"Any color might be safe to walk on, or none of them might be!"
Swiftshadow Rogue caught his breath for a moment, then said, "There must be a pattern, but I can't figure it out..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker. "I watched for a long time... but I still couldn't work out how they were connected. I could only follow the routes the Elves took to get inside... It was like a simple maze."
"Are the Poison Needles impossible to see?" the Orc Chieftain asked again.
"Yes... They're stuck in the grass, so they're hard to spot." Swift Shadow Rogue struggled to pull a Poison Needle from his belongings and handed it to the Orc Chieftain. "This was made from an iron nail used in shipbuilding... It's very hard. The long end is buried underground... and the short end sticks up... just enough to pierce the top of your foot."
The Orc Chieftain took the Iron Needle and noticed that Swiftshadow Rogue's face was turning purple. Black blood had begun seeping from the corners of his eyes, his mouth, and his nose.
By the time the Orc Chieftain took the Iron Needle, Swiftshadow Rogue's hand had already gone rigid in midair, and his pupils had dilated and lost their luster. His life was clearly in grave danger. The chieftain stopped the Rogue from speaking any further and summoned ten Shamans, ordering them to save him at all costs.
The Orc Chieftain had ordered the retreat just in time. With another four hundred fresh Orc Warriors and a dozen or so Warlocks covering them, at least half of the attacking force made it back. The remaining Orcs were all killed as the Elves tightened their encirclement faster.
The Orcs and Warlocks covering the retreat dared not linger either and quickly