Regardless of his thoughts, the figure did not seem to care as it throwed the figure located in it's hand to the side before gazing at Vance, with reckless abandon before taking on a mad dash towards his figure.
"Why is it so fast?" Grimacing, Vance immediately appraised the being a second time as rumininated over his possible options to survive. Panic was an unfamiliar sensation for him, something he rarely experienced. But the sheer unpredictability of the situation and the hulking figure closing in on him forced him to make a decision without much thought.
Fight or run?
His choice was immediate. Amidst the crackling flames of the surrounding buildings, mutilated bodies littering the streets, and the darkness of night blanketing the sky, he knew that leaving the initiative entirely up to the green-skinned menace would narrow his already nonexistent chance of survival to nothing.
"Raghhhh!"
The roar echoed down the street as the orc charged at him, closing the distance in mere seconds. Vance's injury-ridden body screamed at him to move, but before he could fully comprehend the movement needed to outmaneuver the being, the beast was upon him, looming just five meters away. The creature swinging the barbed club in a deadly arc.
"I don't think I can dodge," he thought, bracing himself as he raised his arms to cusion the behemoth's swing, planning to utilize the kinetic energy to immediately create distance by jumping backwards.
It was highly illogical as he knew his arms would immediately become useless form the attack, but what other choice did he have.
Feeling his blood boiling between his skin, he couldn't help but smile vicously. "This was what he craved, the feeling of walking the thin line of life!"
Yet then, amidst the bitter duel of the two combatants, the cascading sound of a blade cutting through air, and flesh rang out. As he watched with disbelief, and surprise as the orcs figure took a few more step before crumbling right before him. A fountain of dark green blood erupting afterward, bathing the surrounding with a tint of green as the body of the beast revealed several lines that spurted blood after a few seconds.
"Hmm?"
The suddenness of this brutal action sent a jolt of terror through Vance.
"What was that?" He warily appraised the street before him "And was that the flash of a blade?"
He found it absurd.Anyone who could effortlessly kill such a creature was akin to the Grim Reaper in given his current state.
Vance quickly took a couple of steps back, attempting to distance himself from this new foe, a futile endeavor as he knew that given her ability to so easily dispatch the beast if she wanted him dead there was nothing he could do.The returning pangs of pain made him acutely aware of his limits.
Adrenaline coursed through him, but he knew it wouldn't last.
As the rhythmic sound of footsteps striking the ground rang out, as the silhouette of the figure became vaguely apparent as it stepped in the dim light of the street.
"A knight?" Vance asked puzzled.
A gentle voice escaping the figure after a short chuckle "No, just an Ascendant."
Her figure become more apparent as she gradually approcached him, something he presumed as her way of showing she was not here to kill or harm him.
Vance's reevaluated the situation as he appraised her.
The figure, at least 5'6", draped in gleaming silver armor, stopped a few meters before him. Shaking off the blood on her short sword with uncanny ease before sheating it as she curiously regarded Vance. Her wavy black hair framed her small build, and her almost luminous silver eyes, that seemed to glow, studied him intently. The lithe figure of the female knight was both imposing and comforting in the eerie stillness.
"Are you just going to stare, or are you going to thank me?" a soothing voice asked, breaking the tension in the air after a moment of deafening silence.
Vance blinked, realizing that in the brief span since he'd awakened, confronted the orc, and prepared for a fight to the death, the sounds of the surrounding skirmishes had all but vanished.
"Are you deaf?" she prompted again, her tone slightly annoyed.
"No, I heard you," Vance muttered, lowering his gaze to the petite warrior.
"Is this really the one that killed the monster? How did she do it so quickly?" His mind raced, questions swirling.
Before he could voice any inquiry about his present location or the knight's swift victory, exhaustion flooded over him, and his vision blurred. The world tilted as he felt himself fall forward, right into the figure's arms.
.....
Glancing down at the body in her arms, Cecilia winced. The boy appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen, but malnourished, and on the verge of death.
"I guess he really was on his last straw," she mused, her heart heavy. "What a lucky sport, if I had been even a second later, there would have been only two survivors from this massacre."
Gently cradling him, Cecilia moved briskly away from the chaotic scene, hurridly seeking the safe gathering location of her comrades.
The small town lay completely decimated. Even someone as accustomed to the brutality of orcs as Cecilia felt apprehensive as she surveyed the devastation. The terror engrained on the faces of the fallen was gut-wrenching. Couples cleaved apart while holding hands, children strewn across the ground in countless pieces, and those who had thought themselves clever were ruthlessly hunted down from their hiding spots by the powerful snouts of the orcs.
Cecilia's breath quickened. She had faced many battles and horrors before, but this was different. This was a level of cruelty that left a mark on her spirit. She would have to gather her wits to seek revenge for the innocent lives lost tonight.
With bated breath and a heavy heart, she slowly walked toward where the other members of the reinforcement squad were stationed.