chapter three, part two

Once again late on my post, matter of fact I missed the wed one entirely. Sorry, but here is the next part:

As they came in sight of the end of the village, a scene of horror greeted them. Militiamen were down all over the place, some with quarrels jutting from their bodies, others with torn and slashed torsos from swords and spears. Orcs were leading away troops of captives, collared at the neck and manacled at the ankles. Lines of ten per coffle were being led away into the darkness. Only women and children between six and fourteen were being taken, everyone else was being slain where they stood.

Luciana sped down the road, heading for a coffle of slaves, sword out and screaming at the top of her lungs. Altarn winced and dropped back into the shadows to see if there was something he could do that wouldn’t be suicide. As Luciana neared the coffle of slaves she swung furiously and parted the rope that held them together. Women and children ran in all directions as Luciana charged an orc and buried her sword in it. As she pulled her sword out, many more orcs swarmed towards here but one called out in guttural tones and the rest fell back. An imposing specimen of orchood stepped out from the massed orcs, standing near seven feet tall and clad in a suit of chainmail. He hefted a large mace and stepped towards Luciana, she seemed more than happy to fight him and stepped in swinging. As her sword struck the metal armor there was a brief spark and she was left holding the hilt and about eight inches of jagged metal where the blade had snapped. Luciana looked dumbfoundedly down at her sword, or what was left of it and began to look back up just in time to see the mace come down at her head. She collapsed like a steer in a slaughterhouse, bones going entirely limp and forming a pile in the road. Altarn watched with dismay as they fastened a collar and manacles to her. They dragged her over to an unfilled coffle and attached her between a pair of larger than average sized boys.

As Altarn continued to watch, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned while swallowing a yell in his throat. Berryl was looking at him and motioning for silence, she had on a suit of boiled leather armor and several weapons visible to hand. A pack on her back was bulging with its contents. She motioned him further away from the orc’s activities and when far enough back whispered “I saw what happened to her, lets go get her stuff, yours as well. We can follow and try to free her whenever they camp.” Berryl merged into the shadows heading back for Luciana’s house and Altarn entirely lost track of her. Although trying to follow her example, he was sure he was seen every time an orc went by. As they slowly moved through town the sounds of fighting eventually ceased and all that was heard were the moans of the wounded drifting along the nighttime breeze.

Berryl was waiting inside the door when he arrived. While Altarn was practically panting and had to force himself to a regular breathing interval, Berryl seemed perfectly calm and not out of breath in the slightest. “Where, in the name of the Gods, did you learn to move like that. I lost sight of you immediately and was sure you had been grabbed by one of those creatures.” “Lets just say that my father had trained me for a few other things as well as grooming me for a harem. May Loki take his soul and torment it for eternity.” “You mean your father is dead?” “I would assume so as when I left the shack it was burning quite merrily and he was still dead drunk. Now lets get what we came here for and get the hell out of the village before we are caught.”

Altarn rushed into his room and swept his belongings into his backpack and satchel, when he came out into the hall he saw that Berryl was packing a bag for Luciana in her room and he went to the kitchen to grab what food he could fit in his packs.