Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining fourteen threats.

  Not surprisingly, Becky’s Spirit Hawk spotted an orc scout ranging ahead of the rest of the band. She and Sven ambushed the lone orc, dispatching him quietly.

  Sven hesitated to take the mission at first, doubting his ability to take down a full-blooded orc, even with the element of surprise.

  Becky stepped in before Hans could speak. “You ain’t arm wrestling the thing. Orcs might be big and strong but put a knife in their throat, and I bet they die like any other walking meat. Right, Hans?”

  “Right. Downward stab between the neck and the shoulder, like you’re putting the knife between their throat and their spine. Just like we’ve trained. And if you can stab once you can probably get two or three in pretty fast.”

  Becky and Hans were indeed right. The scout resisted death, managing only a harsh rasp when he attempted to alert his allies. While the orc struggled to keep blood inside of his body, Becky moved in to swiftly finish the job.

  With the scout eliminated, the Spirit Hawk reported the movements of the remaining warband. Two orc warriors brought up the rear, preceded by three orc mages. The rest of the orc warriors were immediately in front of the casters, and the three tusks were in the lead, presumably to serve as expendable, walking shields.

  The warband route was as Becky predicted, so the adventurers quietly assumed their positions around the gully.

  Hans had hiked through countless gullies just like this one in his time as an adventurer. Heavily forested areas, especially near mountains, often had dozens of creeks eroding forest floor over the span of centuries. Those creeks carved two steep hillsides with a trickle of water running down the middle. Gullies and ravines always gave Hans a similar feeling, but with a gully, walking down one side and back up the other was perfectly manageable.

  The trail would be steep as all hells, but nobody needed climbing gear to traverse the gap.

  The game trail the orcs followed cut a crude diagonal across this particular Gomi gully. The orcs would come down one hill, walk along the creek for several paces, and then hike up the other side.

  Though the air had the heavy stillness of summer heat, Becky advised on wind direction, hiding the smell of their party from their enemy.

  Chisel, Becky, Buru, and Honronk waited on the far side of the gully where they could both block the path and secure a highground advantage.

  Hans, Lee, Bel, Sven, and Yotuli were on the opposite side of the gully, positioned to flank the warband moving down the trail.

  The plan itself was relatively simple: eliminate the orc mages first and then clear the warriors. If their timing was right, they could strike when the majority of the orc warriors were in the gully. Once the orc mages were down, they could attack the rest from both sides.

  They hoped to safely incapacitate the possessed tusks in the process. Hoped.

  The battle itself played out in under two minutes, the first minute having the most action.

  And the action began with Petal.

  Hans watched from cover with the Silvers, the Apprentice Rogue, and the Apprentice Cleric. His party would make the first strike on Petal’s mark.

  The warband stomped through the forest. Where most orcs grumbled and bickered, these orcs moved with disciplined quiet. If they had Becky’s light feet, Hans wouldn’t have known they were coming.

  The single-file march snaked down the game trail. The tusks up front were adventurers, as they suspected. Two were outfitted like Fighters, and the other was likely a caster of some kind. Based on their gear, Hans estimated they were high Iron-ranked if not Bronze-ranked.

  The orc warriors were a range of green-yellow-brown skin tones. All were between seven and eight feet tall, outfitted in scale mail accented with trophies from previous battles–human remains, mostly, stitched into their armor. Skulls. Jawbones. Femurs. Ears.

  Despite their grisly appearances, Hans was relieved to see their choice of armor. The orcs the kingdom usually encountered were functionally naked in battle. When Hans heard these orcs were properly outfitted, he worried the armor would present too great an obstacle for his adventurers.

  Scale mail was not ideal, but the orcish version of the armor covered their shoulders, chests, and midway down their thighs, leaving their bulging arm and leg muscles open to the air.

  The orc mages, meanwhile, were adorned in all manner of trinkets–necklaces with wooden beads and human teeth, belts of human hands, and wide piercings in their ears, noses, and lips, with pieces of bright white bone fitted into the gaps.

