"According to the rumors, those ruins should be just to the east of Brimbrom and up into the mountains. Do you mind if we keep any loot that happens to be there?" Holdreda said to me and Bastian. It was clear that she was interested in the ruins even before the whole incident had happened, why else would she be so eager to follow the orcs? She wore an Academy robe, so it could be no coincidence. Bastian was desperate for one thing only, so he quickly answered:

"As long as my daughter comes back safely, I don't care about anything else."

"It fine if I get weapons and orc ears for honor," I lied. Of course I wanted loot, but saying that from the start seemed like a good way to get betrayed by that greedy woman. The rogue didn't seem any more decent, so for the time being I would observe. What could be in those ruins? My first dungeoncrawl had already started!

"I know you're eager to bring her back, Bastian, but we should rest before it's too late. After all that fighting in the town I'm not sure I can keep up," said Avem.

"Now that you mention it, I'm nearly out of spells for today, resting would be wonderful," said the woman. Bastian gave them a look of rage, but immediately supressed it and answered:

"It'd be suicide to run into those orcs if you're all that tired, but understand that this is my daughter's life we're staking here. Please don't take any longer than necessary."

With that, we got off of the beaten path and sat down underneath a large tree. We must've been in a forest, although I couldn't be sure of the details in the darkness of the night. Truth be told, I wasn't very tired, since my potato sack trip had been mostly a contorted nap, but letting the others catch a break seemed like a better idea than rushing in blindly. I offered to take the first watch while the others slept, but Bastian was in such a state of nerves that he couldn't even close his eyes.

"How much time pass after battle?" I asked him, but he answered something completely unrelated, he must not have understood my question thanks to my poor vocabulary. After two more attempts at communication we finally understood each other, and he answered:

"If you arrived just at dusk then you missed the fight by less than an hour, but I can't say for sure."

"And how far be ruins?"

"Not far, I hope."

"You need not worry, monsters be travelling like us, take time to arrive at ruins. Your daughter is safe."

"I pray that you're right," he said in a depressed tone. Eventually he worried himself into sleep and I passed the time wondering when to end my watch, thinking about the spells that the wizard woman might know and the treasure that had these adventurers risking their necks like it was the normal thing to do. Most of all, I was curious about their strength, and analyzing the scarce information available was my main focus for the night. They had survived the battle and looked unscathed while many people had died, along with several orcs, so their power must've been considerable. On the other hand, it was hard to tell if the dead townsmen had been used as meat shields or as allies in the skirmish. In the end, my only conclusion was that I should avoid fighting these two adventurers, at least until I knew more about them.

When the stars in the sky had changed enough to make a visible difference, I ended my watch and woke up Avem. I didn't know much about astronomy, especially considering that this was a different world with its own rules, but it seemed like a good idea. The rogue wasn't happy about being disturbed, but didn't complain or try to ignore me. He must've been used to stressful situations of this kind. I, however, was not. Closing my eyes made me start thinking at random and noticing every little movement felt on my skin. What if a bug bit me? Getting destroyed by a fantasy spider sounded like a terrible way to fail in my adventure. I managed to catch some sleep, but didn't feel refreshed when it was time to wake up.

When the sun was just about to come out, we began marching again on the beaten path toward the mountain. The forest around us looked quiet and pretty, much different from what I was used to in my world. Along the way I paid attention to any animals that might have been roaming around, but only saw a few rabbits and birds. When we reached the foot of the mountain, Holdreda said:

"The ruins should be close, watch for ambushes."

From that moment onward we made a special effort to move silently and spot any potential ambushers before they spotted us; it proved to be a good approach when we saw two orcs laying down on some rocks further up. We were looking at the marked path to follow it, but climbed on rocks to stay a step ahead. As soon the orcs were in sight, Avem and Bastian readied their bows while Holdreda and I hid behind a large boulder.

"We can't let them alert the others, but there's no way to sneak past them here," Avem said.

"Then there's only one option," said Bastian, and immediately shot an arrow that pierced one orc straight through the skull. Avem quickly let loose his own arrow before the other orc had a chance to react, and as the enemy stood up to run away the arrow struck him in the back. The wounded orc still ran, and soon we lost sight of him. Bastian made to chase him, but Holdreda grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait. There might be more waiting to ambush us, we can't start rushing now."

