--The rock face crumbled under Zarak’s feet, but he paid no heed. He kept on climbing, pulling with him the lifeline that held his 9 companions. They seemed to be losing their juice, but he sure as hell wasn’t. His mind was completely erratic. He felt that he had worked so hard to make things better. To fix his family. But in the end, it turned out he was just wasting time. Why did everything have to be so god damned hard? If there was such a thing as The One God, he must have a really sick sense of humour, Zarak thought. His left hand had reached the top of the cliff. He could feel the soft caress of a patch of grass under his fingers. He dug them into the ground and used the hole for leverage; pulling himself onto the barren plateau with nothing but cacti and rocks strewn about for miles. He was drenched in sweat and out of breath, but his senses were sharper than ever. Instantly, he spotted enemies. Right there, some 300 metres away, there was a wagon pulled by wiry, horned beasts, and followed by a group of Orks. Spotting his prey, he thought “It’s time.”

--He braced his boots against some rocks and used both of his hands to pull the rope up, vigorously, dragging with it his now running companions. The rope could be heard tearing against the rocks, crackling as dust rose in its trail. One by one, he pulled them out, and each gave him a tap on the shoulder as they collapsed next to him. Once all of them climbed up the ledge, he quickly explained why the Orks hadn’t attacked them yet.

-Look behind us. The sun is setting. They can’t see us from the glare. Perfect cover for a surprise attack.

--He then began drawing in the ground with his fingers, while the others were struggling to catch their breath.

-We make an inverted V formation with me on the left flank, Howell on the right and Styx and his bow in the middle, far from the frontline. He picks them off as we approach. If they charge him, Howell and I collapse on them. Styx is the only bowman we’ve got, so it’s important that we keep him up and running, so he can keep downing Orks. The rest of you divide in three groups and follow us. Remember, you don’t need to go for the kill. Just stop them in their tracks and defend yourself until one of us three can come and help you take them down.

--The men, bewildered, listened to him and nodded with hollow eyes looking straight at the ground. The peasants were scared. So was Styx. Even Howell, the hardass, was showing signs of his composure cracking. It could be felt even through his helmet, which concealed most of his face. Only Ravi seemed to be sharing Zarak’s eagerness. Zarak grabbed as many of them as he could and huddled them around himself, head to head.

Through his teeth, he hissed -- Come on you bastards, remember those you left behind in the ground, buried. Remember them dammit!

--Sweat was dripping down his nose as he growled at them. The fire which was burning in his aching heart spread to them, as their emotions transmuted. Determination had sunk in and they drew their weapons and farm tools. It was time.

--Between them and the Orks was naught but open ground. No cover. They advanced intently all the same. They were supposed to be sneaking up on the Orks, but it’s more like they were running at them in low posture.

--250 meters. They notice other wagons in the vicinity, trough the sun’s glare, but far from this one. It was quite possible they could storm it before the others even realized anything was up.

--200 meters. The wagon they’re approaching is even bigger than they thought. What the hell is in there? They could also count the orks. There was 15 of them. Five more than the avengers.

--150 meters. Zarak could now discern that these Orks were smaller than those he’d seen back at the village. They mostly had no scars or tattoos, unlike the ones he had fought there. But the ball was in motion. Warriors or not, these Orks had to go, or they’d alert the others as soon as they spot the advancing party.

--100 meters. Why don’t the Orks see them yet? Styx stopped. It’s too early for him to stop.

Zarak, stopping as well -- The hell are you doing? We need to get closer.

Styx -- Th-this is close enough.

--His hands were shaking as he tried to ready his bow.

-I’ll shoot from here. – Styx said.

-We need to get closer. Your first shot had better hit one of them in the eye. They outnumber us.

--The others were stopping too now, confused. They exchanged worrying glances.

Styx, with a mocking smile -- Have a little faith, butcher boy.

--Zarak already had to pull patience out of his heels to give that talk just now. He doesn’t even know where the words came from, he’s never been any good at talking, or dealing with people in general. What more does this jackass want?

Walking up to Styx, Howell punched him in the shoulder and said -- The boy is right, get a grip and keep going, you shifty cockroach!

Deploringly, Styx pointed his bow at Howell and spoke -- You don’t get to talk to me that way, mister high and mighty! I don’t know which one of you two dipshits has been busting my balls more since this whole deal started!

-Keep it down. – Zarak said.

--Zarak was trying to get a word in, but they completely ignored him. With their egos on the line, it’s as if Howell and Styx forgot where they were standing, and what they were doing. Were these guys for real? Now is the time they decide to “settle the score”? Right now? As Zarak watched them in disbelief he heard a voice behind himself say: “Fuck this shit.”

--Ravi dotted right past Zarak, heedlessly. He was sprinting at the Orks, short sword in hand. He began screaming once he was a few footsteps away.

--50 metres. Styx got so scared he accidentally released his bow, but the arrow luckily missed Howell completely. Howell didn’t even notice this, as he instinctively turned towards Ravi.

--25 metres. All eyes were upon the boy. Even the Orks were staring at him now.

--10 metres. One of the bigger Orks lifted the animal skin covering the wagon and pulled out an axe from underneath it.

--5 metres. The Ork with the axe intercepts Ravi and decapitates him with a single blow to the neck.

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--Thank you for reading. I really don't like this new drawing... Will have to redo it later. Next update will hopefully be by Monday. If you liked my work, please rate, follow or favorite, to support my content. Cheers.