[center][b][color=ed1c24]Marius[/color][/b][/center]	Marius tightened his grip around his spear, focusing his attention on the swordsman who was standing in front of him.  While he had heard Jacob’s order, that he was in charge while Jacob was away, Marius thought it was not necessary for him to say anything.  Marius did not want to give the enemy the advantage, which would have be present if the horseman had redirected his attention away from the battle towards giving a response to Jacob.

	[b]"You lead and I'll follow." [/b] Marius turned to see the young spearwoman take Jacob’s position beside him.

	“Protect the flank and make sure no one gets past you.”  Marius felt weird saying that, since usually it was the cavalry’s job at protecting the flanks of an army, using the mobility of horsemen to press their advantage over footbound soldiers.

	Using the length advantage that the lance had over a regular sword, Marius tested the enemy swordsman, throwing thrusts here and there, keeping the warrior on the defensive and determining his stances.  Finally, once the swordsman had let his guard down and made a mistake, Marius made the final move, thrusting his spear into the warrior.

	“Who’s next?”
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[center][b][color=FAEBD7]Abra[/color][/b][/center]	Abra was already in shock.  Everything happened so quickly.  One moment she was being carried away for god knows what.  The next, two psychopaths happened to cross our path (although at the pace they were going, it did not look like an accident that we ran into one another).  And one of Abra’s ‘rescuers’ just mutilated the two men, lopping off the shoulder of one of the soldiers and throwing (yes, throwing) her sword directly into the chest of the other one.  A little overkill.

	“You killed them.”   Abra muttered, still shaken by the experience, seeing people act first, ask questions later.  Once her bounds were cut and Abra could feel the ground underneath her feet, Abra tried to get a hold of herself.  Even though her legs still felt weak from being in shock and her stomach turned from seeing the blood and gore, Abra attempted to keep it together.

	[b]"Hey Niya, how's she holding up?"[/b]  Abra heard the swordswoman, who had used her own sword as a projectile against one of her captors.

	“I’m doing fine.”  Even though she tried to sound confident, her trembling voice and the green tint of her face betrayed her.  While she really wanted to say it, should could bring herself to tell her ‘rescuers’ that they should have tried to save her using a strategy that did not have the possibility of herself becoming a fatality.  Maybe she could not speak up because one of them dispatched her captors so easily and without any hesitation.

	[b]"Hey, figured you could use some help, I'm Jacob by way, Champion of Naga."[/b]

	“Um…”  Abra really did not know what to say when she saw the so-called ‘Champion of Naga’, or at least anything that would not offend him.  “But you’re just a child.  What are you doing in a place like [i]this[/i]?”

	Then four horsemen, obviously not friendly, encircled them.  “How could this day get any worse?”  Abra thought to herself.  Maybe she should just push the so-called ‘Champion’ into the horsemen?  No, that would not do much.  They mounted soldiers already mentioned their interest in “collecting” the rest of them after they killed the young boy called Jacob.  Maybe that swordswoman, who seemed to be called Solanne (or at least her mounted companion called her that), would go all berserk and kill them like the scouts that had captured Abra.  All Abra knew was something had to happen.