Valerie had the unpleasant fortune to watch the whole thing unfold. She'd taken two steps to chase after Markus when she noticed the massive movement ahead of him, and saw the ogre emerge, crushing the unlucky goblin in its hand. It nearly turned her stomach, and she took a few unconscious steps backwards, her eyes locked on it. A hundred thoughts ran through her head about what to do, how to fight it, but she expected she would need to jump just to [i]reach[/i] anything vital.

Markus suddenly grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him. His words didn't make any sense at first. Run... away? Leave him to deal with it by himself? Or rather, try to survive it. No, she wouldn't do that. Part of her stubbornly wanted to refuse, stay there and fight with him, but she had enough awareness even with the thumping footsteps of the ogre to understand the tactic behind the plan. She would have a better chance if the ogre didn't see the flank attack coming.

Still she began to wordlessly protest, but the shove away turned out to be what she needed. Valerie glanced up at the ogre, and then sheathed her sword and ran directly away, back into the thick woods. She didn't go far, only enough to break line of sight, though she imagined the ogre's gaze would be locked on Markus now, given the unpleasant scream and booms of its movement that she could hear.

She made her way around as quickly as she could. Too quickly, it turned out; she wasn't watching her footing well enough, and ended up tripping over a low root, falling forward into the muddy earth. Cursing quietly, she pushed back to her feet and carried on at a more deliberate pace. She tried to get a glimpse of how the fight was going, but couldn't see much. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Only a few moments longer and she would be behind the hideous creature. She hoped she could do what she needed to when she was, for both their sakes.