Part 3: Battle Royal
          Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12

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Part 3 - Battle Royal

Chapter 9

         The explosion knocks Magnus and the priest down, the priest looses his grip on his mace and it skids across the floor.

         In unison two cries ring though the tavern.

         Mordred yells, "ORCS, THERE ARE ORCS HERE !!!!"

         At nearly the same time the cook yells, "HELP! ORCS!!! And the inn’s been TELEPORTED!!!!!" He ducks back into the room and prepares to cast a spell, when he notices the strange creature and the new figure with their backs to him facing the rest of the tavern.

         The two drunk men, now become instantly sober as the pull out short swords and face the front door. One lets out a curse as he finds something missing.

         Mordred watches the two figures deciding whether or not he should attack, when his companion mummers quietly to him, then starts to edge toward the wall where, the bowman crouches behind a table waiting for an attack.

         Magnus pulls himself up albeit very slowly, checking himself for injury, before moving his back to a wall and looking around. It is obvious the recent tossing around has taken its toll on him.

         At Mordred’s’ and the cooks’ out burst, three men who had previously hid behind their table in the farthest corner of the bar come out from hiding. One armed with a two handed sword comes up to stand to the left of the ogre who is now facing both the creatures. The other two take positions on the other side of the ogres magely companion, both armed with long swords.

         The little thief revived after the second explosion, looks around and slowly starts to edge toward the front before he sees what is waiting there and changes direction toward the back.

         The priest gets up and quickly retrieves his mace, though he shows little outward sign (except for a few charred spots on his clothing), it is obvious the double explosion has taken its toll on him as well.

        The man to the left of the ogre says, "You murdering, bear-dung, pile of scrap metal! You’re gonna die! Slooowly!"

         In response the strange creature shouts, "Foolish Human! Who I am is of no importance. What is important is that outside 60 of my men, all heavily armed are waiting for me...and you. For you see you are my prisoners. You are no longer in your human city, you are now in my domain. You were brought here for a purpose and you will fulfill that purpose or *you* will die Slllooooowwwlly!", he pauses to let this sink in. "You are out numbered four to one! Now drop your weapons and file outside NOW!"
Chapter 10

          Silence greets the orcs demands, a few shuffle their feet. While others crane their necks to try and see out the door. The cook however is the one who makes the first move. Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, he drops his weapons to the ground. This action earns an approving nod from the orc mage, while the armored orc stands impassively.

          Mordred and his companion, who have reached a wall, edge slowly toward the cook, passing by the priest. Neither dropping his weapon or hesitating.

         In the end, the only one to act is the old man in the corner as he yells, "Toros, Darya, Yancek, Attack!" The three tall pale men silent obey as they rush around the ogre, mage and three men to attack the two orcs. Seconds later the other three men charge as well. The orc mage retreats to the door. Ignoring the cook standing weaponless beside him, he opens the door and calls for the troops to come in.

          The armored creature waits until the last moment to move. Dodging attacks with an ease that belies the heavy and clumsy armor. Blades spring out and appear in the orcs hands. He easily parries the attacks of the three men and counterattacks slicing one in half and disarming another man. Oddly enough the two men neither bleed or cry out. One simply changes sword arms and the other uses one hand for balance and the other to attack with a sword. The third tries to get passed his attacks in vain. As the three humans enter the fray, the battle goes decidedly against the armored orc.

Chapter 11

         Obviously agreeing in concept with the cook, the priest also drops his weapons.

          As the three humans enter the fray the armored orc, starts a fast retreat. Deftly parrying blows, while his armor absorbs those he misses. The clang of metal on metal is deafening.

          Above the clamor a voice is hear chanting, all immediately recognize it as a spell. But, the chanting is interrupted as the voice gives a strangling cry. The orc mage stumbles back into the room madly trying in vain to remove the dagger planted square between his shoulder blades. The little man, who was standing behind him, dashes back into the shadows.

          Mordred’s companion whispers something to a bewildered Mordred, before shouting: "Okay, everyone. We are in this all together. We have no choice, but to fight now and we have to cooperate. Everyone has to do his part!"

