Chapter 20

Transcendence
Chapter 20: Of Orcs and Traitors
"Kill them!" shouted a grey skinned Orc, but was quickly blown from the ground along with several others as the area in front of him was engulfed in an explosion.
Before the dust could settle two figures rushed through the shroud of dirt and stone and charged towards the keep, one with orange hair and with a massive cleaver in his gauntleted hand.
"Come on!" Ichigo called out, turning briefly to check on his companion in this suicidal attack, a young teen Elf with long dark purple hair in form fitting green and brown leather armor with a silver and gold staff in her own hand.
Adelina turned to see an Orc closing in on her right and she quickly raised her hand and sent a quick Wrath attack, which knocked the Orc off its feet and onto its back dazed. Both had assaulted the Orc's forces head on, they were lucky they were so well spaced apart; all they had to do was push through them and move quickly so they weren't caught. But that didn't make it easier, they had to still fight their way through nearly a hundred Orcs to reach the keep and then from there they would escape after taking out the commanders.
Ichigo deflected another swing from an axe aiming to sever his head from his body; deflecting the blade upward Ichigo brought Zangetsu to his left and swung wide cutting down the Orc. But no sooner had he fallen than another attacked, its sword connected with Zangetsu that had risen to halt the weapon from meeting his head, but as the blade was halted the second came aiming to cut open the Death God's throat. Ichigo quickly stepped to the side and avoided the second blade and as he did he countered, twisting around he threw the blade off Zangetsu and then performed a full rotation and a rising swing. The Orc was nearly severed in two from groin to shoulder, but like last time Ichigo was set upon by another Orc.
Turning quickly Ichigo blocked both an axe and a sword meant to dig into his back, but as he did he felt a metal boot connect with his solar plexus, Ichigo was knocked onto his back, but quickly got to his knee. Swinging Zangetsu around to cover his back from being cut open by a large claymore, Ichigo rose up quickly and swung Zangetsu wide and then leapt up and spun to face his opponent. As he faced the Orc he swung his zanpakuto down onto his shoulder, completely severing the Orc in two.
Ichigo turned and noticed Adelina close by; she had been keeping the Orcs at bay as best as she could, but he could see she was tiring, he would need to hurry if they wanted to survive this. The keep was their best bet; if they got inside they could possibly lose them within, or likely be surrounded in the close quarters and slaughtered like caged wolves. But before they could get there they had to deal with the Orcs in their path.
Turning he confronted the Orc that was able to strike him, now swinging its axe toward the young Soul Reaper's head. Ichigo blocked the axe easily enough, but was assaulted from the other direction by the sword, quickly ducking under the swing Ichigo and moved to the Orc's side and attempted a wide backward swing, but the Orc was quick enough to evade the strike. As the Orc leaned back up to deliver a devastating overhead swing with its axe, meant to cleave Ichigo's head in twain, the Soul Reaper side stepped the blow and right into the path of the sword stabbing towards his heart.
But Ichigo grabbed hold of the Orc's wrist, halting the blades tip mere inches from his chest and quickly twisted the limb and forced the Orc to shift his position to lessen the pain. It was then Ichigo stabbed Zangetsu through the Orc's exposed back and through its chest, quickly pulling Zangetsu free Ichigo turned towards Adelina.
"Adelina, let's go!" Ichigo roared over to the young druid, who turned and quickly raced to Ichigo's side, who in turn dashed towards the keep.
Behind, to the left and the right were dozens of Orcs chasing after them, brandishing savage and cruel looking weapons that would inflict wounds upon them that would cause pain over death. Their cries of blood and murder were all that could be heard; even the thumping of the hearts in their chests could not reach their ears as they ran for their lives to the keep.
The bridge to the main gate came into view, Ichigo and Adelina quickened their pace, trying to outrun the many blood thirsty Orcs behind them. But as they drew closer they saw three Orcs bar their path to the keeps entrance, Ichigo readied Zangetsu and Adelina readied a spell. The first Orc to roar in challenge was knocked off its feet and consumed in an explosion of green energy. The other two were swiftly dealt with by Ichigo, who slammed his zanpakuto down onto the Orcs large axe and then delivered a devastating kick to its gut and then a knee to the face.
Turning Ichigo swung wide to counter the Orcs own sword swing, as Zangetsu knocked the blade away Ichigo swung his fist right towards the Orc's face. But his attack was halted as the Orcs massive arm enclosed around his wrist, not one to sit idle for a moment when fighting Ichigo did the only thing he could think of. Rearing his head back he head-butted the Orc in the face and broke his nose, at the expense of giving Ichigo what he could only describe as a minor concussion, Orc's skulls were thick that was for sure. As Ichigo recovered slightly he heard Adelina calling to him, turning he saw her at the gate, and in the opposite direction more Orcs were attacking.
Ichigo turned and charged right for the entrance, the Blackrock Orcs right behind him swinging wildly and cursing, as Ichigo passed the threshold of the keep Adelina pushed the lever controlling the door mechanism and forced it closed. Looking back they could see dozens of Orcs on the other side of the gate cursing and growling at the Human, Ichigo paid them little mind and moved off. There was no telling if there were more Orcs inside the keep; it was a likely possibility but how many was not known, so it would be best to simply move away from the commotion for somewhere safer.
Ichigo quickly found a storeroom and hid inside with Adelina, to catch their breath and plan out their next move. They got inside, but needed to find where these commanders were and then get rid of them, but even if that was done they wouldn't be able to escape. They would need an exit strategy, but this wasn't really a bad thing, their presence here had drawn the Orcs in and now Tyresa was safe to continue her assault on the pass.
"Ichigo, what do we do now?" Adelina asked. Ichigo looked at the young Night Elf and he could see she was not particularly thrilled about being in the situation they were in now. Even though she probably knew she was likely going to be joining in a suicide mission, she didn't like the fact she was in it right now.
"We do what we came here to do, take out those Orc leaders," Ichigo replied. Getting to his feet and moving to the door, they had a lot of work to do and waiting around was not the thing to do.
