Four deadly waves of sheaf arrows blotted out the sky in unison and made their way in a downward arc towards the bugbears below.

Two thirds of Gruumasht's infantry lay dead upon the battle field and they continued to fall under the renewed strength of the elves and their allies.
The half orc warlock-necromancer screamed at the top of his lungs raising both gnarled hands slowly, "Rise up agh devour tak gith!"

Translation: "RISE UP AND DEVOUR THEM ALL!"

The dead on both sides came to unholy life despite most of them missing limbs, their bloodied corpses shambled and crawled towards the living with only one thing to kill and devour. Hideous screeches, gurgles, and sickly sounds rose up from eerie greenish-gray mist that covered the field. Those of the cavalry and infantry who were in close proximity were simple over whelmed, their cries muffled by waves of undead cascading down on them water.

Prince Ash braced himself with sword and shield still glowing with radiant power, "HEAD SHOTS! CUT OFF THE HEADS TO KILL THE DEAD AND REMAINING LIVE ONES! WILL SOMEONE TAKE OUT THAT NECROMANCER! BIRCH, HOW ABOUT SOME MORE INSPIRATION, PLEASE!"

Birch saw what he needed as he spied a horse behind their lines. Running over to it, the Elven Prince effortlessly mounted it in a single bound and raced the steed up and down their battle lines reassuring his soldiers.

"ARCHERS! SOLDIERS! CALVARYMEN OF NORTHAVEN! HEED YOUR PRINCE! HEED YOUR BROTHER!" Birch cried out in a rousing tone of voice, "THAT'S RIGHT! YOU ARE MY BROTHERS! FOR HE TO-DAY THAT SHEDS HIS BLOOD WITH ME, SHALL BE MY BROTHER; BE HE NE'ER SO VILE! AND WHILE THEY ARE MANY! WE ARE FEW! BUT WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, WE BAND OF BROTHERS, WE SHALL STAND AGAINST THEM AS THE CRAGS OF THE ETERNAL SHORE! AND THEY SHALL WASH AGAINST US AND BE BROKEN!"

"SO STAND YOUR GROUND!" Birch roared at the top of his lungs as he raced back to his brother's side, "FIGHT FOR HONOR! FIGHT FOR THE ELF BESIDE YOU! FIGHT FOR THOSE WHO BORE YOU! FIGHT FOR YOUR CHILDREN! FIGHT FOR YOUR FUTURE! FIGHT FOR YOUR NAME TO SURVIVE! AND FIGHT FOR ALL YOU HOLD DEAR!"

Birch dismounted before his horse came to a full stop, drew forth his swords once more and screamed, "ELVES OF NORTHAVEN!!! CHARGE!!!"

Prince Birch charged forward into the fray as he rallied his troops into a final charge to break the will and backs of the enemy they faced.

Lazheros teleported from the wall down to the front lines now where his aid would be of more help. First cast, Sunburst on the undead closest to the crown prince and his men that disintegrated the larger group, and dropped a sixty foot high Flame strike down between Mandur, Irzen, and Andaerean as a wave of fresh undead popped up only be incinerated and reduced to ash.

Barakas shrieked violently, "KILL THE CLERIC!" His displacer beast mount crumple under the blows from sappers tunneling underneath the earth. The smell of chared, smoldering sinew and flesh mixed with the blood, sweat, and tears did nothing to improve morale for the horde.

A pair of undead giants and one undead ogre came crashing through the battle field crushing ally and enemy alike to get to the Bronze Man.

"TARADER!!!" Prince Willow cried out to those manning the catapults, "SASAER SI KOL EIL SI ONDRI!!! VYRAES SI AMANDIL!!! THOSI!!!"

Translation: "CATAPULTS!!!" Prince Willow cried out to those manning the catapults, "TARGET THE GIANTS AND THE OGRE!!! PROTECT THE CLERIC!!! FIRE!!!"

The catapults cut loose with a barrage of fiery projectiles aimed at the heads and upper torso of the undead giants and ogres.

The lead tinker gnome yelled to his fellows to aim for the undead giants lumbering up through the battle field. One of the catapults hit one of them with both shots lighting it up like a bonfire and then exploded into a pile of ash. The second catapult was in the process of turning to fire when the crank jammed. Both tinker gnomes and hill dwarves worked on it for a minute and were able to reload and unleash two more runic boulders at the remaining undead giant and ogre. The first runic boulder hit its mark cutting the giant in half but it kept coming. The second just missed the ogre but rolled over a row of undead orcs and bugbears.

Mandur and his riders continued their left flank assault on the behir while the sappers tunneled below the ground with help of Galeb Dur taking out any enemy that got too close.

The hill dwarf captain pulled out a horn and blew it, from the tree line to the east, a rain of spears and arrows from the Wardens and Rangers cut loose. The spears tipped with barbs buried themselves into the left flank of the behir and crippled another leg. The monster shrieked in pain lashing out violently crushing anything friend or foe. A score of Gruumasht's elite troops were rolled over the battle field.

Irzen came at the remaining ogre that dodged the runic boulder from the rear and severed the undead creature's Achilles tendon in a move-by attack. Once the ogre collapsed to the grond, the Swordsman turned Billy about for another attack at the downed monster all the while aiming to lop the undead ogre's head from its shoulders.

