Silence.
He let out a deep sigh of relief as the tension drained from his face and looked to his left; seeing nothing he turned to his right, spotting his friend's partially obscured back as he leaned against the wall.
Ah, he thought to himself.
The man turned and made his way towards his friend's back, extending his arm to grab his buddy's shoulder.
Standing flat against the wall, I had my axe drawn and dangling at my knee. The corpse of the man I killed before being held up by my left arm had grown heavy, but it was only for another moment.
As the warrior reached his arm out and grasped the dead man's shoulder I brought my left arm to bear the handle of the axe and shifted my right hand up towards the top of the shaft.
With a fluid movement I lifted my left heel off the ground as I twisted my right leg forward and swung the axe around the corner.
With my right hand sliding back down, momentum carried me around with the axe as I made contact into the chest of the man now standing before me.
His eyes widened in confusion as he tried to comprehend the situation, mouth agape and his outstretched hand grasping, grasping for something, grasping for anything.
I locked eyes with him as he fell to his knees.
His hand finally grasping the handle of the axe embedded deep into his chest.
He was already dead.
Pulling the axe-head out of the man's chest I drew my bow and made my way to the doorway, signaling for Selene to do the same.
Since the rats wanted to stay in their hole there was a change of venue, the shooting gallery was being relocated.
With Selene at the right side of the doorway and me at the left side, I extended my index, middle, and ring finger out to resemble a three-count.
I then closed my fist then extended my index, then the middle, and lastly the ring finger.
A second later the two of us had turned out into the doorway with bows drawn and quickly started firing off our arrows without discretion.
Anyone inside this lodge would be killed tonight.
The first two arrows found their mark in the center of the room, settling nicely into the chest of the largest man in the room. The second, third, and fourth set of arrows hit different marks but hit them all the same. By the fifth set of arrows the rats had scurried forth with shields up, deflecting the arrows without issue.
It didn't matter though as the damage had been done, two of the remaining five had fallen.
I dropped my bow and grabbed my axe that was leaning against the doorway, meeting the two vanguard's charge axe-first.
During the fracas Selene continued to pelt them with accuracy far greater than my own, landing arrow after arrow into the cracks of their defenses.
The man in front of me was cut down by my axe while the man to my right fell to the ground with a half dozen arrows in his side, now the only one left was the champion.
The champion was using a large sword and shield and towered over me at an impressive height of at least 6'6" and a minimum 265lbs. I was barely 6'1" with my thick-soled boots on and 205lbs on a good day.
I swung my axe with reckless abandon; he outsized me, outweighed me, and out leveled me. I would need any advantage I could get because the rock of a man in front of me was not something to be trifled with.
I broke into a furor as I continued swing after swing, knocking with a loud clash and clang on his shield and sword.
Selene had tried to fire but it was impossible with our constantly shifting movements.
My stamina was rapidly draining from the excessive swinging but I had no choice.
I stopped for a second to catch my breath and was knocked nearly five feet back by his shield. I tried to recover but a sword slashed towards my face and all I could do was stumble back, rolling into a wooden log used as a stool.
I was briefly stunned from the impact with the log and saw the lumbering giant make an agile leap and thrust towards me. I desperately rolled with my axe deflecting the sword but took a shield to the face that broke my nose and left my eyes watering.
Vision blurry, I took a step back and just waved my axe in front of me like a wounded animal in its death throes. Selene saw an opportunity and launched a flurry of three arrows at the giant but two landed harmlessly in his shield.
The third went into the man's tree trunk neck but he simply ignored it.
I was in a bad situation and I wasn't sure of what to do.
Three arrows hit him, two in the chest and one in the neck but he looked to be at around 83% health still. He had over eighty levels on me which meant his proficiencies were much higher even if we had equal Strength, Vitality, and Endurance stats.
I doubted that we were even equal though.
My vision cleared up just in time to see him use a [Downward Slash] that I parried with my axe only to get hit again by the shield on his left arm.
I hadn't taken any real damage but my stamina bar was nearly depleted which was just as fatal.
If I couldn't beat him physically in a one on one then I had to beat him mentally.
I had to beat him magically.
After his next attack came I jumped back as far as I could and hooked a burning log from the fire with my axe and flung it at the man.
He raised his shield to block the log but it exploded in embers with smoke and ash temporarily blinding him. I quickly started casting a [Lightning Bolt] without a chant and as he raised his sword he was struck in the underarm by an arrow, a soft spot with deep penetration.
He was staggered for but a moment, but it was all I wanted; it was all I needed.
The spell had finished and I quickly yelled out "Lightning Bolt!" as the charged energy left my hands and instantly hit the chest of the man four feet in front of me.
He took the hit yet still managed to move forward, only partially paralyzed due to his high resistance borne of willpower.
It was enough though, as he couldn't raise his shield.
Selene capitalized on this and landed two arrows into his neck and shoulder bringing him down to 44% remaining health. I jumped back once more and started casting another [Lightning Bolt] but he had wizened up and dropped his guard and charged with full force.
Forced to cancel the spell I suffered rebound as my proficiency was too low and my hands went numb. All I could do was roll behind a log post as the giant swung his sword deep into the wood with a thwock.
His sword was stuck.
His sword was stuck!
He was struggling to get his sword out and Selene landed another two arrows into his back. He was down to 33% remaining health and my hands had quickly recovered thanks to my 100% lightning affinity.
I grasped for a weapon near my body as my axe had been lost and without looking could tell it was a spear.
I immediately turned and thrust the spear at the champion but it was deflected by his shield as he grabbed a weapon off the floor as well. We both had spears but he had a shield.
But I also had an archer and magic.
I lunged at him, thrusting the spear as hard as I could towards the center of his body fully expecting him to block it but then I realized I had just run out of stamina.
My blow landed weakly as my body gave out on me and the warrior in front of me didn't even bother to deflect the blow.
He returned a thrust of his own which embedded itself deep into my upper chest, just missing my left shoulder and collarbone by an inch. I wanted to yell out in pain but there was no time, there was simply no time for distractions such as those.
The giant of a man then pressed his weight down and the spear went all the way through me, skewering me like a piece of meat.
I collapsed to my knees from the weight as I fumbled about, trying to clear my mind for even a split second to contemplate my next course of action.
The champion saw no reason to give me that opportunity.
Following the spear attack, the edge of his shield slammed down into my right collarbone, shattering it into pieces as I grunted and clenched my teeth in pain.