"Hahahaha! Turn back the way we came, just because of this lousy wooden sign?" The Orc Chieftain pointed at the sign ahead as though he had heard some ridiculous joke. "And what if I don't?"
"The sign makes it quite clear. You can pass, but you'll have to leave something to pay the toll!" Lor'themar said with a smile.
"Fine! I'll deliver it right now!" The Orc Chieftain raised a hand and shouted, "Prepare to charge! Strength and Honor!"
"Strength and Honor!" The Wolf Riders behind him raised their weapons and roared.
"Kill them all!" the Orc Wolf Rider leader shouted again.
"Kill!" Riding his Worg, the Orc leader charged at the Elves ahead of everyone else. Unwilling to fall behind, the Orcs Wolf Rider behind him urged their mounts forward, howling as they charged.
Lor'themar nocked an arrow and drew his bow. The Rangers behind him needed no orders to do the same.
The Wolf Riders were fast, reaching the wooden sign in the blink of an eye. The Orc Chieftain raised his great axe and split the sign in two with a sweeping blow, sending it crashing to the ground. His mount charged onward without slowing in the slightest.
He was lucky, because his Worg was fast enough. Gnome Land Mines and Goblin Bombs shared one characteristic: they did not explode immediately when triggered, but after a delay of one or two seconds.
That delay was extremely unreliable. No one could predict exactly how long it would last. This was a problem common to all high-tech devices in Azeroth: every one of them was unstable. Even a bomb might suddenly explode for no apparent reason while someone was carrying it. After all, these things were made by Goblins or Gnomes.
The Orc Chieftain was lucky, but that did