Orc Bait 06

As he got close, holding his sword out in front of him, I quickly tossed the dagger at his head. The blade sunk into his eye, up to the hilt. I saw the shocked look on his face as he fell back, crashing to the ground. I was surprised that it had worked, too.

I looked over at the three orc archers. They were all meekly struggling against thick thorny vines that had come through the stones. They no longer appeared to be a threat. I looked at Aerowyn and she smiled at me, "Nice throw." Thankfully, the heartstone was no longer preventing her from casting.

Sierra still fought against the demonic stone nearby. I could see a lot of movement about the crater, and hear yelling and horns being blown. The orcs were on alert. Shit! There were dozens more of them heading our way.

I knelt down and picked up Bugrashs' longsword. Then I rushed over to the orc archers, who were quickly dying from the witchs' poison. I knelt at the edge of the stage and surveyed the moon-lit area. Orcs were scrambling from all directions, it was fortunate that we were surrounded by water, or we would quickly be swamped. There was only one dilapidated stone bridge across, and the orcs were converging there, hurriedly making their way across.

Some of the more lightly-armored orcs began wading across the pool. Archers were setting up along the waters' edge. I would be within their range, but they would also be within mine. I set down the blade and grabbed one of the orc bows. It wasn't my finely-crafted elven longbow, but it was good to have my weapon of choice in my hands again. I dragged a quiver over to my feet and notched an arrow.

I raised the bow, took aim at an archer across the water and loosed. It fell short. The weapon certainly wasn't as good as mine. I quickly notched another arrow and adjusted my aim. The second arrow hit its mark, and the orc archer dropped. There was yelling along the waters edge, and several other archers took aim.

A bunch of arrows flew through the night air in my direction. I couldn't see if any were coming right at me in the night sky, but a couple of them deflected off an invisible shield. Aerowyn settled next to me. "Oh shit! Do we have to fight them all off?"

"There's no running now. I just hope we've done enough to stop Sierra."

Aerowyn picked up an arrow and licked the steel arrowhead. "I said it before-we make a good team. We'll kill all those smelly orcs." She handed me the arrow. "Poisoned, you don't need to hit vitals."

I fired the arrow off, and hit another archer. Aerowyn continued to hand me arrows and I fired them off continuously, bringing down orc after orc. There was brief pause before she handed me another and I took my eyes off the crater to look at her. She waved her hand over the arrowhead and it glowed briefly. Then she carefully handed it to me, "The bridge."

I saw that the stream of orcs were making it across. I took aim at the bridge and loosed. The arrow hit and a mass of thick thorny vines burst from the crumbled stonework. several orc were thrown off, and into the water, others screamed out as they were tangled up in the vines. Aerowyn let out a gleeful laugh, "hehehe, that is a wonderful method of delivering my spells."

"Arrow!" I said impatiently, holding my hand out. That would slow them down on the bridge, but the orcs were still coming. It was an unstoppable tide, we couldn't hold them back. I shot at others who were wading through the water. I saw the orcs on the bridge hack at the vines and clamber past them. I continued to let off shot after shot, taking down as many as I could.

The water in front of me began to bubble and tumble. I saw that there were shamans on the other side, casting their magic. I fired on them, but the arrow was deflected off a magic shield, just like the one Aerowyn had protecting us. I decided not to waste any more arrows on them. The water splashed about turbulently as the mud rose up and broke the surface in a line that ran to the other side. The damn mages were making their own bridge.

Now orcs were making it onto the island. I worked to stay calm as I took them out, but they were getting closer. "I can cast Poison Fog," said Aerowyn. Her voice sounded a little shaky. "It will slow and weaken them, but it'll reduce your visibility too."

"Do it!!" I said, as I let off another shot. Aerowyn stood up next to me, and I heard her take a deep breath. Then I saw the air around us begin to turn green. The fog quickly got thicker around us. There were more confused shouts coming from the orcs as they were swallowed up by the opaque mist. I let off a final shot, taking down an advancing orc, before I put the bow down and picked up the steel longsword.

Aerowyn looked scared as she turned to me, "We can fall back into the dungeon."

"No...we keep fighting!"

The green fog was thick below us. The shouting and clambering of the orc horde was getting louder. Then I heard loud groaning behind us. Sierra stumbled forward. Her hood had come down and I could see her hideously scarred face was contorted with pain. The heartstone was firmly attached to her chest with its red tendrils running into her body. The cursed stone appeared to be throbbing steadily, like a beating heart.

