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The guards had managed to keep the town from being invaded, killed any goblins that made it over the wall, but the orcs were a different story. They couldn't climb each other, and the bodies would disappear once they were killed. Their hit points were too high to one shot them, so their numbers hadn't changed much.

"He's back!" The scout yelled. "Damn, look at those pigs get flattened. Ten down, he's retreated. Now he's back again, and another ten destroyed with a single hit! Hell, how is that guy able to do that? He's retreated again."

"Why? Why all the retreating? Is he trying to get out of range so he falls out of battle?" The captain realized the truth, and rolled his eyes. "Bloody beast shit, those are some top grade tactics."

"Yeah, but now he's back again."

"What the hell." Aleda twitched a bit. "Everyone! Get back behind the walls, and under cover! I feel manna being stirred, and it's a lot!"

Aleda jumped down off the wall, but she didn't have to try and figure out what happened.

"FLAMES! GUST!" Baris had also learned, quite by accident, that if he was able to cast both flame spells at the same time, it would double the output of each, and combine them into one large one.

Couple that with the wind gusts, and the area in front of the east gate turned into a firestorm. Even though they had high hit points, even the orcs could not stand up to so much heat. The problem is that it also doubled the manna cost.

Aleda felt the large movement of manna, as over four hundred points had been used in that attack. Normally, flames would only cost twenty five points in manna. Double cast should have increased it to fifty, but in this case, it increased it to one hundred points for each cast as they both doubled in strength. With the same thing happening to Wind Gust, the intensity was doubled beyond what was expected. She smiled as she heard someone cry out.

"OH COME ON! THAT IS THIRTY THREE THOUSAND WASTED XP!" By the time she got to the top of the wall, he was gone again.

"Once the heat dies down, we'll assess the situation, and decide if we should sortie." Aleda said after she climbed back up to the top of the wall. She looked at the guard captain, and shook her head. "You didn't run."

"No." He sighed. All his hair was gone. Eyebrows, eyelashes, and the hair on his head were singed right off. "I never expected..." He shivered. "What the hell was that?" He whispered.

"Someone you never want to piss off." She said quietly. "I don't think I could even match his strength, and now that he can do things like that, I don't think I could match his magical abilities." She said in a low somber tone. "I once heard that my ancestors could do things like this. Take out entire armies with one or two spells. How long has it been since anyone really pushed their potential lately?" She asked as she looked out over the charred battlefield.

"I've only ever been a guard. Killed some wolves, and bears, along with a few goblins from up north, but this is beyond normal. I mean, I'm a level fifteen warrior, but I haven't leveled up in years." He looked at the ground, and saw all the manna crystals laying around. There were still dozens of orcs, and almost no goblins now, but the orcs looked a little desperate.

"What do we do, Guild Master? Those orcs look like they want to run, or try hiding inside our town." He said.

"Three dozen is too much for the people we have." She pursed her lips. "Shaala!"

"Here, Aleda."

"What do you think? I may be a level forty, but it's been several decades since I've participated in a battle like this." Aleda said, and watched the younger stallion look out over the walls.

"Wow, that bugger is a monster." She cast hostile presence detection. "Over thirty orcs left, all in varying stages of damage. They may be powerful, but as long as we strike quickly, and from different directions, we should be able to kill the rest. It won't be completely safe though. We may take casualties." She pursed her lips. "Fuck it. Neiren! Jaana!"

"Here, Shaala." Both sisters appeared.

"How high can you stay, and for how long?"

"Thirty feet, and for nearly half an hour. After that, our manna runs low." They looked at their lover, and waited.

"Lorkas."

"Here." he looked at the young elf, and smiled.

"How many can you spare and not compromise the inner area?" She asked.

"Ten. Spear and pike users. Should be able to keep them off you while you dart and flick in." He said. She grinned.

"Bring them. Make sure they have shields. Those guys hit like a brick, but they are at the end of their lives. Get bows for the girls. Don't count on the other guy coming in to save us. He's probably exhausted all his manna, and stamina. If he doesn't rest, he'll collapse on the battlefield." The captain's face twitched.

"I can't watch all of you go out to protect the town I'm supposed to be protecting." He dusted off his head, and put on his helmet. "I'm going to join in on this battle." Shaala smirked.

"Never thought I would see the day that I fight alongside a human. Well, as long as you fight, and don't run, you'll live long enough to see all these orcs die." She grinned, and shivered. "I haven't tasted the thrill of battle in a while! I'm itching to fight!"

* * *

The orcs roared as the small band of warriors went outside, but they couldn't rush into battle. They more ambled as their bodies were severely damaged.

"Form up! Move to intercept! Spears out forward!" Lorkas called.

"Neiren, Jaana, fly high and start raining down arrows on them! Keep an eye out for me as I'll dart in, do some damage, and dart out!" They both nodded, and flew up over the wall. Shaala dodged out from behind the small wall of spears, and dashed forward. She sliced the first orc that took a swing at her, rolled to the side, and heard it cry out as two arrows took it down.

"Again! Both of you aim for the same one! Here they come!" This time she was faced with three orcs as the rest continued towards the dwarves. She sliced, flipped back to avoid the eight foot tall pig beasts, but managed to get clipped by a glancing blow.

"Shaala!" Neiren cried out.

"Stay up there! It's nothing! Pepper that bastard!" The girls laid two more arrows into the small group.

"We're not doing enough damage fast enough!" Jaana said. Shaala growled.

"Stay up there! I'm going to try his magic! FLAMES GUST!" The flames weren't as powerful, but it did finish the job.

"Shaala! Both hands!" Aleda called out. "He cast flame spells with both hands at the same time!"

"Oh. So that's why it felt a lot stronger." She looked at the group that now approached the dwarves, and ran forward to hit them from behind.

"Dwarves! Retreat and form up! We've culled their numbers a bit. Rest, and we'll do it again!" Shaala called out as she slashed another orc as she passed.

The dwarves had already speared the first of the group, but their numbers were too high to keep them back. It wouldn't be a problem if they could control the battlefield, but there was too much land area to cover, and no methods in place to stop them from being overwhelmed.

Aleda growled from the top of the wall.

"FUCK! My mare is going to have my dick on a platter!" She jumped over the wall, with her over seven foot frame landing hard on the soil fifteen feet below. She pulled her large saber and roared.

The orcs were beaten down, heavily damaged, and had lost nearly half their number. An enraged giant elf, someone who was nearly their size, with lots of muscle and sharp teeth, drew their attention.

Orcs weren't the smartest beast. Since these were plain orcs and not advanced, they hadn't evolved, or begun to plan. They turned away from the dwarves, as they considered them too small to be a real threat, and paid the price.

"SPEARS! TAKE THEM OUT!"