          Magnus decides to take action. Reciting a quick rune, a blue glow appears in front of him. It quickly forms into and arrow which streaks off and hits the stumbling orc mage in the face. The orc falls back from the impact and lands heavily on the ground. He twitches for a few seconds, before falling still.

          The elf continues, "Fighters to the front and help the three men and the ogre!" With this the ogre appears to have decided where his lot stands as he swings his pole at the armored orc, who parries the stroke. But the sheer force of the blow knocks him back. The ogre’s magely companion holds his hands in front of him and slowly starts to move back.

          At this point the front door erupts and orcs in leather armor armed with spears enter. As the door opens, everyone can hear orders being shouted outside.

         The shouting elf goes on, "Mages stay in the back and cast sleep and fire spells as the orcs come in. They can come in one by one or at most by pairs because the door is narrow. So cast spells and the fighters try to finish them up. Clerics and priest pray for your gods and heal the warriors. If we work together some of us might escape. Otherwise we are all doomed cause the fight is already on!!!"

          One of the two orcs screams in agony as the fighter who was cut in half, reaches up from a laying position on the ground to stab him between the legs.

         Another of the pale warriors attacks the other new orc, quickly decapitating him as well as the next unfortunate orc who charges though the door. An instant later, the warrior turns and runs back to the old man whom he was protecting and moves into a crouching position. The other warrior as well as the one cut in half also move back to the old man, their faces showing the first emotion...fear.

          Mordred’s companion pipes up again, "Use the tables and try to barricade the doorway, that gives us more time to think!" He ducks quickly as the door opens and an arrow soars roughly in his direction, barely missing him. The arrow is followed by a train of orcs charging in behind shields, once in the orcs spread out and attack targets.

          The armored orc has returned to the fray, going head to head against the ogre. Each of the three humans are fighting orcs. The leader of the trio has three dead orcs around him.

          Magnus shuffles though his pack as he draws a dagger.

           The orc speared in the groin is rolling on the ground whimpering pitifully.

          One of the orcs slips though the line and makes a jump for the ogres mage companion, who ready for the attack recites a rune. A bright read glow surrounds his hands and all within a few feet of the mage can feel the heat radiating from them. The unfortunate orc can also feel the heat as he tries to suddenly change direction to move him away from the mage, his arms windmilling. The move is however in vain as the mage touches the face of the orc, who starts to scream in agony as the hair on his head ignites and his skin turns black. He drops to the floor tearing at his face in agony.

          Another train of shielded orcs pulls in. These lock their shields together in a semicircle around the front door. One of them notices the cook standing near the door. "Narok Toros donle!", he cries to one of his companions.

          Magnus pulls out his scroll and looks around as he pulls away from the fray.

          Random screams come from the orcs as the little man appears and disappears with seemingly magical powers. At each appearance he pauses to slash at a leg here an arm there.

          From behind the shielded orcs a pair or ineptly shot arrows arc out towards those in the back. The man standing by the ashes, merely ducks avoiding his arrow. The other arrow lands in the wall behind the man hiding behind his overturned table.

Chapter 12

          Seeing the cook, apparently weaponless, irritates Mordred as he shouts to him, "Just fight man!". With that he edges near the front lines to attack an orc who has broken through.

          Magnus also shouts at the cook, "Get away from those orcs they’re going to kill you!" As he moves closer to the main battle, he whips his dagger out at the orcs blocking the door. The orc warned by the shout, anticipates the attack and the dagger bounces harmlessly off the shield.

           One of the three humans goes down screaming clutching a missing arm. His screams are quickly ended by his attacker. This orc glances back at his companion who shouted then looks at the cook and with an evil gleam in his eye advances upon him, sword raised.

          The door behind the shielded orcs opens, and the three in a semicircle open a spot in the middle and a stream of armor clad orcs wielding various weapons charges though.

          The cook decides to go on the offensive and pointing to the now open door he starts to recite a rune.

