Chapter 6

The shimmering rim of the portal began to shrink smaller and smaller at a rapid rate as the mighty green wizard crossed through. The portal closed leaving the pretend giant in the southern regions of night elf territory.

He now stood at the border lands to the south of the Shadow Glade Peninsula, a place where many a night elf gave thier lives to defend the dence fungal utopia. A place of chaos and danger as many creatures of various shapes and sizes lurk around these lands.

When Zangar entered the portal he stood just several yards away from a night elf sentinel outpost. A crude rampart was erected from the earth to form a defensive wall against any unknown threats. (With the exception of flying creatures or beings large enough to simply smash through it)

And seeing that they were still in the woodland parts of the land, there were multiple tall trees above the army camp that would serve was watch posts for any hostile factions coming thier way.

Zangar approached the thick wooden rampart and looked up at the guards standing on top of the splintery wall.

"Halt!" One of the guards said calling down to the wizard.

"State your business here warrior."

In response, Zangar let out an intimidating call as he replied to the elf.

"Have you no respect for the council that you mistake a man of my stature as a mere peon!?" He said with a deep growl. "I am Lord Zangar! Soul protector of the borderlands and right hand man of the mistress herself! I have been sent here to plan a defence of the borderlands by command of the mistress! I demand you let me in this instant!" He bellowed as he stabbed his staff onto the earth with a flash of green light.

He didn't have to finish his speech for the guard to realize that he had offended a high Ranking member of the elven council
Intimidated to the core the elf guard stepped down from the rampart and went to open the front gate immediately. The two wooden doors slowly creaked open as several elves pulled on the massive handle on the inside of the gate.

Zangar stepped though the gate, and gave a sinister glare at the elf guard that offended him before. He wasn't really offended by the elf. But he had to keep his reputation of feer in tact if he was to survive in the Shadow Glades. The elf swallowed his saliva in feer of the titanic warrior, and stood at the gate nervously as Zangar went by. Five to six elves then pushed on the gate door to close it after Zangar was safely inside the fort.

On his way to the meeting hall, another elf stumbled into his path. A high Ranking elf of the border guard had caught up to him to update the wizard of the current situation.

"Commander Zangar, thank the gods you are here!" The lieutenant began. "We have news of the impending threat to our people coming up from the south. The enemy has halted at the borders of the Shadow Glades."

"Very good." Zangar said as the two of them walked down the path to the meeting hall. "Tell me, have the other local commanders arrived yet?" Zangar asked.

"Yes my lord They arrived just this morning." The lieutenant replied.

"We have all been waiting for you to arrive to begin the war council."

"Then we best not keep them waiting." Zangar said as picked up his pace as to pass the lieutenant.

As they walked through the army camp he could see several squads of elven soldiers preparing for battle. Archers practicing their aim at a shooting range. Elite guards armed with elven halberds practiced standing in formation and opening combat moves. Footmen we're sparring with one another in preparation for the coming dwarven armies. All around the camp warriors both men and women buzzed around the scene like a swarm of bees in a hive.

In less than a minute the two arrived at the meeting hall. A larger structure than that of his residence, but still smaller than that of a human council chamber. There was only enough room inside the tent for the handful of commanders and a table for a map of the area.

Standing outside the entrance to the meeting hall was another elf dressed in traditional night elven battle armor. A sword and it's sheath strapped along his waist and a thick leather tunic that provided little protection to the chest and abdomen of the warrior. Wool and leather boots covered his feet, and an elven long bow was strapped across his chest.

"Lord Zangar. It is an honor to meet you sir!" The elf said as he reached out to shake his hand. Zangar humored the gesture and met him half way by gripping his hand.

"The honor is all mine commander." He replied.

"Come in sir, we have all been waiting for you to arrive before starting the meeting." The elf said as he ushered Zangar inside. Zangar had to crouch down to enter so that the horns on his helmet would not tear up the tent entrance. There were three other elven commanders already inside. Two males and a female hovered over what looked to be a battle map compete with strategic figurines placed across it. The commanders all turned up from the map to see Zangar now with them.

"Commander Zangar!" The female said with an elven salute. (Which was putting her right arm across her chest) the other commanders followed suit when they noticed the high commander.

