Chapter 128 - 128

[Level Up]

[Quest Partially Completed. Experience Awarded] 

"Well, at least something good came of this fight." Cain smiles at Belle and Kone, the two standing closest to him, who have also just received the quest notification and possibly a new level. Smiles are popping up all over the assembled force as they gather up to decide their next move. 

"Shall we go greet the ones we're here to assist?" Gillian suggests, nodding towards the hill before striding away with Cain in tow.

Leaving the mess for the Ogre army to clean up, the Guilds start heading for the route up the cliff face. Cain and Gillian, the two Guild Masters take the lead, followed by Vala, Ghaz and Morgan. Ghaz Senior is still recovering from his wounds, they've been healed, but serious injuries can sometimes leave you feeling exhausted or woozy, and they didn't have a stamina recovery ability available. 

The Troll King and Elven General are waiting for them up at the top, excited to see who these unexpected reinforcements are. 

"Greetings, and thank you for the assistance of your Dragons. You saved us from being overrun today. I am Sylvia, General of the second Elven Field Army." The noble Elfin woman greets them. In armor the slender form and heavily scarred face were deceiving, it wasn't until they heard that hoarse voice and saw the General up close that they could determine more details about her. 

"And I am Thogg, last king of the Trolls. What you see here are the remainder of our forces." The huge Troll with a crown on his head indicates the remaining thousand or so of his kinsmen. 

"We've been sent by the Sunnybrook Alliance and the Orcish Council to help retake the Troll capital. Are there enough left alive to hold it afterwards? Or have the Ogres killed the civilians too?" Gillian asks bluntly. 

"They mostly killed off the Rock, Stone Mountain and Cave clans. They were the largest and strongest among us, but many escaped to the mountain range around the valley. The smaller built clans are still in the city as laborers, since the Goblins are really quite useless." The Troll King explains. 

"That's good news then. An empty capital would do nobody any good at all." Cain nods his head, thinking of a way forward from here.

"Do you think we can even fight free from here, much less reach the capital and take it?" Sylvia asks with a hint of derision. She has a point, they're in the beginner valley. A force of level 90 troops is the very elite of the locals, and level 90 Dragons are an existential terror to almost every city in the region. Neither would be within their expectations, so they've underestimated the two Guilds. 

"We can get free of here without issue. When the Ogres return tomorrow we will crush their forces. In all, we can muster roughly two hundred fighters between level 80 and 90, with a lot of Clerics. It's the advantage of Summons that makes the difference though, our Frontline troops are mostly Summoned, and can be replaced if they fall in combat. Even if the Ogres kill thousands of summons we will be fine as long as no mortal fighters fall."

The two leaders think a long while about the information they've been given. An army of summons is unheard of in the valley, a legend from the more dangerous lands of much higher levels, where advanced Necromancers and Elementalist sorts hold power. 

"If that's the case, it changes everything. With two Dragons and a front line of Summoned troops, we really might be able to defeat the Ogre army. There were only a few thousand here after the last battle, but the Capital keeps ten thousand garrisoned there to Reinforce the mobile forces. It's a days walk, so if they don't return tomorrow, they will likely come back in much greater numbers." Sylvia explains. 

That gives everyone a timeline to work with, so they start rebuilding the hill defenses. The Elves have tree singers with them who can create poles and Spears of wood, a great relief to the Troll forces, and an ability that gives Cain a great idea. Ogres are large enough that creating wooden tank traps, of the caltrop type will greatly slow them down. So in addition to the barricade keeping them from the top of the hill, he has sent a large number of his Golems to construct defenses in the river valley. The longer they can keep the Ogres in range of the archers and Spears, the better. 

Is a good thing that Golems don't get tired, because building proper fortifications around the plateau takes all night. It's better than anything they'd managed before, mostly due to the fact the Ogres never stopped attacking for this long before. 

"Alright General, Your Highness. I do believe we're ready for the Ogres when they come." Cain says, looking down to see how well the Golems followed the orders he gave before he went to sleep. They did an excellent job. The caltrops all look sturdy, and they've been driven into the ground in the desired pattern.

All that's left now is to wait. And wait some more, as the Ogres don't return that day, leading them to fear a large number of reinforcements will be coming. The Darklight Host isn't overly concerned, with the Dragon Breath from Laura and the [Pestilence] skill from Vala and Cain, the amount of lingering damage they can do to a large attacking force is immense. The larger and more tightly packed the force, the more efficient they get.

To pass the day, more defenses are built all around the plateau, slowly turning it into a raised wooden fort. If only they had the old guys from Graska with them, their earth magic would have carved the approaches into an incredible killing zone. Unfortunately neither the Elves nor Trolls have Earth Mages of sufficient strength. 

Cain did record the Dwarves as Supporters though, and Calls them forth to help shape the cliffs and hills that lead up to their position, but he lacks a trained Dwarf's insight into mountain sculpting, so the end result is rudimentary but hopefully effective. 

A second night passes in peace, but the Elves and Trolls are getting even more uptight, concerned about what this means for them. 

Just before dawn they get their answer. Ogre war horns in this distance sound the approach of a massive force. If the initial estimates of the scouts are accurate that is. Belle has gone out with them, the two copies of Laura in their Dragon Pixie transformation snuggled into her fur, taking the wide path around to see if more forces are coming up towards the back side of the plateau. 

"Fifteen thousand are coming towards the river valley." The runner sent by the Elves informs them. 

[Ten thousand or so Ogres are coming from the northwest, not the Troll capital. They will reach the back side of the plateau in a few hours.] Belle sends in Guild chat and Cain sends the runner away with the update. 

Twenty five thousand Ogres is not going to be a fun day. Not at all. Fortunately, three quarters of the hill can no longer be easily climbed and they've got defenses in place. 

The King and General call for Cain and Gillian to join them for a planning meeting, where they begin to go over the basics. The existing defenders will take up their usual spots along the hill side, joined by the Yellow Tusk Guild and two of Darklight Hosts Clerics, both for healing and to Summon Blighted Paladins who can spread a low grade Pestilence among the attacking Ogres. 

The Darklight Host will take the back side, since they can Summon down into the attackers from the plateau, keeping them occupied. Cain has also agreed to send one Vala and the Troll Summons to the front lines, while the Snapping Turtles will hold the ridges in case the Ogres brought siege ladders or an equivalent method of scaling the hill. 

They've proven to be unpredictable, from swarm attacks to Phalanx formations, as well as ballista and catapults. So Cain isn't putting any methods of siege warfare out of their possibilities. 

[Belle, head back with Laura and get ready for the attack. We will be raining large amounts of area damage down on the river valley to start, and they'll be here very soon.] Cain sends, urging their scout to get back before being trapped down below by the advancing forces.

She comes back at a dead run, arriving only minutes before the Ogres reach the defenses placed in the river valley, taking in how the positioning of the forces has changed since she left. 

"Where do you need me boss?" She calls as she reaches the top to the rocky staircase. 

"Take a breather in back, we are just getting set up. Alina and Nathaniel are over with the Orcs, they'll be calling Plague demons into the Ogres. One of the Vala twins is there too. I'll be saving most of my Summoning to call down into the Ogres on this side. But Laura can start doing Dragon Breath in the Ogres in the River Valley once they're engaged with the Trolls at the top of the hill. We don't want them panicking and running away to plan for how to fight Dragons, we just want them to die." Cain elaborates the planned start of the day's battle. 

"Excellent. I'll freeze them all.." Laura grins, both clones changing back to Dragon form and crouching down to wait for their moment to shine.