Farce

The group of eleven moved slowly through the forest. 

Every so often, they'd stop and Teddy would plant his palms on the forest floor. Speaking to the tree's, he regularly asked if they were being watched or followed. Yet, according to the tree's, they weren't. 

They narrowed in quickly. By now, the members of the cohort could smell the Orcs: whether it be their smoked meat or their rancid stench. Regardless, they were close. 

The cohort halted. 

They turned to Teddy. He underhandedly received the message and placed his palms upon the ground. 

After a few moments, Teddy looked up. He raised his hands and displayed the number six. 

Isaac and the rest gave him contemplative looks. 

Teddy bit his tongue. 

He opened and closed his palms six times in a row while mouthing the words 'sixty' to the rest. 

The cohort nodded their heads. They gave Teddy a thumbs up and passed their gaze onto Isaac. 

Meanwhile, Isaac considered their next move. Teddy all but confirmed Miles's information to be true. For sixty Orcs to be gathered in one place, irregardless of whether or not it's their main camp, it's enough of a population to discern this location as an important one. 

Now, however, the predicament expanded. 

Should Isaac use this opportunity to gather even more information? Sure, they confirmed that the Orcs are in fact here, but they didn't confirm the total number of Orcs, the overall size of the camp, what they're using to sustain themselves, or even who the leader of the Orc's is. 

These are all valuable pieces of information that can be used to the human's advantage. Unfortunately, Isaac is unsure if it's worth the risk. 

For a moment, he glanced at the rifles hung around Leon and his team's necks and in those rifles, Isaac saw potential. 

He looked at Miles and gave him the go-ahead. 

Then, Miles proceeded through a wall of brush. Slowly, he maneuvered past the sticks and shrubs while the rest followed. 

While moving through the thicket, the group of eleven was in their most vulnerable state. They couldn't see through the brush. Their movements were restricted by the foliage and their need to remain quiet made them unbearably slow. 

In the midst of all this, the sound of crackling sticks suddenly became apparent. 

"They're coming for us!!" Teddy yelled under hush tones. 

"What?!!" Isaac whispered, but it was too late. 

A green arm penetrated the brush and rushed toward Isaac's chest! 

Isaac barely reacted in time and grabbed the thick wrist of the Orc. He twisted it and a loud shriek covered the forest. 

"Everyone RUN!!" Isaac screamed. 

Leon illuminated gold and soared into the air. 

Meanwhile, Olive tore through the brush, blade in hand, and severed the wrist of the green beast Isaac was holding onto. 

*BANG* 

Suddenly, a gunshot pierced their eardrums! 

*BANG* *BANG* 

Then more and more. 

Koa pulled his wand from his waistband and flicked his wrist. 

Immediately, the brush caught flame. 

Koa and Darnell ran out of the bushes as fast as they could. 

Meanwhile, the others noticed the encroaching flames. 

Teddy saw the flames and panicked. He asked the forest to lead him somewhere safe and once he got his answer, he bolted out of the bushes. 

The flames continued to spread, however. 

All eleven members of the cohort burst out of the bushes and now basked in the light. 

Beyond them, a stampede of jade was fast approaching. 

Morgan saw Teddy run off. With no fighting experience and no other options, Morgan ran after him. 

Leon swooped down from the air and coated Koa in |Fairy Dust|. Within moments, Koa's figure glowed and his weight lightened. His heels tilted off of the ground and Koa rose into the sky. 

Below him, Darnell tightly wrapped his fingers around a piece of silver he took from the mine. 

His arm solidified and tightened. It turned gray and a metallic sheen spread across it. 

The Orcs, however, finally arrived. 

They crushed the wall of brush beneath their feet and stormed into the forest. They charged recklessly and barreled ahead. 

In response, the three men in black kneeled side by side. They unclipped their rifles bipod and positioned it over the grass. 

"FIRE!!!" Leon roared from up above. 

Bullets razed into the stampede of Orcs. They pierced their bodies and obliterated their tendons. 

At the same time, Koa aimed his wand. 

His arm was shaky and sweat glistened against his skin. Before him, a bubble of mass proportions hovered. Larger than a person, the bubble blew overtop the heads of the cohort and popped against the Orc's advance. 

Golden flames ignited thereafter. 

All across the Orcs, little sprits of the bubble caught flame and burned across their shoulders, heads, and toes alike. 

The Orcs screamed in contention. 

"Resist my brothers!!" Then, an Orc with white markings shouted in a language understood. 

