Sorry about the wait, I've been playing Guild Wars
(Surprisingly addicting 
) but here we go.
Captain Gaius stood in silence as he watched the fires burning on the field in front of him. The walls he stood on had always seemed impenetrable, but in the face of the great that lay camped on the plains in front of him his faith wavered. But he held his continence for the sake of his soldiers who needn't see his fear. Walking towards the stairs down him held his head high, pride filling his face. For as he passed the soldiers on the walls he saw no fear. He was sure that doubts were held inside the hearts of these men, but courage came in facing those doubts and persevering. And why should they be afraid, they were the soldiers of Merchire, strong, brave, proud men. He smiled to himself as he thought about his home town. Built near one of the trade routes, it had originally been a small outpost. It was a place to hire mercenaries, and over the time the sign hade weathered, till Mercenaries for Hire had been gone, and only Merc Hire had remained. By that point the outpost had grown and had become a town. Holding to their pride in what they were, the name Merchire was taken right from the sign. For 50 years his ancestors had defended this town with ferocity worthy of the ancient Spartans of Greece. Spurning walls they had relied on the might of their militia, and a potent militia it was. They remained unbeaten, unconquered, denying allegiance to any king, and they stopped every attack. It took the full might of the Necro-wars, to bring us down. The pride of the Merchirens had taken a beating that day. A wall had been deemed necessary once the town was repopulated, and a ten year project had been begun. It had been finished a mere two months ago, and only weeks before the arrival of this hellish force that besieged his beloved city. But he held on to hope, for with walls, he was sure that his army could hold up to any assault that the enemy would throw at them. As he walked back towards the barracks, he worried, for his army had never quite faced an army of such...Hellish dimensions.
Groaning in pain, Cecil slowly opened his eyes. The sun blinded him, and only increased the pain that slammed again and again into his head.
"Cecil!" He felt, rather then heard Marie's scream of joy, and his head pounded even harder. "Thank Kiras, you are ok, we feared the worst. You have been out for two days." Grinning she stood up and yelled to Marcus. Cecil grimaced,
"Dear Marie, could you try to control your excitement. I doubt my head can survive any more verbal assaults." Smiling she closed her mouth and grasped his hand.
"So, you look stronger then I thought." Marcus walked towards Cecil, with gruffness in his voice, but his eyes smiling. Cecil, gave a small laugh and welcomed his companions.
"Welcome to the land of the living elf-friend." hearing a strange voice he turned and saw the bear of a man that had fought with them against the hell-spawn. "Glad to see that you lived, I would hate see such a powerful friend killed." He grinned. "My name is Arges." He said this loudly so even the approaching Ashaan and Isiana could hear. "I have been hunting and killing those demon spawn for weeks, but four was too much for even me. But what of you, who are you all." The voice was deep and rough, yet there was a friendly quality in it, and a sadness hidden deep within. Ashaan and Isiana had walked next to Cecil greeted him, yet they held themselves with great sadness. They were mourning the loss of their grove, of that which had been beloved.
“Hello Cecil, I am glad to see you unharmed.” Isiana’s voice floated across the lawn as she stood a few feet away from Cecil, “I am happy that that the magic of our grove did not kill you in it’s waning hours.” Marie, sensing Isiana’s pain walked over to her and held her as she stood with tears in her eyes. Ashaan stood near his wife but did not heed her tears. Bring the full brunt of his gaze to Cecil, he walked over to him and whispered in his ear,
“I want to go with you when you leave to whatever quest it is that you and your friends desire. I cannot stay here, but my wife will need to. She shall stay, and apparently so shall Marie.” As he said this he looked aver at his wife’s sobs and the little gnome who stood right by comforting her. “But I will go, and so will Marcus. We have decided to follow you, wherever you go. Marcus and I decided this while we were still unconscious, but we waited for your input to decide if we would take Arges with us. We know nothing about him.” Cecil slowly eased his way to his feet. Grimacing, he spoke to the circle of people that stood by and waited. His voice carried and seemed filled with power, but at the same time sympathy. “Isiana, you have endured a pain far greater then many mortals could bear. I ask no greater task of you. Marie, I ask that you stay and comfort Isiana for she will need your company in the months to come.” His voice became harder, and he directed himself to the rest of the group. “Ashaan, you may of course come to with Marcus and I, we could use the extra sword. And Arges.” Hearing his voice, the rough, bearded face turned towards Cecil’s smooth one. “If you so desire, you may accompany us all, I ‘m sure there will be plenty chance for killing.” Arges, grinned and in his deep rough voice, spoke slowly, “I will come with you” Raising his arm high he gave a deep battle cry, his shout striking deep bowels of all close, and thus with the party concluded, they set out for the settlement of Merchire, to try and find others to join their cause. As they walked away from the ashes of the grove, Isiana and Marie turned and went inside. Cecil thoughts flew unbidden, the worst fear that rose however, was the battle that would come four warriors against so many foes.