She got to the center of the summoning circle and collapsed to her knees. Aerowyn and I cautiously approached. "You...stupid Bitch!" Sierra slurred angrily. "I was going to create something amazing...The greatest civilization ever. But your actions have allowed a Demon Lord into this world. He will bring nothing but death and destruction. I can not hold him back any longer." She looked up, and into my eyes, "It's all your fault, Rohme!"

I was shocked, and just stood there, gawking.

"A Demon Lord!" gasped Aerowyn. "How can we stop him?"

"You...caaaaaan't!!" She threw her head back and screamed as the heartstone glowed and pulsed. Then her whole body was convulsing wildly. The red tendrils spread out even further, running all over her body. Her arms and legs were suddenly growing out in bursts, and she let out even more agonized screams. Large red spikes began tearing out through her skin.

Behind us, several orcs had reached the stage area, and were climbing up the stones. They were as shocked as we were, when the hulking, demonic monster raised itself in front of us. Its face seemed to be covered in the same blood-red stone and large red horns grew out of each side of its head. The eyes were blank and glowing yellow, like the fleder. It towered over us, and must have been nine or ten feet tall.

The demonic monster raised its bulky spiked arms and looked up at the twin moons. It spoke with a booming unnatural voice, "I AM HERE! YOU WILL WATCH AS I DESTROY ALL YOU HAVE CREATED!!" It looked down at us. Its diabolical gaze felt like it was piercing my soul, and made me shudder. My heart was pounding rapidly, and cold sweat ran from my forehead. "I AM LORD LORCA. KNEEL BEFORE ME, MORTALS."

Aerowyn looked at me wide-eyed, she looked as terrified as I felt. I looked at the orcs behind us, they clutched their weapons nervously, and seemed unsure of what to do. Then one of the leaders knelt down, and soon the rest followed. The monster looked at me, "KNEEL!"

I gripped the sword in my shaking hand and calmed my nerves enough to speak. "No...You...You shouldn't be here. Go back to Hell!" It was the moment I stood up to a Demon Lord. I just wish I was wearing pants.

The demon let out a low growl. He raised his leg and then slammed it down. A powerful force hit me and I found myself flying backwards through the air. My mind was reeling in terror. There was big splash as my body struck water. I was completely submerged and frantically kicked and thrashed about. My head broke the surface and I gasped for breath. I swam to edge of the pool and crawled out onto the mud on my hands and knees, still gasping. My body ached all over.

I looked at the dead orc next to me, with an arrow through his chest. Then there was splashing nearby, someone else was struggling in the water. "Aerowyn!" I winced as I got up and went over to her. I waded through the water and helped pull her out. We both collapsed in the mud. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Nggh...Go back to Hell? How did you think he would respond to that?"

"I think I made a big mistake."

"Yeah...What do we do now?"

I considered an answer, and then I heard a loud rumbling ahead of us. On the island in the center, the white stones began rising up into the air and floating about. "What the Hell...?!" The stones began settling in an ordered formation, stacking on top of each other. "It looks like he's rebuilding the tower. Why would he-" I became aware of movement behind us.

I stood up, and Aerowyn slowly raised herself beside me. There were dozens of orcs approaching, all brandishing their weapons threateningly. My adrenaline surged, and I clenched my fists. Bad time to be unarmed again.

"Oh Hell!" said Aerowyn. Was this it? Was this where death would finally claim me? I was ready to go down fighting.

There was more splashing in the water behind us. The advancing orcs gasped and grunted in surprise, and I turned my head. Something was emerging from the water, a humanoid form. It glimmered in the moonlight as it floated above the surface. It looked like the water had taken a voluptuous female form. She was beautiful.

"Goddess!" exclaimed Aerowyn. "Mara has come to save us!"

I shook my head, "That's not a Goddess. That's a water elemental."

The elemental raised her arms above her head and the water in the pool rose several feet. Then she lowered her arms and it was like an giant invisible boulder plunged into the pool. The big wave came right at us and I was suddenly being swept away, tumbling and rolling in the rushing water.