"Let go of me!" Ichigo heard a yell from beyond the door and in the hallway.
"Quiet Human!" the distinct growl of an Orc could be heard. "You're lucky Warlord Gath'Ilzogg wants you alive, or I would have fed you to the wargs."
Ichigo listened intently, they had prisoners here, if that was the case he needed to help them, but also he needed to find out where this Warlord Gath'Ilzogg was. He was likely the guy in charge of this entire operation and he needed to kill him before he decides to either execute them, or take command of the troops currently banging at the main gate. Ichigo silently opened the door and saw two Orcs dragging someone down the hallway, motioning Adelina to follow and keep quiet Ichigo pursued them.
Caren glanced at her escorts that were dragging her up the stairs, she barely had the strength to stand and could only curse at them, and she was to be taken to their leader. A damn Warlord who conquered this entire place, they were lucky, had the damn idiots in Stormwind not forced so many of the soldiers in Redridge to be reassigned to other places across the kingdom the Orcs never would have had such an easy time with their take over. And now because of that she, along with an entire host of others were being held captive by these bastards, and she was likely going to be tortured for information, perfect.
Many hallways and passages later they finally arrived at their destination, a large office at the very pinnacle of the keep and also the furthest from the entrance, the Warlord Gath'Ilzogg's 'throne' room. If you could call a room with a simple and well-designed wooden chair and a desk for a seat of power, then yes, a brilliant throne room.
"You, you're the Human Morganth sent over to us two weeks ago, he said to keep you here." Gath'Ilzogg stated, a large Orc with long black hair and a snarling face. Covered in thick bronze armor, he towered over Caren as he spoke. "He betrayed me, sent a pack of Gnolls to try and destroy my forces shortly after we conquered this miserable excuse of a keep."
Caren laughed at that.
"I don't know what is sadder, the fact that he thought a pack of dogs could kill you all, or the fact that you got blindsided by a Human," Caren smirked at her small and fleeting victory to piss off the Orc, but felt her smirk leave her face and her teeth clench in pain as he grabbed her hair and lifted her up off her knees.
"Watch your tongue you little whore," Gath'Ilzogg growled. "Or I will have my men break you with means that I know they will like and you won't."
Caren cringed at the thought of what they would do, but couldn't hold back the glare that she sent right into the Orc's eyes, she may be afraid, but she wouldn't allow it to take hold over her completely, who simply grunted and dropped her back onto her knees. Walking back over to his throne and taking a seat, he had questions for her and he needed them answered while she was able to speak.
"I want that Warlocks head, where is he? And what are the numbers of his forces?" Gath'Ilzogg demanded from his Human prisoner.
"Why should I tell you? You obviously can't figure out where he is? By the Light you Orcs are idiots," Caren said. Although not the smartest thing to do, she was always a defiant one when it came to anyone around her, especially these animals.
"It would seem you are not ready to talk," Gath'Ilzogg said. He motioned his guard, who then hefted up Caren by the back of the neck and pulled her forward. "I guess we will need to carry out that little promise I mentioned earlier."
Caren's eyes widened despite the pain, she felt her head slam against the table and the Orc hold her down, she struggled and screamed as she tried to free herself before the Orc did what he planned. She felt him grab her robes and lift them up; she felt her anger soar and her horror rise even higher; she didn't want this. She needed help, she begged, she pleaded for it.
"Light help me," Caren whimpered, as he moved to grasp her garments.
But stopped when a gurgle was heard, turning the three saw the other guard standing there, a large piece of metal pierce through his chest, as it was removed and the body fell away a person was revealed. Standing there in armor with a blade as long as he was tall resting on his shoulder, his eyes boring into the two Orcs in front of him with barely contained fury, the two Orcs were shocked, but Caren now had hope she would be saved.
"How did he get in here?!" Gath'Ilzogg roared in anger, picking up his sword and shield from beside his throne, and aiming the former at the substitute.
"I came through the front gate," Ichigo said heatedly, before pointing Zangetsu at the Blackrock Warlord. "I'm here to kill you."
"Do not think you can defeat the Warlord of the Blackrock Clan so easily!" Gath'Ilzogg roared in anger, both the Orcs charged toward Ichigo intent on carving him apart.
Both Orcs attacked in unison, Gath'Ilzogg with a sword and shield, while the other Orc with a large Claymore. Ichigo blocked the Claymore from his left with Zangetsu, before quickly turning and swinging up Zangetsu over his head and blocking the long-sword from the Blackrock Warlord. But the Substitute was surprised when the iron shield connected with the pummel of Zangetsu and knocked it forward.
When this happened Ichigo was pulled forward slightly with his zanpakuto, and noticed the long sword moving over his blade and arm and right for his head. Ichigo quickly leaned back to widen the distance from the edge of the blade, he was able to lean back far enough that it passed barely an inch above his nose. Ichigo then turned to see the Orc moving to attack again, knowing that he would likely be able to defend himself should the Orc attack, Ichigo struck first, swinging at the Orc to force him away.
As Gath'Ilzogg leapt away from the attack Ichigo regained his footing, just in time to block a swing from behind by the other Orc. Twisting around, Ichigo halted the claymore before turning his blade upwards and forcing it over his head. Gripping Zangetsu with both hands Ichigo swung at the Orc with all his might, hoping to finish him off so he could focus on the major threat. But the Orc was quick enough to bring its claymore around to hold the attack at bay, but the force made him stagger and gave Ichigo a momentary amount of freedom to defend against the Orcish Warlord.
Ichigo deflected two strikes from Gath'Ilzogg, then a smash from the Orc's iron shield, Ichigo grabbed hold of the Iron buckler and twisted forward, forcing the Orc into a vulnerable position. He then attempted to remove the Orc's arm, but was shocked when his sword met another and saw the Orc Warlord looking at him with a savage scowl on his face. He had turned himself around despite being in an arm lock and intercepted Ichigo's attack, Ichigo was later surprised again when he felt an armored knee connect to his stomach. Ichigo was lifted off the ground and then forcefully thrown aside, landing near the steps to where the young woman was being held a moment ago, she was now on the floor watching the fighting.
