| Gypsy motioned her hand in a series of complex gestures across the forest path, her green eyes looking determinedly inwards of the woods. She didn't make eye contact with Aegis, nor did she have too. The two companions had learned long ago how to function without the need to make eye contact. She made a couple of quick motions with her nimble hands. Aegis nodded, more to himself, then to acknowledge what she had to report.
Five orcs, Aegis thought to himself, moving slowly. A patrol, more than likely. He shifted his weight in the tree slightly, following Gypsy's line of sight. For a second, he heard nothing beyond the sounds of nature. It wasn't long, however, that the sound of armour rattling was heard, accompanied by the deep, gutteral voices. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lip. As long as he hadn't misread Gypsy's signal's, five orcs were hardly a match for the two of them, especially when they had the element of surprise. He balanced along the thick branch, one hand propping himself up against the trunk of the oak tree, the other hand wringing the polished shaft of his glaive anxiously.
Neither Aegis or Gypsy were particularly bloodthirsty, but to them, orcs, no matter their actions, were a blight on the land. Even then, they would only hunt them if they had a reason of sorts. Actions borne from both boredom, and their good, if self-guided ideals. Across the way, Aegis saw Gypsy balancing deftly on her branch, both hands gripping her Dragonfang daggers tightly, the curved blades glinting menacingly off the scattered rays of light shining through the canopy of trees. The same eager look shone in her eyes.
The sound of a twig snapping brought Aegis' attention back to the forest path where a large, blackened orc was dicing his way through the underbrush with a great cleaver. The blade was notched in several places, obviously having seen its fair share of combat. Also, where polished metal would be on a professional soldier's weapon, scattered blood stains were seeped into the steel. It held a perpetual scowl on its face, its lower jaw sticking out, two large fangs protruding from the bottom lip. Its skin was ebon black. Aegis shifted slightly at this sight. Never had he seen a black one before. Following the lead orc, came an additional five orcs, with the same ebon skin, each with their own wicked looked weapons.
Aegis flashed a glare at Gypsy across the way. She simply responded with an innocent shrug, and shot him a wink back. Aegis shook his head. It didn't matter much. One more orc wouldn't cause too much difficulty. All they had to do was wait for the six ebon skinned orcs to walk past them, then they would strike. The lead orc passed them by, followed quickly by the second, then the third. It was time!
Aegis flashed a quick glance to Gypsy, the two sprang into action. Aegis launched himself from the branch, his glaive swinging in a deadly arc in his wake. In a move as quick as his momentum, the glaive swept around his body, the vicious blade cutting a swath through the fourth ebon orc in the line. The brute never had a chance to react, the keen blade slicing through both skin and armour. The first blood had been spilt. Before any of the orcs could raise their weapons, Aegis followed through his attack. As he and the butt of his glaive touched the ground, he kicked his left foot along the dirt path, knocking the shaft of his weapon into the air, sending it into the jowls of the next orc in line. He heard a loud snapping noise as the beasts jaw shattered. Aegis gave a satisfied smile.
Gypsy was just as quick. Leaping from her vantage point in the tree, her arms cross across her chest, the edges of her Dragonfang blade poised to strike. It took only a second for her weapons to taste orc blood. As she closed in on the first orc, she whipped her weapons before her, leaving a trail of black blood as it tore through her enemy. As soon as she hit the ground, her tight leg muscles pushed her small body back into motion, her blades cutting a vicious path through the orcs, none deep enough to kill, but leaving a trail of wounds and orc blood in her wake. She stopped only when coming within proximity of Aegis. She grinned, and quickly kicked herself around, ready to face the rallying orcs.
Aegis took a slight step back, only to feel the slender figure of Gypsy behind him. Three of the orcs had rallied, and were forming a circle around the two companions, with a forth pushing itself from the ground, spitting out a mouth full of blood and teeth.
The two sprang in action. Aegis leapt forward, swing the haft of his glaive in an over-head arc, the polished wood snapping down on the recovering black orc, another loud crack sounding through the small path, followed by a thud as the orc hit the ground, its skull shattered. Using the momenteum of his attack, he brought the edge portion of his glaive about, just in time to deflect an incoming orc battle axe. Aegis felt his arm quiver slightly under the strength behind the attack, but not enough to shake his spirit. He ran his glaive edge down the notched axe blade, sending a wash of sparks in its wake. With a quick flick of his wrist, he snapped his wrist quickly, knocking the axe away from him, and sending the orc back a step, and leaving Aegis enough time to charge forward. Gripping the haft of his polearm with both hands, rushed the orc, bashing him firmly in the chest, knocking the beast back further. He continued his attack relentlessly, flipping his grip on his weapon, and sending the edge of his glaive across the orc's throat, cutting cleaning through. As the weapon decapitated the orc, Aegis let the force of his attack carry him around, spinning on his heel, so that he was facing Gypsy on the two remaining orcs.
Gypsy's movements were fluid and swift, metallic arcs flashing around her body, her body twirling and twisting amongst the two orcs in a deadly dance. Though powerful weapons, her dragonfang daggers were hard pressed to cut through the orc armour, or even wound deeply enough to halt the ebon skinned orcs. Occasionally, the orcs would work their weapons around, to what they perceived as an openning, only to be sent flying away by one of Gypsy's swirling blades. Though her attacks alone caused merely a small annoyance to the large orcs, the cuts and slices began to add up, flecks of black orc blood spraying through the air. Though, combined with the attacks of the orcs, and the gradual loss of blood, the orcs movements began to slow, their attacks becoming even more cumbresome and slow. After a minute of the stalemate, Gypsy's openning was their. With two quick flicks of her wrists, she swept her daggers along the throats of both orcs. With the same gracful motion, she spung the daggers in her hand, and neatly into the sheathes around her waist.
After a moment, she stood up straight, turned to Aegis, who was watching quietly, his glaive resting across his shoulders. She flashed him another playful wink.
"I'm up by one, hun." He returned her wink with a smile of his own, one that only grew in size as he watched Gypsy's playful responding pout. The game was on, he thought to himself.  |