  The tusks marched right by the hiding adventurers, followed by the majority of the orc warriors. When the orc mages began their descent into the gully, the branches over their heads shook. A small, fuzzy white creature dropped to the trail in between two of the savage spellcasters.

  Petal gave her strongest opossum bark, like a single beat of a forceful cough, with as much power as her tiny lungs could manage. She bared her teeth, and her fur stood on end.

  The orc mages and the two warriors behind them stopped. Two of the mages leaned down to get a better look at the odd rodent, not sure what to make of the opossum’s sudden appearance.

  Petal fell to her side dramatically and curled into a ball. The frontmost mage poked her with a finger.

  “Wub lat?” the orc muttered in a deep, mucus-wet voice.

  Hans nodded to his party.

  Yotuli closed her eyes and said, “Bless these bastards so that they may wander another day.”

  A warm surge of energy flooded Hans’ body. If a level beyond “well-rested” existed, this is what it would feel like. Strong. Focused. Ready.

  Yotuli’s Inspiration spell buffed Sven, Bel, and Lee as well. On Hans’ signal, they leapt from their hiding places. Hans and Lee led with Yotuli coming in behind. Bel remained in place to cast from a safe distance. Sven stayed with her, drawing his bow.

  Lee shot forward, her legs blurring as they pumped–the result of her casting Agility and Strength on herself.

  One of the two warriors bringing up the rear of the warband stepped between the Silver-ranked Spellsword and the orc mages. The orc wielded a great sword with both hands, its blade black and uneven, like the extended body of a slithering snake. The gnarled edge blocked Lee’s overhead strike. She leaned into the blow, using her weight to keep her sword pressed against the orc’s. The orc licked his lips.

  Lee cast Push.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining thirteen threats.

  The great sword embedded itself in the orc’s face, the cracking of its skull sounding like crinkling leaves mixed with the squish of a foot in mud.

  An arrow soared over Hans’ shoulder. Its intended target, an orc mage, deftly dodged. Then Hans was on the same enemy.

  His sword struck a Barrier. He thought he saw the mage smile as it cast Push, flinging Hans away. The Guild Master rolled backward to absorb the impact and returned to his feet to launch another attack, running back to meet his foe again.

  A Wall of Force cut across the trail in the middle of the enemy force, separating Hans’ party, one orc mage, and one orc warrior from the rest of the warband. Fireballs, arrows, and meteors crashed into the Wall of Force. It rippled like the surface of a lake but held.

  As Hans sprinted to resume his attack, he saw the mage fix his gaze on Lee and begin an incantation. Angry confusion spread across his face when his spell failed.

  Hans hacked at the Barrier while the orc mage spoke another incantation in a tongue he didn’t recognize. The orc’s head jerked backward, and a long black arm reached out of his mouth. The texture of the arm’s skin was stringy and coarse, like exposed muscle. The size of the demon leaving the orc didn't make sense according to Hans’ understanding of physical reality.

  How could something that big crawl out from inside a much smaller body?

  At first, the proportions reminded Hans of the long-limbed strangle goblins. But this wasn’t a strangle goblin.

  Demon.

  A Force Bolt struck the orc mage’s Barrier, shattering it like glass. Hans attacked immediately, running the orc mage through just as the top of a head and shoulder emerged from between its pierced lips. He cut off the orc’s head next to be certain that the summoning would not continue. The demon turned to ash.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining twelve threats.

  In that moment, Hans became aware of three large creatures galloping through the forest, coming from the opposite side of the trail, upwind of the orcs.

  He couldn’t see them yet.

  Next to him, Lee traded blows with an orc wielding a battle axe. The sound of metal crashing against metal echoed through the trees as each tried to break the other’s guard. An arrow glanced off of the orc’s pauldron, and then a Force Bolt pierced its face and continued its trajectory, splintering against a tree.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining eleven threats.

  Two orc warriors crashed through brush and low branches, going around the Wall of Force to target Sven and Yotuli.

