"Or you can wait for me to come back, my friend. Baldwin took the helmet from the servant, and as he hid his face under the silver-white steel, his voice hummed, "I wonder how many beasts will be there." ”

"I'm afraid we don't have time to hesitate. Carey Ben said.

As if to support his words, the trebuchet, which had paused for a moment, threw the white phosphorus pots again, this time they were thrown far and high, some of them fell into the outer fort (that is, between the two layers of walls), burning the drawbridge plank that connected the two, and others fell into the square inside the fort, burning the drinking troughs of the horses.

Fortunately, in the construction of dwellings and warehouses for the families of soldiers and knights, and merchants, the second lord had the foresight to move them to a position near the edge of the pass, separated from Gershburg by a large area of barren sand, and a low stone wall, which in the present position could not be reached by the white phosphorus pots thrown by the trebuchet, otherwise one can imagine the catastrophe that would have caused such a catastrophe when the temperature of the outer flame could almost melt the mineral powder of the stone.

Baldwin said no more, he turned on his horse, and then his knights, who handed them spears, which were shorter than those used by knights elsewhere, and the tips were made of steel.

The soldiers had removed the latches of the steel gates and turned the winches in pairs, and the knights were ready, their horses rubbing their hooves on the hard rocky ground.

When the steel gates of Gershburg were opened to allow two knights to walk side by side, the lord of Gershburg, the knight of Tyre, Berdwin, puffed out his chest and shouted Tyre's name and prayed for his justice and protection, his voice loud and clear, like Gersh echoing in the winter night sky, and his armor, his horses, and his weapons were shrouded in a bright light like stars. His knights responded loudly and with boiling blood, their eyes clear, their ears sharp, their limbs full of strength, yet so light and flexible.

They poured out with a low rumbling sound, and the smoke of white phosphorus filled the walls outside, but it could no longer do them any harm—Birdwin and his knights pierced the orcs like the tip of a white spear.

The orcs, still choking on tears at the smell of white phosphorus, had neither the chance nor the time to react properly, pierced by spear tips and slashed with broadswords, their heads rolling in all directions, their bodies reduced to minced flesh under the hooves of the black iron horseshoe.

While the orcs in front of the walls were in chaos, the elves' team had silently climbed from the top of the second fort to the cliff on the side of the canyon, the elven mages cast spells, or tore the scrolls, and used flying spells, while the other elves walked on the nearly vertical rock wall like argali, and they had already taken off the cyan and silver and blue robes that would stand out in the night, and replaced them with dark gray spider silk tight-fitting robes, which seemed to be almost one with the rocky mountain wall.

Kerry didn't want to include Cremar on the team at first, as the mission was fraught with danger and uncertainty - but the black-haired young spellcaster silently showed him his scroll and his ring, and he was one of the few fire-wielding spellcasters in the Grey Ridge and the Silvercrown Jungle - and he was going to be involved in the war eventually.

Kerryben stopped in the shadow of a bird's beak boulder and gestured to his companions, who had climbed nearly twice as high as the walls of Thundercastle in order to remain secretive, and now the two giant trebuchets guarded by the orcs were at their feet, and from nearly four hundred feet they looked like children's toys at their fingertips.

The eyes of the elves were no less than those of the sharp-eyed falcons even at night—the trebuchet was indeed surrounded by countless strong orcs, and the priests of the orcs, who were smaller and more shriveled than the so-called orc warriors, and were more beautifully dressed, with hand bones hanging from their waists, and sideburns and jaws adorned with human and elven hair.

"What are you looking for, Kerryben?" asked an elf curiously, the wind above was as violent as a blind bison, and even an elf would find it difficult to hang on it for a long time.

"Find a human mage. Carey Ben said.

"You suspect that humans are involved in this war?"

"This sophisticated instrument cannot be made and assembled by orcs alone," Kerribben said, "unless some orc suddenly becomes a believer in Ogmar, the god of learning." ”

"Sometimes I really don't understand what those humans think," another elf commented, "Orcs - do they think that in this evil and chaotic creature they can rule and govern them better? ”

"Some people think they're exceptional. "And for them, the sky and the earth, which belong to all, are no more important than a pebble in their hands." ”

"We have the strongest warriors," said the leader of the Black Bloods, "and the priests who have received the most bounty from the great Kawula, and we don't need humans to guard us for anything." ”

His words were rude and stupid - he seemed to have forgotten who had brought the two giant trebuchets and the battering ram with the head of an iron ram, the fingers of the mage's apprentices twitched slightly, their weapons were confiscated when they entered the great tent full of tribal leaders, but a spellcaster had never relied on Mithril Adamantite, and they were absolutely sure that they could kill the orc or just blind him and cut off his legs and arms before the priest intervened. The latter method puts them in a better mood than the former. For orcs, a disabled orc, not only is he no longer their leader, he can't even be considered a warrior, he will be stripped of his precious armor and leather robes, and he will be driven into the circle of half-orcs and slaves naked, and use his ** to fight against human swords.

But their mentor simply shifted his gaze to the center of the tent, the owner of Blizzard, the largest tribe of the orcs, the leader of the orcs who was called Gersh, he was taller and stronger than the other orcs, his muscles arched under the green skin, like a pile of rubble wrapped in a layer of moss, and beyond the rubble was black hair like night, with fangs as long as the palm of a human hand protruding out of his lips, and his long, bright eyes showed a dark red in the faint light that even orcs looked very ominous. But it shone with the wisdom of a mage that could only be seen in the eyes of some older and learned humans.

