His feeling of relief that she had played her part well was cut short when he too was hit by the Ogre. He'd have cursed himself for letting himself be distracted, but his mind was too preoccupied with needing to breathe. The backhand of the Ogre hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending the wheezing young man into a fierce roll. He skidded to a stop after a few paces, and tried to rise if his world would simply stop spinning. 

[i]No, get up damn it[/i]. He placed one hand on the ground, and looked back at the Ogre that had roared in pain not a moment ago. Was Valerie ok? It was only his concentration gained from his magical training that allowed him to focus enough and realize just what was happening moments later. "Get up..." he scolded himself. "[b]Get[/b]. [b]up[/b]." 

He growled at his own weakness, and despite his unsteady gait he got to his feet and charged. He could hear Valerie in pain, and he felt a cold fear in his chest. With a roar, he stabbed his bastard sword into the back of the other Ogre leg. It roared, sending the beast to his knees. It tried to turn, but found Markus' blade sinking deeply into its kidney. Using the blade embedded in the Ogre, Markus took out another throwing knife and stepped onto his sword, leaping up to grab at the Ogre's head. 

He stabbed it in the side of the neck, the beast letting Valerie go and feebly trying to stem the flow of blood pumping out of its cut jugular. The Ogre was losing energy and lifeblood fast, and as its world grew dark it began to topple. Unfortunately, it toppled backwards with Markus still on its back. He did his best to pull himself up above the Ogre's head, but the large monster hit the ground, its cannonball head and broad shoulders pinning Markus up to his chest. 

The Swordmage had hit the ground and blacked out for a few moments, the last noise he made was him crying out in pain at the pressure before his head hit the earth. He regained consciousness a few moments later, his skull throbbing, and tried feebly to yank himself out from under the monster. He was still quite dizzy though, and a bit weak.
[@Luminosity]