Zangar on the other hand made no salute and went right to the battle map. He placed both his hands on the table as he leaned forward to see the map. He looked at the unit placers and could see that the entire border was still being guarded, at least that's where the unit placers were. Six wooden figurines stood at the edges of the borderlands representing the elven armies stationed along the border.

But he noticed that there were no enemy units on the field yet. There was no unit placer for the dwarves.

"So where is the enemy coming from?" Zangar asked.

"We have sent scouts to the south just a few days ago." One of the male elf commanders said.

"We have reports of an army coming up from this point here." He said pointing to a spot on the map.

"But where are they?" Zangar asked. "Where are the enemy markers?"

"We don't have them mister Zangar sir." The second male elf replied. Zangar looked at them with confusion while still trying to take on an intimidating look.

"What do you mean you don't have the markers?" He asked. "Did they get lost somewhere on your way here?"

"No sir it's not like that." The female elf said.

"We mean we don't have marker pieces for an orc army."

Zangar was most surprised at this news.

"Did you say, an orc army?" He asked looking up at her slowly.

"Yes sir. Our scouts have reported a large host of orcs stationed just outside the borders of the forrest." She answered. Zangar then turned back at the map and thought for a moment.

"A large host you say?" Zangar asked. "how large are we talking about here?"

"Well our scouts were only able to see as far as the horizon." One of the males said.

"But they estimate several hundred thousand at least."

Zangar dug his fingers into the table when he heard this number. So surprised was he that the force he applied upon the table left gauges in the wood surface. He then turned to face the commander still in shock by the news.

"Hundreds of thousands?" He asked in horror.

"And that was just as far as the eye could see." The commander replied. "They say there could be even more of them out there. Possibly numbering in the millions."

Zangar wasn't sure what to think of this. For over a thousand years he had protected the Shadow Glades from enemy harm. But he had never faced a force this size Sence the black wars. And looking back he had never faced a mortal army this size before.

He had so many questions to ask. Where did all these orcs come from? What are they doing here? What happened to the realms of man with which they swore to destroy? Did they already do it? Are the human kingdoms no more? Had the orcs slain them all? And are they now planning to invade Celemore too? Are they trying to tame the world through the fires of war?

"But there was another thing they noticed." Said the female commander.

"According to the reports, this hoard of invaders are vastly unprepared for a direct conflict."

Zangar looked at her with confusion again.

"What do you mean they are unprepared?" He asked. "These are orcs we are talking about. Orcs are always prepared for battle."

"Our scouts reported that only a hand full of orcs were seen to bear arms." She replied. "They reported that many of them had little to no weapons at all. And thier uniforms were like that of a peasant mob rather than a legitimate war band. They had very little armor, even for orcs. They even brought women and children with them."

Zangar was even more confused now. What was a band of peasant orcs doing all the way on the other side of the world? And in such numbers? He knew that if they brought Thier families here than Thier intentions are to settle and tame this new land. But if they stayed along the rim of the Forrest than who was to stop them from expanding to the north? Who was to stop them from hacking down their trees for fire wood or destroying the fruit bearing plants with their lack of agricultural knowledge?

But he was a bit relieved at the news that they were vastly under equipped. Although orcs are steadily warriors with or without weapons, they could do far less damage without them. He figured that if they could launch an attack with a professional army of elite warriors, they may just divert the orcs away from the Shadow Glades, thin their numbers a bit, and scatter what was left of them back into the desert.

"So a decisive strike should drive them back." Zangar said.

"Do you think that will work commander Zangar sir?" The other male commander asked.

"I am not entirely certain." Zangar replied.

"Orcs are a violent race. They are just as ready for a fight with or without a sword or ax. But if what you say is true and they are under equipped for an all out war, then the show of a well supplied and properly trained force should scare them away. Or at least make them think twice about moving into the borderlands. But we will need a large force to pull this off."

"How large of a force do we need?" Asked another male commander.

Zangar had to do some quick math with this one. Math was never his strong suite but he did his best.

"Let's see. An orcs heavy armor is enough to hold off three humans at a time, but most of them are lacking this armor. And weapons to boot. Roughly how many of them were armed?"

"We estimate about one out of every twelfth man bore arms." The female said.

"Then assuming that there are about five hundred thousand to a million armed orcs, that would come to about... fifty thousand armed orcs. So we should plan for a force of a hundred thousand personnel."

