Alright, here is chapter 2. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Jacob, Full Iron Dwarf Warrior

It was quite sometime Ryoshu and Wolfhelm walked; perhaps a quarter mile until the bandit gang base was even in site.

"Get ready." Warned Ryoshu "The bandit's base is a hot spot for bounty hunters and freelancers such as ourselves, we will not be alone."

They continued to walk; they were nearly at the doorstep of the bandit hideout.

"Beautiful sword you've got." Commented Wolfhelm.

"Why thank you." Replied Ryoshu "I certainly think so, I call her white beauty."

"I see." Observed Wolfhelm "Mine is called swift beauty."

They finally moved into a small area outside the bandit base, lightened only by the few torches that were in front of the hideout, and the moonlight.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here." Observed Wolfhelm.

"Wait for it…" Ryoshu commanded.

And they did, for a minute or so, until a dark winter cloud rolled in front of the moon.

It was now that he realized Ryoshu was right. For certain, after many freelance missions, he had shared a lot of ground with other hunters like himself. This, however, was quite something to see. As Ryoshu said, there were quite a few of "their type" around, they were hiding in shadows, and now they had revealed themselves.

All bounty hunters know that there are two types of hunters: greedy and cooperative. Greedy ones are the ones that go solo, that kill everyone else and take the treasure for themselves. These are the ones that usually kill or die first. Then there are the cooperative ones, the smart and reasonable ones that cooperate with other bounty hunters temporarily so that they don't die, the ones that realize there is plenty of treasure in it for everyone.

Nik and Ryoshu were both cooperative, as were most of the ones in their presence, save for a pair of assassins in the corner, one of which attempted to shoot Ryoshu, and the other of which attempted to sneak up behind Wolfhelm. Ryoshu dodged the arrow and ducked out of the assassin's view. Wolfhelm reached behind his back and heaved the assassin that attempted to sneak behind him over his head. The assassin with the bow fired another shot, but it missed most of the hunters, save for one elf's arm at the other end of the area. A dark-haired elf archer with a headband took him down in one arrow.

Wolfhelm flinched. He disapproved of killing and death, and only did it when he had to. Orcs, goblins, and other fowl creatures was one thing, but killing humans, watching their life leave them and them lying in their own blood, it go to the best of him. Naturally, it was to be done in self-defense, kill or be killed situations. Wolfhelm had done it himself a select few times, and had slept all the worse the following night. He was a warrior of peace, but you must go to war to achieve piece. That was Wolfhelm's stand.

He picked up the other assassin and got him onto his feet. He snatched the knife from his hand and turned him away from the site.

"Run." He commanded.

The assassin, seeing that he had been spared, took this opportunity to flee for his life, and just as he escaped, Wolfhelm caught a glimpse of his face.

"So," said a warrior with a spear "Anyone else thinking of pulling a knife or shooting anyone else?"

The lot was silent.

"Alright then," he said. He pointed to a tall helmed warrior and a hooded elf with a saber "You two come with me."

They all began to form parties of three. Nik and Ryoshu stuck together, but they couldn't seem to find a third party member.

That was when they found him, a dwarf, taller than most dwarfs. Indeed, most dwarfs were a foot or so smaller than himself. This one, however, was a bit taller. He had a great brownish-auburn beard and broad muscular shoulders. He wore a strong iron top armor, and a great scale kilt. He had as much iron as a gas furnace, from his small iron helmet to his great broad iron axe, to the iron arrowheads of his arrows, and the iron sheath is which he kept a small saber.

A dwarf if Wolfhelm had ever seen one.

"You!" he called and pointed to the dwarf, who looked over "You're with us!" he declared.

The dwarf walked over and firmly shook Ink's hand.

"Jacob, it's a pleasure." The dwarf said in a bold voice "And you are?"

Nik and Ryoshu introduced themselves.

"Everybody ready?" asked the black-haired elf archer with the headband "My party shall go in first, followed by-"

"Oh hell!" cried Jacob "Let's get in there, have their heads and be done with it!" he began to run toward the entrance.