"We're already here and they saw us, there's no time!" said Bastian before freeing himself from Holdreda's grip and running up the path.

"This is why you don't take desperation into a mission," said Avem.

"If he fight alone we all lose power, must go too," I said, and the other two agreed. We followed him running and stopped when we reached a plateau in the mountain. In it stood a wide structure that looked like a temple, surrounded by tall arches that seemed to make a bridge and columns which supported nothing, all covered in moss and vines. Huge trees pushed against the structures, making them stand inclined or bend at certain points, while their roots lifted the cobblestone from beneath and crumpled the ground. As soon as we arrived, arrows began whistling near us and we ran for cover. None of the archers appeared to be above ground level, clearly they weren't expecting to be attacked or lacked the skills to climb onto the taller structures.

The barrage of arrows was intense and we had to stay behind cover and take glimpses to eventually put together the picture. Eight archers, the main entrance to the temple was open and none of them were trying to get close or flank us.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Don't run off, we need a plan," said Avem to Bastian, and then Holdreda interjected:

"Orcs are sensitive to light, we have the advantage as long as we're out here."

"Then let's finish them off before they retreat!" said Bastian.

I had no bow, and just then it occurred to me that I should've looted the body of that first orc scout just in case. Even Holdreda pulled out a small crossbow. While they exchanged shots with the enemy, I stayed alert to repel any orcs that tried to flank us. None of them did; instead, they soon retreated into the temple and we were left alone.

"You kill any of them?" I asked, but nobody replied. The orcs must have taken cover just like we had.

"We have to go in," said Bastian.

"They'll be waiting for us," Holdreda said.

"We have no choice and no time to waste!" he replied.

"Wait. There might be another entrance," said Avem.

"Did you not hear me? We have no time!" said Bastian again.

"If you want to run right into those eight orcs and get cut to ribbons, be my guest. But your daughter would stand a better chance if we actually put thought into this mess," Avem replied.

"Entrance where?" I asked Avem. To be honest, I was getting used to speaking like a caveman by now, it made some things a bit easier. I could have used much better sentences, but why bother?

"This temple must have windows, with any luck they'll be covered in vines and we can climb in through. We'll get the jump on them."

"Good idea, we go," I said. We followed Avem as he searched for an entrance that would suit our needs until eventually we found it. A large broken window, about five meters above us, with thick vines creeping through. We climbed with little difficulty and reached a ledge from where we could see most of a large room filled with plants, rotten wooden furniture and crates blocking passage from the main entrance. The only light in the room came from the broken window, and a group of orcs waited for us with javelins in hand pointed at the entrance. Although we were above and behind them, the orcs heard us arrive and immediately turned around. The light entering from outside made them pause for a split second, enough for us to react and compose ourselves.

It was four of them against the four of us. We barely had enough space on the ledge to stand, staying there would have made us easy targets. I jumped down without thinking, rolled on the ground and sped toward the nearest orc with my spear. I stabbed him in the leg, removed the spear when he fell to his knees from the pain and stabbed him again, this time through the neck. At the same time I saw an arrow fly past me and get stuck in another orc's armor as he tried to attack me. The creature let out an out of breath groan as the shot pierced his chest under the armpit, and his javelin arm went limp. He still stood, but had to fall behind cover to avoid another shot that came toward him.

The two other orcs each threw a javelin, one toward me and the other at the window. The one aimed for me was easy to dodge, as the orc was shocked and unable to react in time to my close-quarters movement. However, the other javelin caught Avem in the shoulder and sent him tumbling down to the floor. The throw had pierced so cleanly that the entire javelin passed through his body and left a bloody hole marking the spot. He was lucky to be alive.

Bastian had been the last one to climb, so he only reacted when Avem had fallen halfway down. Bastian had run out of arrows in the skirmish outside, so he jumped down pulling his longsword out in midair. He sprinted forward to cut an arm off of the javelin thrower that was still adjusting his vision after his window shot. The orc screamed as his arm rolled away and Bastian stabbed him through the stomach with his longsword.