The commanders stared at him when he made this command.

"But sir, we only have twenty thousand men stationed along the borderlands." The female commander said suddenly.

"We would have to call in reserve forces to fill this quota. We may even have to draft more warriors for this army."

"Consider the alternative commander." Zangar said with his hands still firmly grasped upon the table.

"Let's say we let them come into our land. What will happen then? Are you willing to live with these Brutish red skinned warmongers? Taking your water, stealing your food, and doing what ever they want with you and your children?"

Having been intimidated, Zangar's point was clear. The orc hoard had to be stopped at all costs.

"But the real question we should be asking is, how long will it take to muster a force this size. And can we do it before the orcs make any moves?" Zangar asked.

"Well we have all the time in the world now." The first male commander said.

"What do you mean?" Zangar asked.

"These vermin have already been here for about a week now. They have just started building a new settlement and shelters for the hoard."

Zangar was horrified when he heard this. He let go of the table to reveal the dents he made earlier. He then went up to the commander, grabbed him by his tunic and raised him of the ground with one arm.

"These monsters have been here for a week now? And you just now bother to tell me!?" He bellowed in anger.

"Do you have any idea what damage that number of orcs can do to our sacred lands in that time? Or what the mistress will do to me if she found out it took a week for me to be informed of this major threat!?"

In a fit of rage Zangar then dropped the elf suddenly and violently. The other two commanders were stunned at this sudden burst of anger and fury. But then they remembered that Zangar was always a man of rashness and violently bold action.

Having cleared his mind a bit Zangar made his final decision on the matter.

"You two, light the signals. We must unite the entire border army to confront these orcs head on before they get a chance to dig in and prepare for war." He said as he pointed at the two male commanders.

"And you, you are to report to the mistress in person and attempt to allow conscription for the coming war." He said pointing at the elf woman now

"I have a sinking feeling that this is going to be something bigger than an orc war." He said as he turned around to face the exit.

Having given his orders the three commanders scattered to perform thier new tasks. The two male elves ran through the army camp, pushing through soldiers and fellow border guards as they went.

When they came to the rampart they halted for a moment. The elves had made a pulley elevator that would allow them to access the higher levels of the base within the Forrest canopy. The elves waited impatiently as the platform made it's way down to the ground.

When it finally did reach the ground the elves wasted no time. They boarded the platform, and gave the line a tug signaling to the operator that they needed to go back up. The platform then began to rise higher and higher of the earth below. The elves could see the top of the rampart wall as they continued to rise higher up into the forrest.

When they reached the top, they were greeted by the elevator operator, a young elf girl probably in her hundreds. (That would be the equivalent to a pre teen child in their culture) around them was a large wooden platform that was held in place secured around one of the large forrest trees. A platform large enough to hold about twelve men at a time.

The two generals looked about the area looking for the path to the signal beacon when they finally found it. A rope bridge leading to another tree platform about twenty yards away. They dashed to the bridge and crossed it with inhuman speeds.

They crossed over to the next platform, and the next, and the next one and the next one. Each platform they crossed leading them closer and closer to the signal beacon.

About four platforms later they had arrived at the signal beacon. Planted around the largest tree in the center of the army base. At the very top of the tree was a wooden tower just large enough for a single man to light the beacon.

The two elves looked at each other nervous. They had both hoped that the other would be the one to climb the tower to light the beacon. As the tower was very old and barely ever used. They settled there little dispute with a simple game of stone scroll dagger. (The equivalent to rock paper scissors) the two elves clenched thier hands on a fist and began the game. The second elf having lost the game began to cross the last rope bridge to the beacon platform.

He bagan to scale the rigidly old tower with caution as the whole thing wiggled and creaked with every step. When he reached the top, he was met with a small obelisk as high as his waist. Resting on top of this obelisk was the beacon covered in a thick cloth to prevent it's use. The elf looked up at the sky to see the sun being just bright enough for this to work.

The elf then whipped the cloth off to reveal the beacon. It was a diamond shaped instrument with every side being covered in reflective material. It shined like its own separate star as it reflected the sun's light.

However the elf commander was blinded as the light pierced the surface and sent beams of light going out in all directions. He stumbled back from the light, and fell backwards off of the tower. Fortunately for him, the other commander had followed him to the platform and was there to catch his falling Conrad.

