Elder Cirdan heard everything that happened to us and nodded after a few moments passed. He called some other elves and they began to plan how to conduct the invasion.

The orc was probably alerted now that there was a weakness in their city. After all, a random group of people had entered it, and they were not even elves.

Cirdan hope was that, as the orcs were a bunch of brutal people, that they dismissed the attackers as a bunch of suicidal elves and didn't fortify the city. There were two plans prepared for both cases.

The first plan was, If the orcs had recognized the threat that the system was sending otherworlders to destroy the portal and reinforced the security around it, they would attack the west side of the city, while the rest of the group entered the city through the hole that was left behind and would destroy the portal while the elves were buying them time.

The second plan was made around the fact that the orcs thought that the invaders were suicidal elves, and didn't reinforce the security. If the situation was like this, they would enter the city and destroy the portal quietly.

In both cases, a team of elite elves would be responsible to hold the orcs that were protecting the portal while they destroyed it.

However, Bryan hoped that the second plan would be put to practice instead of the first one. Attacking the city wall was at least a suicidal act, the elves that participated in these missions would undoubtedly die.

They packed their provisions and left the village. The scorching sun and the freezing night was their companion through the journey. The silence was so deafening that even Bryan and his team choose to stay quiet. Talking in a situation like this was of no use to them.

Every time they stopped, the elves would pray to their gods and ask for success in this mission. Despair could be seen in their eyes. It was apparent that this was the last fight that they would have in their lives. Most of them knew that this was a mission of no return, but were ready to die, if it meant saving their people, their families.

The travel period was full of tension to Bryan, he never felt this kind of sentiment from anyone. It seemed that a cause had made them whole, and gave them a motive to live. Their determination was so strong, that even Bryan was being motivated by them.

The mage, rick, that previously had an unstable mental state, had now recovered, and Bryan assumed that the elves will have helped him in it.

They could now see the wall on the distant horizon. It was afternoon now, and the sun was close to laying on its bed.

Cirdan waved his hand, and send one of his men to scout the situation. We saw the man vanishing before us. I was surprised by this. "One of them can even become invisible?" I muttered to myself.

We waited for almost an hour, and the man finally returned. By now, the sky was already dark.

He arrived close to Cirdan and said. "The security is higher in both the inside and the outside of the city. There is no way for them to get to the portal unnoticed like this."

I looked at him and understood what that meant…. they would have to sacrifice their race for the portal to be destroyed.

I felt sorrow for their kind for some time, but deep down, the only thing that I cared about were the people near me, everything else didn't matter.

I nodded to Cirdan and we went to the hole to invade the town while they took the rest of the troops to serve as a distraction. Shadow guided the group to the hole, and we soon entered it.

Together with our group was also 10 elves. They were warriors that would take care of the orcs while we destroyed the crystal.

We proceeded through the hole just like planned and arrived at the exit. We could already hear the frenetic sound of battle coming from the distance. There was a fire spreading on one of the directions of the wall.

We ignored the battle and proceeded to the portal.

The plan was truly successful. the orcs had left the city and went toward the wall. There was almost no patrols in the city. However, almost didn't mean that were none.

I was amazed at the combat abilities of the natives, the elves were a truly powerful race! They quickly subdued the orcs and we went on our way.

The way to the portal was not difficult, but it looked like the battle in the wall was. There was a constant sound of battle and destruction coming from there, and I could feel the powerful auras clashing in there.

One of the elves that were accompanying them said. “You must pay attention from now on. Although we will take on the forces, they may try to attack you while you are destroying the portal. Be careful.”

Everyone nodded to him and cautiously progressed.

They could finally feel the portal, sucking the mana from the air, and transforming everything in their surroundings. The mana in the center of the city was much stronger, which made using their powers easier.

Bryan looked around and saw that everyone was ready. The elves were already in position, and his team was ready to destroy the portal while the combat occurred.

He took a deep breath and signalized for the plan to begin. The elves unsheathed their blades and ran in the orc’s direction. A drop of sweat fell from his neck into his eyes. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

Samuel looked at him and asked. “Is everything alright budy?”

Bryan looked back and nodded his head. “Just a little nervous.”

Samuel took a deep breath and said. “There is nothing to worry, the elves will cover for us.”

Just after saying this, the elves met the orcs. Rumbling sounds could be heard when the orcs weapons collided with the ground and the elves evaded them. It was a truly amazing fight! Although they looked weak, the elves were like ferocious lions, evading and striking back with fury.

It seemed that they had plenty of frustration to vent upon the orcs.

“Let´s go.” Bryan said and the team moved. Shadow and the mage walked in the back, together with Jess, and Samuel moved in front with Bryan.

Shadow used his powers to cover them with a mantle of darkness, making it harder for the orcs to find them. They passed through some alleys and finally arrived at the square.

There was nothing to cover for them in there, and they could be easily spotted. Even so, that was something that they must do.

Bryan erased the hesitation on his heart and stepped forward with Samuel in tow. He charged his spear with lightning and used his spear mastery to make the spear sharper while striking at the portal.

