Chapter 2

Harper tracked back and forth with his sights, waiting nervously to see if Jarvis could see any targets. At the foot of the mountains, the two miles of scrub before the Swamp looked tiny, but he knew that with orcs or goblins about it would be the most dangerous for his Fist.

'Sarge! Sarge!' Baker shouted as he rushed into the clearing. 'Messenger from the Backfist. We've got an orc war party coming up a valley right up our backsides.'

'Shit.' murmured Bull. 'Okay, give me the worst. How many?'

'At least forty.'

Harper rolled onto his back, looked back at Baker and asked 'Do the main party know?'

'Yeah, yeah, I think so' replied Baker. 'They started going much faster than normal and looked pretty frightened.'

Pausing a moment in thought, Bull barked out 'Quiet. Heres the plan. We'll be swapping over, so run back and tell the messenger that we're gonna be the Backfist. Get their arses up here pronto! I want them at the Swamp giving cover as the others prance about to get there. We'll move forward a bit over to that rock formation and give both groups cover. Now move it!'

Everyone double tapped their chest and started grabbing their things. Harper started picking up Baker's belongings as well to give him once he got back from the messenger.

With one final check over to make sure they hadn't missed anything, the Fist left, rushing over at a fast jog to the outcrop of rock. Once there they cleared a space, moving a few stones to one side as cover.

'Now look here, ' started Bull, 'we don't want any heroics. We're faster than orcs over long distances so once they get within 100 yards below us we scarper.' Satisfied with the chest-fists of the Fist around him, Bull settled back and started attaching his shield to his arm.

Barely a moment seemed to have passed before Baker returned, out of breath and sweating. Meanwhile they could see and hear the other Fist running quickly to try and get to the Swamp edge.

Looking back and forth frantically, Jarvis visibly calmed and pointed 'Main party in sight. Get your sights there pronto.'

Shuffling a bit to settle himself, Harper relaxed as much as he could, taking long, deep breaths. Through his sights he could see the Chosen One sprint out and start to tumble, obviously spraining an ankle at the least. Behind him the page Jason rushed over to him and lifted him up to lean on his shoulder, with some of the Knight's armour over the other shoulder.

Around him the only comment was Ginger's 'Shit. Well, we're pretty much screwed then.'

With a grimace Harper started counting the Party, trying to see all seven. The kid Mikhail and the page Jason. Two. The two dwarves, Darren and Damien, in their all over capes. Four. The wizard, Jamieson, moving surprisingly quickly with his staff. Five. The archer, Nicole, suddenly running up to the crest and shooting back with her longbow. Six. And the knight, Sir Fullway, in just his chest plate and helmet, holding his claymore over one shoulder to stop it getting in the way. Seven.

He let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding, before doing his best to relax. They were going to have to stay up on the outcrop until the orcs were close to slow them down. He listened to Jarvis as he described which features he'd use to describe positions, looking over each in turn.

It seemed only seconds before the party was halfway to their position. Harper suddenly tensed as he caught a glimpse of an orc. All at once there were at least ten of them visible, with more over the ridge. Heart thudding loudly in his ears, he licked his dry lips and tapped the rocks beside his hand to signal seeing them.

'Fire.' whispered Jarvis. Picking the one on the left Harper steadied and fired, before rolling over and reloading immediately.

Rolling over again he listened until Jarvis said quickly 'Near the second set of trees.' Moving the sights quickly he found the orc, waiting a second to see his speed before leading the target slightly and firing again.

Again and again he mindlessly took Jarvis's directions, firing at the closest one until he suddenly felt Jarvis shaking his shoulders. 'Lets move. They're too close and we need to be going.'

Blinking wildly, his arms burning from pedalling, Harper grabbed his crossbow and followed the others into the bushes. He shook his head furiously, trying to become more aware of his surroundings. The Fist climbed as fast as they could up the hill, throwing the crossbows over their shoulder on the slings and grabbing onto rocks to try and get higher.

His arms still burning, and now his legs too, Harper tried to stop thinking and just concentrate on the next handhold before him, then the next after that, until there wasn't any more and he found himself on a ledge, panting, with his eyes closed and fell unconscious.

With a groan, Harper woke up, his muscles aching and his hands hurting. Looking around, it was once again dark. Rubbing his hands together, someone had added ointment and bandaged his hands from cutting them on the rocks. Ginger noticed him waking and passed him a mug of warm, sweet tea. Rolling onto the cliff behind him he sipped at the tea, trying to relax. Pulling out some slightly squished rations he nibbled at them as he tried to wake up fully.