Two Catapults Part 3

Dividing the prisoners, and killing them did not sit well with the Gnolls and Troglodytes. One hundred thirty something Gnolls and Troglodytes jumped the Gontrellans who reached for their firearms and other weapons. Another skirmish erupted over the prisoners they captured. Many of the Gontrellans tried to defend themselves against a stronger opponent. Although warriors could defeat them, the average civilian soldier or volunteer, and civilian did not do so well.

            Because they were armed with pistols the Gontrellans managed to kill a quarter of attackers. In less than a few moments the rest overwhelmed them. All the Goblins shook their heads. Some fired bolts or loosed arrows at the backs of the taller beast humanoids. The skirmish lasted for a few minutes with the Muskallans cutting down the Gnolls and Troglodytes alongside the rest. A handful of Goblins were killed in the skirmish as well. Many of the prisoners got caught in the crossfire and cross fighting. Just a quarter of the Gontrellans remained and half the Goblins still stood. Most of them were exhausted. Out of the remaining prisoners that were still in the grouping only 227 remained to be sorted out.

            A horn blew four times signaling the arrival of a fresh force. Rolling his eyes the Goblin looked through the spy glass. Sixty-five Rangers, and warriors with 36 more riding towards their location. He warned the others, some of whom reacted and prepared a defense. The rest of them scrambled to get the prisoners on the wagons as another group of thirty-six armed orcs rushed over from the main horde. They came to speed things up and get the slaves out of here as soon as possible.

            The Goblin overseer track-keeper looked past the convoy. A small force of about fifty-seven Muskallans rode up to them. Far behind them was the main horde itself. From where he stood the Goblin counted 903 out of some ten thousand and counting. His counting and train of thought were disrupted by gunfire that made him jump. All the armed Goblins, Gontrellans, slavers, and orcs fired on the approaching force of would be heroes. This forced them to spread out a little as they came in fast. About a dozen of them fell. Several of them fired back hitting a few defenders. With a dozen fallen the rangers, warriors, and mercenaries back off the attack. Another victory was given to the horde.

            Soon all the prisoners and slaves were rounded up and loaded on the wagons. Night was falling fast which gave them little time to get going, It forced them to stay on that spot until morning. At the crack of dawn they awoke to the sounds of war cries, hoofbeats, and shooting from a small range of hills they somehow missed. Their whole camp came under fire from those hills. Most of the shots were not very accurate. It was his job to keep track of everything and calculate numbers. He could not tell how many were on those hills, however he did catch sight of the small force racing towards them. It was a small army of 337 Uxane braves from the Eastern Mawnee Nation of the Pale Hills. They came running down the hills. Whoever was left of their own forces fired on the oncoming wave of Uxane.

            Barely over a hundred or more of the remaining forces sent to take the fort made a desperate defense. The camp was not too far away. Knowing the Mawnee it was the best to leave the cargo there for a better defensive position. Their main goal would be to kill the defenders then claim all the cargo and all survivors to parade around. Realizing he was going to be dragged into this the tracker acted fast. He grabbed a crossbow and a handful of bolts from a few his own kind before racing to the camp.

            Gontrellan troops and Orcs fired a few volleys at the oncoming wave of Mawnee warriors. The Mawnee descended on the camp moment they found a good spot. Like any defender the Goblin shot one bolt into the air hoping it would hit an Uxane. He loaded another bolt to shoot an Uxane Mawnee wielding a decorated axe. When the Goblin tried to load a third bolt most of the defenders were being cut down, speared, and filled with arrows. Mawnee warriors rode through the camp and circled around the encampment killing what remained of the defenders. Many Goblins hid as did he the very moment the Mawnee rode through. He hid under a tent with a perfect up close view.

            From his hiding place this Goblin overseer witnessed another force storm in the camp and force these Mawnee back to their hills. Muskallan arrows came first peppering the encampment, killing some braves in the volley. Most of the Mawnee turned to face this new threat as it stormed into the camp. This track-keeper got front row seat of the clash between two distinct cultures and armies. Both of who had to migrate for centuries before meeting in this part of the world.