Ichigo quickly blocked the Claymore coming towards his head, before kicking the Orc away and then defending against Gath'Ilzogg, who relentlessly slashed at Ichigo as he tried to scramble to his feet. As Gath'Ilzogg swung down, Ichigo deflected the blade to the right and was able to slam the hilt of Zangetsu into the Orc's face, forcing him back and using the time to get back to his feet.
"Damn Human, soldier, get over here!" Gath'Ilzogg bellowed. But his command was not followed, turning he saw that the Orc in question was ensnared in vines, surprised by this he looked over to see a Night Elf was standing near the entrance watching over the battle. "Miserable little wretch."
"Hey, you're fighting me, pay attention!" Gath'Ilzogg turned and barely dodged a sword swing aimed to cut him in half from groin to crown.
Ichigo followed up with another upward swing from his opposite side that was intercepted by the Orc, who held it at bay before Ichigo overpowered his defense and was able to leave a gash over the Orc's armored chest. Gath'Ilzogg growled and charged forward and swung down hard, which was blocked by Ichigo easily, who threw the Orc off and attacked. After blocking Ichigo's strike with his iron buckler, Gath'Ilzogg grinded the shield against the zanpakuto while moving toward Ichigo, aiming his sword for Ichigo's head. Twisting to the left and out of the sword's path Ichigo pulled Zangetsu with him and raised it high to strike at the Orc from the side.
Gath'Ilzogg raised his shield to meet the strike and was able to redirect it to the ground; when the sword cut into the floor the Orc placed his boot on the blunt edge of the blade and held it down. Then as Zangetsu was trapped, Gath'Ilzogg attacked and planned to finish the battle in a single blow; Ichigo reached out and halted the weapon by grabbing the Orcs arm, barely having the strength to match the Orcs. Ichigo relinquished his hold on Zangetsu and then sent an uppercut right into the Orc's chin, as the Orc staggered back Ichigo reached down and grasped Zangetsu, pulling it free. Doing a full turn, he swung Zangetsu up and then down, cutting through the bronze armor as if it was nothing, and through the Orc's chest. At which Gath'Ilzogg fell to the ground on his hands and knees, his life blood flowing freely from between the opening in his armor.
Ichigo looked down at the Orc leader with a hard glare, he had given the substitute a run and now it was time to finish this, Ichigo moved to the side and with a quick swipe severed the Orc's head from his shoulders. Ichigo looked at the lifeless body of the Orc as it crumpled to the ground, without another thought he sheathed Zangetsu and moved over to the woman who he had followed here.
She was young, around his age, short black hair that curled up at the ends giving her hair a very aloof look; she had a smooth unblemished face and what appeared to be makeup to further enhance her appearance. She wore simple robes and gloves of blue and purple, from what Ichigo could understand she was a mage, likely one in training or a novice.
"You alright?" Ichigo asked, and was immediately met with a smack to the head from the woman.
"Do I look alright? I have been held prisoner for two weeks and nearly raped and you're asking me if I am alright?" she yelled at them with obvious anger, which appeared righteous when coming out of her mouth.
"Sorry, I just asked," Ichigo defended himself, kind of annoyed that he saved her and she was acting like he just stepped on her toes or something. "Hey Adelina come over here, I think she needs some help."
Adelina rushed over and kneeled down beside the obviously deprived mage, both in food and medical attention, the signs of starvation and beatings could be seen. They were lucky they arrived when they did, had they not it would have likely meant she would have either died or been executed after being violated.
As Adelina began to heal the mage, Ichigo reached into his bag, pulling out an apple and a water skin, Caren took them and greedily ate and drank, and within a few minutes she was healed and fed. Caren hoisted herself up and stretched a little, she then looked at Ichigo and for a moment she was silent.
"Got any more food?" Caren asked calmly.
Ichigo nearly fell on his face at the question. What the hell was he, the damn butler!
"Yeah, I do," Ichigo said calmly. But the obvious annoyance in his posture and tone was completely missed by Caren as she didn't really care.
"Well? Give it here you orange haired bastard!" Caren said, to which Ichigo scowled before pulling out an apple and a piece of bread and threw them at her. "Thank you," She said before munching into the roll. "My name is Caren by the way."
"Ichigo, and this is Adelina," the substitute said. Caren looked a little confused on his name but didn't question it; she simply munched on her apple and then asked the next best question.
"So how are we getting out of here?" Caren looked over to the two teenagers. Both simply glanced at one another and Ichigo shrugged while Adelina simply rubbed the back of her head nervously. "You don't have a plan do you?"
It was more of a rhetorical question than anything else; she simply scowled in irritation at the completely botched rescue mission of theirs.
"Why the hell did you come here without an escape plan, I mean how do you intend to save all the other people trapped below?" Caren demanded angrily. Already she was mad at the fact she was stuck with what seemed like the two biggest idiots this side of Azeroth.
"Wait the prisoners!" Adelina said, slightly surprised and a little worried. "We have to help them, if the Orcs get the front gate open and see their leader dead then they will likely kill them."
"Damn, Caren can you take us to them?" Ichigo asked, with a scowl of determination on his brow, which made Caren raise her own in interest.
"Yeah, they're in the basement, follow me," the young mage said.
Ten minutes later they found the basement and the prisoners, twenty in total, all locked in small cages on the ground with no room, even to sit in them they had to lean forward to fit. Ichigo walked close and shattered the locks with Zangetsu and set them all free, most of them looked sick and very malnourished.
"Adelina, see about healing them," Ichigo said. Before putting his hand into his bag and pulling out what food he had five rolls of bread and a few pieces of fruit and preserved meat. Not much, but it was better than nothing. "Split this up between you, you're all going to need your strength."
"Thank you," One man said, a trembling hand taking a roll from Ichigo and then ripping it apart and spreading it to the others.
"Son," turning, Ichigo saw an older man in armored leg-guards, likely one of the soldiers who was stationed here before the attack. "How many are with you?"
