Chapter 81: The Ambush – Part On the other side of the carriage, the three guards had heard the thud and seen the carriage shake. The remaining guards that had not yet done so also pulled out their swords and slowly started to move around the carriage.
But, the ones at the front and back of the group stopped in their tracks when they heard a thud and the sound of a metal sword clanging against the ground, right behind them. This was then followed by someone shouting out in pain.
Turning around they saw the guard in the middle holding his arm, with his sword on the ground. Why he had done so, neither of them knew, not seeing any real cause. But just as they went to ask, they saw an object impact the man’s head, denting, the helmet he wore.
This sent a shockwave through his head, knocking it back and sending him down to the ground, probably with a concussion.
The two guards were shocked by this turn of events, and turned to the tree line, just in time to see, what they now realised was an arrow, heading towards them.
These men, while not veterans of war, were still pretty competent, and so the one in the firing line quickly raised his arm, hoping to shield his face, not wanting what happened to the other guard, to happen to him.
The arrow, fortunately for him, ended up skimming the leather armour on his arms.
Not wanting to stay under fire from who knows how many men in the trees, they both started to sprint at their attackers, heading towards where the arrows were coming from, keeping a lookout for any more that would be heading in their direction.
But as they moved, something new came at them from their right and headed right in front of them. Like everything else, it was sudden, only one having spotted it and even then, just assumed it was an arrow of some sort. That is until it hit the ground and exploded, ending up with them being thrown back from the force of the blast.
They didn’t go flying. But in their sprint, they were off balance, so the shockwave from the blast knocked them back and down onto the ground. Groans of pain echoed through the trees, reaching both Philly and Lyrika who looked mighty pleased with themselves. Lyrika even more so with the next shot she made, sending the arrow right into one of the men’s special place.
He had not been crippled by the explosion. But the blunted arrow to that area took him out of the fight instantly.
He cried out hard, and tears poured out of his eyes, all of which stopped when a second arrow, flew straight towards his head.
...
As the girls were taking shots at the guards on their side, she was face to face with the only guard that could move properly. Both had their weapons drawn and were heading into a showdown.
She had tried to use the remaining time with her invisibility potion to charge straight into him, but as she did, it wore off and he had more than enough time to dodge to the side.
As her appearance manifested itself again, she could clearly see the look of shock and the terror on their faces. But, just her appearance alone wasn’t enough to stop them from defending and fighting back.
The one with his lower half coated in mucus, moved to swing his sword out of desperation, but he was nowhere near Olivia, and ended up toppling backwards, falling into the carriage like the first guy. He was still very much conscious, but now he could only lay there against the vehicle, struggling to break free from the gunk on his legs, all the while watching the other guard fight the Orc.
In her now one on one fight, Olivia planted her feet like she had been told, and swung her morning star horizontally, hoping to slam right into the man’s side, sending him into the carriage as well. With the environment around you, you may as well use it, as far as Olivia saw.
The man though, was no complete amateur. He quickly moved backwards, out of reach and followed up with a slash of his own. Which Olivia managed to block.
They went back and forth like this, one attacking and the other blocking, and it felt like they were at the same level in terms of skill. But, before long, she realised it had only been the fear and shock of it all that had the man off balance.
After one such strike from Olivia, which was blocked, he quickly followed this with an overhead strike.
Olivia barely had the time to pull back on the reigns of her first swing to bring it up to block, but somehow managed it, his blade clanging against the metal shaft of the morning star. This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com
The man pushed with all his might. He was either trying to cut through the solid metal of the morning star, which meant he was probably panicking and losing it. Or he was trying to push her down and cut into her head or shoulder as he overwhelmed her. How he thought he could beat an Orc in a test of strength she had no idea, but, if that was the case, she had to commend him on his gumption, as stupid as it was.
As he strained with all his might, Olivia decided to break the ice a little by pushing his blade upwards, which she then followed by sending her foot outwards to collide with his chest.
This gave Lyrika the time she needed, and once she had completed it, she gave a quick whistle to tell Philly she was ready. The girl in question looked over and saw Lyrika holding the arrow with the bottle, and she realised what she was doing. So she too pulled out an exploding bottle.
Both of them then aimed and lined up their shots.
The man was sweating profusely, even more so since the bottles and arrows had suddenly halted.
But that is until he saw one such bottle coming his way.
Doing as he had been, he dodged to his left, given the bottle was heading towards his right. But once he did, he realised his mistake.
As looking up, he saw an even faster bottle, now on the end of an arrow, heading towards his left.
It was at that point he realised he messed up.
He tried to dodge, moving backwards to get some distance from them, but both hit the ground within seconds of each other, and the force flung him backwards.
He flew straight back down the slight hill he had been heading up and slammed against the ground hard.
He hadn’t died, and he hadn’t passed out. But every part of his body hurt.
Looking up to see what he could do, the only thing he did see was something heading straight for his head.
And this time he couldn’t dodge it.
...
Olivia knew what the cracking meant.
The mucus had hardened, and now, the man was freeing himself.
By the time Olivia had turned to see the man doing just this, it was too late. She had ended up only a short distance from the carriage, but it was enough that she wouldn’t make it in time to take him out before he got free. That was all because of the nature of the mucus. It all hardened at about the same time, and for someone who had a good deal of strength training like that guard had, even just a pelvic thrust was probably enough to break it around the top of his pants.
That’s not how he did it mind you. He was using the pommel of his sword, which caused it to break very easily, crumbling away before she had even started to move.
So, rather than cause herself more pain moving on her damaged leg, she planted her feet as best she could, and got ready to defend.
The guard, once free, saw the Orc standing there, and with a war cry, went on the charge.
*thump*
But was halted as the door to the carriage was flung open, right into his face, knocking him to the ground.
“Finally. That was quite a tough lock to break. My parents spared no expense I see.”
Standing in the doorway was the first person she had become friends within this world. The first person she had saved. And the person she had been looking to kidnap.
Ameril.