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Qwinn cursed. Now the other Torin were warned. Even now, they could hear others roaring, coming to see what the trouble was. As Qwinn's men dispatched the feeding Torin, Qwinn signaled to his captain to begin the distraction, though they were not in position yet.

His army roared, the sound resounding as they sprang from the trees and closed in on the cliff village. The Torin's roared, rearing up onto their hind legs, showing their intimidating height.

His men bravely brandished their weapons, preparing for the fight of their lives. His hopes went out to them.

The distraction seemed to have worked. The many Torin that came pouring from the village, rushed at the exposed army.

Quickly, the men with him continued to circle the trees until they were along the cliff and behind the Torin. He burned to join the fight, but not until he was sure Alison was safe. The sounds of gnashing and slicing resounded through the air. He signaled for his group of seven to move in. They chose a cave closest and Qwinn held his sword before him, ready to strike at any moment.

The cave tunnel was pitch dark. His eyes adjusted as well as they could as they made their way in. The air was rank, getting worse the deeper into the cave they traveled.

Half way in, he heard the loud breathing of a Torin, heading right for them. Qwinn signaled ahead, but his men were already moving into position. A quick soldier darted ahead, leaping onto the creature and driving his dagger through its armored skin, pushing with all his might until they heard the sickening crack of its skull. However, not even that deadly move stopped the beast.

More soldiers raced ahead, swords sliced through hot skin and finally the beast fell, gurgling its last breath.

Qwinn helped his men drag the heavy carcass to the side. There was nowhere to hide the beast in a narrow tunnel only large enough to fit two men side by side. Their plan rested on the element of surprise, if the Torin suspected that any soldiers had made it into the tunnels, they would surely be on high alert. The Vidarians rushed forward, the tunnel finally leading them to a large central cavern.

They were spotted by three Torin, who roared and charged. Seven against three were not bad odds, however, the Torin were vicious and hard to disbatch.

Immediately, Qwinn led his men to meet their enemy head on. He swung his sword, narrowly missing the beast and leaving it the opening it was going for. It slammed into him. Qwinn buckled to his knees, going under the leaping beast and lessening the damage.

Two of his soldiers came to his aide as the others faced the rest of the Torin.

A large soldier, with the broadest shoulders, rammed into the side of the beast, sending it flying onto its side. It was up on all fours in a moment, charging again. The lanky soldier that had so impressed Qwinn during training, zoomed forward, kneeling with his spear at an angle.

He had moved so fast that the Torin hadn't the time to slow before he impaled himself on the spear. It howled in pain as it grabbed for the spear and snapped it in half. Its piercing eyes took in the three Vidarian's before it charged again.

Qwinn leapt into the air, his sword ready for the kill. He landed on the Torins rough scaly back and slammed the sword through the scales and into its heart.

The beast stumbled from its charge and hit the ground hard, sliding to a stop with lifeless eyes. Without wasting a moment, Qwinn braced a foot against its back and pulled the sword from the beast.

As he turned to see how the other warriors were fairing, he noticed that one of his men was bleeding badly as he tried to staunch the flow with a ripped cloth. One of the other Torin received a swift slice that severed its head, while his other soldiers nearly had the third Torin warrior surrounded.

It gnashed its teeth and spit phlass through the air. His soldier narrowly dodged the deadly spit and Qwinn's adrenaline raced. The third Torin was huge, but not the biggest he'd seen.

Perhaps the Torin had chosen this one as their leader? There was no way to know. His men closed in around the beast, working as a unit, communicating without words. The men to the back of the beast advanced and attacked, taking out its legs and finally slicing its thick neck.

It was well known that a Torin's body was covered in scaly armor that made it almost impossible to penetrate without an immense amount of force. However, there were small spots where the scales grew thinner, creating a weak spot, a perfect place to strike. If a Vidarian could get a sword in this spot on the neck, he could slice the head off. That was the easiest way to kill a Torin, however, getting on its back and keeping enough leverage to slice was another story.

