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Okay, I finally have the next chapter. Compared to the others, it's fairly short. This chapter is a battle scene, but it isn't described very vivdly. So those of you who have weak stomachs can enjoy it too.  😉

There is a bit of cussing, though. Other than that, enjoy!  😀

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Chapter 5

“‘Fun’ he said! When this is over, I’m going to kill him! Then I’m going to get a cleric, revive him, and kill him again!” cried Chaud, though, in the heart of the battle, it just sounded like another battle cry. To every side of him, orcs were charging, trying to hack apart that tantalizing target with the red hair. Even though he was used to the attack methods of an assassin (strike and then get the hell out of Dodge), he was certainly more than a match for the slew of mutant pigs that were charging at him. As he lost himself in the battle for survival, he noticed just how much like pigs these beasts resembled.

The orcs were disgusting, ugly things that resembled a gross cross between an ape and a wild boar. Their bodies were humanoid in form, but the resemblance to humans stopped there. Their legs were thickly muscled stalks, each easily as wide as an average human. Perched on top of these pillars of power were hulking torsos, each about as wide as a man is tall. Sprouting from the sides of the chest, arms stuck out like some kind of hideous branch. The arms were roped with heavy muscle and each ended with hands with unusually long fingers. Those fingers were tipped with razor sharp claws. They didn’t use the claws that often, though. They had swords for that kind of work. Again, just like the arms, the twisted features of the torso extended up into the impossibly thick neck and up to the head. The head resembled that of a pig’s in almost every way except for the sheer size of it. They had the snouts, tusks, and ears of boars. Their bodies were covered with coarse bristles, just like pigs, and members of both sexes fought in the battle. Those that were male were disgustingly so, and the females could only be told apart from the males due to their lack of the necessary parts of the male anatomy. Their twisted bodies stood at a massive nine feet in height and, since their bodies were so large, had two hearts. Obviously, they were difficult to kill.

Despite, this though, Chaud took down more than his fair share of orcs with only minor injuries, if any for his troubles. Through the fight, he used an indirect approached to the killing of these creatures. For all that they resembled, beasts, their bodies still functioned as a human’s does. He swept through the ranks of the orcs with a terrifying grace, hamstringing some, gutting others. He even managed to sever the spines of some. But for every one that he took down, another took its place with uncanny speed.

Prauge was having a bit more luck than Chaud. Unlike Chaud, Prauge was shorter and in heavier armor. He wasn’t taking much damage at all, but he also couldn’t reach any of the vital spots except for the hamstrings on the rare occasion that they were low enough for that. He didn’t have a bladed weapon though, so that really didn’t do him much good. The most that he could do with his war hammer was give them one hell of a bruise. On the other hand, their feet and knees were well within his range, and smashing any one of those targets nicely dropped the orcs’ heads into striking range. No orc skull, no matter how thick, can withstand the awesome power of a Dwarf-forged hammer driven by dwarven strength.

And then, in contrast with the brash, straight-forward, and gory tactics of the dwarf, Jinn was moving through the battle as if in a dance. He moved through the orcs as if they were standing still, using his staff as both a weapon and a focus for his dazzling spells. Every strike that he made was either accompanied by a flash of lightning or an explosion from a fire ball. Every strike took the life of at least one orc. Finally, his repertoire of spells exhausted, he went straight to melee fighting. As he moved gracefully from one form to the next in his fighting style, orcs fell by the wayside.

Even this graceful, almost artistic, form of fighting could not compare to the sheer power and beauty of the gargantuan woman that towered over the other members of her party. Mayim tore through the orcs as if they were made of tissue paper, swinging her massive mace as if it weighed no more than a feather. Each swing took orc after orc down. Those that got knocked down did not get up for a long time, if at all, as was most often the case. While not even close to the same height as the orcs, she still moved through them with ease, never stopping when she ran into them.

With each movement, her large, taut muscles flexed smoothly with the grace of a hunting cat. Each strike blasted the life from another orc, every step took her closer to those that would harm her friends. Then the monsters cleared away from her companions. The sudden shift caught everyone off guard, but only the loudmouthed Chaud let out a yelp of surprise. The orcs, somehow, were now completely surrounding the four warriors.

Slightly at first, but then with more and more force, the ground began to tremble. Suddenly, the ground in the middle of the clearing was blasted up towards the sky, raining chunks of dirt and debris over the companions. When the dust settled, an orc unlike any that the companions had seen so far was visible. The orc was at least a foot taller than the tallest monster that had assaulted them thus far, making it a towering ten feet tall. Its body was also much wider than those that surrounded them. Despite the size though, there were two more profound differences between the common orcs that they had been fighting and this one. The first was the fact that the beast not only wore practical armor, but that it was wielding a sword of superior quality, not to mention size. The blade itself was as tall as Mayim now stood, and the hilt was half again that length. The other difference was the lack of the usually mindless glaze that perpetually hung over the eyes of the typical orc. This one, while as hideous as the others, if not more, actually appeared to have some degree of intelligence. This was, without a doubt, the commander of this unit.