After letting the commander get back up to his feet the two elves looked around the tree tops looking for signs of other beacons being lit in response to this one. Before long, a second beacon was lit out in the distance to the east. Looking like a night time star in the day light. It was impossible for the two to miss it. And again In The west yet another beacon was lit in response.

These beacons would send a message of war all across the border lands in a matter of minutes. So having done thier task the two elves made thier way back down to the army to report to Zangar. Buy the time they got to the ground should have been enough time for the beacons to be lit all across the border lands. Every elven watch post and army base will be ready for action in a minutes notice.

When they returned to Zangar he was wrapping up the mustering of the camp. Seven hundred elven warriors strong were now armed and ready for war.

"Sir, the beacons are lit. The border guards will be ready any minute now." One commander said.

"Very good. Then let's not keep the army waiting." Zangar replied. "I have found the perfect spot to launch our attack in your absence. I will teleport the army to the obelisk of Lithelion to the south west. We should stand right in front of the invading hoard. But still be far enough as to still be covered by the trees."

Having said this, Zangar then raised his staff slightly and held it just infront of his face. The staff began to glow a bright green as he concentrated his power. He would open a portal from every military outpost in all the border lands and send the entire army into one spot. His eyes began to burn like a green flame as he stretched his powers across a vast territory in so many places at once.

With a flash of green light the last portal was now open, the portal for this army camp. The fierce elven army swarmed the portal and rushed into the Lithelion ruins. As Zangar himself crossed over he could see that his magic once again prevailed. Thousands of elven warriors were now pouring into the scene from dozens of separate portals. It would take a couple minutes for the rest of the border garrisons to respond to the beacons and arm themselves for war. But with the portals now open they could enter the base camp at will.

In a matter of minutes an grand elven army of twenty thousand warriors were now united in one area, all of them under his command.any armed with primitive long bows and crapped armor plates from previous battles. Other, more elite units carried majestic elven glaves while others bore curved swords and light weight shields.

"Everyone listen up!" Zangar called out in a deep, menacing voice. The entire army went silent in respect for the wizard. "I shall go out before you to attempt to negotiate a peace first. But you are to stay close by Incase all goes down the hill. You will hold your attack untill I give the order!"

Having said this Zangar then made his way to the south where the orc base was reported to be located with the rest of the army following him. They marched for a little less than an hour before Zangar stopped dead in his tracks and raised his right arm in the air signaling the army to stop as well. The end of the forrest was now in sight.

He then ordered his men to stay back while he moved forward. He moved through the trees like a rock in the waves, knowing over several dead trees and mutilating several stronger ones. He soon reached the other side of the forrest, And horror suddenly filled his heart. Not that his opponent was more powerful than him, but rather that the numbers he was expecting were far larger than what the scouts have reported.

As he stood atop the hill he could see that there were easily a million orcs stretched across the long narrow valley in front of him. While the valley itself was but a couple hundred yards wide, it would stretch to the east and west for miles. And so did the orc hoards. There were orcs as far as the eye could see going both east and west. They had also erected several living quarters to hold this vast hoard. Zangar swallowed his sudden fear and began to make an intimidating speech.

"People of Varamath!" He called out. His voice thundered and echoed through out all the valley. "You are trespassing on sacred lands. Return to where you come from or feel the wrath of the mighty Zangar! Last of the demigods and protector of the Shadow Glades!"

Zangar felt confident in his speech. He could feel the energy of the orc hoard beneath him. As they roared to eachother in response to the sudden threat Zangar knew that they were defenatly intimidated. But there was another voice that called out to him. On the other side of the valley standing on the hill on the other side.

"Back off ya night elven b@#$&d! Our beef is with the orcs this time! So keep your noses out of our business!" The voice said. Zangar looked to the hill on the other side of the valley. And a sudden anger filled his heart.

Standing on the opposite side of the valley was a dwarf, an army of them. Easily several thousands of them standing in formation as they stared down the wizard. How dare this dwarf insult him to his face. Who does this midget think he is?

"Master dwarf!" Zangar called out again. "You would be wise to withdrawal your forces from this land immediately. Or you and your people shall endure the same fate as these orcs."

As he said this the elven army suddenly emerged from the trees. Twenty thousand strong now stood in formation as an intimidating force to the dwarven invaders.

