Next scene: Together At Last / Enfin Ensemble (https://www.renderosity.com/gallery/items/3107802/together-at-last-enfin-ensemble) Precedent scene: The last One Standing / Le dernier debout (https://www.renderosity.com/gallery/items/3104645/the-last-one-standing-le-dernier-debout) First scene of the story-arc: Chaos and Death (https://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/chaos-and-death/2889324/?p&ca) Texte en français ci-dessous ____________________________________________ Marina regained slightly consciousness. Still lost in the mist of fainting, she did not really know where she was and could not have told if she had fainted only few seconds or several hours. But a sudden scream made her regain consciousness completely. " Romatzo !!!" she heard. She rose her head, that felt very heavy, just at the moment to see Ermkarn cut an arrow in flight and run in the direction from where it came from. " Damn !" she swore, understanding that not only the fight was not over, but that, seeing also Romatzo's state, it was not going well at all. She stood up, moaning, made few steps, then fell on her knees. " Damn !" she said again, while little lights were flying in front of her eyes. Standing up once again, she reached Romatzo who was also trying to stand. " Quick ! she said. We have to go help Minalva!" she did not have seen her, but she had no doubt on who had fired the arrow. Passing her arm under the one of her friend, she helped him to stand. By the ancestors, the dwarf was heavy. The dwarf finally on his feet, they ran, although tottering, in the direction which the giant orc had taken. While leaving, Marina saw Kahiri in the distance, holding her ribs with one hand, who circled around the tents. To the orc's pursuit, Romatzo and Marina did not see Ermkarn, but they saw Minalva, who had taken her bow back, who ran towards them. Pointing at a direction that she followed right away, the elf yelled: " Delphine !" Marina and Romatzo followed her. They were on her heels. It is with terror that they saw Ermkarn holding Delphine up from the ground by the throat. " Let her go, monster ! yelled Marina. Hearing the injunction, Ermkarn turned around. Doing it, he mechanically released a little the pressure on Delphine's throat. Even though it saved her from having the neck crushed, the pressure was still enormous and Delphine started to suffocate. Kahiri arrived just after Ermkarn had turned around. She was in his back, but did not dare to strike, because she saw he had noticed her. Time stood still, nobody daring to make the first move that would launch the assault. Assault that would be without a doubt the final one. But the attack came from someone unexpected. While nobody dared to move, the iron grip of Ermkarn continued to tightened Delphine's neck who was now very close to faint because of the lack of oxygen. It was her, when everyone thought she was in an impossible position to attack, who made the first move. With her last strength and the few consciousness she had left, she grabbed Ermkarn wrist with her two hands and gathered as much magical forces she could in them. Almost instantly, they heated so much that her gloves and sleeves burst into flame and burned seriously the orc's wrist. The extreme pain made Ermkarn released his grip around Delphine's neck, who fell on the ground almost unconscious. Even if taken by surprise, the moment was taken by all. Kahiri struck with a big slash of her falchion. Raising her arms caused her a great pain to her ribs. But her anger exceeded the pain and the heavy blade, handled with two hands, went through the chain mail and slashed deeply into Ermkarn's back, who screamed. At the same time, Minalva fired an arrow which perforated his right lung. Romatzo launched forward and with his axe cut one of the orc's legs, who, deprived of his leg, fell. Finally, the fall of the giant orc was caught by Marina's broken blade. The shard of the sword went through his skull, from the chin to the summit of his skull, killing finally the powerful orkresh. Marina pulled of her blade off Ermkarn's skull who finished to collapse on the ground. The battle was finally over. ____________________________________________ Marina reprit légèrement conscience. Encore perdue dans les brouillards de l'évanouissement, elle ne savait plus trop où elle était et n'aurait su dire si elle s'était évanouie juste quelques secondes ou plusieurs heures. Mais un cri soudain la fit complètement reprendre conscience. " Romatzo !!!" entendit-elle. Elle releva sa tête, qu'elle sentit très lourde, juste au moment pour voir Ermkarn