I managed to gasp for breath, and found myself sliding along the muddy ground as the water receded. There were many orc bodies all around, that were washed away with me. What the hell was happening? Where did that water elemental come from? I saw a sword laying in the mud near me, and crawled over to grab it.

"Rohme!" Aerowyn stumbled over to me, her red hair and soaking wet mage robes were clinging to her slender body. The orcs around us were groaning and slowly picking themselves up from the muddy ground. The elemental hadn't harmed them at all, it just seemed to wet them. I looked about in bewilderment.

And then the wind began to sweep through the crater. It was a chilly, icy wind. Unnaturally cold. It had to have been magic in origin. It sent a chill right through me. "Hold on," said the half-elf as she wrapped her arms around me. And then the wind stopped blowing. No, I could hear it howling even louder and see it blowing around us, white specks of snow streaked past. Aerowyn was shielding us from it.

I still shivered uncontrollably as the temperature plummeted. I hugged Aerowyn tightly. She brought her face up to mine and began kissing me. I tried to stop my teeth from clattering as I kissed her back. At least this may help get my mind off the biting cold. It did more than that. I could feel the blissful warmth rising within me. I wanted to think that it was my passions being ignited, but it must have also been her magic.

My arousal was building as we passionately kissed. The magical blizzard was howling around us. I ran my fingers through her cold wet hair. Her hand moved down and rubbed over my bare thigh, and then slid up to my groin. I moaned around her soft lips as she teased my pussy.

I barely noticed the blizzard dying down as we made out in the mud. Our warm wet bodies pressed tightly together. Aerowyns' tight little body, her soft warm lips, her delicate fingers rubbing around my soft wet folds, all felt amazing. I was losing myself in the moment.

Aerowyn gave me another tender kiss, then looked around. She breathed heavily, and her pretty youthful face had a rosy tint. "He's here. He came to help us."

I knew who she was talking about, "Your father."

She nodded, smiling. I didn't want to let her go, I just wanted to keep holding on to her like that. But we reluctantly let go of each other and stood up. The dimly lit crater had been transformed. We were standing in a circular patch of mud, but there was a white snowfield all around us. The orcs had disappeared, and the tents and torches of their camp were no longer there. It was like all trace of them had been blown away.

Delicate flakes of snow still drifted through the air. The pool of water in the center of the crater had frozen and the white stone tower rose up from the island. It was like we had been transported somewhere else. The scene was quite beautiful and serene. But fucking cold, I shivered and bemoaned the fact that I was half naked.

"Aerowyn!" We looked up and there was someone floating down from the night sky.

"Father. Thank the Goddess."

"Are you all right, my daughter?"

"Yes, we're all right. Just cold and wet."

The elven wizard gracefully drifted down to the snow next to us. He was wearing a loose-fitting blue tunic over silver chainmail, or perhaps it was mythril. An ornate silver helm sat over his long white hair. He was also wearing several pendants and rings that looked magical. He came forward and hugged Aerowyn. "I am glad I am not too late."

"Did you bring an army, Locien?" I asked, hopefully.

He looked at me. "Greetings Rohme Walker...Where are your pants?"

My face went hot, and I shifted as my hands covered my exposed pussy. I nodded toward the island in the center of the crater.

"I brought a unit of the Kings' knights, and two wizards," said the elf.

"You call that an army?" said Aerowyn, scowling at him.

"I call it the best I could do."

"There's a Demon Lord, Father."

"In what form?"

"Big and scary. The artifact of power has taken possession of a vessel. He called himself Lorca."

"That is indeed dire news. Perhaps we have come too late after all," he said, grimly.

I became aware of footsteps crunching in the snow. I turned and raised my sword. A robed figure soon came jogging out through the darkness. I could hear them puffing loudly. "Rohme the ranger," gasped a familiar voice.

"Duane!" I lowered my sword and came forward to greet him. The wizard stopped in front of me as he caught his breath. I stepped forward and put my arm around him, embracing my dear friend. "That water elemental was yours, wasn't it?"

He hugged me back, "Gah, you're freezing. Yes, but it was Lociens' idea. I came as soon as I got your message. The trip was a nightmare, I went through so many teleportation circles, my stomach is still reeling. I'm so glad to see you're all right." He stepped back and raised an eyebrow, "Where are your pants?"

"Lost." I pointed my sword over to the tower. "We have an unrestrained Demon Lord bent on destroying the world."

