Alice waited for everyone to charge into the room and engage the enemy, giving herself as many moments as possible to rest before engaging the leader. There was a wooden chair at the left end of the squads' now-split barricade and Alice dragged it over to the center of the room where she could watch the action and get a moment's rest. She was sleepy and nauseous, she knew she was sick and needed rest, but as much as she wanted to just curl up onto the floor and sleep she needed to see this through. She had to earn the respect of these people.
Her heart rate and breathing were slow and she struggled to stay awake. The pain and weakness that came with frostbite venom exposure was there but there was more to this poison that that. There was some sort of sleeping potion or heavy stamina drain elixir too. Dabiene's healing and Soldin's potion weren't enough to stop this poison and Alice's mind was getting foggy. She had to move now.
Barnan had taken care of a Nord warrior but was under fire from a bosmer crossbowmen and that blasted orc and his fireballs. One by one they slammed into the ranger's scavenged shield, each making it hotter and hotter. Soon it would be too hot and Barnan would have to drop it or have his arm be burnt down to the bone. He could lose it at that point. Alice picked herself up and moved through the doorway as fast as she could. Marek was wounded in his side and looked ill from poison but had managed to take out both a Khajiit rogue and the bosmer crossbowmen. Soldin had killed an Argonian and cleaved his iron trident in two. He had also pulled Barnan free of his fireball assault while getting hit himself in the process. Dabiene was seeing to them both. Now was the time to strike.
With all the strength she could muster, Alice charged at the bandit lord and gave him a heavy slash across the diaphragm, where his chest and stomach plates met and his armor was soft. Alice roared in fury as she struck, channeling a flame spell through her sword to make it glow orange with heat and leave a brilliant train of ashes as it slashed across the orc's belly. Her sword made contact and cut through the orc's armor, producing a shallow, wide cut across his chest. Her strike ended with her arm stiff out at her side and her sword looking as if it were molten (OOC: For those of you who have played Mass Effect 3, think of FemShep's heavy melee attack and how her omni blade glows that pretty yellow in her outstretched arm at the end of the slash, and how she roars when you use the attack. That's what Alice just did.)
The orc grunted in pain and Alice became invigorated by her small victory. She struck again, deepening the cut, but the orc didn't go down. His eyes glowed red and his hand glowed red, as if they were enveloped in lava. He gave a roar that only a man consumed by bloodlust could make and punched Alice in her exposed left side. The punch felt like being hit by a red hot mace to Alice and she felt one of her ribs crack. Tears of pain rolled down her eyes and she cried as loud as she could while still keeping her teeth clenched. She fell to one knee with stars in her eyes.
"Really? This is it? A group led by a little girl, a fancy mage, a small little ranger and a stupid Nord. That mercenary wasn't very impressive either. That all you got little girl?" The orc taunted.
Alice couldn't answer and had nearly lost hope when she saw her salvation. There was a lightning rune right behind the orc! Dabiene, the most experienced mage of the group, must have casted it. All Alice had to do was push this lumbering palooka into it and this battle would be over. The orc was completely oblivious to this and had produced an iron mace ready to crack Alice's little egghead open. He swung down with full force in the same direction the other orc from outside had hit Alice earlier today, but this time she was ready. With a well time adrenaline rush, Alice ducked and the mace flew clean past her, leaving the orc off balance. Alice saw it swing by in slow motion. She concentrated on the orc's ugly green face, snarling and taunting her. Those yellow eyes, those ugly sharp teeth, that menacing green grin he had. It was time to remove it, permanently.
Using all the magicka she coud pool, Alice sent a two handed shock spell square into the orc's face, causing him to roar in pain and lose his balance. He stumbled backwards, right into the lightning rune. Blue electricity coursed through his body and his muscles seized up. His roars of pain and rage filled the room and it caused the four archers on the balcony where the orc's makeshift throne was to stop attacking. The simply stood by the side stairs leading up to it and watched.
(OOC: They're on a second level of the room. Where there's two sets of stairs that meet in the middle and lead up to a new platform in some forts. Right now there's a wall in front of us. you have to go to a corner the wall, make a 90 degree turn either way and walk up the steps. Then they meet in the middle of the wall and you're on a raised part of the room. Let me know if that doesn't make sense.)
The orc fell to one knee and panted, beaten and covered in patches of burnt dead skin.
"No more." He said to Alice. "I yield...*deep panting breath*...I yield. Let me live and the fort is yours. I surrender."
Alice grabbed him by the back of the neck and put the tip of her sword against his throat.
"We do not accept surrender." Alice said wearily. She then ran her sword through the bandit's throat, killing him instantly. His last words were reduced to a wet gurgle.
His body fell on it back and she put her foot against its chest, yanking her sword out and slicing the air to get the blood off. The archers dropped their weapons and came down the steps from the raised part of the room.
"Please..." One of them, an imperial with long brown hair, hide armor and now shirt said. "We surrender. Just...let us live and we'll turn ourselves in! Please! Don't kill us!."
Alice sheathed her sword and pulled out her steel dagger. She hobbled over to the man and pushed him against the wall. Despite being six inches taller than him, her, he offered no resistance.
"W-what are you doing? No! Stop!"
But it was too late. Alice had raised her dagger and slit the man's throat blood dripping down his collarbone from the fresh wound. The last thing the man saw was Alice's eyes. They weren't the warm, soft medium blue they usually were, but a cold solid sky blue. They were rings of ice that bored utter contempt into the man. She savored his last gasp, then wiped her dagger on his hide pants. The other three archers, another Bosmer, a Redguard and another Khajiit, were dumbfounded and terrified. Never had they seen such a small, frail girl be so ruthless.
Alice turned to the squad, which was just as dumbfounded. "Execute them." She ordered.
