16. Judgment of fate
"There are only 7 arrows left..."
Lothmar tore his cloak and sat in the dark shadows, little by little winding his fingers torn by the bowstring, and Zurgin's head was tied to his battle belt, and it seemed that he would not lay it down until he was killed or escaped.
"Bang"
The shriveled water bladder was thrown from behind, and Lotherma took it in his hand, drank the last sip of water, and after his throat was moistened, he wiped his mouth, and looked at the dark and quiet forest behind him, as if every place was rippling with a terrifying crisis, and his fingers pressed on the war bow, and whispered:
"At least 14 more orcs are chasing us, and the orc overseer who knows it's a high-ranking warrior just by looking at it, hey, it looks like we're going to have a hard time escaping this time."
"I know..."
Behind him, the silent Tyrion struggled to bite at the jerky in his hands, his back to Lotherma, his left hand resting on the hilt of the blood-stained phoenix sword, and next to the blade was the corpse of a detached orc scout.
The water bladder that filled the two of them was found on him, and the strange-smelling jerky in Tyrion's hand was also the trophy of this ambush.
"We're not in a good position to handle these pursuers."
Lotherma continued, but was interrupted by Tyrion, who looked at him and said word for word:
"I know! I know how bad the situation is... You're still the same as before, you like to talk non-stop! ”
He stood up, with a strong left hand, drew the heavy sword that was stuck in the ground, took a few steps forward, and looked back at Lotherma:
"Let's split up, let the pursuers disperse, and at least one of the two will survive... Don't tell me, you can't even deal with a few orc crumbs now. ”
Lothema did not answer, his fingers stroking the surface of the warbow, and after a moment he replied:
"I'm worried about the Orc Overseer... He is more dangerous than Zulkin. ”
"No matter how strong he is, he can only chase one direction at the same time."
Tyrion took a deep breath, shook his hand without looking back, and walked into the darkness:
"Since you have reached a desperate situation, let all this be decided by fate, whoever encounters it is whose misfortune, Lotherma who travels far away, chase your good luck."
"If you die! Tyrion! ”
Lotherma put the golden-red phoenix war bow behind her back, drew an arrow from her quiver, and shouted:
"I will tell everyone about your exploits and feats, and I will spread your heroic deeds all over Quel'Thalas! I swear I'll help the Windranger family secure the Ranger General's position, and as long as I'm in Quel'Thalas, I won't be able to shake that! ”
He was silent for a second, then reflexively walked in the other direction.
"If I die... Please do the same thing, take my place, help His Royal Highness, and make Quel'Salas better! ”
Tyrion paused as he walked into the darkness, his shoulders moving, and the chaotic fragments of the memories in his mind echoed in his mind:
"Don't despair, Theron, maybe we'll all survive... At least I know that you... Your fate is not here. ”
The familiar words made Lotherma pause, he shook his head, a smile on his lips, he looked back at Tyrion's back, and he shouted:
"Hey! Tyrion, you're so good at comforting people, you must have spent a lot of your days comforting yourself, right? It's pathetic... If you survive, I'll ask you to drink! ”
Tyrion didn't reply, as if he hadn't heard the words at all, and his figure quickly disappeared into the darkness, and Lotherma reached out and touched the head around his waist, and turned and jumped into the dark forest.
The gears of fate, at this moment, quietly began to accelerate, the familiar history may be rerouted, and the extra gear may also be completely crushed, so that fate will be restored, so far, the end of this story, no one knows yet...
Less than 3 minutes after the two people dispersed, Red. The Black Hand rushed out of the forest with the heavily armed orc scout, and at a glance he saw the beheaded scout, and he stepped forward, half-kneeling beside the dead orc warrior, and reached out to help him close his bulging eyes.
The muscles on Red's arm swelled, he gripped the red war knife in his hand tightly, and he roared angrily:
"We have suffered a defeat at the hands of humans, and now even the weak elves can humiliate us wantonly?!!
"Chase! With their heads... Honor our warriors! ”
"Roar"
The orc warriors behind him roared in unison, breaking the silence of the dark forest, and birds flew out of the forest, startling their feathers.
"They ran in both directions!"
Another scout rummaged through the ground and reported to Red:
"We can't be sure who owns Zulkin's head."
"Cunning as a fox!"
A hint of resentment flashed in Red's eyes: "Then let's separate too..."
"Stupid!"
A rebuke came from behind Red, and the orc warriors all brushed out of the way, and the orc overseer Sarufar, who was carrying a spine battle axe, came out of the forest behind him, he walked up to Red, looked at the orc young chief with a scrutinizing light, and asked in a deep voice:
"Is anger getting you carried away? Reed... Tell me, do you want our fighters, who are already exhausted to the extreme, to die in vain? ”
"I didn't... I just..."
"Smack"
Red's rebuttal earned him a resounding slap in the face, and Sarufar scolded in a voice that hated iron and steel:
"Isn't it enough for two elves who can combine to kill Zurkin to make you more vigilant? Will ordinary fighters be their opponents? You guys, go to the right... Everybody go! They can't get far yet! ”
"On the other side..."
