For the first few hours it almost seemed like they were going to be able to repel the Frost Giant attack, but then the units that had arrived in the snow made their move. Three hundred white robed and hooded Commander Rank Frost Giants appeared from the storm and rampaged through the main lines of the Golden Dragon Army’s formation.
{All secondary units, this is a general retreat. All secondary units, this is a general retreat. Form at Checkpoint Bravo for counterattack.} The radio repeated.
[Hawk, is that causing Commander Dalton to move?] Karl asked.
[They are already packing up their gear. It doesn’t look like they are planning to leave a cannon for Thor, but we might get lucky.] Hawk replied.
[Cannon, cannon, cannon.] Thor cheered, while Rae and Remi laughed at his optimism.
“That doesn’t sound good.” Tessa sighed as the radio went silent to allow the units to relay their progress.
“It’s not. The armoured Battalion is retreating. We could probably make it back to them if we ran, assuming that the Frost Giants aren’t moving. But if they come down this valley, and we’re not here, things will get bad very fast for the infantry.” Karl replied.
While a general retreat order did give them permission to leave, the fact they were the only ones blocking an entire valley meant that it might also lead to mass casualties.
Tessa’s eyes glowed red for a moment before she smiled. “How much attention do you think that the Frost Giants are paying to their border patrol? I get the feeling that they have good stuff just waiting there for us to take it.”
Her eyes were glowing with the influence of the Red Dragon, and everyone in the group knew that meant the odds were excellent that she was right. Either there was good loot or a strategically beneficial fight. The War God wouldn’t be interested if there were neither of them present.
“I will send Hawk to see what the next valley is doing before we move. If they’re advancing, we will move north toward the border. If we’re lucky, it might make them hesitate and save some of the artillery Battalion.” Karl agreed.
Hawk soared out over the mountain peaks, looking down over the next valley, where the Frost Giants were beginning to get up out of their bunkers now that the artillery had stopped. They were forming up for a charge, which would be faster than the infantry, which didn’t have enough transport trucks to leave except on foot.
“They’re forming up for a charge. If we leave now, they should be about halfway down the valley when the alarm goes up that we’re attacking the border defence teams.” Karl informed the others.
Dana gritted her teeth and nodded. “Let’s do this. How bad is the battle at the border going to be?”
Karl thought back to what Hawk had seen.
“Bad. But nothing that we can’t handle. Just keep your shields up so that the ranged team members don’t eat a boulder to the face from the catapults.”
They all grabbed their packs and Karl led them down to the river. There was a bend just fifty metres from the Frost Giant lines, which would hide them from view until they were close enough to attack. That was when he would start the charge, and with a bit of luck, their shields would hold long enough.
There was no cover in front of the line, it was all knocked down and removed, so they would have to come through the open, no matter what tactic they wanted to use.
Lotus caught a ride on Rae, while Dana hopped up behind Tessa on Thor, which brought the speed of the group up to Thor’s full running speed. With her strength enhanced, Ophelia had no problem keeping up with the Lightning Cerro, and Karl was faster than either of them. The deployment would put everyone in the right spot when the fight started, with Dana’s Golems forming up around Thor, while Rae brought her own out a little further down the line as a distraction.
They were the most deadly in the group, so the Frost Giants wouldn’t be able to ignore them, and that would turn them away from Thor and the others. A few extra seconds should be all they needed for Karl to Stun the more vulnerable members and give them an early advantage.
“I will distract them away from your advance. Good luck, everyone, and I will see you in a minute.” Karl instructed as they got close to the final corner.
While the group went left, he moved to the right through the woods, and prepared to shoot the Frost Giants that were immediately in front of the main group.
He was the first one out into the open, and his arrow was loose before anyone had seen him, plunging straight into the heart of an unprepared Ascended Rank Frost Giant.
[Stun] hit the creature’s heart directly, and the Giant twitched as it hit the ground, dead. That wasn’t quite the plan, but Karl already had another arrow in the air, going for the Giant beside the one that fell.
To the defenders, it looked like he was taking out the reinforcements before he charged a weak spot in the line, and they began to shift positions while the rest of the group charged out of the woods.
The distraction was just enough, and only three catapults managed to hurl ice magic infused boulders at the group as they charged. None of them were close enough to damage the group, firing hastily had cost the inattentive Giants their advantage.
Rae’s Golems appeared in their ranks, attacking without hesitation, while Dana’s appeared a second later, flanking Thor as he knocked his target to the ground.
Karl sent another round out, hitting the closest Giant to him with [Chain Lightning] which slowed the Giants’ response even further. Remi took that as her cue, and cast a [Blizzard] over the far side of the defensive line, while using her own [Chain Lightning] on the closest Giants.
The ice element attack would do very little, if any, damage to the Giants, but it would block their vision and stop them from using ranged attacks against the much smaller human attackers. The risk of hitting their own people while firing blind was too high.
There was a whoop of victory, and Karl saw Ophelia in bear form hacking both arms off an Ascended Rank Frost Giant with her axes. Giant strength combined with the buffs of a Bear Totem Berserker was a deadly combination, and the small wooden totems on the ground were pulsing with energy as she fought.
Karl let loose another arrow, catching a Frost Giant in the throat. It fumbled at the arrow as the Lightning arced between it and those nearby, but the next arrow went straight to its chest, ending its struggle and leaving the others nearby staggering in pain.
A sweep of the bow itself cut an arc of [Rend] through the air, slicing the front of the Giants open and dropping the weaker ones. For a moment, Karl had a clearing around him, so he turned his arrows on the Frost Giant Commander headed for Thor.
The creature moved with surprising speed, catching the arrow. Then it howled in rage as [Chain Lightning] activated and Karl smirked in his direction.
That was what Karl was after, drawing the leader to himself. Even with Rae around, the others would have enough trouble with the Frost Giants. They had far too many Commanders in their ranks, and Rae wouldn’t be able to take them all out fast enough for the clerics to keep everyone healed indefinitely.
Hawk’s fireballs were raining down from above, causing immense pain wherever they landed, but he had learned his lesson, and he was far above the battle, out of range of any Ice Spike type attacks that might knock him out of the battle.
Karl started to retreat toward the remainder of the group, intending to give Thor some reprieve while he could. But it appeared that the Cerro didn’t need it. The Frost Giants were having a hard time getting to the battle, with Thor casting constant Earthquakes and Lotus using her [Water Vortex Staff] to create spinning water funnels that pulled them off their feet and knocked them to the ground.
Rae’s Golems were showing no mercy, making full use of the [Spear] skill that they had gained in the Naga Dungeon to turn anything they couldn’t reach into a pincushion. As it was their only active skill, they didn’t seem to have any issues firing them while fighting. Eight eyes that never blinked were a spider’s great advantage, as they could see everything going on around them in a 270-degree arc, and fire spears at anything showing vulnerability.
“That’s nearly two minutes to rejoin us.” Lotus noted as Karl rejoined the group.
“But I saw you a minute ago, so it still counts.” She added.