          The man near the ashes has decided enough is enough and draws his two swords. With a glance toward his hand, he charges into the fray. Shouting, "Gaea protect us!" he quickly swings toward the nearest orc. His first sword is parried and the second as well, although with difficulty. The orc feigns a chest attack then sweeps low. He anticipates the feign and lops off the now open orcs head. Without hesitating he attacks another orc. The orc heading for the cook, turns quickly around to block the attack of the man and so begins a quite lengthy battle.

          The priest moves back behind a table for cover, leaving his weapon behind. He seems shocked and confused as he looks around.

          Mordred’s companion shouts, "Everybody fight, As I told you before: COOPERATE! DO NOT HESITATE!" All the while edging with Mordred towards the cook.

          The cook has finished his rune and the light coming in from the doorway turns ruby red and a blast of heat shoots in, followed closely by screams of agony.

          The trio in the door close up their shields again blocking all sight of what is going on outside.

          The cook wraps his cloak tightly around him. He seems to shimmer for an instant, then moves a few feet away and stands there.

          An orc is screaming pitifully in a ball on the ground.

          The new group of orcs forces the defenders back toward the middle of the bar where one man jumps up from behind a table, grabbing the body of a dead orc and tossing it at the orc attackers knocking two down.

          Mordred taking advantage of the two downed orcs slashed viciously, killing one. The other rolls out of the way and only takes a minor wound. Pursual of the wounded is delayed when an orc wielding a small shield and a mace appears to attack Mordred.

          The man pulls out his axe and sword and the two attack the orc. The odds are quickly turned as the lone orc is joined by two other orcs and the wounded one returning with a dagger.

          The old man is screaming at his three protectors, before one of them points toward the door. The trio at the door part, opening the way for a rather large orc dressed in fine chain. In his hand is a huge war hammer, seemingly too large for him, though he lifts it easily. Hanging from his chest is a necklace with a huge symbol of a water spout. He looks around calmly at the battle before him until his eyes light upon the old man. At the sight of him the old man hisses and begins to chant a rune. Upon hearing the chant, the orc raises his face to the roof opens his mouth and bellows. The orc bellows so loudly that not only is the old man’s chant disrupted, but for a brief moment all combat stops as everyone looks surprised at the doorway to see what came though. After that brief moment the orcs renew their attack with savage fury.

           Mordred’s companion drops his weapons for a moment and facing the front, recites a quick rune pointing toward the front door. Around the orcs at the door faint sparkles of light appear to drift down from nowhere. Two of the three orcs fall down immediately, their snores can be heard dimly through the clamor. The third stumbles then recovers holding on to his shield more tightly and calling back through the door. The newest orc, simply looks up at the lights, snorts and looks around again. Mordred’s companion then scrambles to retrieve the weapons he dropped.

          The ogre and the armored orc pound mightily upon each other, neither taking hits nor landing any. The leader of the three humans finishes off an orc and moves over to help attack the armored orc. The addition of the human factor moves the advantage decidedly away from the armored orc. As now clangs on this now dented armor can be clearly heard. After parrying both the ogre and the humans attacks, he pretends to block the ogres attack, but actually drops down and slices at the legs. The human nimbly dodges away, but the ogre is not as lucky as one of the blades slashes at his hamstring and he falls down.

          One of the orcs with a spear charges the cook with spear leveled. His face registers pained surprise as he apparently misses the cook and runs into the wall.

          The little man appears behind the new orc in the door, but before he can do anything the orc sweeps his hammer in a backhanded arc catching him square in the chest. The blow sends him across the room slamming into the armored orc who was going to finish off the ogre. Both fall down in a clang. Only the armored orc attempts to get up.

          The ogres magely companion continues his retreat to the rear, leaving his attacker screaming on the ground clutching at his burning face.

          The two drunks apparently, now apparently sober, attack the orcs. Their moves seemingly perfectly coordinated so that any attack is coming from two different angles with at least one being undefendable. Three orcs have fallen to their combined attacks.

          Again a pair of arrows streak into the bar from the door, one lodges in the ceiling. The other lands harmlessly on the floor. Following the arrows another group of orcs come in. This group is heavily armored, they line up just inside the door, their pikes held at the ready. With a wave from the large orc they charge the defenders.

          The large orc and the old man glare at each other from opposite sides of the room.

 

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