"Just us," Ichigo replied, much to the surprise and shock of everyone else.
"What? But aren't you here to rescue us?" asked a woman, likely another guard.
"I didn't know there were any prisoners, I came here to lure the Orcs back to the keep while the pass is being attacked," Ichigo replied, shocking some others. Especially some of the military men and woman, who didn't believe they would send a kid on a suicide mission. "Is there any way we can get out of here besides the front gate?"
"No, it is the only way in or out aside from scaling the walls; but even if we did, we would likely have to jump down into the river to escape. And that is if you survive the fall." the man replied.
"Maybe we can ambush the Orcs outside," Adelina said. Ichigo turned to look at her; he could see she was thinking very hard at the moment along with healing the injured, obviously trying to think of something to get them out of this situation. "My mother taught me how to hunt and fight, she said that if we can splinter the enemy force then we can easily dismantle them while they’re scattered."
"You're suggesting we try and separate the Orcs and then fight them?" Caren asked, obviously not liking taking an idea from someone younger than her.
"Yes, if we can somehow force them to get separated then we can take them out one at a time and then we can beat them," Adelina said, smiling at the fact she was using her mother's sentinel tactics to win this.
"A good plan, but how do we go about performing it?" the man inquired.
Ichigo thought on it for a short while, he knew that the only way they could get to the Orcs was up close and personal, and he simply fought them all, but he would be overwhelmed pretty quick. But if Adelina was right and they could separate them, then maybe they could take them down one at a time. Then he remembered something about the entrance of the keep, he turned to the people around him. All of them were soldiers, although they were in slightly bad condition, they could win this and deal a sizable blow to the Orcs.
"I've got an idea," Ichigo said with a smirk. "But we're gonna need a lot of help with it."
Thirty Minutes Later.
The Orcs were getting restless, they had tried everything to get the gate open, yet nothing worked. Rows of iron blocked their path and they couldn't even lift it, they couldn't even break it down, but that didn't stop them from trying over and over again to get inside. There were Humans within, and they needed to get inside to kill them before they tried anything.
"Come on you damn weaklings, get this gate open now!" Tharil'zun, leader of the Blackrock Clan Outrunners and Gath'Ilzogg's Chief Lieutenant, yelled. He was in the worst possible situation he never had thought of, he was meant to lead the charge on the pass to prevent the Alliance from taking it, and then assault Lakeshire.
But that all changed when his forces were attacked by that boy and girl, they had been able to get past one hundred of their men, killing eleven and wounding six more. The fact that they outnumbered them on a massive scale and still allowed them into the keep was a blow to his honor as a warrior and that of the entire Blackrock Clan. But also get into the keep and actually seal it so that they couldn't get in was another blow and a stain on his honor personally. A stain that would be rectified; the best way being his severed head on a pike.
"What's that?" one Orc called out. Looking they saw something moving towards the gate from within the keep, or more like rolling.
Looking down they could see it was a barrel, a gun powder barrel, with a lit fuse.
"Get back!" Tharil'zun cried out, leaping away from the gate as the Gun Powder ignited resulting in a large explosion, which threw many Orcs off the small stone bridge and into the moat that surrounded the keep and fell off into Lake Everstill.
Looking up, Tharil'zun could see that eight more of his warrior had been caught in the blast; he looked to see many had been dazed by the sudden attack, but it had yielded a result. The gate had been all but destroyed, it was barely holding on to the stone, which had cracked and fallen apart from the explosion.
"Get up you dogs!" Tharil'zun commanded. "Get that gate down now!"
His warriors soon followed his command, once the ringing in their ears had stopped. They pulled the gate down and were now able to enter the keep they had taken from the Humans nearly two months ago. They charged into the keep and swamped through the hallways, all leading to the courtyard and the very heart of the fortress. Over eighty Blackrock Orcs charged into the middle of the keep and searched for their quarry, leading them was the Outrunner leader himself.
"Hold!" Tharil'zun commanded. He had just entered the Courtyard, and he came to the sight of the dead Warlord Gath'Ilzogg, his body sitting in a chair and his head in his lap.
Moving forward Tharil'zun examined his leader while also making sure that there were no more Gun Powder barrels lying around, he would not be caught off guard again. As he stood before the corpse of his former leader, which means he was in charge now; it would seem that the Human had just elevated him to the level of Warlord thanks to this. He would be sure to thank that kid before he killed him.
"What are you waiting for, search the-" before Tharil'zun could finish he saw that the exit to the keep was sealed, before a fireball collided with the ground, blinding him with a massive eruption of fire. Tharil'zun shielded his eyes as the world in front of him brightened and the heat intensified, before he lowered his arm to see the entire courtyard had been consumed in fire.
He could see his warriors move around in panic as the fires separated them from one another, many had been consumed in the flames, and now they were scattering into the fortress. Tharil'zun knew what happened, this was a trap and he fell for it, how could have he been fooled so easily? He turned back and before he could register it, he felt something strike him.
Looking down he saw a midnight black and silver blade piercing his chest, looking up he saw standing behind the chair was the Human that had breached the fortress. Hard brown eyes stared into his own and he knew that he and all his men were dead, if they could catch them in a net as easily as fish, then they deserved to die for their own foolishness.
Ichigo kicked the Orc off his blade and then moved forward, he could see two dozen or so Orcs still in the courtyard, they had taken out nearly one fourth of the Orc's force by springing the trap and forcing them apart. Many of the others had moved back into the fort, where the rest of the soldiers were waiting to ambush them, their plan had worked perfectly.
Ichigo looked to see the Orcs were still confused over the situation and had no idea he was there, motioning his hand he called up the ten soldiers behind him, ten guardsmen appeared and took up a firing line. Aiming their blunderbusses forward, they opened fire, six Orcs fell to the ground dead, two more wounded. The remaining turned and noticed them, and howled in anger before charging to meet their enemies in melee, the first row of Guardsman dropped their guns and drew their swords.