  “Cover!” Hans heard a voice yell from across the gully. He believed it was Chisel’s.

  Then he saw the reason for the call: a circle of red fire expanded outward from one of the two remaining orc mages, shooting in every direction. Hans spun on his heel to take cover behind a tree.

  The old oak mostly spared him, but the greaves and flesh on his right leg melted together from the knee down. Whether it was the Inspiration or his adrenaline, the pain came to him like a postscript, something important but not important enough for his attention right now.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Though the flames passed through nearly every orc, the fire did not harm the orcs or their tusks.

  Somewhere over his shoulder, Hans heard the earth rumble and fracture. Bel’s Earthquake spell. In that moment, Hans decided to ignore the two warriors pursuing his Rogue and Mage.

  Bel and Sven can handle themselves.

  Where’s Yotuli?

  When Hans looked around the tree, another wall of flames radiated outward from one of the remaining orc mages. The demon emerging from the orc’s mouth was free down to its waist, clawing upward at the sky to get completely free. Its black head didn’t have eyes but had two mouths of long, dagger-like teeth. One on the “front” and one on the “back” of its head, were the creature something vaguely humanoid that is. Hans ducked back behind the tree. The fire roared by. The next wave nearly got his face.

  Three or four paces down the gully, he spotted Yotuli sheltering behind a tree. Several orcs must have attempted to rush Bel and Sven, and Yotuli intervened. Only two of four got through. The other two closed on the Cleric, using the fire to keep her cornered.

  Hans was pinned too. Behind him, any fire that hadn’t yet hit an obstacle continued racing across the forest floor, scorching everything in its path.

  Then it winked out, that same second accompanied by a thunderclap. Hunks of red sprayed the back of his tree. When he looked again, still cautious of getting caught in the fire, the orc and its demon were gone. Only a red smudge remained.

  Huh. The orc exploded.

  Hans didn’t know how that explosion came to manifest itself, but now wasn’t the time to find that answer. Whatever happened, one more orc was dead.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining ten threats.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining eleven threats.

  A demon the size of a wagon ran at Hans. Every part of the monster was long and thin. It moved on four arms–yes, arms, not legs–crossing several yards with every unnatural gallop.

  When the beast was close enough to pounce on Hans, it staggered sideways. Lee’s Push disrupted its charge. The demon screamed from both mouths. It sounded like a human woman yelling underwater.

  He couldn’t see Yotuli. He hadn’t been able to help her. He hoped she was okay.

  Then at last, the three large creatures he heard approaching arrived, except there were four. Though Becki’s pace was furious, her Druid blessing hid her footfalls completely. A grizzly bear and two dire wolves–roughly equal in size to the bear–followed the warthog. Becki turned sharply, diving into the gully to aid her master fighting on the opposite side of the battle. The grizzly bear joined her.

  One of the wolves leapt at the last orc mage while the other intercepted another orc warrior drawing an arrow, aiming for Bel. One of the previous two warriors–the ones Hans chose to ignore–roared as it struggled to stand on a broken leg. Two arrows were in its chest. The headless corpse of the other warrior draped over a fallen log a few paces closer to Bel and Sven.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining ten threats.

  A dire wolf soared through the air, thrown by an orc warrior. It was alive, but it had a long gash in its side. Its orcish opponent had lost most of his right shoulder. That arm dangled from sinew.

  An arrow went through its eye.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining nine threats.

  “Mage!” Hans yelled, calling for Lee to abandon the demon and target the remaining orc mage.

  The demon leapt at Hans again. He braced to take it on his shield, hoping to redirect as much of the violence as he could. The monster smashed into a Wall of Force and shrieked again. The wall suddenly dropped, just in time for an arrow to glance off of the demon’s torso.

  Then it jumped straight up, grabbing a branch with one of its hands, swinging itself from branch to branch, putting each of its four hands to use as its path zigged and zagged, darting hauntingly fast through the forest and toward Bel and Sven. Four more arrows struck the demon. None penetrated, and the monster seemed wholly unbothered.