Before the body hit the ground, the group was moving again, quickly branching off into the numerous tunnels and wishing each other luck. Qwinn prayed this wouldn't be the last they would see of each other.

The King and one of his men crept down the tunnel. Moss grew on the walls, creating a soft glow. Qwinn could see well down the tunnel, but that also meant he could be seen. He hugged the wall, his eyes trained ahead. His partner followed suit.

A torin came running down the passage, charging right for them. Qwinn hunkered down, his dagger in one hand and sword in the other. His partner aimed high as Qwinn aimed low. They moved in sync with one another, attacking at the same moment.

Qwinn sliced into the beasts leg, rolling away before he was trampled. He sprung up, narrowly missing the slashing of its claw. His soldiers strike skimmed off its heavy armor, barely causing a dent. The torin turned awkwardly in the narrow tunnel, snapping its jaw as he tried to take a bite out of Qwinn.

The soldier dropped his sword and grabbed his bow and arrow of his back, taking aim in the dim light. He steadied his arrow; the beast went for Qwinn. In the blur, the twang of the bow got lost in the roar of the monster as the arrow burst through one of its six yellow eyes and into its brain.

Unfortunately, the creature died mid lunge and slammed into Qwinn, knocking him into the wall, hard.

The air burst from Qwinn's lungs, causing him to gasp and lose his strength under the monsters sudden weight. The soldier quickly freed him from under the beast and helped him up.

Qwinn struggled to breath and fought to keep standing. His world was spinning from loss of air. He was thankful for his soldiers assistance, but grew angry at the fact that he seemed weak.

He gulped in deep breaths, taking inventory of his wounds. His head hurt and his elbow ached, but nothing he couldn't handle. After a moment, he nodded to his soldier. They gathered their weapons and continued through the tunnel, not bothering to move the body of the beast.

Qwinn's heart raced with urgency. He needed to find Alison to make sure she was alright. He wanted to see with his own two eyes that she was alive and unharmed. At the same time, he felt a great need to join his men in the war and put these doges down once and for all.

They entered another cavern. From the looks of the bundles of leaves and grass on the ground, they had entered a sleeping chamber. It was deserted and unfortunately, there was only one exit, the way they'd come.

Without a moment to lose, they headed back out the tunnel, stepping over the corpse and hurrying into the main cavern. Everything seemed so still, then they heard a roar and a Vidarian curse.

They took a new tunnel, the one that the commotion was coming from. Halfway up the tunnel they were met with a big fight. Two Torin against two Vidarian, and one of which was wounded badly.

Immediately, Qwinn and the other man joined the brawl, attacking quickly before the Torin realized they were now out numbered.

Qwinn ignored his aching elbow as he slashed the dagger he was holding across one beasts snout. It reared back in surprise and howled in pain. The other Torin jumped at Qwinn, but was slammed in the stomach by Qwinn's short, stalky soldier and knocked off balance.

The king hurried out of range of its claws and teeth and grabbed a sword from the weapons strapped to his back. Newly armed, he jumped back into the fight, slashing his sword in a deadly fashion. For a moment, his weapon bounced off the hard armor of its skin. He concentrated through the sweat dripping over his face. He located a vulnerable spot and dived for it, driving his sword through the unguarded flesh between its shoulder and neck. He grunted with effort, driving his sword as deeply as it would go. The beast howled in agony then pulled back its head and spit
phlass
onto Qwinn's face.

Immediately, his hands left the hilt of his sword as he grabbed for the torturous slime. The spit had narrowly missed his eyes but was beginning to burn his cheek. The other soldier finished the Torin off and knelt by his King. "Sir!"

Qwinn grabbed the cloth beneath his leather armor and tore it, wiping desperately at his face. Though he got a lot of it off, he still felt a sting. His soldier untied a small pouch at his side and proceeded to dump water on Qwinn's cheek. The burn subsided and Qwinn thanked his soldier, quickly scouring the tunnel. The short soldier was kneeling next to his comrade that was injured and from the look of it, not doing well.

