Dungeons and Dragons: Forged In Flame (COMPLETED)

Chapter 9: Dragonborn Vs Orcs

Note: Just saying, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a while now; it's a biggie! Hope you enjoy :)

The army of Delmirev Dragonborns was the only force standing between Delmirev and the Orcs. The Orc army stood in a big line of leather armour that only partially covered their bodies, so that their green flesh was exposed in areas like their chests and legs. Their teeth were almost as big as their muscles, yellow after years of neglect. Their greasy black hair was mainly tied in buns and ponytails, but some Orcs let their hair flow naturally, and some had their hair cut short. They were an intimidating sight.
Leaper, Zealous and Shieldbiter exchanged looks. Earbender was unable to join them after it turned out that his condition was worse than they first thought. Leaper had gotten a letter from Climber saying that he wasn't coming, and he probably wouldn't come ever again. So, it was just the three of them, moments before Leaper's father declared war and led the charge into battle, one that they knew would be bloody and relentless.
"Dragonborn, attack!" Leaper heard his father cry out.
A booming battle cry followed as the army charged towards the Orcs, and they did the same. Leaper lost Zealous and Shieldbiter in the opening chaos, trying to stay ahead of the charge.
Leaper saw an area of land higher than the rest as he approached the Orcs and decided to head towards it. He clutched his battleaxe as he jumped off of the ledge and cut an Orc's head clean in half. Leaper then immediately cut off another Orc's legs with one swipe. As the Orc lay screaming and bleeding on the floor, Leaper finished him off with a cut to the neck.
An Orc who had witnessed Leaper's actions began to slowly retreat away from him, whimpering to himself.
"Oh no you don't!" Leaper shouted.
Leaper pulled out a knife from a utility belt in his dark grey metal armour. While in the army, he had practiced knife throwing quite a bit. He just hoped he could pull it off now. Leaper threw his knife as hard as he could, and he pierced the fleeing Orc in the centre of his neck.
"Nice shot!" Kriv complemented Leaper from nearby.
Leaper looked over at Kriv just as an Orc appeared behind him and stabbed him in the neck. Kriv was still smiling his irritating smile as he collapsed to the floor, dead. Leaper rushed the Orc who had done the deed, and used his axe to open a hole in the Orc's belly. His intestines all came out of the hole and the Orc landed on them. It was a grotesque sight, but Leaper had had his fair share of grotesque in the last few years.
"I'm sorry, Kriv," Leaper whispered, closing the man's eyes, then leaving him to rest.
By now, the fight was in full swing. Leaper easily killed another two Orcs who thought they could take him on, but failed painfully. He had to duck when a flurry of arrows flew over his head, but he couldn't tell where they had come from.
While he was distracted, and Orc ran at Leaper from behind. Luckily, Leaper saw just in time so he only got a cut on his upper arm from the Orc's sword. Leaper killed the Orc shortly after easily.
Leaper swore; the cut stung badly, but he wouldn't be able to heal himself until after the battle. For now, Leaper took a strip of cloth off of the Orc he had just killed and wrapped it around the cut. It was blood soaked in seconds. All Leaper could do was grimace and move on.
After cutting down relentless Orcs for a few minutes, Leaper started to get bored. He hadn't seen Zealous, Akra, Shieldbiter or his father yet, so he hoped he would see at least one of them soon.
And there he was. Shieldbiter, slashing up Orcs with his longsword. He spotted Leaper and waved at him as he jabbed his sword into an Orc's throat.
"Hi!" Shieldbiter shouted.
"How you doing?" Leaper called.
"I'm doing alright. How about you?"
"I'm good."
Leaper chopped an Orc in half. His torso and legs landed on top of each other. Shieldbiter speared another Orc straight through the heart; the Orc was dead before Shieldbiter had even pulled his sword out of him.
"Is it wrong that I like killing these people?" Shieldbiter grunted.
"Yes," Leaper replied.
"Do you like killing these people?"
"Also yes."
Shieldbiter laughed and sliced up another Orc.
"You know, one day I want to slay a dragon. Us five. Me, you, Earbender, Zealous and Climber. We could do it together!" Shieldbiter suggested.
"That'd be cool," Leaper smiled.
Then, in the distance, Leaper saw his father. He was devastating the Orcs so rapidly that he didn't seem to notice his son standing just a few metres away.
"I should best get going. That's my dad over there," Leaper pointed.
"Oh yeah. See you around, then. Have fun!" Shieldbiter said.
"I will."
Leaper ran over to his father, striking away any foes in his path. When he did make it, his father almost jumped out of his skin.
"Woah, Leaper! You scared me then!" Leaper's father gasped.
"Sorry. I just saw you and thought I'd come over," Leaper shrugged.
"That's nice. How are you feeling?"
Leaper's father kicked an Orc towards Leaper, and Leaper chopped his axe into the back of his head.
"I'm doing alright. Got a seventeen-kill streak going on at the moment. How about you?"
"I'm goodie good. I lost count of my kills. But it doesn't matter how many kills you get or whether you get more than anyone else. Every Orc who dies is an Orc who won't be making it into Delmirev."
"Are we winning though, do you reckon?"
"Well, yes. But so many Dragonborn have already died..."
Leaper froze. What?
Leaper looked around. This time, within the Orc bodies, he saw all of the Dragonborn bodies strewn throughout, too. He covered his mouth with his hands. It was a horrible sight.
Leaper spotted a Dragonborn with bronze scales within the gore who was still alive. One of his legs was nowhere to be seen and all of his armour and weapons had been looted. He crawled over to Leaper and his father in his underwear while they looked on, horrified.
"Please...! Oh, by God, help me!" The man begged Leaper.
"We have to do something!" Leaper turned to his father.
Leaper's father looked around and for any sneaky Orcs who may have been approaching, then he nodded.
"I'll cover you," Leaper's father agreed, clutching his sword.
Leaper heaved the man onto his shoulders, then moved towards where he knew the medics had set up shop. Leaper's father brutally extinguished any attempts to kill the three of them. Soon, the medic's office was in sight.
"Father, stay here. I will only be a moment. Keep them out of Delmirev at all costs," Leaper ordered his father. He figured that he shouldn't have been ordering his father around, since he was in charge, but Leaper wasn't willing to take any chances.
"OK. And since when did you give orders?" Leaper's father grinned.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm just passionate."
"Good. The army needs people like you. See? I told you you'd fit in."
"Hello?! I'm dying up here!" The bronze Dragonborn cried. The blood from his missing leg cascaded down Leaper's arm; it was warm and slick.
"Right. See you in a minute, father," Leaper nodded.
Leaper ran into the medic's office with the Dragonborn still on his back. Several nurses jumped up at his arrival.
"Help! I need help!" Leaper shouted.
The nurses hadn't even arrived when the Dragonborn started laughing. Leaper looked at him confusedly, but he wasn't looking at a Dragonborn; an Orc looked back at him. Leaper dropped him on the floor.
"What the hell?!" Leaper grumbled.
"Oh, you fool!" The Orc giggled.
"What is this?"
"I disguised myself!"
"How could you even do such a thing? Where did you get that magic?"
The Orc put one finger on his warty nose. He wasn't telling.
"Why have you tricked me?"
"Because I knew you'd help me by coming here. And that meant that you'd leave your father! Alone!"
Leaper's heart sank. He had to hurry. He killed the Orc with one furious blow, then left without apologizing to any of the shocked nurses and doctors.
As soon as Leaper was outside, he could see his father trying to fend off an unimaginable wave of Orcs. He appeared to be doing well, but Leaper knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.
He went in to help his father, but he simply couldn't get through. It was odd; none of the Orcs seemed to care about Leaper. They turned to fend him off, threw him aside, then went back to his father. They weren't trying to kill him. They wanted his father.
"Father! Dad! Get off him!" Leaper shouted futilely.
Leaper spotted a gap in the Orcs formation, so he used it to work his way inside. Then, once he was in there, he easily killed the Orcs. They were not expecting him to be inside, and they all fell one after the other.
Then, they were all dead.
"Dad! It was a trap! That bronze Dragonborn was an Orc in disguise!" Leaper shouted.
"Was he, now? Where would he get magic like that?" Leaper's father wondered.
"I asked him. He wouldn't answer."
"That's a shame."
"I think they were trying to kill you."
"You sound surprised. Are you really surprised?"
"...No."
"That's what I thought."

