Only moments had passed since the mounts stepped on the caltrops left by the High Elves, yet their breathing was already beginning to fail. The poison was more terrifying than the venom of the deadliest snake he had ever seen.
The Orc Wolf Rider Company Commander looked again toward the bend in the road just ahead, feeling utterly powerless. He had no idea how many poison-coated caltrops lay hidden in the soft mud between him and that bend.
Those High Elves were simply too devious. Not only had they coated the caltrops in deadly poison, they had also covered the poisoned caltrops in mud.
Thrown onto the muddy road, the mud-covered caltrops blended completely into the soft muck. There was no way to tell where they lay and where they did not.
If this were the only place with traps, that would have been manageable. But the road was so long. Aside from the High Elves themselves, who could know which stretches were trapped and which were safe?
The Orc cavalry Company Commander ordered several Wolf Riders to return to the main vanguard force as quickly as possible and report the situation to its commander. He also told the messengers to ask the vanguard commander to send him several Shamans and Death Knights.
Although the Orc Wolf Rider Company Commander disliked those Death Knights with their stench of decay, he had no choice but to request their aid. Only with their help could his troops quickly clear the traps laid by those devious High Elves.
But after giving those orders, the Orc Wolf Rider Company Commander could hardly stand around waiting without doing anything.
He sent a squad of Wolf Riders into the woods to scout, hoping they could pass straight through the trees, bypass this stretch of road riddled