Ichigo led the charge into the enemy ranks, four guardsmen at his side and two more left to defend the riflemen, who were taking shots at the Orcs from a distance. Ichigo swung Zangetsu in an upward arc and cut through one Orc, before Ichigo brought it down to build up momentum for a second swing to an Orc on his right. Cutting the creature nearly in half, its torso was currently facing the opposite direction of his legs. Ichigo then blocked an axe from above, the blade mere inches from the substitutes forehead, before Ichigo could strike the Orc was stabbed through the heart by one of the Guardsman.
Ichigo nodded to the man before moving forward, cutting down another Orc with a wide swing, blood flew from its open neck and onto Ichigo's already crimson armor. Ichigo didn't know why he accepted killing so easily, he thought that he should spare those he could, but for some reason, he felt that these creatures didn't deserve to live. Maybe it wasn't about when to take a life, but more like when a life deserved to be spared, either out of mercy or simply to preserve it for a time so it could serve a purpose until it had been fulfilled. It may be cruel, but he knew that being naïve in this world was a death sentence no matter who you were dealing with, and if you wanted to stay on top and out of the ground, you don't hesitate and always strike for the kill.
Soon the Orcs were pushed back, from the blades of a Reaper of Souls and the Soldiers of Stormwind, eventually all had been beaten and all that remained were their hacked up corpses.
Caren appeared on the far side of the courtyard, exiting through the entrance to the keep from the courtyard; behind her were five guardsmen, bloody and tired. Turning to the left Ichigo saw Adelina coming from the opposite entrance, five guardsmen with her as well. His plan had worked.
After the Orcs were separated from one another they would be forced into the keep through the passages, and from there they would be cornered and attacked by the guardsmen. When they cornered the Orcs they simply had to open fire and wear them down before charging in and finishing off the stragglers, separate the pack from one another and then kill them, the perfect plan.
"Nice work, your plan worked like a charm Ichigo," Sergeant Durrell congratulated him. Ichigo nodded, but was not one to take all of the credit and decided to pass some over to Adelina, giving her the little nudge she deserved.
"Don't just thank me, if Adelina didn't suggest it I may never have come up with it, she deserves the praise more than me," Ichigo said, sending a smile to Adelina, who looked a little flustered at the compliments from Ichigo and the guardsmen.
"Oh, thank you, it was nothing really," Adelina said, smiling nervously, not really used to positive reinforcement; but from Ichigo it felt really good, like she was earning his respect and admiration, she felt good about that.
"Hey, can we leave now?" Caren inquired, looking a little sour. "We are still in a dangerous place you know, the Orcs may not be here but Morganth is still nearby and he has a small army of gnolls under his control."
"Morganth? You mean that guy that Orc leader was looking for?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, that's him. He allied with him and fed the Orcs information about the defenses of Redridge, which were none I might add," Caren replied, looking at the footmen around them with obvious accusation.
"We have been shorthanded for months now, ever since the King left for Theramore and never returned we have been struggling to maintain military force in Redridge," Durrell said, not liking the tone of the young lady before him.
"Calm down, let's just get out of here and meet up with the others, and also get you guys back to Lakeshire to get some food and maybe real beds," Ichigo calmed them down. There was a collective silence as they agreed with him, Ichigo moved for the exit of the keep, no point in remaining any longer.
Their trip back to the pass was uneventful, it wasn't until right before they arrived that they noticed the large contingent of Knights currently near the pass. Ichigo noticed that Tyresa was speaking with one, and from what he could see she was happy he was there.
"Glad I could be of assistance Commander," the leading Knight said. "But I can see that I was of little use here, you have easily cleared most of the pass, and I feel somewhat of no use now."
"Well I was hoping that you could go and…" Joana started, looking off towards Stonewatch Keep, hoping to send them there to take the fort and see if Ichigo and Adelina were alright. The Orcs hadn't turned up and she surmised that they might have had a role in it. But she stopped when she noticed said boy and girl walking towards them, along with twenty others. "What?"
Ichigo was leading them towards the Knights, she had no idea what to think about what she was seeing right now, did he actually do what he said he would?
"Friends of yours Commander?" the Knight asked. Tyresa didn't respond, waiting only until they were practically standing in front of them to find her voice that had been lost in surprise.
"Hey, I'm back," Ichigo said, waving lazily at Tyresa, who quickly regained her stance after being snapped out of her thought about how the boy survived.
"You're alive. I take it your mission was successful?" Tyresa asked. Although she had some skepticism about him actually luring the Orcs back to the keep.
"Yeah, lured the Orcs back, killed their commander, freed the prisoners, and then killed the rest of the Orcs," Ichigo replied, very close to the seriousness of how a soldier reports to a commanding officer, although it was less formal.
Tyresa and the present Knights were surprised by this, Tyresa was shocked at what he said, if he was telling the truth then he single handedly invaded the enemy keep and diverted enemy reinforcements. He had allowed their mission to succeed and also saved countless lives that would have been pointlessly lost had they not retreated from the pass. Also the Knights were surprised at his statement, some completely disbelieving of his statement, he looked too young to be a warrior, maybe a squire, but still he didn't look strong enough to hold that sword on his back.
"Commander, Sergeant Gregory Durrell reporting," Durrell said with a salute. "I can clarify Ichigo's testimony; he saved me and twenty other of my men who had been captured by the Blackrock Orcs when Stonewatch Keep was taken."
Tyresa was silent for a moment, she glanced at the young warrior and immediately remembered that seriousness in his eyes, and now she understood where it came from. The kid may be young, but he wasn't someone to look down on because of it, he had beaten a hundred Orcs with only twenty men at his side and come out unscathed. That was damn impressive.
"Impressive, I didn't think you had it in you Ichigo," Tyresa said with a smirk, to which Ichigo replied with a shrug. "But now that you're here we could use some help with the next part of the assault."
"Hold on a moment," Caren said, all eyes moved to her. "I was sent here to look for a man name Morganth. He is a warlock who helped the Orcs invade Redridge, I need to find him and stop him."
"How dangerous could he be?" Tyresa asked. One man was no threat to them and not worth the time of her warriors to find him.