couper une flèche au vol et partir en courant dans la direction d'où elle était venue. " Putain !" jura-t-elle, comprenant que non seulement le combat n'était pas fini, mais que, voyant aussi l'état de Romatzo, il était même en mauvaise passe. Elle se releva en gémissant, fit quelques pas et tomba à genoux. " Putain !" dit-elle de nouveau, alors que des petites boules lumineuses volaient devant ses yeux. Se relevant de nouveau elle atteignit Romatzo qui tentait de se mettre debout lui aussi. " Vite ! dit-elle. Il faut aller aider Minalva !" elle ne l'avait pas vue, mais elle n'avait aucun doute sur qui avait tiré la flêche. Passant son bras sous celui de son ami, elle l'aida à se relever. Par les ancêtres, que le nain était lourd. Le nain enfin sur pieds, ils partirent en courant, bien que chancelant, dans la direction qu'avait pris le géant orc. En partant, Marina aperçut Kahiri à quelques distances, se tenant les côtes d'une main, qui contournait les tentes. A la poursuite de l'orc, Romatzo et Marina ne virent pas Ermkarn, mais ils virent Minalva, qui avait ramassait son arc, qui courrait vers eux. Pointant dans une direction qu'elle suivit tout de suite après, l'elfe cria: " Delphine !" Marina et Romatzo la suivirent. Ils étaient juste derrière elle. C'est avec effroi qu'ils virent Ermkarn tenir Delphine soulevée de terre par la gorge. " Lâche là, sale monstre ! cria Marina. En entendant l'injonction, Ermkarn se retourna. Se faisant, il relâcha machinalement un peu la pression sur la gorge de Delphine. Bien que cela la sauva d'avoir le cou broyé, la pression était toujours énorme et Delphine commençait à suffoquer. Kahiri arriva juste après qu'Ermkarn se soit retourné. Elle était dans son dos, mais n'osait pas frapper, car elle avait vu que l'orc l'avait remarquée. Le temps s'arrêta, personne n'osant faire le premier mouvement qui déclencherait l'assaut. Assaut qui serait sans aucun doute le final. Mais l'attaque vint de quelqu'un d'inattendu. Pendant que personne n'osait bouger, la poigne de fer d'Ermkarn continuait à enserrer le cou de Delphine qui était maintenant à deux doigts de s'évanouir par manque d'oxygène. Ce fut elle, alors que tous la croyait dans une position impossible pour attaquer, qui fit le premier mouvement. Avec les dernières forces et le peu de conscience qui lui restait, elle agrippa le poignet d'Ermkarn des deux mains et rassembla autant de force magique qu'elle put dedans. Presque instantanément, celles-ci chauffèrent à telle point que les gants et les manches de Delphine prirent feu et brûlèrent gravement le poignet de l'orc. L'extrême douleur fit lâcher à Ermkarn sa prise sur le cou de Delphine qui tomba au sol presque inconsciente. Bien que pris par surprise, le moment fut saisi par tous. Kahiri donna un grand coup de son fauchon. Lever ses bras lui causa une énorme douleur aux côtes, mais sa colère l'outrepassa et la lourde lame utilisée à deux mains fit fi de la côte de maille et entailla profondément le dos d'Ermkarn, qui hurla. Au même moment, Minalva tira une flèche qui lui perfora le poumon droit. Romatzo se lança en avant et de sa hache vint trancher une des jambes de l'orc, qui, privé de sa jambe, chuta en avant. Enfin, la chute du géant fut réceptionnée par la lame brisée de Marina. Le tronçon de l'épée lui traversa la tête, du menton jusqu'au sommet du crâne, tuant enfin le puissant orkresh. Marina retira sa lame du crâne d'Ermkarn qui finit de s'effondrer au sol. La bataille était enfin finie. ____________________________________________ Finally the combat is over ! What a fight it has been for my heroes and what a challenge it has been for me to transcript all of this in images and texts. Originally I had planned only 3 pictures for this, but it took me 5. But the extra work was worth it, I think. ^^ For the lighting consistency, I have decided to use the precedent scene as a base. But since most of the characters in it were not needed anymore I have decided to delete them. It took me two days to do it ! The thing is, the more a scene is heavy, the more time it takes to delete things. Characters being the slowest to erase. If you do big scenes, here is a tip. You don't want to simply delete your character, its clothes, hair and other props all at once, but you want to do it one by one. It's more tedious, but it's way, way faster. So, delete one by one all the things applied on your character and only then you can delete your character. It will save you hours. Anyway, hope you like the picture and the text. If the battle is over, the story is not finished yet, so stay tuned for the next scene ! ;)