Barney the Orc approached the Boars with a greedy smirk on his face, already licking his lips as he could practically taste how good they would be roasted on a spit. He removed a large two headed axe from his back, hefting it in his hands as he moved with caution.

The Boar facing towards him lifted its head, letting out a few aggressive snorts and stomping its hooves defensively as the group of guards approached them.

Like any beast, they saw it as something else coming along to take their food. Something that could never be allowed, and required them to fight for their right to feast.

The guards spread out, encircling the Boars and slowly but surely closing the circle. Once they got within 10 meters (88 Cheeseburgers) of the Boars, they realised that their threats were not enough.

The largest boar, which happened to be the leader of this little herd, let out a threatening squeal before charging forwards. It leapt over the corpse it had been feasting on, letting its stubby little legs carry it a few steps before it suddenly fell forwards.

However it didn’t stop. Instead it landed on its head and curled up, it’s body turning into an armoured tyre that rapidly spun as it raced straight towards Barney. It quickly picked up speed, its tusks becoming a pure white blur along the side of the ’tyre’ ready to gore him on contact.

The Orc smirked to himself, sinking himself into a defensive positon with his axe held in front of him, ready to catch the Boar mid charge. But just as it was about to hit him, a glint of steel caught his eye.

His face twisted with horror and he quickly swung his axe up, letting the arrow flying towards his face ping off of the flat of his blade. However he barely got a chance to sigh in relief before the boar slammed into him.

He couldn’t dodge it, otherwise it would tear through the cart that he was supposed to be defending like a buzz-saw. Such positioning hadn’t been a problem before, but now it was the thing that trapped him.

Barney met the whirling boar with his shoulder, his skin taking on a grey hue as he infused his colossal body with the element of stone. Yet even when the Boar stopped its advance, it still rolled and even picked up speed.

The Orc couldn’t help but grunt in pain as the plates ground against his skin like sandpaper and the tusks constantly sparked against the stone, until finally they found purchase. Stone tore apart and blood gushed from the gaping wounds that they carved in his forearms, before one of his comrades finally rushed over and slammed his mace into the Boars side sending it flying to the side.

Not even a second later another arrow came streaking out from the forest and erupted through his comrades eye-socket. The man he had worked with and fought alongside for years staggered slightly, his remaining eye open in confused horror while the other one dangled by a meaty thread, before he fell backwards, pushing the arrow through the rest of the way when he landed.

"It’s an ambush!" The Orc shouted at the top of his lungs, alerting not only the other guards but also their employers. The Merchants immediately yelped in fear and scrambled into their carts in a panic, activating the various expensive magical defences they had installed onto these carts.

The Guards on the other hand quickly turned, their eyes scanning the forest’s edge, looking for any sign of the attackers. There was only one issue with that.

SQUEEEE!

Two more Boars rolled up into balls and zoomed towards the undefended backs of the searching guards. One of them slamming directly into the guards back, forcing him to the ground where he was immediately crushed under the boars immense weight, while the other barely managed to dodge out of the way with only a slice on the back of his leg to show for it.

"Watch the Beasts you damn idiots! It’s a pincer attack!" Barney shouted, deflecting two more arrows with his axe before spinning, carrying the momentum of his swing around to the boar recovering from his comrades blow.

It wriggled out of the way, but not far enough that he still couldn’t take off one of its legs.

As it squealed in pain, the Orc leapt forwards, raising his axe high above his head like an executioner before a burst of pain erupted across his cheek. At the same time, the Boars head exploded as something smashed through its plate armour, rammed through its head and stuck itself into the ground.

Barney trembled slightly as the Boar slumped to the ground, dead. His eyes drifted downwards, towards the dagger that was sticking out of the ground, with hints of mana still lingering on its handle.

A trickle of blood dripped from the fresh cut given to him by that very same dagger. He whipped his head around, desperate to find the location of the bandit that had come so close to killing him, when he saw the one responsible.

Belladonna smirked devilishly at the giant purple Orc, lowering her hand that she had used for her magnetic slingshot. She blew the orc a kiss, then quickly followed it by flipping him the bird, before she dropped off the front of her cart and continued to fall straight into the shadow of the Dalmatian Zebra pulling said cart.

The Orc’s breath trembled as he stared at the empty space she had disappeared into, his eyes shaking slightly in their sockets as he could hardly come to terms with what he had witnessed. An arrow tearing through his shoulder brought him back to reality with a flash of pain, forcing him to turn and dodge out of the way of a few more projectiles.

But the shooting pain in his shoulder was nothing compared to the slight stinging pain of the small cut on his cheek, that was gently trickling blood.