This would be an interesting battle. Zangar was so focused at this point on their old rivals that he had nearly forgotten about the throng of orcs that lay down below them. the night elves had the numbers advantage against the dwarves easily out numbering them three to one. But the dwarves were armed with heavy armor, and they seemed to be armed with that alleged secret weapon they had heard about.

"Over my lifeless husk!" The dwarf leader said. He then gave a whistle and flung his arm into the air as some kind of signal. The dwarves then lowered thier shields and pointed thier spears out towards the night elves rested atop Thier shields. Zangar wasn't sure what to think of this. Where they preparing for a charge? Or were they waiting for the elves to come to them?

Then suddenly the sound of a hundred lightning bolts striking the ground at the same time filled the air as a thin cloud of dust puffed up around the dwarven army. After the sudden boom had died out several elves cried out in pain. Many warriors were now bleeding from various parts of the body, and about a hundred elves were now slain, with another host being wounded.

The entire elven army was shocked at this sudden event. They had never seen something like this before. It was as if they were using lightning itself as a weapon. But there was no flashing of the bolts. They just killed several soldiers from across the valley in the blink of an eye. This was no dought the use of that secret weapon.

Filled with rage Zangar strapped his staff onto his back and held out his hands. Green mana sprouted from his palms and hovered over his hands. And with a flash of green light two elven battle axes were formed.

He then ordered his elves to attack the dwarves by pointing his ax out towards the dwarves. Elven archers lined up in rows and prepared to fire up on the dwarven attackers. As they released thousands of arrows flew across the sky as they hurled towards the dwarven army. But the armor of the dwarves is thick and Thier shields heavy. the barrage did very little damage, as only a couple of dwarves were wounded by the sudden wave of arrows.

Zangar then ordered his footmen to enter the valley. The archers would remain on the hill to supply support. While the melea troops would charge into the dwarven ranks, and cut down any orc that stood in their way

The dwarves quickly followed suit. Thier vanguard advanced into the orc infested valley while thier ranged units remained on top of the hill to fire upon the elven archers from the other side.

But unlike the elves who made thier advance rather hastily and disorganized, the dwarven commander planned to use the orcs as human meat shields for their melea battalions. They hoped the elves would get lost in the orc hoard to do any real damage in melea combat. But to prevent themselves from getting lost in the human maze, the dwarves formed three column formations each with several hundred personnel with shields facing in all directions, thereby making them impervious to all ranged attacks. These armored battalions would thrust thier way through the orc lines with relative ease.

Shield bearers linked together one over the other overlapping each other to create a mobile shield wall, there by protecting the regiments in all directions. Melea attackers were met with short metal speers forged with some of the finest dwarven iron. The men in the middle of each shield column raised their shields over their heads as to better protect themselves from ariel fire.

The elves of Zangar's personal force let out a ferocious cry of war as they charged head first into the orcish ranks. at the same time elven archers split their fire between the orc hoard down below and the not as heavily armored dwarven ranged musketeer units

Realizing that they were now In the cross fire between two powerful armies the orc people began to scatter in a great panic. Being at the bottom of the valley the orcs couldn't see exactly how many attackers they were dealing with, and so were easily frightened. Much of the host was far enough away from the battle to avoid certain doom. But the news spread quickly across the hoard and they were now in a state of mass panic.

The orc hoard was now split in two. Trapped between the elven and dwarven attackers the orcs were divided between east and west. The combatants watched as the orcs along the edges of the valley began to scatter and flee. The orcs trapped on the western half of the valley continued to flee further west. With no orders nor a leader to guide them. They were in great fear and made no hesitation to escape with thier lives. Tens of thousands of orcs broke away from the battle in a frenzied throng.

However the orcs to the east were better organized for a panicked mob. Or so that is what it seemed. Instead of a scattered mob the second group stayed together as a massive unit. They stayed close together at they moved into the east.

But those who remained in the battle knew what was to become of them. And without any orders what so ever decided to make thier stand. Each orc doing his own thing. Fighting off the attackers with no instructions or battle plan. But nevertheless they fought with every ounce of ferocity and savagery.any of whom were unarmed and had to take up arms with what little they had.

Some used stones and tools of commerce to wield in battle. And proved to be just as lethal a fighter as if they were fully armed. Others had to cannibalize off of fallen warriors of their brethren and of the attackers.