Leaper and his father were so busy talking that neither of them noticed the Orc behind them. He stared at a gap in the Admiral's armour near his heart and loaded his arrow into his bow. His son was busy killing other Orcs, so he was distracted for the time being.
Good, the Orc thought with a smile. He took aim and fired.

Leaper heard his father grunt behind him. He looked away from the other Orcs for just a moment to see his father pull an arrow out of his back. It was shiny with dark red sheen. Blood!
Leaper's father collapsed to the ground. Leaper slowly walked over to his father, not quite believing what he was seeing. Everything felt like it was un slow motion, as if Leaper was watching himself in a movie or reading about himself in a book.
"Dad? Dad! DAD!" Leaper cried.
"Leaper. I'm finished. I wasn't concentrating," Leaper's father grimaced.
"No. This is not your fault. Somebody HELP!"
"No, Leaper. You have to stop!"
"I can't just give up on you!"
"Leaper. I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry-"
"Tell your mother that I love her, and say goodbye to Heskan for me."
"No, don't say that! We can help!"
Leaper's father coughed up some blood and Leaper sat on the floor and cradled his father's head in his lap. His trousers were covered in blood, but he didn't care about that anymore.
"Just come close, now," Leaper's father told him.
Leaper bent in towards his father.
"Closer."
Leaper bent even further. His father coughed, and Leaper felt his father's blood splat onto his face. He tried not to flinch or wipe it off as not to be rude.
"Leaper, you are the next Admiral. But, for now, you have to be a soldier. Be a soldier, Leaper. And live."
One moment, Leaper was knelt in a hole on a battlefield with his dying father. The next, Leaper was alone in a hole on a battlefield by himself with a dead body.
Leaper screamed in pain and anguish. And everyone around him heard his cries.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1988 Words