Ferdruk watched in sheer astonishment at the sight before him. One moment Churikie was about to go against his order and kill the woman himself, the next the girl had executed a set of flawless movements ending with removing the hulking Tauren's head from his shoulders. Never in his life has he witnessed anything as skilled as that warrior before him. His mind couldn't help but wonder how powerful she would be if she was not ambushed by arrows and dressed in her regular armour and equipment. Ferdruk spied on the girl as she sat above his dead companion; her body covered in blood and dirt and her face perfectly calm. She fascinated him, like a dark-skinned guardian angel sacrificing her body to protect those in need. Ferdruk wanted to her, and he longed to pull out her wings.

Walking towards the battle scene he saw her drop out of sight behind Churikie's huge body, only to recover moments later with a small smile on her face. Upon noticing him the smile disappeared. Ferdruk watched her expression change from a look of frustration to one of expectance. She knew she was in no state to fight him and decided to just stand there clutching her right arm, waiting for Ferdruk to make the first move. When he didn't react the human looked at him with a confused face. After a short staring contest the woman slowly moved her mouth, and produced a poorly accented orcish word.

"He..llo" she managed in orcish

"Hello." Ferdruk replied casually

The human thought for a while, then began again, "Why attack..us?"

"Gold"

"Oh…G..uld" the human repeated to herself, her head lowering. "Want, …pa..la..din?"

"That was the plan. But you ruined that didn't you." Ferdruk nodded at the river behind her, and then pointed at her, making sure she understood what he meant.

The woman turned away, hey eyes showing sadness. Ferdruk noticed the slender warrior tensing the hold around her right arm. After a while she spun back to face him, her eyes marked with anticipation.

"What, now…. Kill me? The woman pronounced the last two words voiced with better pronounciation.

Ferdruk shrugged his shoulders, "You're almost dead already, no point in that. You cost me a job, so I plan to make sure you compensate me." He took a step forward, which instantly made the woman stumble back a step.

Leaning over Churikie's body, Ferdruk pulled the short-sword out of his knee, and then tossed it roughly at the ground next to the woman. Revy glanced down at the blade for a second, and then hesitantly picked it up with her right hand. She regarded the Orc before him with tiredness. Giving her a sword is not going to make her fight any different; she was at her limit, and the blood loss was beginning to cloud her vision.

Launching him towards the female, Ferdruk raised his right axe for an initial slash. The Human managed to block it, but she staggered backwards as she lost balance. Using his left axe Ferdruk slashed again. The woman tried to dodge it but the blade connected with her waist, slicing a deep cut across her stomach.

Moaning in pain Revy staggered back once more, this time with her blade hand around her stomach. She crouched on the ground; blood oozed profusely from her abdomen. She gritted her teeth and watched the Orc in desperation as he advanced towards him. Grunting deeply she picked herself up again, and faced her enemy with feeble defiance. Ferdruk lurched again, and Revy tried her best to parry the flurry of deathly metal. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before a swing sneaked passed her outstretched defences and imbedded itself into her right knee. The Human screamed in agony, and dropped her blade before collapsing completely onto the ground.

Ferdruk watched the bloodied body quivering on the ground before him. The thrust into her leg seemed to have destroyed her fighting spirit entirely. She now cuddled her limp body on the ground; her eyes clenched shut at the sheer agony that pulsed through her slim form. Bending over Ferdruk tried to reach for her, but was taken by surprised when she suddenly jerked away. Grinning that she still had the boldness to resist him he crawled forward towards her slowly, and in return she scattered back from him, leaving a damp trail of blood on the grass. He chased her for a few meters before the last drop of her strength dissipated and the female limply collapsed on the ground with a defeated sigh. Ferdruk dropped on all fours and crawled until he was directly above the Female. He positioned his dark eyes just before hers, and waited till she turned at him. When she eventually did, he dropped his axe and fixed his large hands around her soft neck. Ferdruk watched with sadistic joy as her eyes enlarged in shock as his grip tightened around her throat. The fear, the helplessness and desperation from her face aroused him deeply. Toying with his prey he lightened the grip slightly, taking in the woman's brief gasp of relief before shutting her throat again. Ferdruk leaned in next to her dark face, and listened eagerly at the soft gasps for air creeping out of her opened mouth.

Revy pushed frantically with her right hand, trying to push the heavy Orc off her. But her strength had long left her. She eyed the Orc before her; there was pure joy and excitement as he choked her to death. Her minds wondered how cruel the world must have been to this Orc for him to become the monster he was now. Darkness crept around the corner of her eye. Revy knew this was the end for her, and began to lament on the things she would leave behind; her few friends, her Captain, whom she had grown to rely on like a step-father, and oddly enough, her favourite food, pan-sizzled chicken. Eventually her mind came to Grimwin, who was showing more and more to be the wise dwarf of his age. She imagined Maris, who represented the young in her group, full of energy and potential. Then she thought about Theylandu, the mysterious elf whom she still couldn't fully figure out. Lastly her fading mind turned to the paladin that made her life so miserable. The image of the naïve and idiotic Vikare grinning at her carelessly appeared in the darkness of her mind, and as she prepared to slip into the void, her mind relaxed.

