"Understood," the guard replied, pulling out an antidote vial and plunging the needle into his comrade’s arm. The poisoned guard’s veins bulged dark against his skin, his eyes bloodshot, and the flesh around the dart wound was already turning black, clear signs of just how potent the toxin was.
Fortunately, they had co prepared. Each carried doses of the all-purpose antidote crafted by the Royal Alchemist; without it, panic would have swept through the ranks.
For three agonizing minutes, the poisoned guard writhed while his comrades stood tense, weapons drawn, sweat beading on more than a few brows. Finally, faint signs of recovery began to show, and a collective breath eased through the group, though no one dared to lower their guard.
"Princess, the poison is subsiding!" the guard called out.
Instead of relief, Addison’s frown deepened. The all-purpose antidote was potent, strong enough to neutralize almost any known toxin, yet it had taken a full three minutes to take effect. That could only an the poison itself was unusually strong.
Worse, neither she nor Zion had sensed anyone’s presence. That left two possibilities: the attacker was striking from far beyond their detection range, or they possessed stealth skills even greater than Zion’s. Both scenarios were terrifying.
The longer the standoff dragged on, the more frayed everyone’s nerves beca. None of them knew if the attack ca from the sa faction Zion had spotted in the woods with Greg, or if it was an entirely different enemy lying in wait.
Worse, the dart could have easily struck Addison instead. If their leader had fallen before their eyes, panic and chaos would have erupted through the caravan, shattering their fragile morale.
Rawrrr!
A deep, monstrous growl rumbled from within the forest, so powerful it shook the trees themselves. The sound made Addison’s and Zion’s expressions harden instantly.
"Everyone, prepare for battle! Ogres incoming!" Addison shouted, leaping down from Zion’s back. Zion didn’t stop her; both knew that with her clinging to him, his agility would be restricted. Fighting side by side was the only option now.
The mont Addison’s boots hit the ground, a heavy thud echoed from the forest.
One...
Two...
Three...
Each impact drew closer, the earth trembling beneath their feet.
Addison and Zion tried to count the incoming ogres, but the number kept growing until their hearts seed to stop for a mont.
"Guards, take the elderly and the young to safety, along with the livestock and crops! Everyone else, be on guard!" Addison barked, her commanding voice cutting through the rising panic.
Many of the warriors had frozen, horror-stricken, but her order snapped them back to reality like a wake-up call. And with that clarity ca another realization: the earlier poison dart couldn’t have co from the ogres.
Ogres relied on brute force, not subtle attacks or stealth. They wielded massive blunt weapons, sotis even uprooted trees, to smash or sweep their enemies aside.
But darts?
Impossible.
Their enormous hands could never handle sothing so small, and none of their kind were known to coat weapons with poison, as ogres were simple-minded. Which ant one thing: there was another enemy lurking in the shadows, using the ogres as cover.
That left them with only two possibilities: either the poison dart ca from their enemy faction, or it was the work of another monster, most likely goblins.
But Addison and the others had no ti to dwell on it. The ground trembled as trees shook violently, then one was ripped out and was hurled aside. Out of the shadows erged an ogre, towering with two scary eyes and bulging muscles with greenish skin, wielding the uprooted tree like a club.
Its bloodshot eyes locked onto Addison and Zion before it unleashed another deafening roar that shook the air itself.
"ROAR!!!"
The monster lifted the massive trunk high overhead, every movent slow and deliberate like a nightmare unfolding in real ti, then brought it down with terrifying force. The air split with the gust of wind carried by its swing, and in that instant, they knew: a direct hit ant instant death.
"Oh, shit!" soone shouted as panic rippled through the ranks. Everyone scrambled in a frenzy.
Fortunately, Addison had already ordered the elders, children, and livestock to be taken away with the caravan. Even so, the animals had grown frantic, bleating and thrashing as they resisted their handlers, desperate to flee from the looming threat. For a tense mont, the guards struggled to herd them toward safety.
In the end, only Addison and her warriors remained behind, standing their ground, while the caravan guards departed to protect the others.
Addison then turned to Alpha Hue’s daughter and ordered her to go with the caravan. Though the guards left with the caravan, the people in the caravan could not be left without a leader, especially the children and the elderly, who would panic without soone to look up to. Even the teenagers had been sent along to guard them, but none of them were ant to face the ogres.
At first, Alpha Hue’s daughter refused, insisting she could fight. But Addison fixed her with a stern gaze and said firmly that the people needed her more than the battlefield did. For a mont, the young woman could only stand frozen, staring at Addison in silence.
"You need to be with them," Addison said, her voice firm but edged with concern. "We’re not just facing ogres here; there could be other monsters, or even people lying in wait. It might be the rogues stirring things up from the shadows. Leaving the caravan without guidance could end up being more dangerous than staying here."
"But..." The young woman glanced back at the ogre, her ears straining at the heavy thuds that signaled more were on the way. With only the warriors, Zion, and Addison standing against them, she doubted they could hold the line. They would need every hand they could get.
Yet she hesitated. Addison’s reasoning was sound. Though the caravan still had guards and a few teenage warriors assigned to defend it, those youths were inexperienced, even weak.
Precisely because of that, they needed soone strong to guide them; otherwise, panic and disarray would take over the mont another enemy appeared. If that happened, the caravan could be massacred while the main force was pinned down here.
And maybe that was the enemy’s true plan all along. Distract the strongest fighters with ogres, then strike at the defenseless: the elders, the children, the livestock, the supplies. If the caravan fell, everything they had worked so hard to protect would be for nothing.
Addison had thought the sa, and the weight of it gnawed at her; this is also the reason why she was so adamant in sending Alpha Hue’s daughter there.
If she could, she would have gone herself, but leaving Zion and the others would tip the balance against them. She wasn’t arrogant enough to believe she could turn the tide alone, but one more capable fighter on the frontlines was no small thing.
"I understand, Princess." Alpha Hue’s daughter nodded with firm conviction before adding, "I’ll do my best to hold my ground, so please, co as soon as you can. If you’re right, and we are targeted, then they might send the most troubleso enemies our way."
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