Staring down towards the foreboding entrance of the forest, Ariel stiffened in her saddle and squeezed the reins in her ironclad hands. The horses were neighing and tossing their heads, pawing at the ground and flickering their tails. They could hear and feel it first. That vibration in the air, that soon traveled to the ground and set the smallest of pebbles wobbling on the surface. Lifting the visor again, the princess peered out while listening intently. Picking up a distant rumble of shouts along with drums that set even the bravest man shivering. She hoped, prayed, that her worst fears would not come true. But soon enough, they were forced to face the fact that an extremely large horde was about to stream from the forest. Was there no end to them? A feeling unlike anything she'd ever experienced crept into her head and body; angst. It was a raw, mind numbing emotion. Causing her stomach to clench and her teeth to grit. This was worse than anyone had ever anticipated. And then came that single one, whom faced the humans and looked upon them as if he was judging them. And had the numbers of her enemies caused the princess to feel nervous, then the fact that this orc started holding a speech just like a human would, was enough to make her completely thrown off guard. What was going on?<br/><br/>"Good Lord. There are so many."<br/><br/>The clear panic in Magne's voice, whom had been trailing behind her, was sufficient to kick start Ariel's brain again. He could afford being scared, she couldn't. All eyes were on her now; would she flee or would she lead her people into a glorious death? Ariel had been taught long ago never to fear death nor pain. Lesson after lesson, bravery and honor had been drilled into her head until she'd become worthy of leading armies. And now, it was finally time for her to prove that she'd been a good enough student. Drawing her shimmering sword, she raised it high in the air, before turning her mare so that she might look at her army. Many of them were shifting restlessly, fear and dread causing spears and swords to rattle in their hands. Drawing in a deep breath, she knew this would be the last time she was to address those men and women. Most of them had ridden to battle many times with her, and she'd wept with joy each time she'd managed to bring them back home. But now, today, she would be dying on the battlefield with them. And that, in itself, seemed very fitting.<br/><br/>"These creatures think they can march onto our lands, steal our crops and murder our families! They want to blacken our lands with fire and bring our city to ruins! But we wont let them! This is our home! They can crawl back into those trees and stay there!"<br/><br/>Weapons clanged against shields as the soldiers roared out, pumping themselves up for the battle to come. Galloping towards the leading generals of each faction, Ariel was quick to lay the plan out. There was no time to spare, those beasts were already moving towards them.<br/><br/>"We'll hold our ground here. Let them come up the hill. It'll give us time to rain arrows on their ugly heads and take a good bit of their numbers away. Magne, I want the mages to stay in the back, reserve their mana until those biggest of orcs are upon us. Your men are to back up the knights. Blind those huge beasts with light, tear up the ground in front of them, do whatever you can to stun them and make them drop their guard so the knights can fell them swiftly. Foot-soldiers and archers, focus on the smaller ones. They'll most likely be quicker than those big ones but they'll be every bit as brutal. Show them that we, too, are brutes!"<br/><br/>It'd be crucial that the mages use the lowest and most efficient spells, without harming the knights. If things would go according to her plan, the mages might be able to back the knights up long enough for them to hack through a good deal of those orcs. Turning to Magne, she singled him out with a special task. A crucial one.<br/><br/>"You will be lingering in the back, watching me. I'm going to head towards that leader of theirs. He's our main target. Without him, the others will crumble.  I don't know how an orc is a leader, or how he keeps up their morale, but I hope he's the only one with a brain that works. When I'm upon him, you will kill as many of his guards as you can with magic. Got it? And should I fail to strike a fatal blow, I expect you to use every last ounce of energy to take him out. No matter if it takes your life as well. Understood?"<br/><br/>Magne wet his lips, but nodded grimly. Despite him being an asshole, he was the most skilled and capable of mages there. And he had the greatest mana pool. Once a mage used up all of his or her mana, they became weakened and if they'd push past their limit; exhaustion and even death would take them. So every little spell mattered. Now, they could really feel the dread of how few mages the king had allowed them to take. Only 15 more, even just 10, would have made a huge difference. But Ariel had no time to be crying over that.<br/><br/>"Sir Embron, you will lead the first flank of knights. Sir Loy, you take the second. I don't want those big brutes to even get a second to breathe. Give them everything you've got. And God be with you. Embla and Irmelin, you lead the archers. Use every arrow in the most efficient way. Hank, you know what to do."<br/><br/>The general of the foot soldiers gave her a toothy grin, and then they were all off to their tasks. Like a well oiled machine, they all moved into position. Glaring down at the approaching force. It was unbelievable seeing those orcs marching towards them. But Ariel only had eyes for one, the leader that was covered with shields. His clever way of thinking peeved her, made her feel uneasy and unsure about the information she'd been given about orcs. They weren't supposed to be able to think like that, to hold speeches like that. But here he was. And she was going to plunge her sword into his heart, even if it'd be with her very last breath.<br/><br/>Once the orcs would be within range, Embla and Irmelin would cry out their orders and a dark cloud of arrows would fly over the orcs. Nobody else moved, they waited their turn, while listening to that deafening roaring of the beasts approaching. The ground was shaking, trembling and groaning in protest, underneath the very weight of the approaching monsters. Arrows continued to fly, shields went up would the orcs have any means of answering in return with projectiles of their own. Would the largest of the orcs, the spear wielders, be the first to start getting into range of the humans, the knights would set off at the same time as the mages would do their best with low ranked spells that'd serve to blind and stun. Large and sudden explosions of light, electricity and small balls of fire would be sent out towards the great beasts, hopefully catching them off guard enough so that the knights could do their thing.<br/><br/>Would the smaller of orcs, the berserks, advance as well; the foot soldiers would spring into action whilst trying to avoid being trampled down. At that point, there'd be no arrows, only hand to hand combat so that no human would be dying in vain. And while listening to the battle cries and screams of pain and death, Ariel would sit proudly on her steed and wait, her eyes scanning the battle. Her sword swung effortlessly to cut the head off of a small orc that had approached her.<br/><br/><i>There. </i><br/><br/>She saw him again. The trouble maker. The bright one. Digging her heels into the sides of her mare while snapping shut the visor of her helmet, she sent the sleek animal galloping towards the leading orc, knowing that Magne's gaze was resting upon her. She had a chance of turning this battle to their favor, if not just for a while. Pushing the sword back into its sheath at her thigh, she grabbed for her spear and raised it up, crying out with effort, she sent it flying through the air while at the same time Magne sent a massive ice spear towards the orcs that would be serving to protect their leader. This was tough, because Ariel also had to deal with having her mare knocked around and having to duck and sway out of the way so they wouldn't be cut down. But her throw had been impressive enough. But would it work against that orc?