Lord of the Rings: Warriors

Lance quietly parted the bushes in front of him, carefully sticking his head out to observe.

In the middle of the dense forest, a small grassy clearing lay ahead. 

Six majestic pegasi with snow-white coats and a faint blue-green sheen on their manes were lazily snorting as they grazed on the fresh grass.

"Stormwind Pegasi?" Lance felt a slight twinge of disappointment. 

After all, Stormwind Pegasi were considered one of the lower-tier magical beasts among the pegasus species. Apart from their ability to fly, they had a pitifully small set of abilities…

"Still, it's better than nothing! I'm being greedy," Lance muttered, shaking his head to dispel his unrealistic expectations.

He observed the small herd for a little longer, making sure they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Once confident, he slowly retreated back into the thicket.

"Rangers, prepare the snare traps! Cavalry, dismount and encircle them!" Lance commanded in a hushed but firm tone.

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers responded in low voices.

"Sir Lance, what about me?" Jessiava, perched atop a small pony and wrapped in a thick blanket, asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Hahaha, perhaps you could wait for a bit! Let us capture them first. In the meantime, you could take a short rest," Lance replied with a good-natured grin.

"Does anyone have any extra rope? Who's got spare rope? Hand me a rope," Lance whispered as he scanned his men.

"Here, sir. I have one," a ranger from Lordaeron stepped forward, handing over a coil of hemp rope.

"Perfect!" Lance grabbed the rope and gave it a few firm tugs. The taut rope let out several crisp snapping sounds, a sharp crack-crack-crack that echoed through the air.

Unraveling the rope, Lance deftly tied a loose lasso knot. His intention was clear — he was going to rope a pegasus. 

To be fair, Stormwind Pegasi weren't particularly strong in combat. If it had been Flame Pegasi, he wouldn't have even bothered and would've left without a second thought. 

And if it were the legendary Holy Light Pegasi, the apex of all pegasus breeds, he wouldn't have dared approach them at all.

"Sir, shouldn't we try luring them over here first?" suggested a ranger hiding in the trees nearby.

"Lure them? That requires magic potions! Do we look like we're carrying magic potions?!" Lance shot him a glare and rolled his eyes. 

"If we had magic potions, I wouldn't be going through all this trouble in the first place."

"Check with the team. Are all the snares ready?" Lance ordered one of the soldiers next to him.

The soldier saluted and quickly made his way through the camp. It wasn't long before he returned and reported, "Sir, all traps are set, and everyone is ready!"

"Good! Alert them to act on the signal arrow," Lance said, his eyes never leaving the pegasi grazing ahead.

A sharp, piercing sound split through the stillness of the forest like a blade. The signal arrow had been fired.

"Go!" Lance leapt from the cover of the bushes, his lasso spinning in tight, controlled loops above his head.

"Neighhhh!" The Stormwind Pegasi froze for a moment, startled by the sudden emergence of so many humans from the surrounding foliage. 

Their eyes darted about, their ears flicking in all directions. But within seconds, instinct took over. Their hooves pounded the ground as they began to flee, kicking up bursts of dust and dirt.

Around their bodies, faint streams of azure wind currents could be seen swirling — a clear sign that they had activated their innate skill, Wind Walk. 

This ability drastically boosted their running and flight speed.

"Throw the snares!" Lance barked, his eyes narrowing in focus. He hadn't expected them to be this fast.

Whoosh!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

More than a dozen snares, each weighted at both ends, were hurled by the Lordaeron Rangers. The air hummed with the sound of ropes slicing through it. The snares twirled as they spun toward the pegasi.

"Quick Shot!"

"Cross-Stride!"

"Air Step Vault!"

Skills were unleashed in rapid succession as the rangers used every trick in their arsenal to close the gap. 

The distance between them and the pegasi shrank quickly. Joy began to spread across the soldiers' faces as several of the traps hit their mark.

Four Stormwind Pegasi stumbled, their legs tangled by the snares. With their limbs ensnared, they staggered and stumbled forward, their movements sluggish and clumsy.

"Yes! We got them!" Lance grinned and pumped his fist in excitement.

The triumphant atmosphere didn't last. The bound pegasi suddenly let out loud, high-pitched cries. Their wings snapped open, feathers rustling in the air.

Boom!

A deafening shockwave exploded as the pegasi's wings flapped downward with incredible force. 

Leaves and dust were blown away as the pegasi shot straight into the air, soaring past the treetops. In the blink of an eye, they had cleared the forest canopy.

The soldiers, still processing what had just happened, could only gape in shock.

"Wait… what just happened?"

"No way… Cooked ducks can really fly?"

"How did they… escape!?"

Lance's face was a mask of confusion and disbelief.

Even the ranger closest to the pegasi, who had been just two steps away from pinning one down, had a dumbfounded expression, like he'd seen a ghost. 

Everyone knew that pegasi needed a running start to take off, even the mighty Holy Light Pegasi. But somehow, these Stormwind Pegasi had achieved vertical takeoff!

"Don't tell me… did that entire group of Stormwind Pegasi have the Limitless Takeoff skill?!" 

Lance cursed under his breath, feeling like he had just been punched in the gut. He'd heard of it before — a rare skill that allowed certain pegasi to take off instantly without a running start.

"What kind of rotten luck is this?" Lance's heart twisted with bitterness. 

To think such an incredible skill had been wasted on Stormwind Pegasi of all things.

 If it had been on a battle-hardened pegasus like the Flame or Holy Light Pegasi, it would have been a game-changer. But on these guys? What a waste of potential.

For a moment, Lance just stood there, his mind blank with frustration. His fingers twitched, and he muttered in defeat.

"Ugh, what the f—!" His noble upbringing could no longer contain his frustration.

"Sir… what do we do now?" His soldiers looked at him with puppy-dog eyes, as if asking, "Did we really work this hard for nothing?" 

They had poured their effort into the capture, only for it all to be undone by a single wing flap.

"Enough! Stop whining!" Lance growled.

"Pack it up! We move on as planned!" His face was dark as thunderclouds, and his stride was sharp and brisk. 

Not only had he lost precious time, but he'd wasted perfectly good rope too. And for what? A whole lot of nothing.

"How did it go, Sir Lance? Was the capture successful?" Jessiava asked as he jumped off the tree stump he'd been sitting on. 

His short legs kicked off with a spring-like motion as she waddled toward him.

"They ran away," Lance muttered, his tone weary and downcast.

"Hahaha, no worries, Sir Lance! Don't let it get you down. There will be more opportunities in the future!" Jessiava tried to cheer him up. 

He raised a hand, intending to pat him on the shoulder, but his short height made him reconsider and he withdrew his arm with an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah… I hope so," Lance replied absentmindedly, clearly still in low spirits.

"Sir, everything's packed up!" a soldier reported.

"Good. Move out! It's getting late. We need to find a dry spot to set up camp. It looks like it might rain tonight," Lance said, tilting his head up to glance at the gloomy, overcast sky. 

The clouds looked heavy with moisture, and the last thing he wanted was to spend the night soaked to the bone. A wet night out in the open was practically an invitation for illness.

"Understood, sir!" The rangers dismounted and walked ahead, cutting a path through the forest with their curved blades.

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