The Orc threat to the Olmswald Dawnbringer crusade had been stymied by the Battle of Hirdsee. Though the snake was scotched, it was not yet killed. Hiltarn had taken it upon himself to track down the last remnants of the invading army and make sure there were no bands that could regroup and become a threat to Olmswald again.
Moving quickly over the plains the Elves had caught the spoor of the greenskins and following it with both art and magic they had tracked them down the Kiefernfluss Valley.
The city of Leminar had almost faded from the memory of Hiltarn. He had heard it spoken of, the tragedy of Leminar was well known to any sorcerer. In fighting that lasted only eight hours a Khornate host had rampaged along the banks of the Kiefernfluss and fought their way into the city on that river. There had been no survivors.
Hiltarn was wary of entering the sepulchral ruins, but the tracks led directly there.
With his cavalry leading the way the wizard entered the city. He sent his infantry to the left and the cavalry and his monks moved to the right.
It was only moments before a shout went out from his cavalry commander.
"Ambush'd! We are ambush'd!" warned Galreigh as he spurred his mount forward. Hiltarn could see the greenskins in the ruins all around them, but though he heard their shouts after being discovered he also heard a whispering in the air.
The cavalry charged directly towards a group of Orc spearmen. Too late to warn them Hiltarn sensed the other orcs that they were moving towards. Soon a volley of bolts shot towards the armour-clad riders emptying saddles all around.
Only Galreigh and his standard bearer made it into contact with their quarry. Still they were ferocious in their assault and though they were dragged down by the outnumbering spearmen and slaughtered they accounted for an equal number of the foe.
Orcs emerged from the ruins, many of them powdered with the dust that littered the ground making them almost invisible until they moved. But now they moved with purpose, surging towards the elven lines.
Volley's were exchanged between the elven archers and the orc crossbowmen and soon the latter were severely reduced in numbers.
As the orcs advanced on the elven infantry a flash of silver moved to intercept them. Flashing blades caught the orcs by surprise and soon their totem bearer lay in the dust, his last breaths pumping blood out of his chest where the twin blades had carved through flesh and bone leaving the innards exposed to the dead air of the city of the dead. The elven pikemen pushed forward, impaling and scattering the hobgoblin skirmishers that ran ahead of the orc line.
Hiltarn heard the whispering grown louder and more intense, more voices adding to the chorus of anger. Viscous spirits appeared and whirled through the ruins, their spectral blades adding to the death toll on both sides.
A bellowing "WAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!" was heard over all other battle sounds and the orcs rushed forward to the attack.
The orc that had yelled moved to attack the empty armoured form that had slaughtered his lieutenant, but he fared little better than the other greenskin and soon the orc leader lay amidst the ruins, clutching his guts to keep them from spilling out onto the ground. This task was made all the more difficult by him missing one of his hands.
Still the warrior that had cut down two of the orc leaders was reeling himself, his armour dented in multiple places from the blows rained on him by the savage enemy.
But the orcs were not done and now the rank and file fell upon the pike. They slaughtered their way through the elven warriors, their attacks filled with lustful animosity at their ancestral enemy.
The ferocity of the charge was even too much for the ancient elven spirit and the two blades that had caused so much harm to the Kruelboyz clattered to the ground, the force animating them dissipated.
On the other side of the battle Hiltarn blasted the last of the orc crossbowmen to the ground with a magic missile. His hammer armed bodyguard were putting up a stout defense against the group of orcs that had mobbed them.
The fight was desperate. Hiltarn felt the pull of dark magic in the air and closed his eyes. He could see the threads of magic in the air, he could see them knitting together as the orc shaman breathed out foul words. In his minds eye he cut the strings and the spell fell apart aborning.
The orc shaman shouted his displeasure and dashed across the bridge and into the fray. His staff accounted for two more of the elven wizard's bodyguards.
On the other flank the elves were falling back before the orcs, the archers and the sorceress supporting them knew that they could not match the brutality of their foes. The archers managed to just stay out of harms way but the sorceress was not so lucky. An orc on the back of a troll stabbed her in the thigh with his goad before the troll seized her by the hair and slammed her into the stone floor. Out of breath and stunned the elven sorceress was then pummeled into a bloody smear against the marble surface. The colour of the dress she had worn was not evident in the tangle of gore she had become.
With the slaughter in full swing Hiltarn managed to break through to the spirits that rose up to defend their resting place. He managed to direct them at the orcs in full.
The orcs took stock of their situation. They had lost so many of their warriors and with the spirits now swarming around them they broke off the fight and fled from the cursed city of Leminar.
While it had cost him dearly Hiltarn had managed to break the back of this orc force.