  Making a decision he hoped was the right one, Hans pursued the demon and not the mage.

  Leaving Lee by herself was not ideal, but the demon had to be a priority. Bel and Sven weren’t equipped for a melee encounter with something like that, and if the demon escaped into the forest, Gomi would have an entirely new problem.

  As he sprinted after the demon, Hans felt the skin on his right leg sliding beneath his greaves, up and down in one melted sheet, every step bending and stretching his burn.

  He reached the orc with the broken leg first. Though it knelt, it still managed a powerful spear thrust. Hans parried and painted a slash across its throat. He barely slowed.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining eight threats.

  Bel hurled meteor after meteor at the demon. The impacts slowed the monster and brought it to the ground, but they did no visible damage. A Wall of Force blocked its path, the monster only feet away from the Silver Black Mage.

  “Sven!” Bel shouted. “Run!”

  Instead, Sven drew his rapier and ran forward.

  The Force obstacle slowed the demon long enough for Hans to close the distance and deliver a powerful blow to one of its rear elbows. His sword bounced off the limb, leaving only a shallow, superficial gash, as if his blade was no more than a briar thorn.

  Iron skin… Its neck will be the same…

  “Aim for its mouth!”

  Though that was a common weakness for many monsters, stabbing a demon through the mouth was not an easy feat, to the point that he had only ever read about it as a tactic. He’d never see someone pull it off in person. Any attempts he did witness–maybe three total–the monster was far too savvy for the blow to get through.

  A ray of golden light blazed across the forest, coming from somewhere vaguely behind him, and shone onto the demon’s side. Where it touched, the black flesh fizzled and bubbled.

  Yotuli learned a Holy spell?

  Hans attacked the wounded flesh, targeting the light. He thanked the gods when he felt the beautiful sensation of his sword wounding the monster. Pushing hard with his legs, he thrust the blade as deep as he could. The demon wailed, spun, and backhanded Hans. The blow was strong enough that he was too disoriented to roll out of it. He ragdolled through the air and came to a sliding stop on his right shoulder.

  He heard something crack in his chest.

  Looking around for a weapon, his only two options–an orcish battleaxe and an orcish greatsword–were too large for him to wield. He drew a hunting knife instead.

  Following Hans’ example, Bel launched a Force Bolt where the light touched the demon. The demon melted to ash two bolts later.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining seven threats.

  Whirling around to return to the orc mage, he saw its corpse slumped forward on the ground.

  Quest Update: Eliminate the remaining six threats.

  He scanned, searching for the next enemy. He counted orc corpses as he went, and hoped he wouldn’t have to count the corpses of friends. He found none, but he saw plenty of injuries. Two of the possessed tusks sat in the dirt, their faces in their hands. The body of the third lay a few feet away–one of the warriors.

  One living orc warrior struggled against Druid Vines but couldn’t so much as sit up.

  It's over.

  Quest Update: Confirm the orcs are defeated and tend to the wounded.

  “If you have a serious wound, go to Chisel and Bel. Remember, bleeding out after a battle is not heroic. It’s a waste of an adventurer. Everyone else, fan out and look for survivors. The fight isn’t over until we confirm it.”

  As the adventurers followed their orders, Hans searched his people for injuries. Despite his instructions, there was often one person who hid the seriousness of the damage. He saw Becky tending to the wounded dire wolf. The wound was ugly, but it should survive. The other dire wolf watched her work, and the grizzly bear waited her turn, several long slices across her forelegs and down her back. Becki stood away from the group, facing the forest. The boar had three deep gashes on her chest, but she didn't seem to be in pain.

  Watching for new dangers had her complete focus.

  Buru picked Petal’s coiled body up from the ground where she had fallen. He wiped off as much dirt and blood as he could–none of which appeared to belong to the opossum. She was unharmed. Still cradling his familiar, Buru set off into the forest to look for enemy survivors.

