Lost Scout

[ChickieBooBoo]

Ghegari backed away from Ruby, fearful of the sharp sword, and lunged towards Danielle when she seen Strider heading in that direction. With one prisoner already free, she focused on protecting the remaining one that was still tied up. This one hardly puts up a fight... easier to keep then the other one... were among her thoughts as she grabbed ahold of the girl's arm.

 

[Gerbil]

Without hesitation, Orkhan burst from the trees with a loud, snarling growl and swung his mace towards the mare's back end. It missed wide as the horse and rider rushed forward, but he charged ahead non-the-less and followed them. He was almost certain that the rider had not identified him standing slightly ahead of his path, and therefore would be taken by surprise when attacked from all directions. Flailing his mace and continuing to snarl in an effort to frighten the horse further, he approached from behind and slightly to the right to try and avoid the horse's hooves should it kick.

The horse, entering a state of completely adrenaline fueled panic, was still straight on its course.
Charles really had no option but to cling on or be slung off and clobbered into paste. He flailed his sword from side to side attempting to make odds or end of what was ahead.
Surely there was more than one and it was indeed probably and ambush, the only thing he currently had going for him was the couple of hundred pounds of currently unguided brute force beneath him.

 

[StarrNico]

Ghegari backed away from Ruby, fearful of the sharp sword, and lunged towards Danielle when she seen Strider heading in that direction. With one prisoner already free, she focused on protecting the remaining one that was still tied up. This one hardly puts up a fight... easier to keep then the other one... were among her thoughts as she grabbed ahold of the girl's arm.

Ruby smiled when Ghegari backed away from her. She carefully dropped down to get off the table without slipping in the sticky mixture. She sent a quick glance to her father then advanced on the orc, intent on freeing the Danielle.

Strider moved forward quickly, risking another hit with the pan in order to cut the girl free from the ceiling

 

[Frundette]

Snaga didn't look back to see if any followed him, he was too intent on catching the human. He would growl every time he got close and swing the mace to try to knock Aelfric out or down, but kept missing.

Aelfric was keeping ahead of Snaga, but barely and knew that one of those swings was bound to catch him sooner or later. He needed a plan before that happened and scanned the forest as he ran. Ahead and to the right were large rocks and he changed course slightly toward them, intending to turn and confront the orc when he had the advantage of the high ground.

It was only a matter of a few more seconds before he lunged up the rock face and turned, thrusting his sword out toward where he thought Snaga would be. With any luck, the orc would impale himself on the blade.

 

[Frundette]

"Idiot," Orkhan growled as Vorgak dove to the right, leaving an open path for the horse to escape. Still a couple of strides behind the fleeing animal, he pulled out a large dagger from the sheath on his belt and threw it towards the mare's butt. If it made contact, at least the pair would not get far.

The horse, entering a state of completely adrenaline fueled panic, was still straight on its course.
Charles really had no option but to cling on or be slung off and clobbered into paste. He flailed his sword from side to side attempting to make odds or end of what was ahead.
Surely there was more than one and it was indeed probably and ambush, the only thing he currently had going for him was the couple of hundred pounds of currently unguided brute force beneath him.

Vorgak growled at Orkhan's insult as he got quickly back to his feet and retorted something along the lines of "$@%! you". Wasting no more time, he plunged after the horse and rider. The third orc was already sprinting after the horse. In his hand he held a heavy club with blunted metal studs embedded in the wood. Angry that the slave seemed to be escaping, he put all his might into throwing the club at Charles, hoping to simply knock the human from the horse.

 

[StarrNico]

Aelfric was keeping ahead of Snaga, but barely and knew that one of those swings was bound to catch him sooner or later. He needed a plan before that happened and scanned the forest as he ran. Ahead and to the right were large rocks and he changed course slightly toward them, intending to turn and confront the orc when he had the advantage of the high ground. It was only a matter of a few more seconds before he lunged up the rock face and turned, thrusting his sword out toward where he thought Snaga would be. With any luck, the orc would impale himself on the blade.

Snaga was unable to stop his forward momentum and did. He looked down at the blade and grabbed it, even as he started to fall to the side.

 

[Frundette]

Snaga was unable to stop his forward momentum and did. He looked down at the blade and grabbed it, even as he started to fall to the side.

Aelfric jerked the sword back out of the orc, then brought it down again on the creature's neck, cutting deeply into the tissue there before kicking Snaga's body off the side of the rock. The swordsman let himself drop to one knee to catch his breath and to send a quick prayer of thanks to whichever god was looking out for him today.

 

[Frundette]

"What do you think they want?" Gomez asked, noticing her blank expression. "They are a greedy breed, the orcs. Want, want, want... all want, but never give. These woods used to be there's, until you moved in next door. You... Wedmor... among others, and more to come! They don't take kindly to sharing, you know. And," he looked back at her slyly, "what easier way is there to fortify your camp then to capture the enemy and force them to do the work? The orcs are not very smart, but that-- that was well thought out. I'll give them that... at least from an orcs point of view. Maybe not so smart for you..."

"I see." He wasn't telling her anything she hadn't already been strongly suspecting, except the part about these woods once being orc territory. The thought actually gave her a small bit of hope. If mankind had expelled them from the land before, they could do it again.

As they walked, the adrenaline that had fueled the scout's initial run and had powered her to keep moving was beginning to wear off. She couldn't help but think about how thirsty, hungry, sore, & tired she was; not necessarily in that order. While no stranger to the occasional hardships associated with living off the land for days, sometimes weeks, at a time, the past 6 days of orcish hospitality had taken a large toll on her. She wondered briefly if Aelfric would even recognize her.

She shook away the thought. "Any chance our path crosses a stream?" she asked hopefully.

 

[StarrNico]

Anna saw Charles leaving and grabbed her bag and weapons, hurrying to catch up to the men. She pulled her black hair back into a ponytail as she caught up to them. "Are you going to search for Danielle?"

 

[Frundette]

Anna saw Charles leaving and grabbed her bag and weapons, hurrying to catch up to the men. She pulled her black hair back into a ponytail as she caught up to them. "Are you going to search for Danielle?"

The men had made it almost to the edge of the Greywoods and looked behind them when they heard someone hurrying to catch up. They exchanged a quick glance. Laethros furrowed his brow a bit, but Charles just shrugged, then looked again the woman suddenly tagging along.

"Well, uh, yeah, we are," Charles said, running a hand along the back of his tanned neck, seeming inexplicably nervous. He was in his mid-twenties, of average height and slim build. He might have been deemed attractive if not for the numerous pox scars visible on his face, neck, and arms. "Anna, right?" he asked, eyeing the woman's weapons, thinking he remembered seeing her chatting with Gytha a time or two.

Laethros looked old enough to be the younger man's father, though there was no family resemblance.