He was indeed the most special of the orcs, he bought humans from merchants who knew how to count and write, and learned from them the human language and other knowledge that he found useful - although these "teachers" were inevitably reduced to slavery and food after being squeezed out of their minds, but throughout the learning process, the red-robed mages knew that they were treated almost as well as the orc warriors, and for this, the warriors of the Blizzard tribe once staged one or two small riots against their leader, But in the end, without exception, they became the most straightforward and conclusive proof that Gersh could come up with—to prove that an orc learning human things does not make him as cowardly and useless as a human.

Oh, Gersh wasn't Gersh then, he was still an orc bare-eyed, but since he had killed every orc in the tribe who dared to show his teeth at him - no orc dared to ruffle his beard again, and he decided to call himself Gersh - in the language of the orcs, it means uniqueness - of course no one objected, not even the old priest who named him.

"You're a guest," said Gersh, and the tent fell silent for a moment—even though he had always been silent while the other orcs were screaming and trying to show his prowess, but as soon as he spoke, yes, that's it, all the orcs would shut up and listen quietly and intently to every word he uttered: "You are a guest," Gersh repeated: It is said that a man must follow three rules when entertaining his guests, one of which is that the host must ensure the safety of his guests, and the mage, the battlefield will not be a safe place in any case, so it is said," he said, "He was very well armoured, and it was evident that it was done according to his shape, and his hand with a ring glove patted his knee the size of a sheep's head: "Come to my tent," Gersh invited. Let's drink, eat meat, and beat the drums, and I have three human slave girls and a bard there, and we can sit high on the peak, light a bonfire, and watch our warriors take Thundercastle. ”

His words sounded much sweeter than the leaders of the Black Blood Tribe, but in the end they meant the same thing - about the guards of the two giant trebuchets that the orcs were reluctant to let the human mages intervene in - partly because of their arrogance, and partly because the orc priests didn't want the mages to take their prey.

Between the trebuchet and the walls were hundreds of orcs surging and excited like ant colonies, trying to penetrate them was like trying to penetrate the entire Dragonspine Mountains, and the only ones who could approach these two instruments that posed a great threat to Gershburg and could destroy them were elves, and elves, no matter what they were used for, sacrifices or spell casting materials, were the most favored by red-robed mages and orc priests, and as long as time and place permitted, every part of the elves would be used thoroughly and without waste, including their souls and emotions.

The mage stood up, and among the orcs, a human looked particularly weak and thin, but he didn't seem to notice what a dangerous position he was in, and his face did not show the resentment and stiffness of being forcibly expelled from the hunting circle, and he bowed to Gersh calmly, thanking and obeying Gersh's will.

"I'll give you more gems," said Gersh after leaving the tent where the orc leaders gathered, "blood marrow, agate, obsidian, pyroxene, and opal - I can also give you a bag of gold, as heavy as your apprentice, and if we can take Gershburg, you can also choose a hundred humans from it, you can choose from it, women, men, old men, children, anyone but Birdwin of Thundercastle." ”

"What if?" said the mage, "isn't that for sure?"

Gersh smiled, an orc laughing that only made people feel terrified, their faces were like all kinds of beasts being mixed together, and the smile would tear the muscles back of their cheeks, revealing two rows of white teeth as bright as daggers, "Great Kawulu thirsts for blood and death, elves are the best, humans are good, orcs are good - this winter our god will enjoy a feast that has never been seen before, and that is enough, he will be satisfied." ”

"Actually, for me," said the red-robed mage, "you're not a good patron," he didn't seem to notice Gersh's sudden stop, "you don't seem to like my potion very much?"

"Kauhae doesn't like the creation of elves," said Gersh slyly, "even if it's defiled." ”

The mage turned to stare at their feet - Gersh's tent was stationed on the side of the steep ridge as he liked, the wind blew the smell of white phosphorus, and Gersh sneezed, "How many Blizzard Tribe's soldiers and warriors are down there?" The mage asked, "One-third, one-fifth?"

"Ten centurions with their soldiers. Gersh said that he was the first leader to use the title of warrior, hundred, and thousand, and knew how to count, in the sense that he was more ambitious and commensurate than the orc leaders who only relied on priests and counting fingers, and although not smart enough, he was willing to make the mage willing to waste some precious time on him.

"It's not too much, it's even a bit less than the Blizzard tribes of previous years, it's a shame that you don't want to use my potion, so you can't come up with more soldiers - it's too bad, they still fear you, and are intimidated by the brutality and power you left in their memories, but if you win, those orcs will get more wealth and slaves than you, and the power between you will change- With all due respect, Venerable Kawuhae encouraged his people to weed out the weakened tribes, divide them, and eat them. ”

Gersh twitched his nose, the smell of white phosphorus garlic made him still want to sneeze again, "I learned a lot from those humans, a lot, I can't say that everything is useful to tribes and orcs, but there are still some interesting things in it- For example, the mages in red robes are bad temperaments who hide poison in honey and needles wrapped in soft blankets, and you think you can take a copper coin from them, but they will take the skin from your last toe and testicles...... They don't take life and soul seriously, yes, mage, I don't believe in you - and your potion. ”

With that, Gersh turned and walked to his tent, and the mage only smiled, his fingers quivering, unnoticed by the orc warriors who followed him—a transparent shadow emerged from the mage's sleeve, and their feet had gone into the shadow of the rock, and from the shadow of the rock into the shadow of the soldiers guarding the trebuchet, and finally came to rest on the trebuchet's pulley.

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