You have killed a grunt. +1 Battle Points.
A sudden pain pierced my lower back, and I looked around.
Amara grinned at me as she nocked another arrow in her bow. She kept her distance to get better aim at me.
Two can play at this game, I thought. I switched to my bow and fired at her, but she easily dodged it.
Think you got what it takes to beat me, FILTERED? Amara shouted.
I was about to send Smoke into a full charge but pulled up short. This was what Amara wanted, to keep me busy and draw me away from my base.
Instead of taking the bait, I turned Smoke south and kicked him into a full gallop directly at the grunt unit. Behind me I heard Amara cursing, but I ignored her.
By now the trolls had entered the defensive perimeter of the keep. The Lookout was firing a bow at them but with little effect. He appeared to be the Keep's only defender.
I shouted a warning to the workers, who all turned to gape at their inbound executioners.
The lead troll ran up to the closest worker and ran him through with a spear. The worker dropped his axe and fell over dead.
At that moment I charged into the backs of the trolls, swinging wildly. Two died in moments and were added to my Battle Points.
But my workers were dying left and right, felled by spears.
Suddenly, the trolls changed their attention from the frightened workers to target me.
Spears jabbed at Smoke's side and I managed to batter some attacks away. The quick change caught me off guard but I recovered and pushed Smoke out of their midst.
As I lopped the head off of another troll, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
Amara was charging past the keep, the Lookout feebly firing arrows at her. She wasn't coming to save her grunts, or attack me.
She was going for the banner!
I tried to move to cut her off, but the grunts surrounded me again, spears jabbing. With frustration I shouted at the worker unit's leader. Get to the banner! Defend the banner!
The leader blinked at me in disbelief, then held up his axe. He pointed toward the banner altar and yelled. To the banner, boys!
The surviving workers ran toward the altar which they were much closer to than Amara.
I knew I'd just sent them to their doom, but I needed time.
Smoke suddenly kicked backward sending a troll smashing against a tree. +1 Battle Points.
With more frantic swings of my sword, I managed to push us through the grunts. With a final decapitation, I ran at the banner's altar.
The remaining workers, totaling six, arrived at the altar just as Amara did. They swung their axes but did almost no damage to her or her mount.
Finding them more of an annoyance, she tried to knock them aside with her horse. The workers only got in the way, slowing her down.
Close enough now to grab the banner, she reached out a hand.
My heart sank in my chest.
But the worker's leader smacked her hand away with his axe, causing her to nearly lose her balance. She screamed with rage.
Then I slammed into her side at a full charge.
Amazingly, she recovered from this sudden assault and parried my sword swings. Her white horse kicked, and a worker pinwheeled away.
With an effort, I placed myself between her and the banner, our swords clashing. She was highly skilled with melee weapons, I gave her that, but kept up my attack.
The remaining troll grunts, three in all, joined the fray. Amara grinned, knowing I would be overwhelmed. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I now had to contend with four different attackers.
With only four workers as my defense force, I commanded them to concentrate on a single troll who's health indicator showed to be the weakest of the three.
But the two other trolls pressed their attack, spears thrusting at me. One pierced Smoke's side and my mount reared in pain, nearly throwing me off. But as the horse landed, he struck out with his forelegs and crushed a troll who stepped in for a killing blow.
1 Battle Points.
As this was happening, Amara pushed in toward the altar, and this time grabbed onto the banner by its long wooden handle.
A system message practically screamed across my screen.
Your Banner Has Been Taken!
Amara yanked upward, but, dodging a spear thrust, I swung my sword around in a wide arc and connected with her shoulder.
She screamed in pain and let go of the banner.
Your Banner Has Been Returned!
The elven Shadow pulled her mount around to face off with me, sword in hand.
1 Battle Points.
I didn't kill anyone at that moment, and a quick glance told me that one of the trolls had been slain. But at the cost of two workers. The worker leader stood over the corpse of the troll, looking triumphant.
