From the vast plume of dust the West Council emerged under us, about half a mile below, an enclosed archipelago chained together with a series of bridges. The highest tower bearing the blue and white flag, rose above them all in pride.
"There's nothing left down there," one of the elves said.
"Find a landing," Fyena, our chief commander, snapped as she opened the hatch.
We were part of the council, an esteemed union of Men, dwarves, and Elves. And we were the biggest contribution of the elves' land. We were solely made of elves as the men were reluctant to have a half-orc nearby. But beyond their beliefs and judgement, I had always been faithful to my vocation, and loyal to who I serve.
"Better, I go first," I volunteered.
"Sure," Fyena said in her low voice. She was brave, tall, sharp and sometimes kind, at least that's what I thought.
"I will go first and direct you."
"No," at times a bit rude.
"We cannot land before we know it's safe," Gabrel said.
"Lets-"
"We don't have time."
The three elves glanced at each other.
"Alright," she said.
"Let us know the situation," Gabrel said, passing me the breather.
I strapped it around my face and locked the nozzle, I gave them a nod each before diving into the clouds. They caught me with a thick hug, The fringes of dust scraped against my skin and the mask, blinding me entirely. I crashed into the roof of the tower and rolled over on the floor. It was a lucky landing for sure as I heard screams, cries and roars under me. The Council wasn't empty. I cleared the breather and went to the window, blue armoured knights, green and grey orcs, huge ogres; I wondered whether the counsellors were still alive. I climbed out of the window and waved my hands, our aircraft started to descend. They came close to the tower.
"Do you see it?"
"We do," the elf screamed into the trumpet. "We will lead."
He had a map in his hand, we had heard there was a safe house or something like that. I started to climb down, I jumped to the nearby roof and jumped into a high terrace. I jumped into another roof below and swung into the window. I sprinted through the room and jumped down an empty staircase leading to the lower storey. The door burst open, an eight feet orc rushed in with a heavy hammer. I dodged it by hopping out through the opening and entered into a long pavement of chaos. I headed off without waiting a breath. As I tried to pierce through the little gaps, an insane knight swung his metal sword. I ducked down and tapped his leg off. It was madness. Another knight rushed with a dagger. That one clearly targeted me. I kicked his hand and climbed above him and hopped above the wall. I had an easy run for a while, and had the airship on sight, until another orc burst through the door. He came with a knight and dashed through the wall. I jumped and fell on the floor just to realise I was in the dead end. The bride before me was in the air. The knights rushed from behind, aiming for the orc. I pulled the lever beside me. The bridge started to turn down. I got up, dropped the leaver and leaped above before it could fully land. It rose back to its original position, the knights caught up or caught by the orc, I climbed above and slid through it and caught the bridge ahead. The bridge started to move behind me. I overtook the airship through the wide bridge that diverged into two. Took the immediate north. As it led to the monastery, I could see the huge statue of the great wizard. But I stopped before near a twin tower that passed above the bridge. It was certainly a huge one, easily twelve feet, struggling with the tower to bring it down. The knights on the tower were launching arrows with crossbows. I pulled the double barrel out as the airship approached with Gabrel shouting through the trumpet. It heard the noise slowly turning its head, left the tower and grabbed a wooden club. I thought about leaving just before I noticed the airship far ahead.
The ogre strode towards me, waving the club and sweeping the floor. I fired. The shots pierced through its flesh, but didn't manage to stop the club. I took a leap and dodged to the other side. It turned and followed me. I loaded the gun again, just to realise it was useless. Two giant arrows pierced its back. The ogre stopped and turned to the knights. Just one single throw, the club caught one of them. There was another guy on the other tower, he hurried to load the crossbow. The ogre went to fetch the club, I used the moment when it started walking and climbed on it. The arrow landed on its chest but it still danced waving its long hands. It threw itself against the tower, I jumped and missed being crushed, I jumped and went back to its shoulder, I held the gun close to its head and fired. It almost caught me, but I was saved by another arrow. The knight went for the hand. The head spattered and the body dropped on the platform.
I hurried to the monastery before another ogre could appear. The elf was already climbing down the statue, but the ship was taking off.
"What?"
"Wrong way," Gabrel said and ran past me.
I followed him to the prison, the bridge was now filled with knights and orcs. We passed them and headed straight to the prison. The cells were empty. I climbed the stairs and searched the above ones.
"Here," the elf called out.
I jumped down and entered a cell that went down. Five counsellors, long beards and shaggy clothes were hiding in the dark. They became bold as soon as they saw us.
"Are they here?"
"No," the elf replied. "We are here to rescue you."
"You are late, aren't you?"
"We need to leave, now."
The counsellors got up. I went out and climbed above to wave for the ship. The ship descended until stones came flying in. There were orcs landing in the dock nearby, in their own fleets.
"Not that way," the elf shouted.
"The monastery."
They headed north, all six of them I followed behind very closely. Spears landed behind me as we ran. Huge ogres carrying giant stones followed us. They were quickly joined by other orcs. The counsellors climbed the statue stairs. The ship came close, Fyena pulled them in one by one. The orcs came on a rampage. I was blindly firing over them, not sure where to aim first. The elf started to push the counsellors. The ship took off. I launched the double barrel and took a leap. The elves caught my hands and pulled me in. Within a few breaths we were off, the giant wizard statue went into the dust. The orcs were making loud warcries.