"FOR THE HORDE!!!"
After the signal was given, dark shapes burst from between the trees. Dozens at first, then hundreds of massive bodies crashing through the snow, their sharp tusks gleaming beneath the torchlight. War drums thundered somewhere in the darkness deep and savage.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
A watchman rang the alarm bell, screaming at the top of his lungs. "ORCS!!"
Arrows erupted from the treeline like a swarm of black hornets diving toward the walls.
"SHIELDS!" one guard shouted.
The first volley slammed into the battlements. Wood cracked. Iron screamed. Dozens of guards collapsed as arrows punched through their bodies.
"ARCHERS!" a captain roared. "RETURN FIRE!" Bowstrings snapped across the wall. Flaming arrows streaked into the darkness beyond the gate, meant to slow the advancing horde. Several orcs fell, some roaring in agony as flames consumed them.
But it wasn't enough, for They did not stop. But instead they kept coming fiercer than before.
But the orcs were not the only problem. At the base of the wall, a massive log ram suddenly burst from the darkness, carried by a dozen hulking orcs.
"RAM! THEY HAVE A RAM!" The guards shouted warnings to one another. In the eyes of the soldiers, fear shifted instantly into terror as if the fragile hope they had clung to had been shattered in a single moment against an unstoppable force.
When the ram finally reached the gate, the massive timber swung forward {CRASH!}
The impact shook the gate like thunder, Inside the city, horses screamed and people locking their doors and praying to GOD for a miracle... FOR HOPE
"Hold the gate!" someone shouted desperately.
Another strike came {CRASH!}. The iron hinges groaned under the pressure.
Above them, the defenders hurled stones and poured boiling oil down upon the attackers. One orc dropped instantly as the scalding liquid melted through his armor, peeling away his green skin until it reached deep into his flesh, cooking him from the inside. Another slipped beneath the ram and was crushed beneath the weight of his own allies.
But more replaced them as if their fallen comrades meant nothing. They roared with savage laughter {CRASH!}. The gate trembled again as the ram forced its way forward. It would not hold much longer.
At the wall, orcs reached the base and began mounting ladders and grappling hooks. They climbed relentlessly, refusing to stop until they broke through.
The defenders stabbed downward with spears, impaling several orcs through the chest. Blood sprayed as the creatures roared in pain.
But some grabbed the shafts of the spears and dragged the soldiers over the edge with them. Despite the defenders' efforts, dozens of orcs managed to climb onto the wall.
Five guards rushed at once to surround a single orc that had broken through. The creature swung its axe in a wide arc. Three men died instantly cut in half by the brutal strike. Their bodies collapsed in pieces, organs spilling onto the stone as blood sprayed across the wall.
Two remaining guards tried to ambush the monster from behind. But the orc saw them.
It swung its fist backward with terrifying strength, the blow crushed one man's skull instantly. The other guard tried to strike the orc with his blade, but the brute seized him by the neck before the strike could land.
Then came a scene that froze the men in terror.
The orc bit into the soldier's head, tearing flesh and bone away from the body. Blood poured down its chin as it chewed, laughing savagely between bites.
The men who witnessed the horror trembled. "If one of them can do that... how can we defeat hundreds of them?!"
Screams of terror and despair echoed across the wall... Morale beginning to break.
Some soldiers stepped backward, their hands trembling around their weapons. Shields rattled against armor as fear crept into their bones. Others simply stared at the towering orcs beyond the gate, disbelief draining the courage from their faces with every thunderous strike of the ram.
{CRASH!} The iron-shod ram slammed into the gate again. The wood groaned, splintering like a dying beast. Cracks spidered across the thick planks as rusted hinges screamed in protest.
{CRASH!} The next strike tore the gate apart.
Wood exploded inward in a storm of jagged shards. One splinter speared straight through a guard's throat. He dropped instantly, choking as blood gushed between his fingers before he even understood what had happened.
"Fall back now!" someone screamed, their voice breaking with panic.
But it was already too late.
Hundreds of orcs surged through the shattered gate like a flood of muscle and iron. Their tusked mouths foamed with rage, yellow teeth bared in savage grins. Crude axes dripped with old blood. Rusted spears stabbed forward like the fangs of some monstrous beast.
They fell upon the defenders without hesitation.
Above the chaos, more orcs clawed their way over the walls. Their massive fingers dug between the stones as they hauled their hulking bodies upward. Guards stabbed downward desperately, but the creatures ignored wounds that would cripple any man.
One guard managed to drive his spear through an orc's throat. The creature only gurgled, ripped the weapon free, and tore the man from the battlements. Both plunged downward, but the orc landed on top of him with a sickening crunch, shattering his spine.
The wall quickly became a slaughterhouse.
Realizing they could not hold, the remaining guards abandoned their posts, scrambling down ladders in blind terror. But those who stumbled or hesitated paid dearly.
One unlucky soldier was seized by three orcs before he could flee. They dragged him screaming to the stones. One tore his helmet away while another sank jagged teeth into the man's shoulder, ripping away a mouthful of flesh. His scream turned into a wet gargle as an axe cleaved into his ribs, splitting bone. The creatures tore at him like starving wolves, blood splattering the wall as they devoured him alive.
Inside the gate, the defenders tried to form a shield line. But It lasted only seconds.
An orc charged forward like a battering ram. Its massive cleaver swung down with brutal force. A guard raised his shield just in time and the blade smashed through it.
Wood shattered like rotten bark as the iron edge drove through the shield and buried itself deep in the man's chest. The impact lifted him from his feet. For a moment he simply hung there, eyes wide in shock, before sliding lifelessly off the blade, then the wall erupted again.
Dozens of orcs leapt down from the battlements, crashing into a group of soldiers like falling boulders. The impact knocked men flat onto the blood-slick stones. Before they could even rise, the creatures descended upon them.
One orc raised a jagged cleaver high above its head and the blade came down with a wet, tearing hack.
A soldier was split from shoulder to waist, his body bursting apart in a spray of blood and steaming entrails. Another man tried to crawl away, but an orc stomped on his back, pinning him to the ground before driving a spear straight through his spine.
The courtyard became a nightmare of screams, steel, and splashing blood.
And the orcs kept coming.