"He had a small army of Gnolls under his control, if he tries something it will either be against you or Lakeshire," Caren replied. "He is situated on a tower located on the hills above Stonewatch Keep; it is likely he never attacked because the Orcs were between him and you, but now that they're gone, he could attack."
Tyresa was silent for a moment; she couldn't ignore a possible attack from an enemy, and even if they were Gnolls. It would be a problem holding off Orcs from the front and vermin from the back. But she needed all the help she could get to hold the pass; the knights would help greatly, but with the recent Orc base being discovered they may need more men.
"I'm sorry, but I can't divert our forces away from the Pass to find one rogue Warlock and his army of Gnolls," Tyresa said, and noticed Caren was not happy about that, and she could see the young mage was about to retort when Ichigo beat her to the punch.
"I'll go," Ichigo said. Cutting Caren off and surprising Tyresa a little, although she had to expect that he would surprise her in some way. "Me and Caren can find him and put an end to him before he attacks or at least tries something."
Tyresa weighed her options, Ichigo was a good fighter and she had hoped to utilize that in fighting against the Orcs at Render's Camp. But maybe this was a good plan, he was one man and only a small decrease in their efficiency, if he could pull off the same thing he did at Stonewatch Keep, then a pack of Gnolls should be a walk in the park.
"Alright, I'll let you do what you have to, but try to get back quickly, there is still a battle going on here," Tyresa said, to which Ichigo nodded and turned to face Adelina.
"Adelina, stay here and help with the wounded and fighting, okay?" Ichigo asked. She nodded her head and didn't question him, knowing that it was pointless and also he had not only her interests, but the other soldiers in mind when asking her to remain. "Caren lets go."
Both Ichigo and Caren raced off back up the slope and towards the East, moving towards the hills that Morganth was hiding within. Watching them leave was Tyresa and the Knight.
"Are you sure you should have sent him away?" the Knight asked.
"I am sure, he surprises me sometimes, and I know he will come back alive," Tyresa replied casually. "Come on Marshal Windsor, we have a battle to win here."
Fifteen Minutes Later.
Ichigo and Caren jogged towards the Tower of Ilgilar, the current residence of Morganth, Ichigo had been filled in on the reason why she had been sent here to capture Morganth. Apparently he had a book that held information of powerful magic, mainly of the dark kind, she along with a seasoned Magi had been sent to stop him from attempting to use it. Although Caren survived, her partner was killed and her body fed to the Gnolls, as a prisoner Caren was sent to Stonewatch to be looked after by the Orcs. But it was later that Morganth eventually betrayed the Orcs and has been attacking Stonewatch Keep and Lakeshire with his Gnoll army.
"When we get up there be prepared, he's likely got a few of his thralls guarding him," Caren said. Ichigo nodded and quickly drew Zangetsu, the cloth unwrapping itself as he grasped the handle and pulled his zanpakuto free.
No sooner had he done so had they been attacked, jumping from the bushes and behind trees came what one would think was a mix of a Hyena and a very small person. They looked horrendously ugly, and they were covered in patchy animal skins and pieces of metal and carrying crudely forged swords and stone hatchets. But they made up for their crappy gear with number and apparent fearlessness; they rushed in quickly to attack, twenty of them surrounded the fifteen year old Shinigami and mage.
Ichigo charged forward and met them head on, while Caren remained behind to defend herself from a distance, although a Journeyman Mage, she was not someone to look down upon. Her fiery temper had not only made her a relentless practitioner of the magecraft, but also a potent Fire Mage. Simply raising her palm and releasing a ball of condensed flame towards an oncoming Gnoll had reduced it to a charred corpse, with two other Gnolls ignited by the explosive force from the impact on her main target.
Ichigo swung wide and cleaved through two Gnolls with little effort, flesh was nothing against the spiritual sharpened edge of Zangetsu and their armor was non-existent, making it all the easier. Ichigo blocked a sword coming in from his right, he held out Zangetsu to block it, and to his surprise the weapon simply cut itself in half as soon as it met his blade. The Gnoll was surprised for a moment, looking between its weapon and Ichigo's, before it turned around and ran for its life. Obviously this Morganth guy didn't think before he decided to enslave a bunch of creatures that have weapons that are more likely to be cut apart then the person actually using it.
Then Ichigo realized something, if these guys were not willing to fight something they're scared of, then he really didn't need to fight them, all he had to do was scare them away. Releasing a burst of reiatsu Ichigo observed as all the Gnolls stopped momentarily and started howling in fear and shift and turning in all directions. Obviously it had the effect he needed; Ichigo stepped forward and swung Zangetsu wide, his meaning very clear, the Gnolls got the message and quickly scattered to find safety from the obviously non-human combatant.
Ichigo turned and was surprised that there were about ten charred bodies behind him, he had thought she would have maybe beaten a few, but to his surprise she actually had killed more than he did. Also the fact she had a mask of indifference on her was surprising, he had to resist the urge to gag at the smell of burning flesh and fur, and he guessed that she was much more serious about this than he thought.
"Come on, let's get to the tower. We need to finish off Morganth before those Gnolls come back," Caren said, passing by Ichigo without another word. The substitute nodded before following.
The tower stood before them now, a massive cylindrical tower of white stone that rose over thirty feet into the air, at the top was a massive square dwelling that was likely the living quarters or study for this tower. Large bay windows on each side of the dwelling with a neatly ocean blue tiled roof that gave off the sense of eloquence one would associate with an aristocratic residence, except in the form of a tower.
A small set of stairs led into the hollow interior of the tower, no guards or security devices of any sort barred their way, Ichigo could tell that there was something wrong with this picture right away. Ichigo glanced at Caren and could see she was scowling, obviously she had similar thoughts on the matter as well, getting past the Gnolls was easy, especially if he supposedly had an army of these things.
"You got any idea what this guy might be planning?" Ichigo asked. He had fought against some warlocks before, but he had learned that all people are different, even if they use the same magic they can be very dangerous to fight against.