“BOOOOOM”

The ground trembled with his strike, and the shield shook a bit. Only a few faint cracks appeared on it. He saw the damage and kept striking at the shield. Everyone began to frenziedly attack the shield. Jess showered arrows upon the shield, Samuel stroke with his sword like there was no tomorrow, Shadow compressed the shadows and launched attacks upon it, and the mage invoked attacks with the intention of destroy the shield.

The ground around the gate was charred and cracked. Unfortunately, they could hear the sound of battle approaching them.

They knew that the shield could hold for long, but they didn’t expect that it was for this much. They were striking the shield for almost 1 minute now, and only some cracks were formed on it, the shield could still take many hits.

“Ignore the sounds of battle, the elves got us covered. ATTACK!” Bryan shouted on top of his lungs, and everyone attacked with more enthusiasm.

The cracks became bigger, and it was on the verge of being destroyed, however, some things doesn’t happen as expected.

“INCOMING ATTACK!” Shadow shouted from the back after seeing two might orcs running toward them.

A million thoughts passed through Bryan’s minds… How could he deal with this situation? After a moment, he came to a decision. “Samuel, go stop them for a bit. You’re the only one that can hold them for some time. DON’T DIE!” Bryan said with sadness in his heart. He knew that this was the best solution. the only person that could stop them and had the best chance to survive was Samuel, and he was trusting him with this mission.

“Count on me!” Samuel said while turning around and running.

Bryan didn’t even look back, he concentrated all his power on his spear, and attacked with even more vigor! He couldn’t let his friend die!

The battle sounds became even louder, the elves were now combating the orcs in the square. The barrier cracked more and more. There were even some parts where the portal could be seen. Bryan’s eyes shone and he gave the last push, concentrating everything he had in one last strike.

“AHHHHHHHHHH” Shouting madly, his spear descended upon the barrier like a reaper trying to take a life.

Two loud sounds were heard by him, one from his front, where the barrier shattered, and one from his back. A relieved smile appeared on Bryan’s face when he saw the barrier vanishing. He slowly turned around and saw a scene that would change his life.

***

Samuel bravely turned around and looked toward the two orcs that were coming in their direction. He placed his shield in front of him and stepped forward.

Jess, Shadow, and the mage, who were attacking from the back saw the approaching enemies and came closer to the portal.

“ROOOOOAR”

The lion engraved on his shield opened its mouth and roared, making the two orcs flinch for a moment. That was just enough so that Samuel got into a position to stop them.

Both orcs were bigger them him, standing at 2,5 meters tall. They were hulking creatures, full of muscles and explosive power. Samuel was fully geared and prepared to take on the enemies. One of the orcs advanced while the other one tried to circle him, to attack his companions.

Seeing this, Samuel created an energy shield and stopped the orc in front of him, and stepped sideways, while bashing the other one with his shield, making the creature step back.

The orcs were using huge glaves, and they attacked him after seeing that circling him wouldn’t work.

Although he was specialized in defending and couldn’t demonstrate as much power while attacking, taking hits was his field. The enemies were stopped, and couldn’t even take a step forward. And even though their attacks were powerful enough to overturn the ground and smash buildings, Samuel was holding very well, defending when needed and even evading attacks.

However, not long after he stopped the two orcs, others began to arrive. The elves were facing them in combat and easily dominated the fight, however, their numbers were too big.

Many tried to attack his friends, but Samuel couldn't let that happen! He could stop attacking the shield, after all, his attacks were not so strong, but the others couldn't stop.

They were the only ones that could destroy the shield, and they were now surrounded and in the middle enemy territory, if they couldn’t destroy the shield, they were fated to die.

Samuel kept these things in mind and began to use his powers with the most efficiency as he could. Some enemies reached forward when the shield was about to be broken. Jess, shadow and the mage turned around to stop the orcs while Bryan was preparing the last strike.

One of the orcs from the back grabbed a huge javelin and concentrated mana on it. The javelin traveled through the air slowly…. Samuel painfully looked at it. The javelin was sailing toward Bryan. Samuel got his hands full of enemies, and couldn’t stop the projectile in time.

Jess saw the attack coming toward Bryan and invoked ice walls while staying behind him.

The javelin passed through the ice walls and lost its force, however, there was still enough strength to pierce Jess.

***

Bryan looked back with a silly smile on his face, but he was too shocked to do anything more.

Jess was standing behind him, with the tip of the javelin appearing on her back, after trespassing her belly.

Her clothes were stained with blood, and the ground was painted in red. Jess slowly fell to her knees, while holding her broken bow, that she used to stop the javelin.

Bryan was taken out of his daze and quickly ran to her. After falling to her knees, she couldn't hold on and fell to the ground.

Bryan arrived before her and began to take healing potions to feed her. He seated on the ground beside her and grabbed her slender and cold neck, to feed her the potion.

“Here honey, drink this.” He said while tears poured from his eyes.

She opened her mouth and tried to say something, but only blood came out. Seeing that she couldn’t say anything else, she put her bloodied hand on his face and gave him a bright smile.

Time stopped for Bryan, seeing that smile, that even all the chaotic battlefield around him couldn’t dimish, he was mesmerized. She slowly caressed his face, and her eyes closed, while her hand fell.

Everything turned white.