"Just be sure not to get blood or dirt on that shiny armor of yours." Amare added, Jasper simply snickered with one
heh which was soon thereafter followed by a prolonged silence. There, for a moment was a pause in the sea of chatter among the men of this army, too quiet. Beyond the horizon just ahead of them, was the cause of death for this livelihood of conversation among these ambitious young souls. It is one thing for a man to dream of seeing fame and fortune and another to stand tall among the turmoils of the world in person. Amare knew that feeling quite often, he could not say the same for some of the recruits who had never even been in a fight before. Even he himself was nervous, he could admit shamelessly.
As the crowd of orcs approached, there seemed to be even more than expected as instead of a crowd of 75, there could've easily been counted at an army of over one hundred! Probably a few more than what forces stood on the other side. Amare just realizing the odds, mustered the courage to summon his bastard sword from his scabbard, the echoing steel singing its usual tune as it was released from the scabbard and threw his shield behind him, he would not need it this time. Amare took a while to breathe deeply and took his stance to ready himself against the orc army which was soon to perhaps overwhelm them. This, still, could not calm him. He was no longer standing next to band of hundreds of men who were the results of a survival-of-the-fittest situation, but a freshly new gathered army without much experience. Even with someone such as Jehan and Jasper who seemed to know about the martial arts, men like them seemed to far and few among this army. Amare hoped they could prove him wrong.
"You need not worry lads" Jasper said seriously, it sounded almost solemn this time, for once Amare was surprised he was not joking this time.
"Breathe, and concentrate. That is how you win a fight. Keep faith in the Gods, country, and most importantly - yourself, victory'll follow." Amare listened attentively to the old man's words, absorbing them and for once, Amare could truly consider himself wise for listening to the advice of the trained veteran of war.
Watching the Orcs in the dead horizon of where they were standing, arrows flew overhead just as the Orcs entered firing range. A few wails followed thereafter along with the sight of fallen orcs, Amare could then hear a few of his fellow soldiers cry in joy as their numbers slightly dwindled.
The fewer the numbers, the better Amare thought to himself. There seemed to be a first wave of orcs that hit them first, three men reaching to where Amare and his fellow in-arms where standing. One yielded a two axes, the other, a great-sword, and the last a spear. Jehan and Henri dealt with the first and second orcs, leaving Amare and Jasper with the last to which Jasper seemed to back away from, leaving Amare to fight him. Amare turned back and gave the old an a doubtful look.
"If you are as good as you say, then by all means... Ladies first." Jasper gestured for Amare to proceed without him, it was his time to prove himself yet again to another old man that he was decent with a sword and what other greater opponent than a fellow swordsman who yielded a great sword in both of his hands. This orc was quite menacing, being nearly a half a head taller than his own sword which was at length six feet from what Amare could tell. Yes, this would show his valor and skillfulness alright. Like most orcs, this one was definitely no prettier than the rest, its dark-green skin complimenting its profoundly abhorrent appearance, its large frame complementing the even more menacing appearance in comparison with its kin.
With the first swing of its sword, the orc sung with a great and menacing ferocity of a bull and whistled a high pitched tone that blew a subtle wind which Amare could feel instantly. Amare saw it coming however, seeing that this giant was though strong, was also quite slow in comparison.
If you cannot be strong, be fast a trainer once told him in his early days while at the mercenary guild he was originally brought up in. Amare sought the opportunity to harken his wise words as he did with many others who taught him how to use a sword. He then approached slowly, keeping wise attentiveness of his footwork which was most certainly going to assist in his angles, assuming he could use it efficiently in this fight. The giant, pig-faced orc sung again at Amare, who in return parried and utilized the time to counter with the distance he had, striking downward, aiming towards the shoulder though he would find out, it was not flesh he would strike, but the iron of the orc's armor. The result was a loud clanging noise that echoed like the many echoes across the active battlefield, filling the field like raindrops striking the ground.
The orc laughed in a maniacal tone, swinging faster, more violently at Amare all to which he could parry though not counter three times. The orc swung so hard, Amare had to tightly grasp his sword in order for the vibrations not to shake away from his tight grasp. The orc not to give Amare the time to recover and launched himself forward, trying to overwhelm the young mercenary. From what he learned his fighting in general, those who were confident enough to try and overwhelm their opponent are often blind to the openings they have left themselves open to. With yet another parry, Amare countered, driving the orcs sword sideways and pointed the tip of his sword towards the opening portion of the orc's chest armor. Letting his sword sink into the orc, Amare quickly jerked it further into the opening. With one pull, Amare released his bloody bastard sword from the orc as the once menacing, green-skinned warrior collapsed to his knees, grabbing his chest and swung towards the opening that exposed the orc's neck. A fountain of blood spewed from the orc who then was no longer laughing, but making a gurgling sound as he drowned in his own blood as he finally landed face first to the dirt beneath him.
"Such a gentleman." Amare said rather calmly, hoping to see Jasper in utter dismay, though only instead seeing the old man rush from behind him. Amare did not want his eyes to follow the old man to see what he was doing and instead focused his attention back forward. He knew that nobody else stood in their way, and it would take a few more seconds before another orc wave could rush them. From Amare left side, he could see Jasper rushing to the aid of Jehan who had been taken down by a two axe-yielding orc who had somehow tackled him. The young mercenary moved forward once again, trusting that Jasper could successfully aid Jehan while Amare and Henry could focus on the spear-yielding orc, trying to keep him at bay while the two could deal with the orc who was armed with a spear.
Jasper rushed behind Jehan who was frantically trying to dig his dagger into whatever openings he could find in the orc's armor. Jasper took advantage of the time in which the orc was distracted by, holding the sharp blade of his bastard sword and struck the orc's helm with his pommel. It took three hard hits before the orc could slightly be disoriented which gave Jasper the moment to kick the orc on his side, slamming his exposed face with the pommel of his sword with a smashing uppercut once more while a trail of blood along with a sharp tooth spat out the orcs mouth as he fell to the dirt below him. He paused for a moment and looked at Jehan.
"He's all ours now lad." Jasper said, encouraging Jehan to take the opportunity to kill the orc who was just now disoriented and laying over on his back.
@KaiserFranz