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[howandwhy99]

"ORCS!” cried out Darian and waved everyone forward as he charged and fired his crossbow. Flail in hand, Ben ran toward the right taking cover behind a tree while Dalin circled left using his bow. The remaining three allies shot arrows and slings bullets into the mass of orcs. Six of the orcs drew back from the tree and fired crossbows at the movement in the forest. The woman in the tree began to sing a mystical song with words they could not understand. Each felt a strange feeling and Ben for one knew he was even more compelled to free the woman and her companion. The lion, which Ben now believed to be an ally and friend of the tree-woman, leapt out off its branch and badly wounded one of the orcs. The remaining orcs surrounded it attacking with swords and spears. They were seemingly unaffected by the woman’s song.

The six orcs with crossbows continued to fire into the woods as five of our heroes used the trees for cover. Darius courageously ran straight forward and began hammering upon the orcs around the mountain lion. Dalin ran up and swung his longsword at one of the crossbowmen felling it as Ben ran to try and flank the other side of their line. The six orcs stabbed at the massive lion using their spears and killed it. Mirel successfully hit another with a sling stone.

The tree-woman sang even louder. The fire was beginning to really burn on the lower branches now. The orcs with crossbows dropped them and one attacked Dalin. Dram had been missing with his arrow shots but finally hit an orc which was now turning on Darius. All twelve of the orcs then swarmed the tree and began hacking at it with swords while Darius managed to hammer upon a few of them. Ben arrived on the rear side of the orc ring and flailed missing. The old willow tree began to creak and fell to the forest floor with a loud crash. The lady within screamed as her singing stopped. The group felt the strange feeling stop too.

Dalin started backpedaling pulling out his waterskin which was full of healing fruit juice. Dram shot two more orcs with his bow felling one. Darius continued to press the frontal attack but his fatigue was really beginning to show. Doubtless his field armor was affecting his endurance as did the hot early summer day. The six remaining orcs turned their attention to Darian with the tree now crashed to the ground. Dalin rested taking deep breaths of his own and drank some of the potion juice. Mirel and Dram continued with ranged attacks from the trees while Kayla kept lookout. Dram managed to hit again hoping to drive the creatures off Darius. Brother Ben ran to the lady in the tree and poured some of the healing juice from his own waterskin into her mouth. She had been dying, but not dead.

Mirel killed another orc with a stone and Kayla now ran forward with a dagger killing another. Dalin once again refreshed missed his own target while Darius tried to keep defending himself from the surrounding orcs. They continued to focus on killing the dwarf. Dram killed another with an arrow. One orc turned its back on Darius trying to retreat and the dwarf easily dispatched it. "That’s three kills for Darius!" thought Dalin, so he pressed forward his attack and killed another matching the dwarf in kills. Dalin smiled. Another orc attempted to run managing to slip by Brother Ben who was standing in the branches of the fallen tree. Brother Ben started after it as did Dram a second later stowing his bow and pulling out a sword. All three sped into the woods heading away from the river.

Dalin and Darius now squared away on the last remaining orc. Each landed a good blow and it went down. “Only half a kill each for both of us. That puts us at even" said Dalin. In his own thoughts he began to wonder, "Perhaps what I need is a suit of armor like our paladin. That will clearly give me the best odds." Darius walked over to the tree-woman now standing on her own. Kayla and Mirel joined with Dalin to listen. Both dwarf and the tree-woman bent over and light flared from their hands healing the tree. When Darius had healed Brother Ben in the tower Ben had been restored, but the tree continued to look dead. However, the tree-woman said they were successful in saving the tree. She introduced herself as Greenwillow of the forest. Darius told her his name as did Kayla, Mirel, and Dalin. As a reward for saving her Greenwillow gave Darius a handful of berries. She then looked over at the dead lion and bemoaned her loss. She asked if Darius was willing to join in her in guarding her tree. He declined looking ill at ease.