The Prowling Forest, Part 10

The Dam

"Once again taken down! While I've uncovered the Swordfyshes' plot!" Hrothgur's voice boomed, interspersed with deep laughters.
The Maneaters looked at each other, at the still unconscoius Skargat they were carrying and at Hrothgur flanked by the Gluttons. If they had learnt something over years of mercenary life, it was when to avoid a pointless fight, as long as there was a paymaster to meet their fee. They simply nodded at each other.
"What you want us to do then?" asked Braggoth.
"Nurse the useless fat lump. Me and my lads will sort out the Swordfyshes and their dam".
Hrothgur stomped away, Marg and Growt following after darting mocking grins at the Maneaters. A couple of gnoblars flashed their tongues and rushed behind them.
As the party was safely at a distance, Braggoth turned to the other Maneaters.
"Wake him up..."
"...and tell him what happened..." continued Cargo.
"...always good keeping two paymasters fighting!" finished Barag.
The Maneaters' laughters rolled over Blubberfen, now more a mudflat than a proper bog.

A thick mist had rolled over Blubberfen by the time Hrothgur and the Gluttons had reached the dam. Over it, they could just see Ol' Mudgob and Battendown.

The plan was simple. Marg and Growt would have surprised them, emerging suddenly from the fog. At the same time, Hrothgur would have creapt forward unseen and destroyed the rearmost struts.

What the Crusher could not see in the mist, was that Krashhart and Yardarm Gark were watching over those struts from a nearby clump of wailing mangroves.

Marg and Growt sprung into action, but neither was able to take down their targets quickly as they had planned.

Upon hearing the din of combat, Krashhart bellowed orders and Yardarm rushed forward to intercept Hrothgur as he crept along the riverbank.

Skargat arrived on the scene, the expression on his face enough to terrorise Burna into telling him what Hrothgur's plan was. The Tyrant peered into the mist and as a gust of wind blew it away for a moment, he saw it was not working.

The Tyrant barrelled forward, shouting insults at Hrothgur and ordering Burna to start doing the only thing he was good at.

As the gnoblar ignited a bag of powder and blasted a hole in the central section of the dam, Skargat leapt over the riverbank and smashed down Ol' Mudgob. With a powerful kick, he sent Marg forward. Behind him, Sneeka aped Burna and another section of the dam blew up in smithereens.

Krashhart stomped on the fuse set by Marg, all the while shouting for the rest of the Swordfyshes to hurry up.

A bunch of Brutes responded to the call, coming to Battendown's rescue and forcing Growt away from the weakened section of the dam.

Burna climbed through the breach he had blasted and slowly advanced through the water now starting to flow again. A little ahead, he spotted the one point in the dam still constraining the stream.

But Hook dealt a decisive blow to Growt and advanced, spotting the gnoblar as it waded past him. The Brute called out at his mates and Lugger Dag jumped to catch Burna.

On the riverbank, Skargat squared up to Krashhart, all the while taunting Hrothgur to show some guts and come out of the fog. The Crusher responded by barreling forth and landing a flurry of blows on the Warchanter. But then Marg robbed both of them of the final blow. Krashhart rolled down the riverbank into the mud below.

Suddenly the mist lifted and Battendown, left out of the action, could see the fight was hanging on a knife edge. He shouted to Yardarm and Leeway Ruk, directing them to take Skargat from behind.

Lugger Dag kicked Burna unconscious and was then jumped upon by Hrothgur and Growt. But he stood his ground, giving time for Hook to join in and take Marg down. It was now impossible for Hrothgur to get close to the struts.

Skargat turned around and with a single blow sent Leeway to join Krashhart in the mud. But with Yardarm immediately taking the place of his comrade, the Tyrant too could not smash any of the struts. And with the mist gone, so was the Ionforged advantage. With a bellow of rage, Skargat called for a retreat.

***

As the mist lifted, Cargo left the camp to hunt for some food, leaving Braggoth and Barag to watch over the few belongings left to the Ironforged.
Suddenly, the trees at the edges of Blubberfen shaked, a grovewyrm emerging from them. Now that Blubberfen was dry, the creature was able to bounce forward, clearly intent on preying upon the Ironforged.
Braggoth and Barag braced themselves, and though they managed to fend the wyrm off, the little supplies left and the camp palisade were destroyed in the fight. Even worse, Barag broke his leg. They had no choice but to leave the area, lest the wyrm came back, and meet with the rest of the Ironforged closer to the Swordfyshes' dam.