Dungeon of Niflheim

“Master, not good, under attack, commander Findlay, taken raghhhhhh!” The frost troll had to beat back another group of attackers mid-sentence, roaring as he swung his axe across the chest of a goblin fighter, covering his body in its fresh blood, not that it made any difference at this point. The frost troll was in the heat of the battle and had long been covered in red, almost completely eclipsing its glorious blue skin.

Frost clenched his fists hard in frustration, Findlay was truly in a perilous situation and his monsters were in danger.

‘Kidnapped, what could have kidnapped someone like Findlay?’ Frost was anxious, wary of what else his younger brother had hidden in this room. But that could wait, for now he needed to restore order amongst his forces.

“Explain the situation as best you can!” Frost gave his order filled with a commanders tone. He needed to understand the situation before making any moves.

“Yes master,” The frost troll responded after punching a goblin in the face. Utilising the short amount of breathing room, he gained he gave Frost a short report on what was happening as well as how the forces were currently faring.

It’d been close to ten minutes since Findlay had been taken to god knows where and Frost’s soldiers were suffering from it. Without anyone to lead them or act as a rock for morale, the ambushers gained a significant advantage. Their numbers seemed endless and attacked multiple areas at once, quickly turning the battlefield into a mess. The Frost troll was only one monster and given the density of the monsters in the area and his limited fighting styles it was stuck in place. Having to fight only the ambushing goblins and hob goblins directly in its vicinity. It couldn’t aid the other areas that were suffering the most. It did the best it could, fighting without restraint to take down the forces it could reach as quickly as possible and successfully took control of the wayward forces in its general vicinity. In the rear section where it was present the loss of men was the least but where it triumphed others did not.

Gobuske had set up a large force for this assignment, pooling in the majority of his left over forces, taking advantage of the environment to combat against superior numbers and fighting strength. He had to utilise the spriggan and some of his high ranked hob goblin brawlers to abscond with Findlay. Making them unavailable for this battle and likely sacrificial, a cost he was willing to bear. Command of the ambush on site was left to one of the only two hob goblin commanders he had left within the dungeon with the others being in Frost’s or deceased. The goblin alchemists and engineers were not taking part, their abilities didn’t suit a frontal assault.

In the beginning he discussed the idea of using poison once again but quickly trounced the notion. Though the narrow and highly dense area would be perfect for such an attack, his forces would suffer far too much, he chose to rely on his goblin’s fighting capabilities instead. This filled his goblins with a strong desire to prove their worth, amplifying their strength. The hob goblin commander also utilised its buff skills the moment Findlay was removed, greatly increasing the momentum they had. Frost’s forces suffered a devastating blow.

.....

In the other areas where the frost troll couldn’t reach, they were hit the hardest, the central areas especially. This section lacked powerful fighters, made up mostly of the frost goblins. Though there was frost wolves, artic stags and a couple frost dwarves present this section was a lot weaker overall resulting in it being targeted. The front area where the severally damaged boulder still lay wasn’t doing too badly given that it not only a had a couple frost dwarves that acted as Findlay’s sub commanders, the group also received Findlay’s [invigorating shout] thus amplifying their capabilities, allowing them to push back most of their opponents. Even without a major player like the frost troll they fought fairly well against the onslaught of goblins and hob goblins. With the frost dwarves taking advantage of their strong defensive capabilities, protecting their weaker forces, and allowing a rotation in lines when soldiers grew tired. Findlay’s buff skill had a limit of 15 minutes, so they were trying to take down their opponents while it was still active, taking more risks but also having great success. Their momentum in clearing away enemies was even greater the frost troll.

Frost received the frost troll’s report and sighed in relief; the situation wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought -still really bad but not worst case scenario. Unfortunately, the middle section of his forces were taking severe casualties, with very little monsters remaining. The hob goblin commander attacked the weakest area in person, cleaving apart the defences of the frost dwarves and allowing the lower ranked goblins to bypass them and attack the squishier targets and those that were limited in attacks thanks to the close quarters. His artic stags in particular really didn’t fare well, unable to charge or manoeuvre well, they could only swing their antlers up and down and very rarely back kick, not enough to take down the swarm of goblins. Within ten minutes Frost’s offensive team that still had around 60% of its forces in tact was quickly reduced to just 40% perhaps even lower. An entire third of their left over strength gone in a single attack, this was by far the most effective ambush he’d endured in this war, even if you exclude the missing Findlay who he still couldn’t get in contact with.

“Frost troll, I need you to take command of the left over forces. Use my name to help strengthen their morale. Continue fighting as you have been, take down your opponents one at a time...try to get to the middle line up but don’t take too many risks. Findlay is not dead, I’m sure he will return... so survive until then, understood!” Frost gave his order with a serious tone. As long as the rear and frontal line ups were working as they have been, he wouldn’t lose his entire force. The middle line-up however was likely done for and having the frost troll take risks to reach them may prove to be counterintuitive, he may lose even more monsters. Best to clear out their areas first before moving on. Though it pained him to sacrifice so many monsters, it was necessary to save the majority. By having the frost troll yell that it was his command, the morale of his monsters should surge, allowing them to gain strength and last that much longer. Plus giving them a goal to survive until Findlay returned would also help in this regard. Allowing them to squeeze out all their potential to fulfil such and order, Findlay was very respected by them after all, they’d willingly walk through fire for their commander.

Currently they’d be able to fight against the ambushers in a war of attrition but completely resolving this conflict would need Findlay or some sort of lucky chance.... until then they’d be stuck in that hallway, unable to proceed or retreat. It was truly a vicious move on Gobuske’s part and one that came with great costs.

In Gobuske’s private space he was currently frowning, his fists clenched hard, and his bottom lip was cracked from nervous biting. His exhilaration from successfully removing Findlay was quickly overtaken by anxiety. This ambush of his used the majority of his remaining forces and even now he was summoning the rest to the area, hoping to carry out some final battle. He’d never get a better chance to eradicate Frost’s forces and even if they do somehow survive and his entire defence force is eradicated, it’d take some time for them to find his dungeon core. This was his last ditch effort, but it came with significant losses on his side. He watched with a pained expression as his goblins and hob goblins launched themselves into the frenzy of battle, fighting against Frost’s forces without hesitation, many of which dying and painting the hallway with their blood. At best this would be a pyrrhic victory for both sides, with neither really come out victorious....but it was necessary.

His offensive team was but a shell of its former self and didn’t have nearly enough men to clear out another room let alone how many more were left to travel. Gobuske already surmised that Frost likely had a second floor, yet he struggled to even reach the end of the first. Of course, he didn’t know that Frost had practically no forces on the second floor and even the traps were rather bare. He guessed that he was severally outmatched in numbers and decided to go with this last ditch effort, hoping to either clinch a miraculous victory or make Frost pay dearly for his own losses.

His offensive team had reached the third room a couple minutes ago and already reported the environment as well as being attacked almost the instant they entered, thus reducing their already low numbers even further. He had barely 20% of his monster left, thankfully his two hob goblin commanders were still alive and kicking but with their aggressive march they didn’t come off scott-free.