Björn run down the passage. He had been assigned to duty on the east passage. It had been just before dawn when all of a sudden the orcs attacked again. But when the defenders positioned themselves on the barricades the orcs had suddenly retreated. There wasn't any reason for this, at least none that was apparent. Björn went back to ground level to inform the lieutenant of the retreat. The lieutenant was a very brave man, which was probably why he was inside the guardhouse in stead of on the barricades with the other men. Björn hated people like him. Expecting other people to die for him while he remained comfortably in luxury. Björn arrived at the bottom of the stairs, but before he could inform the lieutenant about anything a loud explosion shook the whole mountain.
Green light shot over the ramparts, killing anyone that was on it. Some soldiers jumped down from the barricades before the light could reach them, the drop killed more than half of them and others broke their legs when they hit the ground. The sight of the green flames that still dripped from the barricade stunned Björn. Nothing natural could have done this, Björn realized, the orcs must have taken their shamans with them. If so, all was lost. The group inside the valley didn't have any wizards or priests who could answer the violent battle-magic of the green horde. The flames slowly turned a more natural red color. Which was less troublesome, but not less lethal.
All of a sudden a bolt of green fire was thrown through the air. It sailed over the barricades and landed a few feet behind Björn and directly on the guardhouse. In three seconds the house had been turned into a flaming ruin. Nobody could have survived the blast. Their lieutenant was dead, as well as all the reserve troops that hadn't been on the barricade. Björn looked around and saw there was a group of maybe twenty men that were still on their feet. 'Get away from here!' Björn shouted 'Now!'.
When one of the men passed him he told him to take the group a few miles further and wait there. '..and take bows' he added. Björn climbed the pile of rubble that used to be the guardhouse. It was still half aflame, but the destruction had been so complete the fire had almost nothing to burn on. The original plans for defense had included the placing of an avalanche platform in each passage and it was the rope of this platform Björn was looking for. It should be about five feet behind the wall. Björn looked around and hurried towards the place he estimated the rope should be. The orcs could be coming any minute now. They had only retreated from the passage to allow their shamans to perform their destructive duty.
Björn looked right and left, but did not see the rope, he started walking towards the wall, but still hadn't found the rope when he was at the center of the rubble. He did not find the rope any sooner than when he decided to look up. The blast that had destroyed the guardhouse had also set the rope aflame and had burnt a large portion of it. It was in fact still burning. Björn looked to the men he had just sent away. He cursed as he realized he had sent them to far away to make himself heard. He shouted and waved at them, but since they were running with their back towards him they did not hear nor see him. When the men had reached the point where they were supposed to wait they turned around and noticed Björn's waving. Björn quickly made it clear that a few men had to return to him. Immediately two men started running back.
Björn didn't wait for the men to arrive, but began pilling rubble on top rubble in order to make a pile large enough to reach the rope. The still warm pieces of wood burned his hands and arms, but at this point Björn had other concerns. When the men arrived he could also hear the oncoming horde of orcs. They would have to be quick, very quick to reach the rope in time. The men started helping Björn to make a large enough pile. When the pile was almost finished one of the men jumped on top of it, with his back to the side of the passage. Björn told the other soldier to climb onto the first mans shoulders, When this soldier was in place Björn hastily climbed the human ladder. When he was on top of the soldiers he stood up and reached for the rope. He still could not reach it. In stead of wasting any time in which the rope could burn further he climbed on top of the mans head. The man let out a shout, but did not move, Björn carefully reached for the rope. Still he could not reach it. They had tried in vain.
Björn was about to climb down and run for it when he fell the man below him tapping his ankle. he looked and saw the man had placed his hands in such a way Björn could stand on them. He promptly did. When he stood on the hand the man started lifting him higher and higher. Within seconds Björn came within range of the rope. He grabbed it and almost immediately let go. The flames had been hotter than he had expected and could not easily be extinguished. Ignoring the pain he grabbed the rope and quickly pulled it. In stead of giving way the rope stayed perfectly still. In a last all-out attempt Björn threw himself from the mans shoulders and used his own weight to pull the rope down. When his weight hit the rope, he started dangling from it.
The rope swung Björn to the right, then back left again. Then all of a sudden the rope gave way and Björn dropped thirteen feet towards the ground. He landed in a relatively clean area because they had used all the rubble to build a pile for reaching the rope. He got up and saw the men next to him run towards the valley. He followed them, aware of the growing noise behind him. The orcish horde came running down the passage. Björn suddenly realized he did not hear any falling rocks. He had pulled the rope, but nothing had happened. What went wrong? Did the rope break? Was the platform constructed wrong? He almost stopped when he heard a distant rumbling. It had probably taken a little while longer for the avalanche to properly start, Björn realized.
Björn started running faster when the first stones came tumbling across the sides of the passage. He heard a load bang right behind as a rock just missed him. Björn discovered he could run even faster. A rock plunged through the passage, dropping to a halt right before his feet. He evaded the rock and run further. He saw the group of men that had waited further down the pass also started running. Behind him he could hear deafening howls as the orcs were also struck by the avalanche. As Björn ran further he could hear a large bolder appearing from behind. He jumped to his left to avoid being struck by it. 'Incoming' he shouted as the bolder passed him. He saw one of the men who helped him jump aside as soon as he heard Björn shouting. The other stopped and turned around to hear what Björn was saying. When he did he saw the bolder just in time to scream, but not in time for him to step aside. The bolder run straight over him ending his scream with a sickening squeak as the air was forced out of his lungs.
Björn got on his feet again and run. He would have loved to pay the soldier his last respect, but Björn knew that if he did he'd be lying next to him within seconds. Björn passed the remaining soldier and pulled him forward. 'Go on!' Björn shouted. His voice was lost in the now deafening loud noise of a full-scale avalanche. Björn and the soldier beside him ran around a corner in the passage they noticed the avalanche was behind them, as if they had crossed a border the falling rocks weren't around them any more. The started running in a less exhausting way and soon slowed down to a march. When they almost lost the power to march they finally saw the remainder of the guardsmen waiting for them a few miles down. A small group of soldiers came back to help them. Once Björn and the soldier had reached the soldiers they dropped themselves to the ground. Björn looked at the man who had helped him. 'Thanks' he said 'And I don't even know your name.' 'Mallach' the soldier replied before closing his eyes.
Half an hour later they were woken by a soldier. It was time to go. The half hour of sleep hadn't done them much good, but half an hour was better than none at all. The passage was now effectively blocked and the soldiers could return to the main fortress.