Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 48 - Identity Revealed

Lazarus spawned in the Ghost Lord's chambers. He would have materialised gracefully in his usual half-crouch if not for the sudden gut wrenching pull he felt. Much to his chagrin, he landed in an untidy heap.

"Ugh, what a lousy entrance," he muttered to himself as he got up. Luckily he had landed on the luxurious thick carpet in the middle of the empty room. Thank the Gods, there was no one to witness his embarrassing appearance.

A loud boom vibrated the walls of the Keep. The assassin took a few steps before he stumbled but managed to keep his balance.

"Aarrrgghhh!!"

A sharp tug at his internal Energy tore at him again. The Shield!!

City Shield 85 per cent

The enemy had continued attacking the city. The Shield had started pulling at him for more Energy to maintain its integrity. Now that he was virtual, he felt his Energy being wrenched forcefully from him. Not good. He had to end this quickly or he would not last long. The gatekeeper was a higher level than the attacking Heroes, but still, twenty to one! He shook his head at the impossible odds.

Lazarus ran out the Keep and into the courtyard. His city was empty of its citizens. The only NPCs he could see were the various military units. Excellent! The Keeper and the Battle Master had done their jobs well.

"Dimitri!!" he yelled as another boom was heard. He felt another gut-wrenching tug. He stopped to catch his breath. The Shield shimmered for a moment overhead but did not yield.

"Here, My Lord!"

Lazarus looked up searching for his Battle Master. Dimitri was leaning against the high city wall's parapet facing the inner court waving at him to come up. He was above the main gates. The assassin ran up the side stairs, eager to see what was happening. Soon, he stood beside the Battle Master. They turned to face the outer wall.

"How is it?"

"We are holding up so far," the Battle Master hedged. "I estimate about 100,000 units out there maybe more."

"What!?! That's crazy!" Lazarus did a quick calculation, 100,000 units divide 20 Heroes, that would be about 5,000 units each. How many soldiers did he have again? He checked and sighed. He would just have to hold out for as long as possible.

Lazarus looked out to a sea of soldiers. Everywhere he looked, the enemy covered the area, armed and ready. They were organised and stood shoulder to shoulder in formation. He frowned. It was obvious these Heroes knew each other and had played together before.

Their archers sent volley after volley of arrows at his City. The twinges he felt when they hit the Shield were nothing compared to the boulders their machines lobbed. That was what had hit him when he first spawned. He counted five catapults taking turns. There were another five sitting quietly on standby.

"You okay My Lord? Did you get into some kind of trouble boy?" Dimitri asked as he steadied his Lord, "Why are they attacking us?"

"Who me?" Lazarus asked widening his silver eyes innocently.

The Battle Master growled at his Lord.

"I don't know."

"Out with it boy. We will deal with this together."

The young lord caught the old fighter's disbelieving gaze. "No, really! I didn't do anything," he protested.

"Hmm. That's alright then, lad. We will set things right if it's a misunderstanding, "Dimitri relented. "Steady now lad, we have work to do and enemy to vanquish."