"May light have mercy and heat forgiveness! Goddess of flame and agony! Resist!" The white Orc bellowed. 

From his words, his markings glowed. The tattoos wrapped around his figure ignited white and burnt fluorescent. 

Then, godrays descended from above. 

White strips of light descended from the heavens unto the jade skin of the Orcs. 

The Orcs basked in heaven's glory. The golden flames that consumed them lessened. 

The flames grew smaller and weaker until none remained at all. 

In addition to eliminating the flames, the Orcs felt reinvigorated! 

They pounded their chests and chanted in unison! 

"OOU - OOU - AAH - AAH - OOU…!!" 

Koa still floated in the air. He was running low on mana, but wasn't done yet! 

He whipped his wand around and launched bubble-bullets into the fray. 

The yellow bubbles smacked across the skulls of the Orcs! They popped and… 

Nothing! The bubble's didn't ignite and the Orc's didn't catch fire! 

Nevertheless, bullets continued to rain hell. 

From above, Leon sprayed carelessly while the three men on the ground shot through the Orc's in droves. 

And yet, the bullets were so small in comparison to the Orc's that, although piercing, the Orc's continued their charge mostly unperturbed. 

They clashed with Isaac and Olive. 

Some made it past the eccentric duo and slammed into Darnell. 

With his silver forearm instead of his stone one, however, Darnell's defenses were more than adequate. He held his own against the onslaught of incoming fists and, when given a chance, returned with a heavy blow of his own. 

His silver knuckles cracked teeth as he bludgeoned the Orcs who faced him. 

Meanwhile, Isaac and Olive worked in smooth tandem. 

Their backs to each other, Isaac and Olive faced one side each. Olive's rigid blade cut through the Orcs, although just barely. It was her fluidity that really shone in this battle. 

She slithered seamlessly through the raging cockpile of fists and feet that tore at her. Olive spun in the air and slid on the ground. 

When she was high, she cut the Orcs necks. 

When she was low, she severed their achilles heel which only brought them to their knees; where she could once again cut their throat. 

Isaac fought with a single sword. He decided not to forge his second until everyone in the camp had a weapon of their own, but in times such as this, Isaac regretted such selflessness! 

He swung his sword with precision. Sometimes, it would be used to parry a plummeting fist. Other times, it would be used to block an incoming strike. 

Most of the time, however, it was used to slash. 

Isaac swung his sword across his body and cut deep into the many exposed parts of the Orcs. And every so often, his sword glowed blue and a crescent materialization of energy burst forth and severed at the waist the Orc in his path. 

The Orcs' numbers were dwindling. What was once estimated sixty was now just shy of half. 

The three men in the center, the men who arrived with Leon, suddenly quit shooting. They reached into their backpacks in search of more ammunition when a volley of arrows appeared overhead. 

Without warning, the arrows plummeted to earth and pierced the three men caught between it all. 

The arrows tore through their heads and ripped into their limbs. 

Blood splattered. 

Leon, still in the air with Koa, traced the direction of the arrows. 

His eyes widened. 

"IT'S A TRAP!!!" Leon screamed. 

"ANOTHER GROUP OF ORC'S TO THE NORTH!!!" His vocal chords nearly ruptured. 

Isaac looked north, but didn't see anything. The Orc's were too deep in the forest to be visible as of yet. 

Instead, Isaac looked for Miles. 

He wanted to see his face. 

'What face would he be making?' Isaac wondered. 

Then, he caught it. 

In the distance, between more Orc's and a fight with Darnell, Miles's lips quivered in euphoria. 

His eyes nearly rolled back and he covered his mouth with his palm. 

He had to stop himself from grinning. 

Through the crowd, Miles noticed Isaac's gaze. 

They caught eyes. 

Miles dropped his hand and spread his mouth. 

He smiled big and wide while staring back at Isaac. His eyes slimmed to slits and for a moment, Isaac was sure he saw them glow red. 

'Damned snake!!' Isaac roared in his head. 

He looked over at Olive. 

Olive noticed and. 

"Just go!" She shouted. "I can handle myself!" 

Isaac didn't say a word. Instead, he nodded his head and thanked her in his heart. 

Isaac left Olive's side. 

He bolted across the bloodied field straight towards Miles. 

He was going to put an end to this farce. 

///LostNoteFound///

Hey, Lost here, just a little tidbit of info here: if you don't have the power stones to donate because you send them somewhere else — don't be afraid to leave a comment instead :D

If I don't reply, then I'll definitely read and like it. Even a silly little gif or image is always nice to get. Anyhoo!!! Have a good one!