The last troll, taking advantage of my distraction, deeply speared my left side. My avatar gasped in pain, and blood flowed freely from the wound.
Not good, I thought with alarm as my health bar dropped almost in half.
In that instant Amara was one me. She swung her sword with an almost maniacal glee, sensing victory was at hand.
It took every thing I had to parry her blows, but my avatar was weakening from the bleeding wound.
Quickly, I opened my avatar's inventory and selected a stack of Health Boosts to apply to my wound. These would bring up my hit points to 100% in an instant.
But when I tried to use the Health Boost, a red system message appeared.
Not a Battle Field item. Cannot be used.
What the heck? I thought while dodging a spear thrust.
I tried to use the Health Boost, again, but the same message appeared.
A cry of anguish pulled me back into the situation.
Amara had switched to her bow and shot the worker leader through the head as he tried running at her.
Rage overtook me. With a determined focus, I smacked away the last troll's spear thrust and jammed my sword through its throat. It collapsed to the ground.
1 Battle Points.
Amara backed her mount away a few paces from me, a victorious grin plastered across her smug face. Got any final words, FILTERED? she said raising her bow to aim at me.
I'd maneuvered myself between her and the banner's altar. With one hand covering the bleeding wound in my side, I knew the writing was on the wall.
Yeah, I said with a smile. Give up now and I will show you mercy.
Amara cackled. You got quite the mouth on you. Had I known you were a Battle Field noob, I would have waited a while longer before crushing you. Built a full army and then marched over the ruins of your base.
As she spoke, I noticed a system message at the bottom of my screen. It was marked as a non-priority. When I brought it up, it caused me to catch my breath.
Your only Worker Unit has been eliminated. Do you wish to purchase another " Cost 100 gold? Yes/No?
Oh, heck, yeah! I blurted.
Amara's triumphant expression flickered with confusion. What are you talking about? You want me to crush you?
Yes, I said with a widening smile.
Worker Unit purchased.
Suddenly, the door to the Keep flew open and a dozen new workers spilled out in a rush.
Amara shifted her focus from me to the new arrivals and fired her bow at them. One of the workers died from the shot.
Immediately, I pointed at Amara and shouted, Get her!
The eleven remaining workers turned their heads in unison to look at Amara. Axes appeared in their hands which they raised with a cheer, then charged.
Amara barked a laugh as she shot and killed another worker. This is pathetic, she said. You are just delaying the inevitable, you stupid FILTERED.
She was right, I thought. But only partially.
I summoned a Magma arrow which appeared in my quiver. At close quarters, I hadn't bothered using my bow against Amara. She was too fast, and the game penalized range attacks within a short range. But now an opportunity presented itself.
The worker unit massed around her, commanding her attention. For whatever reason, she did not run away, or try to get distance from them. Instead, she switched to her sword and hacked at her feeble attackers.
Ignoring various 'You are bleeding out!' health warnings, I took aim and fired.
Amara must have sensed the attack coming. As she cut the head off of a determined worker, she looked over at me.
The magma arrow hit her right in the sternum, piercing her chest. Instantly, she dropped her sword and her avatar screamed in pain. Her screams turned into a hellish gurgling sound.
I knew what was about to happen and commanded the workers to fall back, which they did.
Amara fell from her horse and spasmed on the ground. From her mouth and ears gushed hot lava. It melted her face away in an instant and soon bubbled over her entire body.
In seconds, Amara's avatar had been rendered down to a bubbling puddle of magma. Her horse turned and ran away in fright.
A system message appeared.
Vivian Valesh has killed Amara Frostwalker. +1,000 Battle Points.
The workers let out a cheer, but I wasn't feeling particularly victorious. Yes, I had killed her, but she'd be back once she resurrected at a crypt.
The only way to win this battle field was with her banner.
Still, at least I prevented her from stealing an early victory with a grunt rush tactic.
I pushed these thoughts from my mind. My avatar's health dropped further and the image on my view-screen wavered.
Crap, I thought. I can't die now. Amara would get a thousand battle points! She didn't deserve that!