The air hung thick with the stench of blood and burnt flesh. Deramis, his face streaked with grime and sweat, urged the remaining Threian Marksmen onward. Their lighter gear, a boon now, allowed them a relative speed that their infantry comrades, weighed down by armour, could not match.
The screams of the fallen echoed behind them, a chilling symphony of agony swallowed by the rustling leaves. He glanced back, seeing the last of his infantry, their heavy plate armour useless against the brutal efficiency of the orcish blades, collapsing under the relentless onslaught.
"Faster!" Deramis rasped, his voice hoarse from shouting. He risked another glance. The relentless pursuit was thinning, but not stopping. The orcs, a tide of muscles and snarling teeth, pressed relentlessly. Their guttural war cries were a constant, terrifying backdrop to their flight.