I saw my chance to strike again while the orc with the arrow stuck in his armpit was still struggling to pull it out, crouching behind a rotten pew covered in vines. As I made to attack, the other orc that remained lunged toward me with a sword in hand, and as I blocked, the wounded orc scurried away. For a moment I checked behind me to make sure that nobody had come for a flanking attack, and saw Avem drinking a potion. In a mere moment he was back on his feet.

Holdreda shot at the orc that was in front of me; her arrow pierced the creature's forearm, but it could still move and it slashed at me shouting something that sounded like a sentence spoken by a snorting pig. The sword caught me across the chest and I saw a spray of my own blood rise toward the ceiling. For that brief instant, I felt like I'd made a mistake. Was I going to die without having seen anything magical? And at the hands of an orc, one of the most basic monsters in fantasy! My body and my mind felt separated, only joined by the burning slash in my chest. The pain was deep, but I was too shocked to pay attention to it. I stumbled backward as the orc pressed his offense.

In that moment I had only one concern: this orc had to die. If I was about to get killed in battle, at least I'd enact my revenge before attending the big party in the sky. I thrust with my spear, but it was too slow and the orc parried it. Was I really that useless? Even in a new world full of new things, I wasn't even able to complete the first adventure. The orc swung at me again, but I was barely able to dodge it and fell to one knee as my legs gave out. I couldn't see what my allies were doing, I saw no other enemies, heard no sounds aside from my troubled breathing and smelled nothing more than the scent of my own blood and sweat. No surrender. If death wanted me, he'd have to come see me in person.

I swatted another attack to the side and countered with a thrust, but the orc defended himself again. Finally, an arrow came down and dug itself in the orc's neck, passing well across his chest and probably into his lungs. He coughed out a thick mass of blood and collapsed in front of me. At least my revenge was immediate. I fell down with my back against a wall and nearly fainted, but Avem held my face and gave me a potion. I felt a sudden warmth in my stomach and in a few seconds the gash in my chest had stopped bleeding and I got up as if it was a mere flesh wound. I thanked him, thinking about the importance of preparation for an adventurer.

"I can hear more coming, get ready!" Avem said, and I immediately grabbed two javelins from the ground. Bastian also got one that was leaning against a wall, while Avem and Holdreda prepared their weapons. We all took cover, preparing to ambush the incoming orcs with the same setup that they intended to use against us. As soon as one of the orcs appeared behind the crates and said something in its awfully coarse language, I threw a javelin that cracked his face through the cheekbone and came out through the back of his skull. After surviving certain death I was feeling like an even greater badass than before!

Another three orcs began to push the crates away, trying to use them as cover at the same time, giving us a good chance to harass them with our shots. Two of them were wounded by the time they entered the room, and we prepared for another battle with a greater sense of strategy. I threw my other javelin and impaled an orc through the chest, enjoying the thrill of my bloodlust as he fell onto the floor gasping for air.

Avem threw a small bag at one of the remaining orcs and upon contact it released a black substance that covered his entire body and hardened in an instant. The orc was glued in place and became an easy target for Holdreda, who launched an arrow from her crossbow and gouged out one of his eyes, although he survived. The other orc charged toward Avem and swung his blade with a battlecry. All of us let out a gasp as Avem's head was cleanly severed from his body and twirled in the air with a burst of blood. His corpse hadn't yet fallen to the ground when Bastian ran his blade through the orc's back and spilled his guts out. I went for the last orc, still caught by the hard black mass, and stabbed him through the chest with my spear.

When the battle was over, we surrounded Avem's corpse and looked at each other.

"Can we save Avem? Potion is powerful," I said, but Holdreda shook her head.

"The best we can do is avenge him and find a good place to bury him," said Bastian.

"Take his equipment, we might need it later," said Holdreda without a single hint of sorrow. Was she also a nerd from another world? That would explain why she had no qualms about looting the corpse of an ally. We looted the rest of the room and found some interesting things, among them a potion that protects the user and a scroll that debilitates the enemy, according to Holdreda's magical knowledge.

"We need to keep going, my daughter is still in here. We can find a place to bury Avem after it's over," said Bastian.