Valerie didn't need much more than the initial tug from Markus on her arm to get moving again, as much as she wanted to rest. The threat of an imminent encounter with the orcs was enough to keep her adrenaline up, and let her keep expending energy. It seemed there would be no more running, however. They were faced with orcs on either side in the hallway. Valerie drew her sword, feeling a bit of panic well up within her.

It subsided a little when Markus seemed to still have a plan, and she ducked back away as he launched his fireball to put up a flaming barrier on one end of the hall. That would make things a little easier, but more were coming from the other side. She watched him run for the magic doorway, taking a moment to comprehend what he meant. He was going to open it, or something. Offer them an escape. That was good, but it meant that Valerie would need to withstand the orcs on her own. He said he only needed a minute, but she wasn't sure if she would last that long. She offered no argument, though. It would only delay him, and she needed to focus if she was going to survive.

The hallway was pretty narrow, which was a benefit to her. It would help her keep the orcs in front of her, stop them from attacking her flanks where she couldn't defend herself. The lighting wasn't great, but it would do, and the fire behind her actually helped. Valerie widened her stance a little, settling into a defensive guard. [i]You can do this,[/i] she thought to herself.

Two of them came at first, the lead one with a two-handed axe and the second with a sort of spiked metal club. They charged fast, and for a moment Valerie thought they meant to run her over. Her instinct told her to get out of the way, but she couldn't let one get behind her, so she stood her ground and lunged. The decision surprised the axe-wielding orc, who was caught in the midsection with a stab and forced back. The second couldn't quite slip around the first.

Valerie went on the offensive while she had the chance, making several slashes aimed for the orc's torso. Her swings weren't as fast as usual, the orc able to deflect her attacks away, eventually returning them with strikes of its own. She had to dodge backwards, the axe head whoosing past her face twice. She planted her back foot hard after the second strike and lunged forward and up, driving the point of her sword under the orc's chin and ending its life swiftly.

Withdrawing the blade, the body fell to the floor. It was immediately used as a sort of jumping pad by the second orc, who came down hard on her with an overhead blow with the club. Valerie got her guard up and blocked it to the side, but the impact was heavy enough to ring through her arms, the effort of staying on her feet sending a burning through her tired legs. She stumbled backwards towards the doorway into the room Markus was in, momentarily putting a hand out to the wall for support.

The orc sensed her weariness and pressed the attack. This one was quicker, giving her no time to counter. Valerie was forced to block heavy blow after heavy blow, with less efficiency than she preferred, each one sending her another step back. An uppercut knocked her guard high, and the orc stepped in to throw an underhanded punch to her midsection, the blow connecting fully. Valerie staggered backwards fully into the doorway, coughing and gasping, briefly falling to a knee before she forced herself to her feet. Any wind she had left was long gone after that, along with her ability to mount a decent attack. She tried to focus on her breathing and her guard, and just staying on her feet. [i]I can't take many hits like that...[/i]

She could hear more of them coming, but the one in front of her wasn't done yet. At full strength she would have been fast enough to outmaneuver, but Valerie was exhausted and breathless. More swift and hard strikes came at her, and she tried to hold her ground to keep the doorway, to make sure Markus's back was covered while he worked. Had it been a minute? It was impossible to tell. The orc caught her flat footed and waiting for a strike, rushing in instead with a shoulder bash to her chest. She was knocked off balance, and the next strike bashed her guard entirely to the side. The orc spun about and swung the club in a wide arc.

With a heavy and wet [i]thud[/i] the club struck Valerie in the side of her abdomen, the little spikes on the weapon digging in to her. She fell to the side with a moan of pain until she hit a statue of a noblewoman, the only thing that kept her on her feet. Her right hand immediately went to her side, where blood was escaping from the wound, running down onto the blue sash tied around her waist. The pain bloomed along her entire right side; her heart hammered in her chest, her legs threatened to give out.

Somehow she managed to stay on her feet and deflect the next strike, though she was forced further backwards into the room. The orc snarled at its wounded foe. Valerie forced herself to hold her blade with both hands, her right palm slick with blood. She blinked rapidly, fighting off the desire to collapse and trying to anticipate where the next attack would come from. She would have to; any more damage would almost certainly bring her down.