On the way to the location, they had to change course. Scouts from both units had met in the field and exchanged information. Unfortunately, after some time, the invader had ignored the sixth unit, breaking off the pursuit and turning toward an orchard. To protect it from destruction, as it was an important source of food for the Wolf Rock clan, they were forced to engage in a cautious fight.
When Gra’sha and the rest of the warriors from the seventh unit ran up the last hill before the orchard, a disturbing picture of the situation unfolded before them. Although the sixth unit had managed to keep the enemy in check and away from the fruit trees, they were clearly losing the engagement. About half of them were dead, wounded, or unable to fight and had been pulled to the rear. The larger mountain ogres were carrying structures of wood and hide on their shoulders, which formed a kind of platform for the Bone Goblins, from which they hurled short javelins, stones, and whatever else they had. The remaining ogres pressed on her clanmates alongside the Crescent Moon orcs, giving them an advantage in strength and the ability to break even the bravest defense. In addition, numerous goblins swarmed the wounded or isolated warriors in a great horde. All told, there must have been over a hundred of them.
Kor’got did not hesitate to give the order. He sent the scouts to guide the fifth unit in from the east, and the rest he sent in a spearhead charge into the enemy's rear to try to split them into at least two smaller groups. In Gra’sha's assessment, it was a good decision, though she knew little about battle tactics. The enemy spotted them and even managed to regroup their forces somewhat, but not quickly enough to stop the relief force. The veterans at the head of the spearhead plunged deep into their ranks with a violence and momentum that not even the ogres could stop. At least, not at first.
About three-quarters of the way in, the attack slowed considerably. The largest of the ogres, protected by hides on almost his entire body and by bronze plates on his shoulders and legs, halted the vanguard of the charge with a wide swing of a monstrous axe. Gra’sha was far from him, so she dealt with what was at hand. Together with the rest of the warriors from the very rear, she began to fight her way toward her comrades from the sixth unit to join ranks with them. A tingle of excitement spread through her body. With the first thrust, she discovered that her potential had not changed since the fight in the clearing; whatever her condensing inner energy was doing now, it apparently did not affect the strength of her arm. This didn't worry her in the slightest, because what she had was more than enough.
She pierced the face of a young Crescent Moon warrior as he barely managed to raise his shield to block at collarbone height. The head of her spear pulled back with a squelch, allowing the dead body to fall at her feet, and the spiritual energy leaving it became the first nourishment for her hunger that day. The familiar feeling of power spread through all her limbs, and blood rushed to her head. She stayed with her own, but remained in constant contact with the enemy line. This allowed her to protect or support her closest companions while simultaneously breaking their resistance. Sha’dru and Mal’gor were always close to her. They pushed forward as a tight group.
One of the ogres, trying to prevent the rear of their unit's spearhead from closing with the weakened line of the sixth, charged at her, striking from above with a long halberd, a weapon unusual for this region, likely spoils from one of his expeditions. With an almost dance-like step, she avoided the blow and responded with a nasty, deep thrust into the wrist of the giant's dominant right hand. With a quick jerk to the side, she sent pieces of bone, cartilage, and tendon flying into the air, accompanied by gushing arterial blood. He dropped the weapon, trying to staunch the bleeding with his good hand, while her companions, with shallower but numerous strikes, finally sent him to the ground.
During this time, Gra’sha scattered the last of the nearby Bone Goblins still lingering there and finally broke through with her companions to the edge of the sixth unit. With grateful but fierce expressions, they greeted them with triumphant shouts.
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"Pull back the wounded, and together we'll close out this butchery!" Mal’gor called to them, standing right beside her, as he had been since the start of the charge.
After a brief reorganization of the front line, they began to press forward together toward the head of the seventh unit's spearhead. Perhaps they hadn't managed to completely split the enemy into two equal parts, but between the spearhead and the flank of the sixth, they had trapped a good number of foes who, after the rear of the seventh joined with the flank of the sixth, found themselves in an inescapable triangle.
The young warrior made sure to be wherever an ogre was causing problems for her comrades, and after removing several such obstacles, the entire triangle was cleared of enemies in less than a quarter of an hour. The enemy still had numerical superiority, but the combined units of Wolf Rock were now gaining momentum. Gra’sha herself, holding back from drawing too much from the fallen, was filled with a sense of power and, fueled by adrenaline, wreaked havoc, to the growing astonishment, but also admiration, of Mal’gor and her closest companions.
When they had a moment to catch their breath, they realized that their right flank had dominated the enemy, but the center was being held firm by the largest of the ogres that the Crescent Moon warriors had dragged into their lands.
"Gra’sha, we need to break through closer and help the veterans. The line of battle in that spot has barely moved," Sha’dru said, pointing to the middle of the battle.
"If we press here in an arc, we should be able to support them from the side in a bit," Mal’gor agreed, tracing the possible direction of their attack with the head of his spear.
Several of the nearest warriors nodded and were already preparing for a new assault in the indicated direction, deciding who would break through there and who would continue to secure progress on the right flank, when the young warrior interrupted them.
"I have a better idea. Cover me," Gra’sha replied, and moved back behind the two of them and one other comrade. Sha’dru shot her a warning glance, but the girl was carried by the rhythm of the battle and had no intention of holding back. She pushed aside a few somewhat disoriented warriors to make room for herself and, in three long strides, threw her spear like a javelin toward the ogre dominating the battlefield.
* * *
Bar’nar saw what the commander of their raiding party did not yet understand. The fresh reinforcements were clearly composed of much better warriors. Their ogres, who had previously given them the advantage, were now falling successively, one after another, and not even half of them remained. The few remaining Bone Goblins had already scattered to the north, and if his years of battle had taught him anything, it was that those runts were good at judging when to take to their heels.
He quickly found an opportunity to fall back to the rear. He helped a wounded youth who had just lost his left arm, pulling him from the battlefield. He stopped the bleeding as much as he could, fashioning an improvised pressure dressing. Then he glanced at the situation on the field. The largest of the ogres, clad in elements of bronze armor, had split his adversary nearly in half with his axe, then let out a menacing roar, bolstering the spirits of his men. He took a battle stance, preparing this time for a sideways swing, when a spear, as if shot from a ballista from the enemy's rear ranks, embedded itself in his head. He staggered back two steps and, in an unnatural, sudden silence, fell onto his back.
The warriors of Wolf Rock shouted in triumph and pressed their ranks even harder. Bar’nar had no doubt how this battle would sooner or later end, and he had no intention of watching it up close.
"I'm getting you out of here. We have to warn our people," he said to the pale warrior, who had little strength to protest. Taking him under his good arm, he joined the growing number of goblins fleeing north. There was no glory in this, but he hadn't lived this long by seeking a glorious death.
When they were a few minutes away from the battlefield, he turned to check the situation. In the distance, he saw another unit of Wolf Rock warriors running down from the east, catching his comrades in a deadly pincer. His intuition had not failed him. This expedition was over; there was no salvation for them. He tightened his grip on the youth and pulled him forward at an even faster pace, wanting to gain as much of a lead as possible before any potential pursuit.