I'm going to miss you the most, idiot.

Suddenly the death' grip around her neck loosened. Revy watched as the Orc above her flew back in silence. A split second later an echoing gun blast expectantly followed the bullet. Revy tried to turn her head to the direction of the sound, but her mind was too weak, and her body broken. Unwillingly her eyes closed themselves and forced her into unconsciousness.

Grimwin's eyes did not leave his rifle scope until that barbaric Orc's body was completely off Revy's limp figure. Satisfied seeing the Orc hit hard ground, he raced down the hill he was sniping on and gathered next to his three companions who were waiting eagerly by the river.

"Alrighty Maris, time for ye to shine." The dwarf ordered with his eyes scanning keenly across the river.

The young mage nodded obediently, and lifted his staff before the river. With a quick whisper of a few words the staff shot up in a globe of blue that hovered about the mage. Pointing the staff tip at the water the globe launched itself towards the water, freezing a straight line across the river.

Satisfied with the ice bridge he created, Maris stepped forward, his eyes tense as he moved across the water. Next to him, Theylandu had already started sprinting to the other side, his daggers ready in hand. Grimwin whistled at his pet wolf and treaded accordingly across the ice quickly. Behind the mage Vikare stood hesitantly for a second, his face fixed with a dark expression as he eyed the Orc who was strangling Revy. Then as if something snapped inside, he charged forward, roaring at the top of his voice.

On the other side, Ferdruk had recovered from bullet that landed inside his chest and stood waiting for the newcomers. The shot was accurate, but from such a distance it lacked the power to kill. However it did manage to distract him and save that girl from a broken neck. With a short motion of his head to his companion, Trajin, who had been recovering soundly by the campfire stood up and positioned himself next to his leader.

"Now this interesting," He picked up his axes around Revy's body and pointed at the Dwarf and the Elf. "I'll handle those two, you get the two humans. And remember, the large one is our target. I want an identifiable face so don't go all psycho on him."

Trajin sighed and shifted the bandages that covered his left eye and the gash next to it, "I can hardly see with da bandage on mon. But I see what I can do" With that he charged forward, intercepting the paladin before he could reach the Orc.

Ferdruk followed the troll, charging towards the Dwarf and the Elf. The Dwarf fired a shot from his rifle while in motion. Ferdruk ducked right as the bullet whizzed past and jumped to meet the blade of the Elf. Using his free hand he swung his off-hand axe, but the Elf skipped backwards and avoided his strike. Positioning for a counter-attack Theylandu leaped forward, and unleashed a flurry of stabs at the Orc. Ferdruk quickly switched to a defensive stance and tried to stop the incoming blows. Just at that moment, a dire wolf lurched itself towards his face. Grunting furiously Ferdruk managed to hold onto the wolf as it pushed him on the ground. As they landed he used the momentum to launch the animal off him and performed a back-roll to return upright. Turning his attention again at the Elf Ferdruk suddenly caught sight of the dwarf standing inches away from him, his long-sword poised to skewer his stomach.

Parrying the strike quickly Ferdruk jumped backward, trying to produce space between him and the two attackers. Glancing to his left, he saw Trajin being ganged by the two humans. The paladin was swinging his hammer madly at the half-blind troll. Between the hammer strikes, the short mage was flinging bolts of ice towards the Troll. Ferdruk grimaced as one of the bolt hit Trajin's left leg, freezing it in position. Taking the opportunity the paladin ran up, and slammed his hammer into the ice; shattering it and the Troll's leg into a million pieces. Trajin screamed out in pain, and tried to retaliate by throwing his spear at the small mage. The spear sped towards Maris, but just as it was about to hit the target, the mage released a frost barrier. The spear froze as it imbedded itself into the shield. Limping on one leg Trajin pulled out a tiny dagger from his belt and jumped towards Vikare. The paladin, seemingly still in an anger fueled frenzy, rushed forward to meet the attack. Shouting a holy spell Vikare encased his weapon in a bright yellow aura, and swung it towards the Troll. The hammer flew past Trajin's blindspot unchecked and connected with his head. A sickening crunch filled the air as the Troll flew back, and crashed lifelessly on the ground.

Ferdruk grunted in amusement at his sudden change of luck. Moments ago it was his four companions facing a lone woman. Now he stood before the woman's four companions; all equally angry and wanting to tear him to pieces. He looked at his adversaries; He could probably kill the paladin and maybe the mage if he could get close enough. But the Dwarf and the Elf, seeing that both were in healthy condition, would probably kill him without a sweat if they teamed up. Realizing the direness of his situation he glanced down at the woman's body; she now rested next to the Dwarf and the Elf.

Damn, I can't even finish her off just for kicks. Ferdruk smiled at himself.

With a roar, the Orc charged barbarically at the four; throwing all strategies and plans out of his mind for one final assault.