[Golden Lion 86]

Leonis had just warned Jena and Morhau of the orc presence, and the three friends left in all haste and made their way to the village. It was a small farming community, home to no more than five hundred people. The orcs numbered maybe one hundred, and the village had that many defenders, lightly armed and armored, but they were quickly losing the fight. The orcs were phenomenally well-equipped, and apparently well-trained. Each was armed with a large shield, a scimitar, a spear, and a few javelins, much like the soldiers of the Old Days. The legion advanced on the village, shields forward and upward, an implacable wall. The spears and arrows of the villagers had no effect on the advancing force. The three friends arrived just as the gap between the orcs and the villagers was closing.
Leonis charged in first, following his warrior instinct. Following was Jena with her scimitar and shield, and Morhau with his dagger in his tail, one sword in his right hand, and a strange, hemispherical device in his left hand. This device was of shining silver, and was no doubt acquired during Morhau's planar travels. He pressed on the handle by which he held the object and the edges of the hemisphere loosened and sprang out in four directions, at 90 degree angles from one another. Each quarter-edge was supported by a two and a half foot beam, so the entire device was now two perpendicular five-foot poles, with a silver hemisphere in the centre. Morhau pressed the handle again, and all the space between the radii lit up in a pale blue glow. He held in his hand a shield, five feet in diameter, and it was made entirely of energy. Jena looked at him a moment before continuing towards the village.

"Interesting toy you have there!" she said. "I've never seen a shield like that."
"It's a fluidic shield." Morhau answered. "I got it in Sigil. It stops all projectiles, but is of little use against a hand to hand combattant."
"Why did you pull it out them, you show-off?" Jena asked.
"Those orcs have javelins." Morhau said. "I thought this 'toy' will come in handy."

Leonis reached the battle first. Having left the group first, and with stronger muscles and longer strides, this was not difficult. Leonis leapt on the first group of orcs, slashing wildly at them. Half a dozen soldiers fell, but the others fell back and formed a shield-wall. Their spears were pointed at Leonis, and he could not harm them anymore without great risk to himself as well. Leonis did not care: the villagers had to be spared the battle, and if he had to bleed or die to save them, then so be it. He rammed into the sheld wall, denting several shields, but also taking a spear in the flesh. Fortunately, hi heavy ribs deflected the blow and the spear punctured only the skin. Leonis cut through his skin with one of his claws, ignoring the pain, and freed himself. He then began to attack the spears themselves, grabbing them and breaking them one by one. Jena and Morhau joined the battle soon after, and strated to look for gaps in the Orcs' defensive formation.

"Stand down, you fool, before you get seriously hurt!" Jena yelled to Leonis.

Morhau struck the shields with his sword, provoking the orcs into a response. A dozen soldiers turned on him and aimed their javelins at him. Morhau ran back, to give the orcs the distance they needed. They threw his javelins just as he raised his shield. As the weapons hit the fluid, they disintegrated, and slowed down. When they had come to a stop, only foot-long stumps remained. These fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Morhau then aimed his dagger at the wall of orcs. He threw it, drawing no reaction from the enemy. When the dagger neared its target, it glowed blue for a second, and phased throught the shield, lodging itself in the orc's skull. Panic spread through the legion as the orc fell and the dagger slowly faded from his broken skull. Morhau gave off an almost diabolical grin as he aimed again. This time, the orcs fell into their natural pattern of behaviour, and started to run. Morhau sheathed his dagger and put away his shield. Drawing his second sword, he charged the orcs.

Jena jumped into the melée as well, slashing away at the orcs, and receiving minor cuts and bruises. Leonis looked at the desperate orcs and jumped into their midst. He underwent his transformation and unleashed a feral rage on the assailants the likes of which they had never even dreamt of. He was fast as lightning, jumping from orc to orc, killing each one with a single bite, usually crushing their skulls or tearing off limbs and leaving them to bleed. Jena and Morhau saw this and stopped. They retreated, as a precaution, to watch Leonis' fury from a distance. Morhau had never seen anything of the sort and was curious, and Jena was apprehensive for the exact opposite reason. She had seen many a werebear lose control and wreak havoc on entire groups of forest bandits as well as their intended victims. Ligers, unlike bears, were even more uncontrollable, faster, stronger, and more precise. What a bear took three hits to fell, the liger felled in one. If Leonis lost control, he might decimate the village. Jena called out to four nearby bears, asking for support. They came immediately, and joined Jena in watching Leonis. They might keep him at bay, or even overcome him, but not all of them would survive if worst came to worst. Jena would not endanger the bears so. Instead, she intended to use them as a distraction for Leonis, in an attempt to exhaust him.

Leonis, in the meantime, raged on, with half a dosen javelins embedded in his flesh. He jumped from orc to orc, slaying them by the dozen. Leonis was beginning to show signs of serious injury and three dozen orcs stoll stood. Jena and Morhau saw that he would not be a threat, even if he did go berserk. They joined the fight, along with the four bears. Before long, only one orc was left standing. Leonis bled from many places, and now fully one dozen javelins were in him, but he caught the orc in his sight, and exhibited a boost of vigor. Jena bid the bears stand down, and sheathed her weapons, as did Morhau. They had yielded Leonis his prey. In an uncharacteristic display of wisdom, Leonis jumped at the orc, striking him with unarmed paws, and dropping him to the ground. Both the orc's shoulders snapped, and he lay there, motionless, as Leonis struggled through the transformation again. He was drained and injured, and pulling out the javelins took the last of his energy. He fell to his knees and pointed to the orc.

"Information," he said. "Army, well-armed, well-trained! Too clever! Mastermind, who is? Must..." the words trailed off as Leonis fell into a pool of blood. He had lost consciousness, but was not quite dead. The villagers closed in in a circle around the three friends, and looked at the fallen were-liger with curiosity.

"A cleric!" Jena said, breathing quickly from the battle. "Do you have a cleric?"
"Jena," Morhau said. "You are pretty badly hurt yourself. You need assistance."

The villagers cleared a path for their village cleric. She was a small and slender young girl, maybe 15 or 16 years of age, and she was as frail as an elf, though Human by birth.

"Our village prophetess!" One of the villagers said. "She can help it, perhaps."
"Him!" Jena said. "It's a he! I hope she can help him, and then, maybe you can help us find our way to the city."
"I will do what I can. I might be able to heal him." The prophetess spoke.
"I hope so." Jena said.