Irzen grinned from ear to ear when they made their pincer move before he whipped off his travelling cloak in a flourish and tossed it in the air towards the rider and his mount that were coming at his back.

"Ole!" The Swordsman cried out before he charged at the one heading towards him, leaped into the air and sliced through the underbelly of the mount before landing on his feet striking the classic Voltron pose.

The blinded mount and rider collided with the fallen mount sending both attackers crashing to the ground in a heap.

Alyson raised an eye brow, "Show off."

"Says the woman with the Flaming Hands of Fiery Doom!" Irzen quipped nonchalantly.

Madeous nodded with approval, "We should keep moving. These winged patrols can easily be dealt with but the entire hoard down there is not."

Lazheros had walked ahead to find a narrow trail that wound down and around, "Here. This path should take us where we need to go."

"Agreed!" Irzen took point but looked back to the others, "Stay alert, people, it's no longer a question of IF we are going to get attacked again but WHEN!"

The swordsman started to lead the others down the narrow path.

Alyson rolled her eyes at the Gamers: Dorkness Rising quote from the swordsman, which was a great movie for gamers.

A rare soft chuckle slipped from the platinum knight behind the bronze man. "Yes. A very funny and accurate description of Alyson."

"See, even your uncle agrees with me." Irzen smirked, "Elven ears are sharp ears!"

Lazheros pondered the reference a little as he followed behind Alyson through the narrow path. Some of the phrases from Earth still perplexed him at times. Some made no sense to him period but it seemed to work for these three adventurers.

The ravine pass was narrow leaving no room to walk side by side and treacherous from the loose stone and gravel that littered the ground under the party's feet. Sounds of another flying patrol echoed through the ravine from above.

Irzen still on point not only looked up but down and all around checking his corners in anticipation of another attack. His survival training as a child in Naermon Nithren was serving him well.

The narrow ravine made the wind sound louder than it actually was. It was deafening as the party neared the exit. The booming and swirling kicked up dust, dirt and knocked loose stones downwards forcing them to move faster.

Alyson spoke up in primordial and the winds calmed down enough for everyone to see. "We're being watched. Venger is aware of us now. The element of air here is NOT our ally."

Madeous and Lazheros remained on guard.

"Good! I'm ready for him." Irzen sneered, "I have no problem giving The Dark Lord a none too gentle reminder about how sharp my sword can be when I am pissed off!"

********

The party could hear the heavy armored footsteps of orcs marching up the path until the scream of a Nightmare landed in front of them. Upon which the orc captain snorted, "Master. The sky patrol has not returned. Sounds of steel and fighting echoed down into the valley from the plateau. The scouts only found tracks. All human except one."

"No doubt more of Dungeon Master's spies!" The Dark Lord quickly surmised, "But which ones?"

Alyson, Madeous, and Lazheros remained silent. They all knew who ruled this part of the Realm and rode a Nightmare.

Irzen remained silent as well but with an evil grin slipping across his face. With his blade in hand, the Swordsman was ready for action!

A whistling sound could be heard above the party and a handful of stout figures appeared. Above them a pair of lightly armored dwarves dropped a rope down to them.

Alyson jumped, "Hey...mmph!!"

Lazheros clamped his hand over the elementalist's mouth just seconds before Venger turned in their direction. He backed up against the narrow ravine pulling Alyson with him.

Madeous glanced up towards the dwarves who were motioning them to grab ahold and climb up.

Irzen quickly followed suit realizing that he did not need to be told twice that he had to leave.

Another whistling sound was heard, followed by a loud thunk and a yelp by two orcs.

The elementalist took ahold of the rope and was hoisted up quickly, followed by Lazheros with Madeous climbing up last.

***********

"WHAT?!?" Venger reined the nightmare to the right to avoid the light hammer hitting him.

"OY! YA BIG OLF! DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT BURYING ME IN THE GROUND WOULD BE THE DEATH OF ME?!" Came a snarky female dwarven reply on the other side of Venger and company.

The Dark Lord swung his Nightmare around to face this new challenger. As his right hand crackled with magical energy, Venger snarled, "Reveal yourself and face me, coward! Or hide in your hole like the craven coward you are!"

With the sound of a whirl and a whoosh, a pair of light hammers returned to the hands of the female dwarf stepping up onto a large rock. Medium length auburn hair draped down each shoulder in a braid. Hazel eyes with dusky skin clothed in dark green leather armor. The monster slayer tapped both hammers together and smirked, "Well, that depends, horn head on who's the real coward 'ere. You are blight in this world oppressing folks here trying to survive and your pork army comes in and says we work for you! Ha!"