**FFOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!***

Screams from the orcs scrambling about trying to find any relief met an early end when Dragolem pulled the injured ones into the shadows. The Black-Shadow draconian rose up out of the ground as if he was a on a platform in front of the giant now. He had a few seconds to realize this was no ordinary giant. It wielded a massive spiked club and wore armor. Grinning, he spit a line of acid at both legs of the monstrous humanoid where there was no armor. The acid ate through the skin and sinew of the giant like a hot knife through butter.

Alyson grabbed one of the melted cages and dropped it onto another group of heavily armed orcs with a crunch. With a mighty tail swipe, she knocked the other melted cage into the side of the giant attempting to get back up from Dragolem's attack. The giant face planted into the muddy ground groaning in pain but it wasn't dead yet. Dragolem followed through by dragging the giant's face into the ground and spit another line of acid point blank melting the giant's head from the inside out.

The giant let out a gurgled last gasp for air before death took the monstrous humanoid. Once dead, Dragolem reemerged again on the surface looking for stragglers who escaped the dragon's initial fire blast and weren't crushed by its counter attack.

One remaining orc managed to slip out of the fray and ran as fast as he could back through the wooded road. The sound of his hurried breathing was picked up by the dragon flying over head. The sound of leathery wings beat in the sky above the treeline.

****

The Prince turned, snapshotted an arrow straight into the right eye of the worg nearest him and then leapt over the creature which narrowly missed him in its move-through attack. Irzen did the direct opposite. The Swordsman dropped down as the worg leapt over him, brought up his blade and gutted the creature like a fish as it moved over him.

The remaining worgs howled at the loss of their pack mates with fury and rushed the swordsman together. The first one died instantly being impaled on Irzen's sword but the other seized him by the foot and thrashed the swordsman to and fro.

"AAARRRGGHHH!!" The Swordsman roared in pain before he plunged his sword deep into the left eye socket of the worg killing the creature almost instantly.

The Prince landed, regained his footing and cut loose with two more arrows that found their mark deep inside the eyes of two more worgs.

*****

"Humans, here?" A voice of an elven rider came trotting up on his white horse, "Prince Willow has returned?" Just then his horse lashed out with a hind hoof cracking the skull of an orc, "Protect the common folk, and when this all over, we will discuss the return of the prince. Heeyaah!"

"Sure thing!" Serna nodded, "Hey! You do speak Common after all."

The rider took off through the oncoming wave of orcs cutting them down as he rode through.

The bronze man was already helping the common folk and lending heals to the wounded, pausing only to slam his warhammer against his shield that magnified a Great Thunderclap towards a stray group of orcs attempting to flank him. "Does that answer your question, Serna?"

"Absolutely!" The Shield Maiden continued to do her best to protect those under her care, "It must be nice to know that you don't have to translate after all. I suppose it can get pretty tiring at times, huh?"

"Just focus on protecting these people for now," Lazheros said.

"Will do!" Serna kept up her shield, "None of these people are getting hurt again. I promise you that!"

The wargoat watched the right flank while Serna kept the people safe with her shield.

As if knowing something was wrong with its rider, the wargoat bolted away from Serna and Lazheros heading back to Irzen. It had known that worgs always had riders and trampled three of the six riders on its way back to Irzen.

"Always a wargoat will heed its rider. Always will it know if its rider requires aid," Lazheros stood raising his warhammer to the sky speaking in draconic as his weapon charged up with electricity. He pointed it to the remaining group of orcs and unleashed its full power as the Chain lightning arced from the first to the others and finally to the last.

"Wooweee!" Serna exclaimed at what she saw, "You took them all down with one strike! WOW!"

"Yes, well thank you, child," The bronze man brushed off the dirt that got kicked up from the spell he unleashed on the orcs.

"You're welcome." Serna replied with a smile as she lowered her shield and deactivated it.

The elven cavalry came riding back finishing off the remaining orcs that didn't get hit with the chain lightning bolt. The same rider from before rode up and halted before Serna and Lazheros, "I thank you for your aid again. I am Captain Andaerean, and leader of this unit under Prince Yew."

"You're welcome, sir, we are glad we could help," The Shield Maiden nodded, "Aside from tending to your wounded, is there anything else that we can do while we are here?"

******

Hearing a noise behind them, one orc rider turned around to see a rampaging wargoat end its life.

With a bleet of its own battle cry, the wargoat rammed the remaining three orcs into, up against, or through a rotten log ending the orc riders.

Irzen sliced the head of the worg from its shoulders and then tried to use his sword as a fulcrum to separate the creature's mouth from his ankle. Grimacing in pain, the Swordsman was able to pry the worg's mouth apart so he could slip his ankle free of its mouth.

With his bow and arrows, Willow dropped the remaining Orc riders that the wargoat failed to attack.

The wargoat trotted over to the swordsman turning sideways to allow him to mount up with the ranger's help.

"Thanks, Billy!" Irzen hobbled back onto his feet doing his best to put no pressure on his left leg, "Yeah, that's it. That's a good name for you. I think I'll call you Billy, Billy the Wargoat."

The Prince ran over to Irzen's side and did his best to steady the Drow, "How are you?"

"In a great deal of pain and feeling like crap," The Swordsman replied, "But I'll live. All I need is a good healer and I will be ready to travel."