"No!" insisted the warrior with the spear "We must coordinate!"

But it was too late. Already Jacob had charged in, and from outside Wolfhelm, Ryoshu, and everybody else in the lot could hear the carnage and uproar that was going on inside.

Alright, thought Wolfhelm, game time. As much as he despised it, the bandits were killing, so he was going to have to kill back. He promised himself he would show no mercy unless begged for it. He ran in expecting to see his dwarf friend on the ground with a sword or couple arrows in him. Much to Wolfhelm's surprise, the dwarf was still going at it. It appeared that the dwarf's will was as iron as his attire. The dwarf's battle skill was unique, and he didn't seemed to be slowed by his heavy armor.

"Watch your head!" shouted Ryoshu.

Wolfhelm just barely missed an arrow shot at him. Time to focus, he thought. He drew his sword, parried a few more arrows, and charged the first bandit to the ground, He heaved another vertical slash to the two in front of him. Ryoshu stepped up next to him and drew white beauty. A blow to the right arm of his first victim rendered him defenseless, and he dropped his sword.

"Jacob!" Nik called "Form!"

"Ai!" Jacob returned. The three of them pulled together, Jacob facing one direction, Wolfhelm facing another direction, Ryoshu facing a third. Wolfhelm motioned and a party containing a she-elf with a white saber, a gentlemen thief, and a another archer came in. They began to fight the bandits, it was large base and there were many of them.

Next came the party with the spear warrior, the tall helmed warrior, and the elf with the saber. Parties began to file in one by one, a great battle ensued. Wolfhelm estimated around 30 parties of three each, which grossed 90 warriors, a great number, though the bandits still greatly outnumbered them.

One of the parties formed a line in front of the warriors. Picking up on this, a party parallel to them formed a line. Their strategy was to flank them from either side, get them surrounded. Within moments, they had enough men to achieve this. Warriors fell left and right, some bounty hunters, some bandits. The chaos of war filled the room.

This began to make Wolfhelm ill, he began to sweat, and his vision blurred somewhat. He backed into a corner and fell to his knees. Luckily, his companions had his back.

"You gonna be alright!" Ryoshu asked.

"Fine." Heaved Wolfhelm "No matter how many battles I get in, the heat of war still seems to get to me now and then." He got back on his feet.

"Good." Said Ryoshu "I'll take them from this side, Nik, take the north side, Jacob, take the south, we'll meet in the middle."

They all nodded and took there given sides. Ryoshu did a spin and took out a few warriors in front of her. She jabbed, pushed him out of the way, jabbed another, pushed him out of the way, and cut the last one's neck. Jacob righted one in the shoulder, cracked down on the shoulder of another. The last warrior came at him with a staff. He cracked his staff, and charged to meet Ryoshu. Wolfhelm used a series of windmill moves to knock down his enemies. Now they met in the middle of all the mayhem.

"Great!" said Jacob "What now?"

Ryoshu grinned, "Actually that's as far as I thought!"

"Grand!" Jacob exclaimed sarcastically. He took his crossbow off his back and began to shoot with it.

"We need to think quick." Concluded Ryoshu, she too, took out a bow. "I don't recall you coming in with that." Remarked Nik.

"I didn't." she replied, "They're kept on the wall."

Wolfhelm made his way over to the wall and grabbed one himself, Ryoshu and Jacob still following.

"Fortunate." Wolfhelm remarked "Ryoshu, you and I shall take them from above that rock over there. Jacob, you cover us.

They snagged a few other archers who had no parties. They took their designated positions, and began to rain fire on the enemy, who in return began to rain fire back. Luckily, most of the shot were fairly easy to doge or parry from their position. This also gave Wolfhelm some time to gather his thoughts, and strategize. He ducked behind the rock in the back, secluded from the others.

Ryoshu was busy peeking around the corner to shoot her enemies, but she saw Wolfhelm duck behind the rock. She did not see him come out, all she saw was a large grey wolf come down from the peak they were attacking from. She gave it no more thought, and concentrated on the battle.

So…..get to reviewing!