Steven Burke - The Fallen Guardian

They continued to discuss their plans for several hours into the night. They understood that it was crucial to attack at the right moment in order to gain the upper hand. Even though G’Dang’s army had nearly one hundred fifty thousand soldiers, he did not feel that numbers would win this confrontation. Ultimately it was decided that it was best to wait them out. They would surround the mountain to ensure that no one escaped and would remain out of reach while they would attack periodically from multiple directions at the same time. They hoped that this would not only confuse their enemy, but that it would also enrage them enough so that they would make a fatal mistake. General Tadok K’K would take his one hundred twenty five thousand troops to the east and south while G’Dang would guard the north and west.

After another couple of hours, they had determined exactly what methods of attack that would work best in various scenarios. Once they actually did make their move-that is, if they were forced into being proactive-then they would implement the tactics they had just devised. Their plan for fending off a rush from the mountain fortress was quite simple: they outnumbered the dwarves significantly. After hitting them with catapults, trebuchets, ballistae, and arrows, they would engage what was left in hand-to-hand combat. They were far superior in stature and strength, or so they believed, so they felt they could easily overpower the little folk.

“Do you think the bearded runts have any secret passageways or any traps set around the mountain?” queried General G’Dang seriously. He did not want to get caught off guard while surrounding the dwarves.

“I would venture to guess that they do have several traps in place and that there are probably several escape tunnels. I would be willing to bet that these underground passageways do not go farther than a couple of miles in each direction. This would put them entering the plains around the mountain and would make their appearance clearly visible. All we need to do is place sentries at the rears of each formation, and we should be warned of any trickery from behind,” replied General Tadok K’K seriously.

“What about the traps? I would think that we should ferret out any possible dangers before moving our large forces into possible harm. It would not do at all to have our soldiers maimed or killed by unforeseen dangers. We could send in the berserkers.” This thought came to him suddenly and it burst out with a little too much enthusiasm.

“You would send those brutes in, would you…that’s not a bad idea at all! They can do their special brand of demolition and remove any possible threats. The dwarves probably know that we are here, so a few explosions would not give anything away. If anything, they might be afraid of what we were doing!”

“General Akuji, I believe we have a good plan. We should implement it during the night so that we maximize the amount of confusion we cause for our little, bearded neighbors.”

“Maurizio, you’re right! Let’s do it tomorrow night. Then, right before dawn, we will have the berserkers set off a series of explosions that should rattle old white beard himself!” He laughed raucously at his own slight of the guardian. They continued to laugh loudly for quite some time at their own perceived brilliance.

A group of one hundred berserkers gathered together the following morning to receive their instructions from Generals Akuji and Maurizio. The berserker was a special breed of orc that was used for almost anything life threatening because of their unique physical strength and lethal prowess. They stood nearly two feet taller than the tallest orc, which made the shortest berserker stand at nine feet tall. There were some that reached a legendary height of twelve feet! They were simply gigantic in every way, including their intellect. Their name was a misnomer that belied their intelligence and capabilities. Many of the orcs’ enemies had made the fatal mistake of assuming that these rare brutes were expendables.

“You maggots are here to carry out a dangerous but vital task. We require your expertise with explosives to clear the plains around Mount Adem of any possible traps. The difficult part to this job is that you will be required to do your work beginning at nightfall tonight,” explained General Akuji in his gruff, deep voice.

“I don’t see a problem with your request General Tadok K’K. My soldiers will perform this task flawlessly as usual. The question is, good general, what is in it for us?” asked Commander Gar’Dak. He was the leader of the small orc giants and stood at an impressive eleven feet six inches tall. He had a long, silver mane of hair that ran the length of his broad, muscular back. There was not an ounce of fat on his rippled body anywhere. He wore dull armor that was two inches thick at its weakest spots. The dull look was the purposeful tarnishing of the thick armor so that light would not give the wearer away from a distance.

“After you successfully completed your mission, you will have another assignment waiting for you. You and your troops will be our rear guard. We expect the little bearded ones to try to surprise us from behind through secret tunnels,” replied General Maurizio. He simply ignored the question about what was in it for them.

“You will receive whatever you ask in return for performing these two services,” interjected General Akuji. He could tell that the berserker commander was about to lose his temper if his question was not answered. He knew that if he interceded quickly that their displeasure would be sated.

“You always were the intelligent one,” replied the giant commander in his low, booming voice. It was clear that he was very serious and that he actually respected the General Akuji. “We get to take what we want from the dwarves after we have beaten them. That should be sufficient repayment.” He smiled toothily after he had said this, which was a frightening sight. His yellow teeth had a reddish hue to them that could not be mistaken for anything else than blood from his most recent meal. They had a tendency to eat the smaller orcs when food was not easily found. They preferred the taste of goblins, but traveling that far for a meal was a waste. That is if you were only able to get your hands on one or two.

“You are too kind, Commander Gar’Dak,” General Maurizio replied thickly.

The two generals went over the plan with the berserker commander in greater detail and even altered some of the plans based on suggestions from Gar’Dak. After about an hour of discussion, they separated so that the berserkers could make preparations for their nighttime demolition. Their skills for using various forms of explosive materials were second only to the dwarves. The difference between the two was that the berserkers used their talent for destroying things while the dwarves used their abilities to create structures out of stones and precious metals. Commander Gar’Dak did not like killing the dwarves because he respected their unsurpassed craftsmanship, but he knew that if he did not assist the orcs in subverting the little folk that the generals would most certainly destroy them. It was a matter of survival of the fittest, which meant that they would do everything in their power to preserve as many dwarves as possible.

***

“King Kasim, it appears that the orc host that is camped in the forest is nearly three hundred thousand strong. They look like they are preparing to remove our traps with the help of berserkers,” reported Commander Giles Bobrilir dutifully. The king had always liked the commander because of his thorough nature and detailed reports. He also happened to be responsible for the impregnable defenses of Kasim’s Fortress.

“Commander Giles…you always amaze me with what you know. I won’t even ask you how you know. General Magnar…what do you make of this report?” asked King Kasim.