            Mawnee and Muskallan fought ferociously inside the encampment. Combatants fell on the ground, others wrestled each other to the ground. Both horse and rider fell, warriors fell off their mounts dead, dying or wounded. Sounds of war cries, shouting, growling, weapons clashing, bones breaking, and horses screaming filled the air with a mixture of sounds. The Goblin watched from inside the tent as both forces destroy each other. He used this chance to slip out of the encampment. With his short legs managed to race out of there and head straight for the main horde. He looked over his shoulder to see another two waves of warriors coming. Some eight hundred twenty or more Uxane rushing straight for the camp.

            Racing for the horde made him tired. He stopped to watch this next wave of Mawnee surround the remaining Muskallans. On the hills was a larger wave of 2000 Mawnee warriors. His jaw dropped to see this other large army on those hills waiting to come down to fight the horde. Knowing he was going to die anyways the surviving Goblin turned to the south. As he took to the south he noticed another camp of three figures. This new trio made camp as far away from the scene as possible.

            Just three figures were camping out while a battle was raging on. He glanced over his shoulder to see what he guessed was a solid force of 3,021 and counting. None of them were mounted on any steeds. It was assumed they were all Troglodytes, and Gnolls with some Kuruks, and Orcs from the expanded territories. He turned away being the last one from the original army that attacked the fort village. Behind him he could hear the Uxane descending on the Muskallans at the encampment. The Goblin looked ahead to see the trio breaking camp or getting up to mount. Each one wore two types of cloaks over the other. One of them must have been for night time travel, and the other for wilderness travel, he thought to his Goblin self. He studied the foliage that covered most of the area. Various types of flowers, weeds, scattered trees such as thick dwarf trees, isolated pines, mother willows, purple leaf bushes, and those fields of thin candle grass.

            Whatever this trio were up to did not concern the Goblin. He knew this did not concern the main horde at all. To them they were just three figures who posed zero danger to the horde. Out of curiosity this Goblin turned around to see what was going on at the encampment this time. Using his spyglass he observed the scene laid out before him. The 3000 or more force was engaging the other wave of Mawnee as more than two thousand other Mawnee raced down to flank the three thousand on foot. More than half the ones closest to the impact died leaving the rest with the Uxane.

            With nothing else to watch the Goblin sat down on a fallen tree. No more than several thousand Uxane Mawnee, Gnolls, Troglodytes, Kuruks, and Orcs fought savagely. Due to their height many of the taller beings endured the impact. A few minutes of watching the battle brought the Goblin some entertainment. Using horse and spears Mawnee braves brought down the tall enemies. Hundreds of Uxane were pulled down or speared in turn. A few hundred broke off from the fighting and rode around. Each warrior in those groups let loose arrows into the flanks of the Gnolls, Troglodytes, Orcs and Kuruks. These two armies fought with one of them getting peppered with arrows. Although the horde had larger numbers their adversaries still had the upper hand. If this were an army of Goblins, smaller orcs, or men the Uxane cavalry would have run them down quickly. For nearly half an hour or more the battle lasted with no help coming from the Muskallans who simply watched.

            More than one thousand seven hundred Mawnee survived the onslaught with the horde. In astonishment he watched the Mawnee take all the loot and prisoners. He looked over at the Muskallans who did nothing to stop them. Not one of them lifted a finger to prevent the Mawnee from taking the loot. The Goblin scanned the area with his spyglass. Where most of the reinforcements had come in before the siege, a large force was making its way to the battle scene. Using the time he had he calculated a force of 5,500 troops bearing Tamoth colors. Among the Tamoth force were five other armies. These other five armies belonged to separate factions. He saw these factions consisted of mercenaries, an order of knights, elf swordsmen from some elf kingdom, clansmen, and a mixture of warriors, fighters, rangers, various, Uxane braves from other tribes, and individual adventurers, and explorers, plus civilized orcs. A total of 6,900 or more troops of Tamoth, elf swordsmen, mercenaries, knights, clansmen, warriors, fighters, rangers Uxane, adventurers, explorers and orcs marched towards them.