Markus saw Valerie's attempts to help. Perhaps she'd been too hurt to hear him. As odd as that would have sounded to a younger Markus, he knew it to be true. When he'd been stabbed in battle, it was as if the world had shut out all of the battle cries to be replaced with a dull roar of throbbing in his eardrums. Somehow though, he doubted that's what had happened just here. He didn't have time to be angry though, moving with the instinct and grace one received when training under an Elf. 

As the Orc staggered, the Swordmage spun, using the momentum to move his weary limbs just as much as his honed muscles. As he spun, he took out one of his throwing knives. By the Gods, he was glad he'd bought them! His spin ended with his throwing Knife punching into the Orc's chest cavity, being just long enough to find the brute's hate-filled heart. 

The Orc spasmed, blood dripping out of its maw as it slumped, life now escaping its body. More brutish roars could be heard from the doorway, but Markus's mind whirred. He pressed his body to the cracked statue, using his momentum once again, pushing with his full weight to have the statue crack and rumble, before falling atop the dead Orc to help create one last barrier between them and the Orcs now rushing in. 

He moved now through sheer will, unable to give up even if he wanted to, his mind set. He knelt down and grabbed Valerie under her arm. "You stubborn..." he breathed, pulling her along with him at a half crawl. He heard the Orcs bashing against the statue. One behind him even attempted to leap over it and tripping, though it made it to the other side and began to draw itself up. To make matters worse, the tomb was now closing once more, the incantation to open it spent and reverting back to its original state. 

He pushed himself to more speed, yanking Valerie now just as he yanked his own screaming muscles. Dust and dirt flew into the air as they dragged themselves along the ground, footsteps now filling Markus' ears from behind. The portal was halfway closed, and closing faster. 

Markus screamed in anger and frustration, and with a surge of adrenaline, yanked them both into the Tomb just as the runic two-ton rock closed, the cries of Orcs that had filled their ears were suddenly silenced. If they were in a position to care, it was an unnerving change. Markus and Valerie crashed to the stone, weariness and wounds taking hold of them. Little did either of them know, their adventure, and indeed their peril, had just begun. 
[hr] 

[center][h2]Chapter 2: Tombs of Wonder and The Accursed[/h2][/center] 

The Swordmage could not help it. Once they had entered the tomb, and the cries of the Orcs had been silenced, he had allowed himself to slump into the cold stone of the ground, gasping for air and aching as if he had been beaten mercilessly. He couldn't move. He did not even have the strength to close his eyes fully, and for a moment, he thought he was dead, for he could not see his hand in front of his face. 

[i]Get up[/i], he told himself as he lay unmoving. [i]Get up. Valerie needs you.[/i] His tired mind began to filter in images of her bleeding, the pain on her face and the sight of her on the ground below the screaming Orc. The words that escaped his mouth were filled with a rasping desperation. "Gods...dammit." 

Slowly, second by agonizing second, he placed both of his hands below him and pushed upwards. "Valerie?" he seethed with his spent lungs. He didn't have the magic strength to create a light on his own. He needed one. But where? "Torches," he told himself, fumbling in his pack and producing one. He would congratulate himself on that purchase later. He began to mutter a small incantation, placing his hand on the torch head. He doubted he could start even a regular fire, but torches were made to be lit. 

A few sparks sprung from his hand, and a small flame appeared on the torch. Soon it spread, bathing the corridor they were in with light. The stone was Seastone, oddly enough. Hewed and carved meticulously, in intricate patterns that belied most 'modern' lore or hieroglyphs. Markus didn't pay attention, now being able to see Valerie. Setting the torch down to burn beside them, he fell to kneel beside her and took off his jacket, seeing the blood pumping out of her wound with each beat of her heart. He ignored his own cuts for the moment.

"Hold on," he breathed, pouring water over the wound to clean it as best as he knew how before wrapping his jacket about her slender waist. It was a painful few seconds for the both of them, Markus not having the time to be too gentle, though it hurt his heart to think he was causing the young woman pain, even more than the pain his muscles felt for merely moving. "You're ok," he told her. He tied his jacket tight around her abdomen, pressing his hand to her wound and sliding a bit closer, letting her head rest on his leg. "You're ok. As long as we can stop the bleeding, you'll be fine. And I am making [i]damn[/i] sure the bleeding stops, do you hear me? Valerie?"
[@Luminosity]