Jake and the Opals

The sorceress nodded in reply. "I count four of them." She crouched next to the orc behind a bit of broken wall. The orc turned to her and nodded. He held the elven blade low to hide it's odd shimmer from malevolent gaze.

The orc spoke low to keep his voice from carrying though he was unsure how well the dead could hear. "This is the third group today. I'm afraid we may not be able to avoid this group as we did the others. They are stayin' too close to the path we follow."

The sorceress nodded in agreement. "What shall we do?"

Before he could answer a noise caught the orc's ear. Shoving Morgan back unceremoniously, the orc threw himself away from the crumbled wall. Rusty steel struck against stone as the skeleton hammered where just a moment ago the orc and the sorceress had hidden.

With a snarl the orc leapt back to his feet and charged the skeleton. Wickedly fast, the skeleton turned to face the orc. The skeleton's rusted blade, badly mangled from its impact with the stone, still presented a threat. The orc, intent upon ending the battle quickly, lunged forward bringing the glittering blade down in an arc of silver light. The keen elven edge caught the skeleton at the base of the neck and sheared off the skull with a bright flash of light, almost like the strike of lightning.

The skeleton fell to the ground, its bones no longer holding any animating force. The rusty blade clattered to the ground, bouncing off the stone in slow motion it seemed. The skull bounded off the wall and rolled away, its empty eye sockets pointed towards the orc, as if in a final threat of doom.

The orc turned, knowing that the sounds of battle would have attracted the attention of the other skeletons. Morgan had regained her feet and was moving to his side. "Run or fight?"

The orc's steel grey eyes were locked on the approaching skeletons. "Fight," he answered. The sorceress nodded in reply, drawing forth a bright dagger traced with delicate runes.

As they took up wary positions, they did their best to take advantage of the cover available to them. It was important not to get surrounded. "They never tire, so we'd never be able to outrun them. And we might attract more of them as we ran. Better to face them here."

Morgan murmured her agreement, but had little time for aught else as the skeletons drew closer. The time for talk was over.

The skeletons came on without strategy or plan, simply marching forward in the straightest path possible to reach their prey. The orc took advantage of this. Stepping forward as the first skeleton attempted to move through a gap in the wall, the orc brought a strong arc around to chop off its hand, sending its weapon clattering away. It wouldn't stop the skeleton he knew, but it would reduce its reach and give the orc the advantage.

The second skeleton had reached the wall but was unable to reach them immediately with the first skeleton still in the gap. Morgan took advantage of the reprieve to grab up the sword discarded by the orc's attack. It was a clumsy blade, curved and top-heavy, but still more useful for its reach than the dagger.

The first skeleton advanced oblivious to its missing hand, the remaining hand stretching out its fingers seeking to grasp the orc. Jake stepped back and slashed the elven blade across its midsection, several ribs shattered and fell away with the blow. The orc snarled as it did not fall. The skeleton advanced, its grasping hand reaching out to take hold of the orc's leather armor.

Fighting skeletons which did not feel pain was harder than fighting mortal opponents. Jake fought to remember that and worked to make his blows more effective. Using a hand to grasp the skeleton's chest and keep it at bay, the orc struggled while Morgan moved to intercept the second skeleton.

The skeleton lashed out at the sorceress, but she brought the bulky cutlass up to intercept. Although forced back by the brutal attack, she kept her guard, and waited for its next attack.

Jake, in the meantime, had lost hold of his elven blade and was smashing the skeleton into the crumbling wall. Both hands gripped the skeleton's chest while the orc pounded the skeleton over and over again against the wall, slowly shaking it apart. It's remaining hand flailed about, unable to maintain a purchase on the orc.

The second skeleton advanced upon Morgan, its blade whipped back and forth in a deadly arc. Morgan waited patiently for her chance and stepped in quickly, using the cutlass to block the skeleton's blade while she ran the point of her dagger straight into the neckbones of her attacker. The runed weapon popped through the bones severing the skull from the body and the skeleton fell to the ground its attack losing all power.

The first skeleton had largely fallen apart in the orc's hand and he cast the remainder of its body over the wall, while quickly looking to take back up his sword. The other two skeletons had nearly reached their cover.

The orc, enraged by the battle, leapt out through the gap in the wall and tackled the first skeleton, using the bulk of his body to bring the nearest skeleton down hard to the ground and then quickly decapitate it with the shining elven blade before it could recover. The bright flash of the blade attracted the attention of the last skeleton. As it moved to catch the orc still on the ground, Morgan threw the rusted cutlass at the skeleton hoping to distract it.

The skeleton intent upon the orc stopped as the cutlass wedged itself in its ribcage. The lucky throw was enough to delay its attack. Jake rolled in, barreling into the legs of the last skeleton and tumbling it to the ground. Without pause the orc seized the skeleton and scrambled to his feet. With his eyes reflecting a murderous glow, the orc bodily threw the skeleton down over the remains of a broken column and shattered its body into dozens of pieces.

The orc stood angrily looking for another opponent. His grey eyes were tinged with red and his breathing was in rapid. Still nearly berserk, the orc wished for something to appear upon which he could vent his rage. After a moment, when it was clear that none of the skeletons were still moving, the sorceress chuckled wryly. "Remind me never to anger you."

The levity of her tone helped bring the orc out of his rage. The orc turned to look at her and slowly relaxed. The tension flowed out of his muscles and he attempted a small smile. He knelt down to recover his blade once more and finally gathered his wits enough to speak. "I guess I got a little mad."

Morgan broke out into a rolling laugh.