Continued from here –
“The plan is to – FIGHT! Fight for your lives!” Brinira shouted quickly as an orc arrow shot towards the remainder of Draugmir’s strike force. The arrow was immediately followed by nearly a dozen more.
Those who were facing a different direction than the location of the orc archers almost instantly swiveled around at the sound of the first arrow whistling through the air, the shield-men simultaneously raising their shields high while crouching down and dashing either to the left or right – wherever there was free space – of the now-many arrows that were coming their way. Those without shields took (or attempted to take) to the nearest cover, which was unfortunately behind the shield-men. However, despite these fast and defensive actions, almost half-a-dozen of the warriors were swiftly and inevitably greeted with death as they turned or tried to evade. A few others were hit in less vital spots, thus only injured for the time being, whether it be a minor or more severe wound.
Kaiell himself had already been looking in the direction of the orc archers and had managed to avoid getting hit as he also sprang half-way to the ground. Yet this was merely the first wave. Partly behind a particularly large shield-man, he took out his bow and hastily began to prepare an arrow as he looked towards the large, thick Chetwood trees where the orcs were now releasing their arrows one after the other. And just as he began to bring up his weapon to aim, orcs with spears, swords, and axes starting to spring out from the same trees, racing towards them like the mad beasts they were. Kaiell aimed for one, and shot it near the neck, succeeding in killing it. He prepared another arrow...
Mortanas the dwarf, the leader of the strike force, dashed behind the nearest shield-man, an arrow piercing the ground where he had been but a slight moment before. He darted his eyes about, quickly taking into account the location of the orcs as well as the formation of his warriors – though, a few of them were Dunedain, and not directly under his command. He briefly caught a glimpse of Lomiphell sprinting to the east with a gifted speed – to intercept the archers from the side – before she slipped past a cluster of tall, thick bushes, already out of the archers’ (and the melee fighters who were now closer) sight apparently. A bold move, but a much needed one. Mort risked a quick glance or two behind him... he only hoped the orcs were only coming from the direction that they currently were, instead of all around. So far, there was nothing to suggest the latter. “Bowmen, focus on the archers!” Mortanas boomed, turning his fiery-green gaze to his right where he saw Rondim the elf collapse to the ground as an arrow struck him near the heart.
After slaying another orc with his third, and unfortunately last arrow (the raid on the camp before this had cost most of his and others’ arrows), Kaiell sprang up to race towards the orcs who had now fully reached them. The archers still behind the trees ceased most of their shooting as the close-combat fighters now took their turn. Unsheathing just one of his swords so far, Kaiell rushed in along with several other warriors, taking on two orcs at the same time.
Mortanas found himself rushing to aid Rondim who was now slowly, on the ground, moving away from the orcs who were quite near him. But Mort nearly stopped short as he caught sight of another, larger group of orcs coming from the east, moving with great speed towards them. The dwarf gritted his teeth, raising his axe as he moved past his warriors to the front line, quickly finishing the few orcs that were closest to him. “Backwards! Between these trees!” Mortanas ordered, turning around and beginning to head that direction... but he no sooner found himself blocked off as two figures – one orc and one black-armored man – jumped out from among the same cluster of large trees, thorny bushes, and rocks. Behind these two, the dwarf assumed, were no doubt more foes waiting to show themselves.
Brinira sent her elbow hard into the jaw of a particularly ugly orc, shattering its jaw as she followed in with a kick to its ribs. As it fell to the ground, she looked to see the fresh orcs coming from the east, and from the knot of trees and flora where Mortanas and a couple others had been running to. They were now practically surrounded.
After finishing off the remaining orcs around him, Kaiell found another threat coming from the corner of his eye. Not the orcs from the east, or behind... no, this was yet another force, coming roughly from where the archers were (who were now silent), and they were about ten in number – though, somewhat scattered and separated. The bearded man unsheathed his secondary sword, glancing at Bri before racing towards them head on. “Bri, let’s take these out!” he growled, his voice deep and a little gruff.
Brinira turned her head towards the other approaching orcs Kaiell spoke of. Slipping her small daggers into her mouth between her teeth, she nodded and began sending her remaining arrows towards them, killing at least three orcs before Kaiell fully reached them. Two of which happened to be the ones Kaiell was just about to attack first, as they seemed the most vulnerable or defenseless. “OH, of course!” Bri heard Kaiell shout back to her. She smirked slightly, turning around to check on how things were going behind her... the force from the east had for the most part reached them, with most of the remaining warriors forming a thin but sturdy line against them. As for Mortanas, he was swinging his axe wildly, taking on half of the force from the knot of trees himself. “Errraah-hahaaa!” the dwarf roared, slowly but surely cutting down foes while he himself was getting wounded – though, he took little notice of any injuries at that moment. Brinira swiftly prepared her last arrow, piercing an orc about to strike Mortanas a moment later. Turning back around, she swung her bow over her shoulder, grabbed her two daggers, and sprinted to join Kaiell…
With the orc archers most likely silenced by Lomiphell, they had a slight chance of winning this fight with at most half of their group still alive if there were no more orcs to come. But just as importantly, Captain Mortanas had to continue to hold the backline, with Kaiell and Bri taking care of the ten or more orcs from the north-west, and all the others doing the best that they could against the fifteen from the east. Only then would these warriors of Draugmir even half-way succeed with finding victory in this second ambush against them.