From his vantage point the half orc just smiled as the elves continued to give him more and more corpses to play with. The green mist rolled over the fallen and they too began to rise up lumbering forward. "I wonder how long it will take these hapless fools to realize they're only giving exactly what Gruumasht's needs to conquer them! Mwhahahahaha!"

From the wall, Willow could clearly see the dead rising up from the battle field both friend and foe alike marching towards the city walls.

Lazheros uttered a prayer for Divine Intervention between heals and dropping pillars of fire where ever he could. Just then, came the sound of another group, the silver dragon born came down into the battle field mowing down any fell enemy alive or dead with claws, weapons, and cold breath attacks freezing them solid. A mix of warriors, defenders and sorcerers helped turn the tide of battle in favor for the elves.

Once the silver-borne had all descended, Willow took note of the origin of the green mist and upon pinpointing the source of it he cried out.

"THYLYRN TIA EISYRN!" The Prince raised his bow, nocked his arrow, took aim and let loose a shaft that sailed towards the point of origin of the green mist. Though Willow could not pinpoint the exact location of Barakas, he was more than willing to take an educated guess on where he might be.

Translation: "FOLLOW MY ARROW!"

The entire company of Elven Archers immediately followed suit. With an almost machine-like precision, they let loose with a hail of arrows that not only blotted out the sky but also began to fall upon the area where Barakas had been hiding.

A rain of arrows so thick it looked a massive surface to air missile homing in on its target within the greenish fog cloud that obscured the exact location of the necromancer. Barakas saw it coming, and threw up a shield of bones to soak most of the arrows but his displacer beast mount couldn't phase fast enough and was summarily nailed to the ground even to the point of it trying to come back as undead only to have Prince Willow's arrow snuff out its life with a bulls-eye in the eye socket.

A wave of magical energy enveloped the entire city of Northaven, Winterfell to the north and to the city of Westfall. All three cities were now protected by the awakened palantir. Cheers rose up from the walls and the tinker gnomes and dwarves could now focus on driving the horde back from the city.

The bronze man dodged out of the way as a spear shot past him and followed through bashing in the head of the unfortunate orc warrior. The ancient power of the wards hummed to life and he felt it now. The shield maiden and the kurori came through finally as he was filled with new hope.

Elsewhere on the battle field, Captains Mandur and Andaerean renewed their attacks and trampled any remaining orcs leaving only the elites, the warlord and the necromancer.

"DRIVE THEM FROM THE VALLEY!!" Came a unified cry from both cavalries.

"ORI'GATO L'KATRILL KRE'J!!!" Irzen cried out before he cut loose with an ululating battle cry.

Translation: "LET THE SLAUGHTHER BEGIN!!!

Then the Swordsman urged his mount onward as they charged into the ranks of the elite forces.

****

From beneath the ground, a huge red dragon clawed her way back up to the surface and took out half of the Andaerean's company by surprise. Roaring a challenge finally to the gold dragon flying above her, she took to the air, "NOW WE SHALL SEE WHO DOMINATES THE OTHER! NOW YOU WILL DIE!"

Perthonexio remained high above the horde especially with warlord and the necromancer in close proximity of each other. He cut loose a series of small fire balls at the red dragon. One hit but Rougeroaxas brushed them aside while the others slammed into the elite orcs surrounding Gruumasht.

***FSOOOOSHHH!! BA-BA-BOOOOOOM!***

Grumbling and cursing both Gruumasht and Barakas shook off the sudden appearance of their so-called-traitorous ally. "Stupid dragon! Now you show up?"

*******

Prince Ash held up his sword again invoking his goddess for aid and healed his and Birch's men, "Hold your ground! The bulk of the horde has been disbanded and destroyed by all the aid of our allies! United we STAND, TOGETHER AS ONE! FOR NORTHAVEN!"

"FOR NORTHAVEN!" The warriors and battle masters raised their weapons crying out.

"FOR NORTHAVEN!" Prince Birch continued his attack as he waded into the ranks of the enemy like a mad elf completely immersed in the madness of war.

*******

"SASAER SI IALAER! CAEDYR OLIA!" Prince Willow yelled out to his Archers, "AILAEDAELAEL THOSI! THOSI EIR SHOR!"

Translation: "TARGET THE UNDEAD! HEADSHOTS ONLY!" Prince Willow yelled out to his Archers, "INDEPENDENT FIRE! FIRE AT WILL!"

Prince Willow and his Archers proceeded to mow down the undead wherever they stood or rose to their feet. The Elven Archers of Northaven laid down a witheringly pinpointed attack designed to defeat the undead and spare the living.

*******

Eilionwy roared snapping around towards the warlord, "WHAT DID YOU SAY, PIG?!?"

Gruumasht held an Orb of Dragonkind in his hand up before the red dragon, "YOU WILL OBEY ME, WYRM! WIPE THEM OUT, ALL OF THEM!"

Mandur signaled to the rangers and wardens again launching a volley of spears and arrows into the behir's left flank and mortally wounding it now. The monster thrashed violently onto its side trying to get up leaving it completely exposed to the drow swordsman charging in its direction.

"RRRAAUUGGHH!!!" Irzen cut loose with a guttural battle cry as he charged directly at the fallen behir and plunged his sword deep into the creature's skull.