A tall human and his shorter she-orc companion gazed down at the chaos below. Smoke obscured much of the town from their vantage point on the cliffs. The town of Refuge burned and had been for several hours. Part of it was from a hole in the wall surrounded by ash and smoke. But some was from the defenders, who lit fires on top of the wall to heat water to boiling.

Rhunal, the orc locked her golden eyes on Bron’s grey-blue ones and ground the teeth in her angular jaw nervously. “Even from up here, the attackers seem very large. Are my people involved?”

“Hmm. They shouldn’t be. There has been peace for at least five years.” He stroked the black beard covering his square jaw thoughtfully. But we won’t be able to tell from up here. We must get closer. If we get there and it involves your people, then you will have to hang back.”

“You’re right.” She said. “We won’t be able to tell from up here. We can’t think about it, gotta just get in there.” She started down the slope at almost a sprint, her black hair flying behind her. Rhunal was always naturally coordinated, but weeks trapped in the forest had enhanced her athleticism even more. No matter the rubble, rock, or dip in the terrain, her sandaled feet didn’t miss a step.

“I can't keep up with that pace,” Bron protested. His legs were longer, but he wasn’t half as surefooted as she was. He fought for every bit of solid footing, slipping occasionally.

The she-orc’s blood was already up for the fight ahead, but she reluctantly slowed down to his pace. She made jogging down a steep rocky slope look as easy as a morning walk. “There's a battle going on, is that your fastest? But I suppose if I run off ahead, then you won’t even be able to swing that great chopper one-handed.” She glanced at the rounded stump where his left hand had once been.

Panting from the effort already, Bron growled in frustration. “The town is just below us, no need to sprint. See? We are below a lot of the smoke now. Looks like whoever is attacking is pelting the wall with boulders.”

“That’s great!” Rhun said. “Orcs have proper weapons. I don’t think we’d sit out there hurling rocks.”

“Great is not the word for it, but I see what you are getting at. I see plenty of arrows coming back at those rockhurlers. We still hold the walls.”

They were close enough to the town to make out its details. Their path was taking them to one of the back streets of the town. Seeing movement in that street, Rhunal’s vertical pupils narrowed, taking in what was happening.

“I see two people below! They’re fleeing from something taller than them and three times as wide. It’s no orc, that’s for sure. They’ve reached the end of the street and have nowhere to run.”

Behind her, Bron shook his head and pointed at her. “Don’t you do it. We need to go in together.”

Her pace had already accelerated as she glanced back apologetically. “I won’t go all-in. I just have to distract it for a while. Once you get to me, I’ll empower your sword.”

“You can not start a fight and empower my stone hand at the same time!” He shouted at her back. “You will be defenseless.”

The she-orc dismissed his objections by drawing her sword. Her speed increased to a sprint. The target below seemed to get bigger as she approached. It was taller than Bron, and curiously, had no head. Reaching the end of the mountain, she perched on the rocks just above the street below. The creature was carrying what looked to be a bar of solid iron, with one side ground down to form a profile like a narrow triangle. The creature was a few paces from its quarry, a brown-skinned woman and an even darker man. They both had swords, but the weapons looked like toys against the creature.

It turned as rocks from above fell down into the street. The creature had no head because its face was embedded in its torso. It had two large eyes and an inverted triangle-shaped mouth. A scruff of brown hair flowed from the conical top of its body between its shoulder blades. Rhun extended her left hand as a small globe of fire built up underneath her palm. She flicked her hand towards the creature, projecting the firebolt at the centre of its face. It made a lumbering step back as the firebolt exploded next to its eye. Despite the close contact of its eye with the explosion and the small crater in its eyelid, the eye seemed unharmed. It turned back towards the two humans, lumbering towards them once more.

Rhunal crouched to jump down into the back street and aid them. The creature turned itself enough that it was ready for her. It brought its heavy sword up into the air as she leapt towards it. As it chopped the weapon down, Rhun blasted a vortex of wind from her left hand, shifting her to the right and dodging the blow. Slashing across its body with her sword, she slowed her landing and rolled clear. The creature turned to face her despite the deep wound and didn’t bleed a single drop. The gruesome cut opened up its tough skin, but underneath it had no blood.

It howled at her and charged, a deep sound that rumbled in its abdomen. But above, Bron had finally caught up. Rhun baited the creature towards the ledge and ducked its powerful stab. The triangular blade smashed chips from the rock over her head. Rhun dashed clear of its second swing and ducked around the corner of the nearest building.

The headless creature lumbered after her, but from above Bron shouted. “Do not worry about her, monster. Worry about me.”

It heard his words and turned to face him. Bron held a bronze-colored two-handed falchion in front of him with one hand. Zipping out of the alley flew a stone sphere made of several pieces, with golden light where the parts met. As it approached Bron, its shape changed into that of a stone hand with a hollow wrist. Bron reached the stump of his arm towards it and it compressed around his flesh. He gritted his teeth from the pressure on his arm and flexed his new stone fingers. In the same moment, he felt Rhun’s mind near his own.

‘You took long enough Bron. This thing is tough. I slashed it deep and it wouldn’t bleed. I blasted it with fire and it acted like it had no pain.’ The orc’s thoughts projected into his mind, using the Stone Hand as a host.

“Young man!” yelled the dark-skinned man in the alley. “If you keep that blemmyae’s attention, my wife and I will come back with pikes. But don’t think you can actually stop its sword. The blemmyae would crack any human blade in one blow and the person behind it too. Play evasive, lead it away if you can.”

The creature turned towards the pair upon hearing these words. Bron leapt down at it before it could go after them, for Rhunal’s inert body was in that direction and around the corner. The blemmyae slashed its wide blade up at him.

Ignoring the other man’s warning, Bron tightened his grip and swung down at the enemy below. The Stone Hand didn’t just grant him the ability to use a greatsword again, it was as strong as he was in a much smaller form. His cleaver greatsword shone like bronze, but was composed of an alloy that hadn’t been seen in two hundred years. He had the power of momentum and Rhunal’s magic on his side. His strike blasted the blemmyae’s thicker sword out of the way and ripped through the creature’s collarbone.

The blow to its collar staggered the blemmyae backwards. The couple at the end of the back street audibly gasped. “A helluva blow! You keep that up and we’ll be back with the pikes,” said the man.