Even in the face of death the orcs would refuse to go down without a fight. (With the exception of those who have already fled.) They all knew deep down that this would be their last battle. And made the decision to take as many of these invaders down with them. Even if they were to fall themselves, at the very least it would give the others some time to regroup and re coordinate.

As the remaining orcs continued to barrage the attackers with everything they had the dwarven infantry held form like a rock in the waves. Orcs and night elves battered down on the mighty shield wall with little to no avail. As the heavy armour and discipline the dwarves had made casualties minimal in their favor. And being so tightly formed up the dwarves were able to replace the fallen with relative speed as to maintain the shield wall and continue the march.

Through out all of this the dwarven riflemen have been firing at the enemies non stop. The entire battalion was formed in three lines facing the valley. Each line would raise their muskets, point them into the enemy ranks and open fire, letting out a thundering boom as they took thier shots.

As the first line turned around to reload the second line would then make thier marks and open fire. And finally the third line would open fire. These riflemen also had shields strapped to thier backs so they could reload in relative safety from archer fire. Casualties we're made but the heavy armor of the dwarves made it much harder to kill from afar.

Meanwhile the night elves attacked the enemies with the same level of ferocity as the orcs, though more coordinated and skilled in battle. Galve wielders and halberdiers cut thier way through the ranks of the orcs, but were slowed when facing the dwarven shield walls.

In the midst of this, Zangar saw an opportunity to weaken the dwarven offensive. Seeing a clear shot to the front lines, Zangar charged into the dwarven army like a blood crazed bull. And just before he would reach the shield wall, he charged up his weapons with mana, lunged himself into the air and slammed the ground with a mighty force.

The shockwave of this sudden move shattered one of the three shield columns. Dwarves and orcs were sent flying in all directions. And most of them were knocked down and this vulnerable. The orcs wasted no time and pounced on the downed dwarves before they could regroup.

But then at that moment Zangar got a sudden feeling, A dark feeling. A sensation he had not felt for nearly a thousand years. Something was coming. Something powerful and ancient. His eyes suddenly filled with dread as he realized what was going on.

As he looked out to the west a large portal appeared. With it's rims glowing a deep purple and violet. He knew exactly what this was.

Thousands of creatures began to pour out of the portal. They instantly began to attack the fleeing orcs as they came into the world, Tearing as many red skinned brutes as they could. Many others within the battle noticed this happening. But for the most part everyone was too busy cutting each other down to notice the sudden threat.

The orcs were picked off quickly as the numbers of the new invaders matched that of the entire orc hoard and then some. Hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of monsters of various shapes and sizes tore the fleeing orcs apart and began to make their way to the rest of the battle.

"By the gods!" Zangar said to himself. "The demons are back." He was in feer at the moment. But he couldn't just let the demons tear these people apart, Invader or not.

But before he could give an order to redirect the fight to the demons, something caught his eye. A single object from amongst the ranks of the demons sprang forth into the air.

"Take cover!" He bellowed to the fighters. He knew very well what this object was, for there was only one form of demon capable of projecting itself into the sky like this.

As the object came crashing down into the army down below, it struck the earth with a mighty blow. Blood and metal littered the area as the second dwarven shield wall was decimated by the impact it made.

At this point everyone stopped fighting. Orc and dwarf and elf alike turned to the sudden threat. From the dust of the earth a single warrior emerged from the wreckage. A tall broad warrior. With scales of red and black covering its body from head to toe. Three short horns curled out from the front of it's head. Two bat like wings sprawled out from it's back, and two sets of arms were raised in preparation for battle. The creature was unarmed, but the size of this giant and the force he could apply in combat was deadlier than any weapon they had seen so far.

"Mortals!" The giant warrior called out. "Tremble in feer! And suffer the wrath of the mighty Gilgamien!"

As soon as he said this, his demon legion flooded into the valley and began to lay waste to any and all mortals in their path. Monstrous swarms of imps and harpies terrorized the resistance from the air, and started to pick off the elven archers and dwarven riflemen. While on the ground wraiths and devil's caused chaos and confusion among the ranks of the enemy. Savage hell hounds and satyrs broke any attempt of formation and spared no one as they moved through the battlefield.

