Korak, the renowned orc blademaster, ran through the forest with his scouting party. Three of the orcs fell over vines and trees as they ran through the enormous forest. Korak and his friend JiSakra, a tauren leader, had no problems with the forest and led the fumbling orcs through it. "Damn Ogran, assign my fighters to a lowly scouting party. He'll pay for this-"murmered Korak. "Let's just get this over with" replied JiSakra.
Soon they came to a clearing in the forest. JiSakra lifted his hand and said "Stop! I hear something." The orcs halted and took position behind some mossy trees. They saw twelve humans gathered around a glowing campfire. They were talking some gibberish. It sounded like they were angry about something. Korak took out his translator that he had stolen from a human from his earlier days as a thief. "Damn, that Kevin Musselfort, assign me to a scout party, eh? He'll soon face this." A human that appeared to be the leader picked up his hammer. He seemed to be a paladin. Next to him lay about a dozen muskets. Those muskets… we need them, thought Korak. He looked at JiSakra who was probably thinking the same thing.
Behind Korak, Rakoras, a newly recruited grunt, whispered in his ear "Where the human? I no see no human. Me want blood. Me kill humans." The orc stood up and edged closer to the humans for a closer look. Squish! All the orcs cringed from the sound because they didn't want to be caught by the humans. "Aw crap, on my new boots too" said the standing orc. He wiped off the brown mud… at least Korak hoped it was mud… off his leather boots. Rakoras moved from his smelly standing and moved to a new spot. Crack! A twig snapped in two. All the humans turned and saw the orc standing above the others. Terrified, Rakoras froze. The humans grabbed their muskets from the floor and aimed at Rakoras. "DON'T MOVE, ORC SCUM," the leader yelled. The lead human picked up his hammer and commanded "I demand you to state your business." Rakoras stood his ground. When he regained his senses, he bent over and picked up his axe, "You shall never command me, filthy human." Rakoras charged at his oppressors wielding his axe at the head human. Gunshots rang in the air as eleven muskets fired onto Rakoras. Blood flew out of Rakoras' body. He fell, gasping at the feet of the humans. "My name is Arkon Drasatus, remember that name in Hell as the person who sent you there," the human lifted his hammer high for a death blow. Blood spilling down his mouth, Rakoras looked up at the paladin; his eyes pleading mercy. He closed them and awaited his impending doom. Arkon slammed his hammer on the dying Rakoras and there was a bonesplitting crack as metal met flesh and bone. Blood ran down rivers to the feet of Korak.
One grunt dropped his axe and ran from the conflict – a few feet before he fell dead meeting the same fate as Rakoras. "Do the rest of you surrender to the mighty Human Alliance or is death your desire?"Arkon declared to the remaining orcs. He chuckled and smashed the ground with his hammer. A'achanos, a headhunter of Korak's party, picked up his spears. Korak whispered in the orc tongue to JiSakra and A'achanos, "We're probably not getting out alive, but we'll fight to the death with honor." The tauren stomped his feet, "As the old tauren saying goes, the strong and brave will always be in battle and in danger, but they will always emerge victorious in the battle of physical strength and spirit."
Korak and JiSakra ran at the barrels of the muskets and cut them in two. A'achanos flung his spears at the paladin, but did not succeed in hurting him. A golden aura circled the paladin and he swung the hammer at Korak's head. Korak, covered in blood, had already slain two of the riflemen… with only minor injuries. If I get out of this alive, I'll worship any god that exists,Korak thought. He turned to see the paladin's blunt weapon coming at his face. He closed his eyes and waited for the blow. Thwack! Korak felt no pain, but blood fell onto his hands. Is this how it feels to be dead? Just then Korak looked up and saw his bloody companion fighting the paladin with his great axe. There was a great deal of blood pouring out of the tauren's shoulder… must have been where the hammer struck. Karok regained his senses and stabbed a rifleman in the stomach. He twisted the blade and sliced upward. The terrified look on the rifleman made him regret his murder. Nine rifleman down, 2 more to go along with that paladin. He searched the battlefield for his companions. He saw JiSakra struggling with Arkon. He looked for A'achanos… the fallen headhunter was sucking in deep breaths while a rifleman stuck his own spears into A'achanos' body. Karok jumped up and stabbed a rifleman in the back as he came down, and swung around to slice the other in two. He walked up to A'achanos, "It was an honor to have you serve me, loyal orc." Bleeding heavily, A'achanos struggled "Help…" Blood spurted from his mouth and ran in a stream down his mouth. "Help… him." Karok looked at JiSakra. The mighty tauren, no longer looked so strong, without his totems or horns. Though near death, JiSakra fought bravely. The paladin was struggling under the strength of the mighty tauren, but held his ground. Karok said to the headhunter "JiSakra is strong, he won't lose. Don't worry A'achanos, and go in peace."
The paladin closed his eyes and said a prayer. A golden aura surrounded Arkon, and with a newfound strength he smashed the tauren's head. Just then, a chill ran down Karok's spine. He turned to see his friend fall with a crash. The paladin turned to Karok. Karok looked back at the headhunter with fear in his eyes. A'achanos struggled to speak, but only blood came out. A'achanos finally blurted," Behind you!" Karok looked back and dodged –just in time- Arkon's blow. Instead the heavy hammer fell on the headhunter. Karok threatened, "You will pay for this." "Hah. We'll see about that. If you are as weak as your tauren companion, you won't stand a chance." In blood fury, Karok drove his blade into the paladin's armor. The orc spun around, conjuring up a fury of blades. "BLADESTORM!" he yelled. The exhausted orc finished his attack and rose his head to see a dead paladin. Yet a holy aura surrounded the ALIVE paladin. The paladin struck Karok in the chest with is blunt weapon. Blinded by pain, Karok fell onto the ground and his arms struggled to find his sword. Akron rose his hammer and….
To be continued.