Mila the Orc sat in the bushes on the outskirts of the now abandoned centaur camp. After her rescue by the Minotaur Balthazar, the two had drawn up a plan to deal with the returning band of Centaur slavers. With the hulking form of the Minotaur out of sight, however, the Orc was beginning to have doubts about their ability to tackle 50 Centaurs. Still, she thought to herself, the Minotaur had saved her from imprisonment β she owed him.
As she went over the plan once more she heard the rumble of the herd approaching from the west. She took the moment of their approach to prepare her equipment. As she had to scavenge it from the Centaur camp it was quite meagre; a tight fitting but good quality studded leather jerkin, a small round steel shield and helm, a heavy bladed machete-like gladius, a few daggers and a light crossbow. Her clothes too were scavenged from the quadrupeds' encampment, resulting in an absence of both footwear and trousers. Nevertheless, she was an Orc. She was tough. She would make-do. The returning Centaurs were now entering the camp and Mila noticed they led a group of captive Minotaur heifers. The Centaurs guarding the heifers prodded them towards the caged wagon that once housed the lurking Orc β it would have been a tight fit in there had the five buxom, muscled, 8 foot tall Minotaurs been forced into the cage along with Mila, however it was at this stage that the guards noticed the Orc was gone and all that remained was the body of the young stallion that had been guarding her.
Immediately the alarm went up and soon Garsh of the Running Grass, leader of this herd, was raging about the camp, gathering warriors to him. That was Mila's signal. Slowly she raised herself from the scrub in which she had hidden. Then, attempting to make just enough noise, she turned on her heel and began to jog away from the camp. The Centaurs noticed her exit with alacrity and all too soon she heard Garsh scream "There's the bitch! Get her!"
Six Centaurs quickly broke from the rest and began to give chase. The Orc lengthened her stride, the tough soles of her feet pounding over the grasslands. She was fast, with great conditioning, but she was being pursued by Centaurs β experts in a chase. Thankfully she could see the slight rise that was her destination ahead of her. She fervently hoped the Minotaur Balthazar had come up with a plan that worked β the hill was another ten minutes away and the Centaurs were gaining. She was going to be cutting it fine.
On the other side of the small slope was a rough gully, carved by a now dry creek. Within crouched the bulk of the Minotaur Balthazar and in his hand he clutched a massive greataxe. His sharp ears picked up the sound of the approaching chase quite easily. With his green skinned ally nearing their planned ambush site, Balthazar nestled back into the gully embankment and waited. A few minutes later the toned form of the Orc Mila hurtled over the lip of the creek bed, tucked herself into a roll and sprang up the other side of the bank. With nary a backwards glance to give away her waiting comrade, the Orc quickly ascended the opposite embankment before dropping to one knee and levelling her crossbow at the charging Centaurs. Her quarrel struck true, deep in the chest of one of the onrushing group. Discarding the empty weapon, she unslung her shield and readied her blade.
With a shout, the remaining Centaurs launched themselves over the crest of the dry creek bed. Faster than Mila's eyes could really register, Balthazar's axe described a sweeping arc through the air, cleaving the hind legs out from under one of the leaping beasts. Surprised by the unexpected assault, the Centaurs staggered on their climb of the opposing embankment. Seizing her opportunity, the Orc leaped forward, stabbing downwards with her short sword into the shoulder of a stumbling pursuant. Balthazar, by that point, had wound up for another inexorable swing of his axe and promptly unseated one of the Centaurs' torsos from his equine aspect. The remaining two slavers balked and turned clumsily to face their ambushers, but were cut down in very short order. A scant minute later and the Orc and Minotaur were grinning at each other from across a gully now splattered with gore.
"Time for the second act..." growled the Minotaur, viciously.
Severed Centaur head in one hand, drawn blade in the other and covered in gore, the Orc Mila was a vision of furious vengeance as she stalked boldly to the edge of the camp. The four legged slavers quickly noticed her entrance, bold as it was, but it was when she threw the head of her erstwhile captors in a high arc towards the herd leader Garsh that all eyes in the camp fixed on her.
"Garsh!" she challenged, "Face me, or will you hide behind more of your peons?!"
"I shall relish fucking your broken body once I beat the arrogance out of you, slave," spat the herd commander as he seized a spear from a guard beside him and began toward the defiant form of the blood spattered Orc.
Working into a canter and then a gallop, Garsh was streaking across the intervening distance in very short order. Mila was ready, however. A smooth dagger cast overhand caught the Centaur leader in the chest of his horse-body. Before the dagger hit, the Orc was moving, cutting to the left and drawing her short sword. The staggered Centaur thundered to a sharp turn, hurling his heavy spear at the Orc as he banked around her. Mila felt her left wrist break with a shudder through to her toes. The point of the spear had been turned by her hastily raised shield, but the impact had not. Garsh was not ten feet from her now, drawing his own sword, and pain matters little to an Orc in battle β with a haste borne of instinct, she charged towards the profile of the Centaur, driving her shoulder into his side even as he drew his sword and brought it downwards in one fell swoop.
Despite the absence of the Orc, twelve Minotaur heifers will tend to fill any space they occupy; as it was, only four were in the barred wagon while the rest were chained behind it. Tall, proud herd-members, the heifers bore the haunch tattoo of the Caldus clan. Although farmers, they were still Minotaurs, and were well muscled and in good shape, taking pride in their physique. Their physical prowess and their eight foot height made the centaurs understandably cautious of their prisoners. Despite this, the duel between their leader and the runaway Orc was drawing much of the troop's attention. So it was that the Centaur guards did not notice the women discover a small cache of weapons and a key under the hay of the caged wagon.
Twisting sideways and leaning backwards into the flank of her foe, Mila parried upwards as Garsh's sword came downward. The impact was jarring, but Mila turned again, stabbing her short blade into the Centaur's exposed flank. Using the offered leverage of the buried sword's hilt she hauls herself onto the hapless troop leader's back. Garsh was getting more frantic with each pint of blood that gushed from his side. Roaring as he felt the Orc sling herself onto his back, he turned and connected an elbow with the impudent creature's jaw. With dismay he saw the Orc shrug off the pain, dropping her shield to grab his left arm with hers to press herself up to his back. With the Orc riding right up against his back, Garsh felt helpless as the Orc drew another dagger from her right boot. He felt nothing as she slit his throat with it.