"No, I never fought him personally, but he was a very powerful mage within Stormwind before he defected, it is best to assume he would be ready for us," Caren said, pausing only a moment before taking a step forward. "We might as well get this over with, no point in delaying the inevitable."
Ichigo matched her pace and stood beside her, the last thing he wanted was to have her get hurt because he wasn't there. Although she could take care of herself, which usually involved burning things to death, but he still didn't know if she had any sort of defensive abilities, fire may be a good offence, but defense? Not likely.
Entering the tower and scaling the spiraling staircase was uneventful, not a single bit of resistance was met as they climbed the tower, no guards or automated defense systems, technical or magical otherwise. Ichigo was getting the feeling he was walking right into a trap right now. Ichigo glanced around cautiously, he knew that there was more going on here than some damn wizard in a tower trying to get some spells out of a book, there was more to this then they knew.
Soon both the Shinigami and mage reached the top floor and entered a large open study, massive and filled with shelves and many assortments of books as well as other objects of magical and artistic purposes. But standing near the far wall was a man in his late forties, long black hair with a matching goatee and moustache, wearing orange and brown robes and staring at them both intently.
"I thought you learned your lesson the last time you came here girl, when I killed that other mage and fed her to my pets," Morganth said, arrogance brimming in his thick throaty tone.
"I have come here to take back the Book of Ur, and then I will avenge Delilah," Caren said, raising her hand which summoned forth a ball of flame.
"I think not," Morganth replied. Then from around them six Gnolls appeared, wearing tattered animal skin robes and wielding simple sticks. "Darkweavers, deal with the boy, leave the girl to me."
Ichigo was forced to leap away as a barrage of Shadow Bolts were sent sailing towards him, cursing under his breath he landed a few feet away and drew Zangetsu. Before he could attack he had to dodge again as they sent another volley at him, they were smart these ones, firing at intervals too keep Ichigo from attacking. But that wouldn't work on someone who could move faster than the eye could perceive. Ichigo appeared beside one of the Darkweavers, as they were called, and quickly swung Zangetu at the creature. But was surprised when his zanpakuto met resistance as a transparent purple barrier appeared and halted his attack, the barrier was about as large as the Gnoll and completely shielded his side from the attack.
Before Ichigo could understand what happened he was attacked by another volley of Shadow Bolts, Shunpoing away he reappeared near a book shelf and took cover. They were wailing into the shelf, which exploded with purple and green flames, Ichigo needed to figure out how to take these guys down. He could get close to them, that was for certain, but then what, they had that shield protecting them and if he couldn't get through it then what? He had to think of something.
Getsuga Tenshou? No, to risky, it could bring down the tower. Hollow powers maybe, give more power to his swings and maybe even shatter the shield, but then he would likely end up draining himself of most of his power. Bankai was out as it was much more demanding than his mask. He had to figure out how to get past that shield, there had to be a way around it, then he remembered something.
He remembered that the shield didn't extend all the way over the Darkweaver, just on the side where he was attacked, they likely need to channel it there in order to be able to protect themselves. So he can either surprise them or attack from one side and then go for the other, Ichigo smirked a little, before he quickly leaped out of cover and charged to the closest Gnoll.
The Gnoll saw the Shinigami coming and quickly moved to raise a shield; already the transparent barrier came into view; but as Ichigo moved to strike him, he quickly leapt over the Gnoll. Zangetsu still drawn back and ready to be swung, as Ichigo landed he swung Zangetsu around and at the Gnoll, who tried to save himself by raising another shield but was cut off by the edge off Zangetsu. As the Gnoll fell to the ground dead, Ichigo was forced to dodge more volleys of shadowy magic, he could see that his trick had worked, he hoped it would work five more times.
Caren met the fallen mage's Shadow Bolt with her own Fire Bolt, the two bolts exploded in a brilliant display of orange, purple and green, then from the cloud of smoke three smaller bolts shot forth right towards Caren. Thinking quickly Caren blinked from where she was standing to right behind Morganth, turning she quickly summoned fire to her hand and aimed at the Warlock and sent a condensed beam of flame towards him.
As she fired she watched as the world in front of her was engulfed in fire as it shot out as if striking a wall, she halted her spell, knowing if he had been hit he would be dead and if not he would at least be dying. But Caren was shocked to see her flames simply burning around a barrier of energy that surrounded Morganth, his back still turned to her, he didn't even acknowledge her attack. But he soon acknowledged her when he turned around and sent a wave of purple fire at Caren; she countered it by quickly summoning a barrier of ice ahead of her.
She had tried to cast Ice Block but she had not trained much in the art of frost Magic and even if she did it was still a spell she was yet too inexperienced to fully manifest. But luckily she had enough knowledge in all areas to protect her, but that changed when she was thrown back as her barrier shattered. Caren collided with a bookshelf and both she and it fell to the ground in a heap; groaning in pain as she pulled herself from the indented shelf, she looked up to see the ever so arrogant Morganth staring down at her disapprovingly.
"You broke one of my shelves and scattered all my books," he said, like a mentor chiding an apprentice. He shook his head with obvious annoyance. "Now I will have to catalogue them all again, after I kill you both."
"Not happening," Caren retorted, picking up a thick book and chucking it at Morganth then firing a fireball at it. The book shattered and the burning pages flew everywhere, distracting Morganth and making it hard for him to locate Caren.
The young mage in question was moving, she had to overwhelm the Warlock's shield if she wanted to get to him, and the only way to do that was to basically keep firing. Raising her hand she began to channel her mana into raw arcane bolts before firing them, over a dozen of the bolts impacted on the Warlocks shield but he held against the attack.
"There you are," he growled, raising his scepter and sending a bolt of shadow at Caren, who could only dodge the attack. She felt weak, her time in captivity had been long and she had not been able to recuperate; aside from the food and mana potion Ichigo had given her, she was still at a disadvantage.
Caren tossed herself over a table and used it as cover, it didn't last long before it exploded and was reduced to splinters and ash, standing quickly she tried to send another attack, but was quickly knocked back by a Shadow Bolt. As Caren collided with the railing, she felt herself lurch dangerously over the side and nearly fall down the shaft to the base floor of the tower. Caren was able to correct herself, but then found a hand wrapped around her throat. Looking, she saw Morganth staring at her intently and deciding on what was the best way to kill her.