Red subconsciously asked rhetorically, and then he saw the Overseer of Sarufar reach out and take off the tomahawk behind his back, and turn in the opposite direction for them.
"On the other side, I'll come personally!"
"Yes! Warlord! ”
Red shouted, grabbed his sword, and rushed into the forest with the remnants of the orcs, Lotharma's estimation was a little inaccurate, the pursuing orcs were actually not as many as he thought, in the melee with Dai Lin, the remnants of the orcs were injured, and besides, Zulkin's body could not be thrown in the forest like that.
There were about 8 orcs who followed Red into the forest, and on the other side, there was only one orc, Sarufar, who seemed to have any hope of escaping.
———————————————————
"Whoa, whoa"
Huge wings flapped into the air, kicking up puffs of dust above the boulder, and with a chirp similar to that of a giant eagle, a large and strange creature slowly landed on the top of a huge castle built along the mountain.
It has a golden mane like a lion, sharp claws and a tail that resembles a lion, but the front half of its body is a huge eagle with eyes like lightning, and even its front claws are similar to eagle talons, its long sharp beak can easily tear through the body of its enemies, and the wings flapping on its sides can make this majestic and fierce beast soar in the air.
It's a griffin... Hinterland is at the top of the food chain, one of the most ferocious beasts.
However, the griffin had a rein on its head, and when it came to a stop, a short creature in leather armor and carrying a war hammer leaped from behind the griffin's back, and he took a large piece of fresh meat from the basket next to it and threw it to the pet behind it.
With the griffon's joyful chirp, the short, muscular man walked briskly down the griffon's fence and rushed towards the castle below.
"Kudran! How's that, caught those troll thieves? ”
"I've killed them all! Not a single one to stay! ”
As he entered the castle, he was greeted by a friendly greeting from his fellow men in the armor of the guards, and it was clear that this short man had a high status in his own clan.
"Furstad, are you there?"
The short man rushed into the castle's chamber, which was empty, and he shouted in his loud voice, his thick voice echoing through the chamber, and after a few minutes, a short man in a robe and a red jewel crown walked briskly into the conference room.
He was greeted by a pair of wise eyes, an orange-red beard that completely covered most of his body, a braided beard with ornate golden rings, and finally his height, which was less than 1.60 meters.
"What's wrong? Kudran? Aren't you chasing the trolls who steal our food? Why did you come back so soon? ”
"Listen to me! Furstad, I've killed the trolls, but I've seen other creatures in the forest... It's an elf! It's the magical Quel'Salas spirits of the North! I see it clearly! ”
Carrying a war hammer on his back, Kudran shouted like a warrior:
"The greenskinned orcs hunt them down in our forest! As the messengers of the human kingdom told us, those orcs are ugly! And it's savage! I think we should help the elf! ”
"But the Hammer Dwarves haven't decided whether or not to join the war between humans and orcs, my brother!"
The griffin knight Kudran's friend, the Grand Lord Furstad, was a little embarrassed and said:
"We've managed to live a peaceful life, I don't want to lure the orcs to Hinterland, the trolls here are annoying enough."
Both Kudran and Furstad are dwarves, a group of small, stocky creatures with strength that rivals that of orcs, and the blue-blue war paints on their arms and cheeks represent their clan, both of whom have been living here for 200 years as the Hammer Dwarves of the Hinterland Mountains.
"Those orcs just slaughtered Kazmodan! Vorstad, our compatriots were killed by them by thousands! ”
The samurai's thoughts were always simple compared to the chiefs who had to think too much, and Kudran shouted to Vorstad in a huff:
"Although we parted ways with the Copperbeard family, all we have in our bodies are the bloodlines inherited from the great Kazgros, and if you hadn't stopped us, I would have taken the griffon knights to teach those damned greenskins a lesson! Not to mention that they are still breaking into our Hinterland! ”
"We can't be soft on them anymore! Furstad! ”
He stared at his lord so fiercely that he almost grabbed him by the collar with both hands:
"Tell me! Furstad, has the courage surging in your body gone?! ”
This irony of courage is so ferocious in dwarven tradition that the Hammer Lord Furstad almost jumped to his feet at the taunt from his friend, and replied in a loud voice:
"Kudran! You'll have to think about the continental form! ”
"I don't think about any continental form!"
Kudran walked out of the castle on his own:
"All I know is that Quel'Thalas is killing trolls, and we're killing trolls, so we're friends with Quel'Thalas! Furstad, whether you want it or not, I'm going to try it! ”
"Listen to me! Kudran! Don't be impulsive! ”
"I don't listen! The sky has never taught brute hammer to be weak! ”
The griffin knight Kudran turned his head and waved the hammer in his hand fiercely: "No one can challenge the hammer in Hinterland!" Trolls can't do it, orcs can't do it!! ”
"Alfonso! Gather the Griffon Knights! Let's go slaughter the orcs! ”
"We're going to tell Greenskin! We are not the same as the weak Brass Whiskers! We are... Hammer in the sky!! ”