Anomen and Blaine stared down at the carnage below without speaking. It was not the number of bodies which surprised them, nor was it that monsters appeared to be fighting eachother. None of this surprised either of them. What surprised them was the nature of one of the monsters fighting, and how well that one conducted itself.
"Come for me then!" that one bellowed at the surviving goblins, twelve of them. More than twice that number lay dead. Their opponent looked to be an Orc, but....
The skin was a lighter shade of green than it might otherwise be, the tusks smaller and less pronounced. A Half-Orc. Half-Orcs were not unusual in Amn, there were two whole small towns populated by them almost exclusively. This did not, mind you, earn them any trust.
What was surprising about him, aside from how well he spoke, was that he was not one of the half-naked barbarian warriors that were the mainstay of his race. Warrior he was, but well equipped; draped in chain mail like Anomen's own, fitted to his giant frame. In his hands he wielded a halberd, swinging it through the goblins the way a human would chop down trees with an axe.
"What's the matter?" he taunted the gobins, only eight of them left now. "Lost your nerve?!?"
Tanya had joined Blaine and Anomen at the top of the hill. "Should we aid him?" she asked uncertainly.
"He's a Half-Orc," said Anomen, angrily.
"Aye," agreed Blaine. "If he means us harm, he will attack us as well. Though somehow I doubt it."
Anomen grunted suspiciously, but voiced no objection. They charged down the hill.
The Half-Orc noted their coming with a brief glance, then returned his attention to the goblins, splitting the head of one of them with his halberd.
Anomen saw Blaine's amazing kensai skills yet again. Blaine dropped to a crouch and spun, ripping two goblins to shreds. Anomen's hammer slammed into the chest of another, knocking it to the ground, and it's neck broke.
Tanya parried the slash of a goblin's short sword, then butted it in the face with her buckler. As it reeled back, her mace connected with it's head, and it dropped like a stone.
The Half-Orc picked up another of the goblins and threw it into it's two surviving companions, knocking them like ninepins. The one it had thrown was killed by the force of the impact. The other two were badly hurt, and turned to run. One of them ran into Blaine's blade. The other ran right into Anomen and bounced backward, staring in fear. Anomen raised a boot and stomped it down to the grassy ground, then dropped his hammer on it's head.
As the dust began to settle, they turned to look at the Half-Orc, who looked back uncertainly at them.
continued