Zangar did his best to fight off the demon hoards and tried to rally others to stand with him and fight. But at this point all hope was lost. The orcs were in a panic, the dwarves were scattered, and his melea forces was fleeing back into the dence forrest of the Shadow Glades. His archer teams remained present for some time but their arrows did little damage to the demons.

As the slaughter raged on, he heard Gilgamien call out to him. "Zangar the Green!" He bellowed. "You still wish to resist the inevitable? So be it! I will enjoy breaking you!"

In response to this taunt Zangar drew his staff and began to cast a spell. He knew he could conjure a weapon powerful enough to slay the demon. But he could still summon creatures of his own. "Facing me will be your undoing demon lord!" He called out as his staff glew a bright green.

Suddenly from amongst the chaos and noise of battle the sound of blood curdling screeching could be heard. The sky was now under threat by a more powerful creature. Several dozen rocs now flew over head. From the tree tops. They began to decimate the imps and harpies with ease as they attacked.

And from the wood line a deep moaning sound could be heard. the trees began to move. As they had suddenly come to life, and made thier way to the demon fronts. An army of dendroids emerged from the wood line ready for battle, thier hulking bodies creaking and groaning as they lumbered unto the valley.

"You are powerful master wizard, I will give you that!" Gilgamien said. "But allow me to show you what reel strength looks like!" At that moment, he began to sprint towards Zangar with a mighty rage. But his attack was soon cut off as a rock had just swooped down and grabbed the demon lord by the shoulders.

It raised him higher and higher into the sky. But this would be a bad move for this poor bird. As Gilgamien still had his other two arms free, which he then used to grabbed the giant bird by the ankles and break it's grip on him.

Holding on to the birds legs he then proceeded to scale the bird like a mountain, one hand after the other, ripping feathers off it's skinn as he climbed closer to the animal's head. Before long he was up at the birds neck right behind it's head

With a great thrust of the fists he severed a major nerve within the creatures neck killing it. With a final shriek the beast was sent plummeting down to the earth below. He then grabbed it's feathers near the base of it's wings and pulled on them to control it's movement. He was now in control of a dead bird many feet in the air. He would use this carcase as a weapon as it glided down to the battlefield. He would guide the beast into the path of a mighty dendroid.

As the bird hit the wooden giant it's upper half was reduced to splinters upon impact, slaying it almost instantly. Gilgamien then jumped off the beast facing Zangar again. "How prestigious." He said in a taunt. "The mighty Zangar forced to have little birdies fight his battles for him."

Zangar was enraged with this hell spawn, and went straight for the kill. He charged at the demon lord with every ounce of wrath he had in him. He swung his staff harder and faster than he had ever before, only to have it blocked by one of Gilgamien's arms. Gilgamien then attempted to punch the green wizard. But this too was reflected with his staff fragment.

The two were trading blows with one another for several minutes. each time the attack was blocked, ot created a flash of green and purple light as the two clashed.

Several minutes of battle passed. Zangar raised his staff for a final attack to the juggernaut. But Gilgamien caught the staff in his hands, trapping it in place. And with his lower arms free he dealt a skull crushing uppercut to the green wizard and sent him flying into the air. He landed with a great thud as his armor suit clanked against the hard earth.

He tried to get back up to his feet, but the demon lord was quick on his feet, and was already on top of him. With one foot firmly planted on his chest he pinned Zangar to the ground preventing him from getting back up.

"You think this armor is going to scare me?" Gilgamien taunted. "You can't fool me with that child's toy." He said as he raised his top right arm into the air. With the speed of sound he thrust his hand into the stomach of the green wizard, piercing through his breast plate like a knife through butter. Zangar screamed in pain as the demons hand was now inside his gut.

Gilgamien then ripped his arm out of the wizard violently taking some of the wizards innards with it. Blood and meat bits sprayed all over him as he ripped the entrails out of him. Zangar looked at himself with horror. The pain was unbearable, and he simply couldn't believe that his intestines were now littered all over the dusty earth.

He laid on his back as his life was coming to an end. Gilgamien was still towering over him. "You should have never challenged me wizard." He said as he leaned forward I to Zangar's face, his teeth sticking out through his lips. Zangar could feel the heat of the fires of hell in the demons mouth as he spoke.

At that moment Zangar breathed his last. A powerful staff bearers had fallen before his time. He prayed that the demons won't find Volondove before the other staff bearers find him.