  Yotuli limped. No part of her leg was bent at a horrific angle, and she wasn’t screaming in pain. She either sprained or fractured her ankle, which was a pretty good outcome, all things considered.

  Honronk hurried up the creek to help Yotuli. He had a few scrapes and cuts but was unharmed otherwise. Chisel followed behind Honronk, her gear marred by dirt and mud. Hans couldn’t see a single scratch on the White Mage Apprentice.

  Hans spotted Sven and Bel walking into the woods as well. They seemed to be fine.

  Is that everyone?

  “Where’s Lee?” Hans yelled.

  Chisel caught Hans’ attention and used her head to indicate a tree near the fallen tusk. He walked sideways to look around the trunk blocking his view. He found Lee sitting on the ground, her face in her hands, her bloody sword in the leaves next to her.

  The battlefield math was easy enough in this scenario. Lee must have been the one to kill the possessed tusk. That weight would be with her for the rest of her life.

  Hans sighed, sad for her.

  Everyone accounted for, the Guild Master approached the two rescued tusks. One was outfitted like a mage, and the other was outfitted like an Archer.

  “I’m sorry that I have to do this, but I need your hands.”

  The adventurers looked up at Hans and nodded slowly, putting their wrists together to be tied without resistance.

  “You’re not prisoners, but we have people to treat before we can confirm you’re you again. As soon as we’ve done that, ropes come off.”

  When Hans finished the knots, the two tusks slowly lowered their arms and put their heads between their knees, slumping as far forward as they could with their hands bound in front of them.

  He tasked Honronk with watching them as he made his way over to Becky and the animals.

  “Mr. Hans!” Chisel yelled, and pointed at the captured orc warrior. His leg restraints were beginning to fray, on the verge of breaking completely.

  The orc spat at Hans as he approached. “Aughagh fooktin kult hummie shit.”

  “No,” Hans said. He kicked the orc in the chin. With one foot, he rolled the warrior face down.

  “Fooktin glob! Lat magru! Lat magru! You die!”

  The orcs words turned to unintelligible frothing when Hans cut the tendons in both of the orc’s knees.

  He left the orc in the dirt and went to Becky.

  Bonus Objective Complete: Take a prisoner.

  “Gods, Becky. Your arm is broke.”

  “It’s a clean one,” she answered, now focused on tending to a few slashes on Becki’s chest. She held her left arm to her body and worked exclusively with her right. “It can wait.”

  The grizzly bear bumped Hans with her head.

  “Mama bear says hello,” Becky said, not looking up from her work.

  Mama bear?

  “Is this the bear from the squonks?” Hans asked.

  “Nothing gets past you, boss.”

  Laughing to himself, Hans asked Becky to summon a Spirit Hawk when she reached a stopping point. He wanted one more set of eyes scouting for stray orcs.

  Quest Update: Confirm orc defeat and return to the dungeon to contain the regrowth.

  New Quest: Deliver injured adventurers to Gomi.

  New Quest: Confirm the new tusks are free of any Blood magic influence.

  New Quest: Give the fallen tusk an adventurer’s funeral.

  Open Quests (Ordered from Old to New):

  Progress from Gold-ranked to Diamond-ranked.

  Mend the rift with Devon.

  Complete the next volume (Iron to Bronze) for "The Next Generation: A Teaching Methodology for Training Adventurers."

  Find a way for Gomi adventurers to benefit from their rightful ranks in the Adventurers’ Guild.

  Secure a way to use surplus dungeon inventory for good.

  Finish transcribing the manual and decide on the next course of action.

  Help Izz and Thuz bring new opportunities to their home village.

  Investigate the locations of old Diamond Quests.

  Await the delivery of lockpick training tools.

  Confirm orc defeat and return to the dungeon to contain the regrowth.

  Deliver injured adventurers to Gomi.

  Confirm the new tusks are free of any Blood magic influence.

  Give the fallen tusk an adventurer’s farewell.