. thing. Cadderly's words did nothing to assuage Abereth's anger. "Her presence will unite the enemy!" the elf growled, "that alone is enough to destroy Simista!" Aberes shook his head and walked away, Xuelin followed him .The others dispersed, too, Pikel looked sad, and Cadderly and Danica were left alone by the campfire. "Mercy," Cadderly said, looking at his favorite, gazing into her brown eyes and not letting her duck. "Mercy," he whispered again, "is it making me weak?" Danica thought about this question for a long time. "I don't know," she replied honestly. They stood there silently, looking at the fire and the stars for a long time.Cadderly slipped his hand into Danica's, and she accepted, though hesitantly. "I'll stay in the forest," she said finally, letting go of Cadderly's hand.Cadderly looked at her, but she didn't look back. "Fight with Abeles and Xuelin. It is said that the priests will arrive tomorrow. They should stay for a few days to make a covenant with the elves, and some may stay and fight. But I think most of them will Go back to the library, you should go together." Cadderly was momentarily at a loss for words.Is Danica telling him to leave?Could it be that she also felt that his sympathy was a kind of weakness? "You don't fit in here," Danica whispered. Cadderly took a step back from her. "Then Hildriki Tree is for me?" he growled grimly, never expressing his anger so directly to Danica. "Have you heard how the mighty Ragnor died again? Or have you forgotten Bajin too?" "I'm not questioning your worth," Danica replied honestly, turning to look at Cadderly. "Whether it's in this war or in any other situation. But this Simista's battle for survival will go on, and you'll find no peace of mind, just more violence, more I don't like how it changes you. I don't like how it changes me." "what are you saying?" "There's a piece of ice here," Danica replied, poking her finger in her heart.She folded her arms in front of her, as if to block a gust of icy wind. "A numbness," she went on, "let the sympathy fade away. How easy it was for me to ask you to kill Dorigen!" She paused, choked by the confession, and looked away. Cadderly's expression softened with genuine sympathy. "Come on," Danica begged. "Go back to the library. Go back to your house." "No," Cadderly replied, "that place was never my home." Danica turned to look at him curiously, anticipating something more from him. "I don't fit in here, that's right," Cadderly continued, "and I'm afraid I don't have much will to fight anymore. I'll leave with the priests, but just go back to the library to get some things." "Where are you going after that?" Danica's voice revealed a hint of desperation. Cadderly shrugged.He desperately wanted to beg Danica to come with him, but he knew he couldn't, and she would refuse anyway.Then, to their dismay, they both discovered that they were saying goodbye, possibly forever. Danica hugged Cadderly suddenly and kissed him hard, then she backed away, pushing him away from her. "When the tree started to wake up, when this war first started, I wanted to be with you with all my heart," she said, "but I knew I couldn't help it, the situation didn't allow me to realize my wish." "It's the same now," Cadderly said, "for both of us." He ran his fingers through Danica's golden raspberry hair, tangled and tangled from days of fighting. Danica wanted to kiss him again, but changed her mind and walked away. Cadderly remained on Darnay Ridge for five more days, but he never saw her again.