A wiry looking orc hefting a javelin

Domic aims at a shorter and thinner orc who hefts a javelin in one hand.

"FIRE!" Torjo screams.

Domic pulls the trigger, the powder ignites, and the air is filled with roars and flashes of sparks as the guards fire into the charging orcs. Ears ringing, he registers Torjo's muffled cry of "Swords!" He lets go of the musket, swings out his sword, hears Torjo scream "CHARGE!" Then he is sprinting and yelling with the others as they rush the disrupted orcs, some still running at them, others dead on the ground. An orc screaming behind a open faced-helm swings a long ax at Domic. He parries the strike aside, then thrusts at the orc, who lets it ricochet off his armor. He swings at Domic again, who jumps out of the way, as Yulda whips her sword around expertly and slices the orc's throat with the tip of her blade. Something bangs and bounces heavily off his burgonet and he spins around dazedly to block the overhead swing of another orc. He catches the ax on the shaft, and with a mighty jerk, wretches it out of the surprised orc's hands. The orc jukes and sprints away from him as he swings and misses, spinning around. Yulda is slipping and falling backwards on a rock as a huge orc wielding a mace and shield advances on her. As the orc lifts the mace for a deathblow, snarling, Domic stumble-stabs him through the unprotected armpit. As the orc twists and topples, his falling arm catches Domic's sword, jerking it out of his hands. Out of the corner of his eye he sees an ax swinging towards him.

"Fuck," he thinks.

The blade bangs against the plates of his brigandine, the blow staggering him to his knees. He falls himself forward and turns over on to his back, as the ax swishes past above him. Above him, he sees Yulda deflecting the third blow of the orc, then dodging the slice of a second one. His right hand grasps around something - jagged, slick, rocky. The first orc takes a step too close to him, and he kicks viciously at their legs, toppling them with a crash beside him. He swings his arm around with all his might and bashes the rock on the side of their helm, driving their face into the dirt. Then Yulda is gutting the second orc, and spinning wildly around and searching, before reaching out to him and hauling him to his feet. The smoke is starting to clear and Cerni is suddenly in front of him and Yulda.

"Domic! Domic! Are you alright? You were supposed to keep him safe!" she is yelling at Yulda.

"He's fine, he's fine, just a little dazed," Yulda is saying, as she helps him sit against a menhir. Then she is taking off his burgonet and pressing a waterskin to his lips.

"I have to go into the caverns," Cerni is saying as he nods slowly, enjoying the water. "Make sure he's alright," she is snarling to Yulda.

"You're alright, you're alright, lad. I'm supposed to be keeping you safe, but here you are saving my life," Yulda says, as his mind becomes less foggy. "Now just rest here, Torjo wants me," she says, and is gone.