Loyal to the Light

The Strongest Arm

Hagra, Ronk, Ghârarmu and the olog charged first. "For the Bright Lord!" Yelled Hagra, forgetting entirely about disguises.

The eyes of the Dark captain widened. "Servants of the Bright Lord! Kill them! Kill!" With a snarl of rage, he lifted his mace high in the air and charged.

Hagra and Ronk were up front and met him before he could get far. Their blades rang in synchronous harmony as Ronk blocked the captain's attack and Hagra struck through. Then they switched, with Hagra on defense while Ronk disarmed the captain and stabbed towards his throat.

"No!" The captain leaned backwards, avoiding the blow. "I'm not dyin' like this!" Pulling a dagger from his belt, he cut at Ronk. But the uruk moved faster, dancing to the side as he always did and with one chop deflecting the blade.

Meantime, the captain's followers had also engaged. They ran past their captain, swords swinging for Ghârarmu and Ar-Takor. The clashing of swords and the bellowing laughter of the olog soon rang through the air, drawing more attention from the nearby orcs. Hagra realized their little group may have more on their hands than they could really deal with. The thought excited him.

Swiftly, the uruk whirled behind the captain, shouting a command at Ronk. "Double back!" His friend maneuvered around to the front of the captain and attacked aggressively. Hagra drew a long knife from his belt and stabbed the captain repeatedly in the back. "You," he yelled, "will fall before our feet!"

Ronk gave a short cry of pain, and staggered away. Hagra slipped his knife over the captain's shoulder and whipped it back, cutting the captain's throat. The captain instantly crumpled, gagging and clutching his neck. Hagra leapt over him and seized Ronk, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, mate, we got orcs t'kill!" The other uruk gasped and sputtered.

"Gimme a second, I can't see!" A black mist was covering his eyes. Ronk growled and held out his sword. "I'll be alright. Just go on ahead!"

"Well you better hurry up!" And Hagra sprang away again, twirling his sword and trailing black blood in his wake. "Come at me!" He yelled, attracting the attention of numerous orcs.

"It's an elf-lover!" "Kill! Kill! Kill!" "Destroy them!" Above the yells of his enemies, Hagra heard the laughter of Ar-Takor. "It gives me such pleasure to deprive you of your arms! Perhaps I will even keep them in memory of you all!"

Ghârarmu fought without making a sound, dropping orcs almost faster than the olog himself. Fighting with a precision ordinary orcs lacked, the former slave was soon surrounded by corpses and pools of blood. His eyes were wide and focused, teeth bared in ferocious battle-rage.

It took mere minutes before the orcs were wiped out. Ronk recovered quick enough to take down another two, to Hagra's delight. Their synchronous style was growing on him. He wiped the blood from his blade with a swift gesture, then beckoned to the others. "Gather round!" He ordered. "Now," he said when they had obeyed, "it's time to take down the rest of these miserable scum. Maybe we'll even find a few more recruits while we're-" Before he could finish, he had to duck to avoid Ronk's fist swinging at his head. The blow missed, but this time his friend had seen his move coming and kicked him in the side. Hagra cursed. "What was that for?"

"You idiot." Ronk hissed. "Take on the entire outpost? You outta yer bleedin' mind? No, we head back. We gotta see 'ow many orcs or ologs we can collect before returnin' home so the boss is 'appy with us." Gesturing at the olog beside them, he added, "Besides, we don't know if he is on our side or not. I'd rather not go into serious battle with a heavy-fisted olog at my back."

All eyes turned to Ar-Takor. He grinned broadly. "Oh, don't worry, little ones. I like your fighting and I think I'll stick with you a while. Better than my last group, I can tell you! Ha ha ha ha!" Ronk winced at the olog's loud laughter, but Ar-Takor seemed not to notice. "In any case," he went on when he'd calmed, "I heard you call on the name of the Bright Lord. You serve him, do you?" His little eyes moved from one to another of the companions.