Duane let out a gasp, "Oh Hell!"

"He said that he wants to destroy everything, but he has rebuilt the tower," I added.

Locien looked over at the tower, "If he is making efforts to build defenses, that may mean his is not yet at full power. We can not waste any time. We must stop him now." He stepped forward and pulled a large blue stone from a pouch at his waist and placed it in the snow. "Stand back please."

He placed his hands in front of him and started chanting an incantation. The stone was soon rippling with bright sparks of raw energy. I shielded my eyes as there was a bright flash and a loud zapping sound. When I looked again, there were several figures standing there. My attention was immediately drawn to the five huge hulking figures, standing eight feet tall, made of grey stone with numerous glowing red runes. Stone golems, just like the ones I faced at Kabores' tower.

And standing amongst them was Kabore himself. The human wizard was tall and round, with regal maroon mage robes and a long grey beard. There were also twelve human men in full steel plate mail, holding large swords. They were the Kings' knights, like I had seen at the castle in Ulrich. They were a welcome sight. The men all looked around the dark snowy crater, seemingly woozy and disoriented from the teleportation.

One of the knights turned and studied the others, who quickly regained their composure and stood to attention. He then stepped forward, "We all here and accountable, Master Locien, what are your orders?"

The wizard pointed to the tower, "We're to breach that structure and eliminate the Demon Lord inside, Ser Holdan. At all costs."

"Demon Lord! Oh Hell!"

I looked over at Kabore, who was examining his golems. They stood motionless, ready for his commands. "It is good to see you here, Master Kabore."

He nodded to me, "And you, Miss Walker...Where are your-"

"My pants are gone," I said, annoyed.

He looked over at Aerowyn and grimaced, "Accursed Witch! You attacked me without provocation, Imprisoned me, and took my home. I will see you pay for your crimes!"

"You shouldn't have the tower if you're too weak to defend it, decrepit old windbag!" responded Aerowyn.

Duane also scowled at her, "Locien explained how you were on our side. But I still don't trust you, witch. Do anything to harm Rohme again, and I will see that you get that one way trip to Hell."

Aerowyn pointed at him accusingly, "That man raped me, Father."

"SILENCE!" yelled Locien. We all stared at him. I don't think any of us had heard him raise his voice before. "Stop your bickering. We all MUST work together. Everything is at stake. Do you understand?!"

The crater had fallen deathly quiet. There was a sudden crashing sound and Aerowyn let out a shriek. I turned to see that a hand had burst out from the snow and grabbed her leg. She was roughly pulled to the ground. The snow-covered orc rose up and raised the long dagger threateningly. I reacted quickly, lunging forward and swinging my sword, slicing through the orcs' arm, the severed hand and blade fell into the snow. It continued to come at Aerowyn, climbing on top of her and baring its sharp fangs. It was deathly pale, with glowing yellow eyes. I brought my blade down and stabbed it into the creatures head.

It dropped on top of Aerowyn and she groaned as she pushed it off of her. She looked up at me wide-eyed, gasping for breath.

"Seven Hells!" cried out Duane. I looked up, there was movement all around us. The orcs were rising up from the snow, glaring at us with their blank eyes and hissing threateningly.

"Make your way to the tower," called out Locien.

I offered Aerowyn my hand, and helped her up. "Stay close to me."

There was suddenly a hell of a lot of noise and activity happening all around me. I could hear the Knight Captain yelling orders to his men, and the clinking of their steel armor as they moved. The wizards were incanting and casting their magic. There was the heavy footfalls of the golems as they sprung into action. A couple of the orcish creatures charged at me with their weapons raised, as more of them continued to rise from the snow.

Thick vines burst from the ground and entangled one of the charging orcs, bringing him down. I sidestepped and parried as the other got close and swung at me. The brute continued its frenzied attack. Despite looking half frozen, it was fast and strong. I continued to block the powerful strikes. Aerowyn threw a magic bolt into its chest, sending it stumbling back. I quickly lunged forward and knocked his sword aside, the brute yelled and I stabbed my sword through its gaping mouth. It fell back into the snow.

The other orc was still struggling against the magical vines. I rushed forward and hacked my sword through its neck, partially decapitating it and making it collapse. I quickly ducked as an axe was swung at my head. I roared as I came back up and dragged my blade through the big orcs abdomen, making his blood spray through the air.