Qwinn quickly crawled over to the pair, hoping that it wasn't too late. The man had lost so much blood. His fears were confirmed when he placed a hand over the injured soldiers heart, trying to feel for a beat after ripping the armor aside. The skin was already beginning to cool.

His brows furrowed, "He's gone." He tried to call upon the image of the gash in the soldiers head so he could heal it, but no vision came to mind. He was dead.

The soldier kneeling beside them nodded solemnly while swipping a hand across his eyes. Qwinn stood, still very aware that they had not yet found Alison. "We will give him a proper burial when this is through."

His men nodded and cleared the sadness from their throats, focusing on the mission. They continued up the tunnel, weapons at the ready. He was sure all of his men hoped this would be over soon and that in the process they would not meet death.

They entered another room that was empty with a short tunnel leading back outside. From where they stood, they could see the battle below. Bodies lay everywhere. To Qwinn's relief, a majority of them were Torin bodies.

Qwinn was filled with a greater sense of urgency to join the fight below. It seemed as though his men felt the same. They ran down the tunnel and immediately entered a third. They came across a body of one of his soldiers, putting them on high alert. They slowed, not wanting to run into an ambush.

Ahead, they could see the light before they reached the end of the tunnel. The short stalky soldier put a hand on Qwinn's chest, shaking his head. It seemed that he intended to go first, as to protect his king. Qwinn licked his lips, gripping his sword tightly. He followed the soldier into the cavern beyond.

As soon as they cleared the mouth of the tunnel, the short soldier was attacked. A Torin warrior clammed into his side, knocking him across the room. Qwinn and his other soldier hurried in, weapons flying.

Qwinn grabbed his dagger and took aim, sending the blade flying through the musty cave air and into the beasts eye. It howled in pain, clawing desperately at its eye.

Qwinn looked around quickly, taking in the room and calculating the dangers. Against the corner of the room stood what looked like a cage. There were figures huddled inside. One popped her head up and Qwinn's heart flipped at the sight of Alison's red hair. She was alive!

At that moment, Qwinn was slammed backwards by a blur of black, hitting the stone wall hard and crumpling in pain. Desperately, his eyes searched for who had attacked him.

What he saw stopped his heart cold. The Torin
did
have a king; the very monster he had so surely dispatched weeks ago. As Qwinn processed the unbelievable sight, the Torin charged him again.

Thanks to his training, he reacted quickly by rolling out of the way and hoping to his feet. On his way up, he unsheathed the second sword from his back. To his surprise, the Torin King looked to be in good shape. Qwinn inwardly cursed himself; he'd known that the Vidarian were wasting time before going to war. However, he noticed the fresh scars on the King, mainly by his mouth. The beast was as ugly as ever and recognized Qwinn the moment he laid eyes on him, proving this by growling low in his throat.

At that moment, the King launched through the air, his jagged and deadly claws exposed. Qwinn dove to the right, narrowly missing being sliced in two. He rebounded, stabbing his sword through the air, making contact with the King's leg.

The Torin roared and danced out of the way. He bared his teeth, snarling. The Torin King was almost three of Qwinn in thickness and none of that size was made up from fat, it was all muscle. The commotion seemed to bring the women out of their trances.

"Qwinn! Look out!" Alison screamed as the Torin King rushed him, baring his weight low so that Qwinn could not simply roll out of the way this time. Qwinn reacted quickly, leaping into the air. He didn't clear enough height and immediately his legs were knocked out from under him. Helplessly, he flipped head over heels, landing on his back and was sorely at the mercy of the Torin.

Qwinn gasped desperately for air, pulling himself to his feet, despite the agonized burning of his lungs. He trained his dark eyes on the beast, also spotting Alison. She was gripping the bones that made the bars of her prison, biting her lip nervously, her eyes full of fear, for him.