A Mass Battle

We tailed the Gurgam column as it marched down the hills towards the Gnaeblin village.  Elenhugh kept us a mile from the column, and down wind of them as we were taking no chances.  We heard the fighting start up ahead, and we closed up behind the ranks of the enemy.  There, at the back, were the Ogruks, driving their slaves on into battle.

The idea was not to become involved straight away, we wanted them fully focussed on their enemy when we joined in.  We sat back for ten or fifteen minutes, and watched them slowly press on into the village.  Half the Ogruks had departed off to the west, round to the side of the battle away from us.  Elenhugh carefully picked his moment.  Barr went in first, he sneaked over to the Ogruks, as he killed the closest one Daran and Kenner ran screaming at them.  We caught them on the hop a little, another two fell to the brutal attacks of the warriors, while to the side another fell to Barr's nifty blade.  That was four Ogruks taken care of, there were only three left, but now we had the attention of the Gurgam just in front of them.  But with fewer Ogruks to control them some of the Gurgam had ideas of their own, a dozen or so turned and tried to flee back up the track where they'd come from.

The Ogruks tried to keep the Gurgam on course and at the same time defend against Kenner and Daran.  It was at this point that Mullory and I marched forward and engaged the Gurgam from the side, under the cover of Elenhugh's magic as i passed overhead and into the rank of Gurgam closest to us.  I'm not an advocate of violence but it was wholly fulfilling to be chopping away at these horrible enemy. I might have become a little carried away, I picked up a couple of hits that I ignored (and which were mostly deflected by my new armour anyway) but I think I finished off half a dozen of them before I backed off again.

Mullory and I had pushed a big gap through them, and we had gone a long way in.  I could hear Kenner and the fighting that surrounded he and Daran to my right, but they were out of sight behind a wall of Gurgam.  Some of the enemy were giving up and trying to run away, but I gathered by breath and went back to the fighting.  Then we were through, we'd pushed through the entire column, and ahead of us we could see the Gnaeblin and Dzarraf pushing them back towards us.  Then I heard a voice that I'd not expected and it was filled with surprise.  It was Hushmaz.

It was really good to see him.  For a moment we forgot about the fighting, which was dying down around us, and he came over and we embraced.  He was truly pleased to see me, he couldn't believe I was fighting in my woollen day clothes.  But I think I went up in is estimation once again.  We returned to fighting, which was now looking like it was almost over.

It took just a few minutes more - we soon had the Gurgam scurrying for the hills; our scouts reckoned that only twenty or so made it away alive.  There is to be something of a celebration tonight, casualties on our side have been light, and it's a good victory in military terms.

I introduced my new friends to Hushmaz, and I told him of their spectacular help in aiding me as I escaped the Gurgam and in attacking their lair only a few days later.  He told me that he'd used my disappearance as a rallying call back in the delve, so it's only fitting that my new friends should be invited to join in the feast in honour.

Hushmaz and I broke away from the main group and walked separately for a while.  The first thing he said to me was that he thought I'd lost weight.  I looked fitter and sharper than I had when I left.  I took that as a compliment, but it's a result of my constricted diet and heavy effort, especially in the last few days where we've covered a huge distance.  He really wanted to talk of the recent military happenings, though.  He told me that 5 days ago, in response to the news of my disappearance and a new call for volunteers, we had 500 new Dzarraf troops on hand.  The day after they had arrived, he joined them up with a thousand Gnaeblin who had gathered from the towns that has beaten back assaults, and they've gone away to the east, up into the mountains to slaughter as many Ogruks and Gurgam as they can find.

His assessment is that, with the huge losses inflicted on the Gurgam over the past few weeks, any current immediate threat appears to have abated - this column that we'd just fought was the last big one they've seen.  As far as he is concerned the main fight is now over, and with the attack pushed back onto the Gurgam, the war is considered won.  The fighting will officially be over when the troops return, until then everyone is staying on alert but he feels there is nothing more to be worried about.

We'll be joining in the my new friends in a few minutes, and I've managed to find some clothes that might fit me.  There are a lot of Dzarraf here in the camp from whom I could scrounge.  All the twenty mercenaries that the scout told us of survived, and there is Hushmaz' own column of troops who it seems arrived at dawn this morning.  It's almost like being at home again.