"Now how do I dispose of you, I could reduce you to a pile of ash, easy to clean up," Before he looked over the railing and contemplated something. "Or maybe over the side, much more enjoyable, but the mess would be harder to clean up."
"Go to hell!" Caren hissed defiantly.
"Excellent idea, let's see if you like hellfire then," Morganth said as he raised his hand which was consumed in molten fire; ready to place it on Caren, who squirmed to escape.
But before Morganth could even move an inch his shield was struck, looking he saw his shield stressing against the boy who had slammed down his blade right on top of him. If not for his shield, Morganth or likely what was left of him would have been forced through the floor; Morganth released Caren just as his shield was beginning to buckle.
Morganth halted a few feet away, he had not expect an attack, looking around he noticed that all of his Darkweavers were dead. He was honestly surprised, although more annoyed that they couldn't defeat a boy. Turning back he realized that he would need to resort to summoning his secret weapon, he would be more than enough to kill the boy and then he could finish off the girl. Channelling a summoning spell he prepared to summon his minion, purple runes appeared below him, intricate patterns and inscriptions flowing over it, and then he completed the summons. The smell of rot and death filled the room as well as the sound of a low guttural growl. Turning, Morganth smirked as he saw his minion had appeared.
Ichigo and Caren stared in shock at the creature before them, but for two completely different reasons. Ichigo was looking at what he could only clarify as Frankenstein's first attempt at making his monster; the creature was a massive obese Humanoid with pale slimy skin. Dozens of stitches connected the many different shades of flesh over its body, showing it was composed of the corpses of at least eight different people.
It had three arms, two normal arms attached to the sides of its torso, with a hook in one hand and a chain wrapped around the other empty hand, and over the left shoulder was another smaller arm carrying a hatchet. But the most disturbing part was its stomach, which revealed all the internal organs that actually were working and spewing a foul odor and fluids. Six ribs were poking out and keeping the opening in the stomach wide and also another layer of ribs was actually keeping to organs from completely falling out.
Ichigo had never seen anything so horrible before, the thought that he was staring at an undead monster was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen. Not only because he was fighting it, but because it had been made from the bodies of likely dozens of different people; he shuddered to think what methods they employed to gather the materials needed to create this abomination.
"Abomination," Caren cried out in fright. Ichigo agreed with her, that was just what it was, an abomination against nature.
"Fresh meat," the Abomination growled out before charging; surprisingly fast for something with short stumpy legs.
Ichigo and Caren leapt away as it slammed its hook where they stood only a few moments ago. Ichigo attacked, raising Zangetsu to try and cut off its bowed head, but was shocked when his blade was grabbed by its empty right hand. Ichigo then felt something connect with his side, looking down he winced as he noticed the hook had embedded two inches of itself into his waist. Before he could try to remove it he was pulled forward and then thrown away, Zangetsu still in the grip of the Abomination.
Ichigo recovered and regained his footing, but he felt his side flare in pain, though his armor had saved him it still had gone deep, guess he was lucky he got this stuff otherwise he would likely not have a side anymore. Ichigo looked to see the Abomination lumbering towards him, its feet creating small quakes in the floor as it did, and without a weapon Ichigo really didn't have any chance against the thing. If he punched it, his fist would likely sink into it. So that means he needed to get Zangetsu back, Ichigo shunpo'ed to the Abominations side and grasped Zangetsu and tried to pull his zanpakuto free.
But the creature had it in a vice grip, he glanced up to see it leering down at him and raising is hook to strike again, this time going right for the kill. Ichigo saw no other choice, he gripped Zangetsu with both hands and channeled his spiritual energy into the blade, which began to glow and explode with energy. The Abomination let go in sudden surprise, Ichigo pulled his zanpakuto back and swung at the undead monstrosity.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo cried out, sending a condensed wave of spiritual energy at the undead, which was consumed and force back into the far wall which exploded. The tower shook and Ichigo struggled to maintain his footing.
Soon the shaking stopped and the far wall was concealed by dust, but then he heard it, the thumping that accompanied something large approaching. Ichigo could see its stumpy legs appear from under the thick dust, raising Zangetsu for the fight to come, but he was surprised by what he saw next. Instead of the Abomination, all that was there was the legs and lower body of the Abomination, and a small pile of organs barely remaining on top of one another. For a moment it walked around and then tripped and fell out of the now large hole on the side of the tower, a thud and splat was heard a few moments later.
"That was both disgusting… and a little funny," Ichigo said, his face sour at the sight of a body without a torso walking around. The sound of an explosion drew his attention and he saw Morganth standing there over the downed Caren, who was trying to crawl away, but Morganth placed his foot on her back and stopped her.
"Damn you, you have set me back, it will take me months to rebuild and recover the Scythe," Morganth growled, raising his scepter to finish off Caren. But before he could he was halted when he felt his breath hitch and chest flare in pain.
Ichigo stood in front of Morganth with Zangetsu piercing the Warlock's chest, for a few moments Morganth looked lost, not being able to decide on what emotion to place on his face before he died. From surprise, to anger and grief, but he finally decided to settle on disappointment as he frowned at the blade sticking through his torso and fell off Ichigo's zanpakuto and to the ground, dead.
There was a lull in the world as Ichigo looked down at the corpse of the former Magi Morganth, before glancing to Caren who was looking on in some surprise, Ichigo reached down and offered her a hand. She took it, and he pulled her off the floor. She was panting slightly and looked a little pale, mana fatigue Ichigo guessed, he had only been here for about a month and a half and he was already picking up on the terminology that was used here.
"Looks like we got him," Caren said, panting lightly, to which Ichigo nodded.
"We should probably go. This tower might not be stable anymore, and we also need to get back to the pass, everyone might still be fighting," Ichigo said. To which Caren agreed and they slowly made their way out of the tower, beginning the long trip back to the pass.
Chapter 19	Chapter 21