Echoes of Before

Chapter 8

The room was dark but this didn’t hamper anyone in the group, as they all either had innate night vision or wore a trinket that gave them this particular talent. They stood at the bottom of the staircase leading down from the church floor. If Scar was to be believed, the ambush would start once they were half way towards the door on the other side of the room. 

Roocal didn’t doubt this. The whole area was too quiet and seemed perfectly set up for an ambush. He could even smell the orcs, they were not the most hygenic of creatures.

Roocal could also just make out a single ridge running around the room about ten feet above their heads. The ledge had slightly unnatural looking crenellations spaced out periodically along it, clearly showing its purpose. 

Bigs was looking at him, hopping eagerly from foot to foot ready to go. 

“OK. Let’s do this,” Roocal whispered and nodded at Bigs, setting the plan in motion.

Bigs began creeping forward slowly, careful to be as quiet as possible. Roocal and Scar moved off to one side and positioned themselves behind a pillar out of range of where they suspected the archers to be. Cherry and Groog waited quietly behind a second pillar, similarly out of range and sight.

Suddenly Bigs came running silently back towards the pillars, a heavily armoured orc on his heels. As Bigs ran past them and up the stairs, Roocal and Groog stepped out from behind their respective pillars, blocking the orc’s path. Roocal did notice a little surprise register on the orc’s face, before his quarterstaff took its legs away and Groog’s heavy axe came crashing down on its breastplate. Bigs by then had done a quick one-eighty and was now slashing with his daggers at the orc’s exposed neck. 

The orc was given a severe beating while on the floor and all three adventurers were surprised to see it actually getting back up on its feet. Not only that, it started lashing out at them with its wide broad sword displaying a level of speed and power they had not seen before. Scar had not been wrong, these were no ordinary orcs and this one at least considerably tougher than the two they had encountered earlier. But the adventurers had the numbers and when Roocal managed to next trip the beast, Groog finished it with two heavy chops.

Roocal looked at Bigs. “Remember, one at a time or we’re in big trouble.” 

Bigs nodded but Roocal knew that what he was asking was easier said than done. However, Bigs was doing well. He managed to bring the next two orcs back one at a time, each one dispatched in the same way as the first with neither Scar nor Cherry needing to get significantly involved. Cherry did have to occasionally top up Groog’s health, as the fighter paid little attention to defence, preferring to focus on attack, but overall everything was going to plan.

That was until Bigs returned next time shaking his head and Roocal immediately saw the reason why, the remaining three orcs were all running quickly behind him, closing the distance fast. They had discussed what to do if this happened and Roocal turned towards Scar, who started chanting a few words and unleashed a cone of flame burning all three approaching orcs. The orcs stopped in their tracks and turned to attack the new threat, but as they did Roocal and Groog stepped out in front of Scar, in what she might have called a meat shield.

Both fighters quickly drew the attention of orcs, leaving Scar free to escape. Two orcs went for Roocal and one for Groog. 

Roocal was hard pressed right from the start as he tried frantically to keep the two orcs off him. They were moving really fast and he was using all his enhanced speed just to keep their swords at bay. He was thankful when he saw Bigs suddenly leap out from behind a pillar and stab one of the orcs under the arm, distracting the orc for a moment. Seeing the orc’s arm go limp and taking advantage of Big’s intervention, Roocal altered the direction of his attack and swung his quarterstaff over the top of the orc’s useless arm, catching it square on the head.