Aside from the armor, the orc’s only additional piece of clothing was a necklace that had been enchanted. It was still glowing with the recent release of one of its charges, obviously the cause of the crater and tunnel behind the orc captain. Giving an involuntary shudder that shook the remaining dirt off of himself, he spoke to the companions in a clear, though guttural version of their language. “By order of General Torreo Facis, you to be attacked on sight. He also command that we give you chance to surrender. You then be taken back to base for trial and punishment. If you come now without fight, you may walk away from trial alive. If you choose to fight, you die.”

The orc captain seemed confident that, despite the losses that his troop had suffered, the sheer numbers left would net him an easy victory. He figured that these puny humans would not pose a threat and that he would be done with them by the day’s end. He figured wrong.

Prauge was the first to act, charging with a roar of primal fury at the gigantic orc. The orc captain smiled at the foolhardy charge and sidestepped the dwarf’s charge. The dwarf tried to stop, but he couldn’t stop his momentum. He fell into the orc’s outstretched arms. With very little effort, the orc lifted Prauge up and heaved him into the ring of his surrounding subordinates. The impact killed at least one orc and injured several more. The orcs shoved him, unconscious, back into the ring.

The orc captain was laughing in his guttural voice when he felt a painful sting in the small of his back. He looked over his shoulder to see Chaud with his swords on either side of his spine. Grimacing with the pain, he reached backwards and lifted Chaud up with one hand. Chaud’s purple eyes were filled with a mixture of pain and fear. That didn’t stop him from opening his big mouth, though. “Umm… sorry?” The orc lifted its other hand and raised it above the thief’s head. Chaud looked up at the raised fist and visibly paled. “Oh, shit.” Then Chaud felt an explosion on the top of his skull and knew no more. The orc dropped the limp form of the thief over the edge of the crater that he had made.

Reaching around again, the behemoth grabbed the two swords embedded in his heavily muscled back and unceremoniously ripped them free. The two short swords looked like toothpicks in his hands. He examined the workmanship of the rather plain blades. Figuring that they weren’t worth keeping, he tossed them into the crater after their owner. They landed, blade down, in the over turned dirt, one to each side of Chaud’s unconscious body.

Mayim and Jinn exchanged shocked looks. This orc had easily taken down half of the party, only taking damage from Chaud’s sneak attack. At least fourteen orcs lay dead from their fighting alone, and neither Chaud nor Prauge had taken any lasting damage from those encounters! Mayim and Jinn reached the same conclusion at the same time: if they must die in battle, then they might as well take this bastard with them. Nodding at each other briefly, they turned towards the towering figure in front of them and charged.

The orc laughed again, preparing himself for the combined assault. With a sudden burst of speed, Mayim launched herself ahead of Jinn and locked hands with the giant in a horrid caricature of a game of mercy. The behemoth held an advantage of a little more than three feet over Mayim, but she was stronger. As they tried to overpower each other, Jinn came in from behind Mayim. As he charged, he let his mind wander enough to admire the strain that Mayim was putting on her muscles, forcing them to inflate with the increased blood flow that accompanied hard work and adrenaline rushes.

Forcing his mind away from such pleasurable thoughts, he focused on the battle ahead of him. Charging up behind Mayim, he dove down to the ground and slid between her marvelously muscled legs to force the orc off balance. The plan worked flawlessly and Jinn, kicking out with one of his legs, slammed into one of the orc’s legs, forcing it to go down onto one knee. That would be a problem if one was the same height or smaller than their opponent, but when you are taller, it is a catastrophe. The orc captain was already bending over slightly to match the smaller warrior’s grip. With him down on one knee, his balance was, to put it bluntly, royally fucked. The loss of the leverage removed his counter to her strength, allowing her to keep him off balance.

Mayim took this opportunity to kick out the orc’s other leg. Then, using her incredible strength, she began to swing the gargantuan beast in circles around her. Then, using the centrifugal force that accompanied those movements, she released the orc to fly into the surrounding circle. The orc captain blasted through his troop’s ranks, killing any that made contact with his flying form. The throw blew a clear hole in the surrounding circle. At this point, Prauge had gotten back to his feet, if a little shakily. He had moved towards the crater to where Chaud continued to lay motionless and now stood ready to defend his companion at all costs.

It wasn’t necessary, though. As soon it became clear that their leader had lost the fight, the other orcs had broken ranks and were fleeing as far and fast as they could. Jinn walked over to the still form of the orc captain and, after a few mumbled words, set the beast’s body aflame. If he was not dead, and only unconscious, he most surely was now.

Mayim and Jinn walked back to where Prauge was standing. After a few moments to make sure that Prauge wasn’t seriously hurt, Mayim went down into the crater and carried up a half-conscious Chaud. As she carried him past Jinn, he muttered to the wizard, “Fun, huh? I’m not sure I want to know what dangerous is. And you didn’t get a scratch. You’re a bastard. You know that, right?” Chaud’s answer came in the form of Mayim “tripping” over a loose stone in the ground, giving the battered thief a nasty jolt. Chaud groaned in defeat.

Jinn chuckled as Chaud’s antics as he tended to Prauge’s minor injuries. Using his skills with alteration magic, he sped up the healing process for the surly dwarf’s many bruises. “Well,” he said gaily, “I’d say that for a first battle, that didn’t go so bad. The only real problem was when Chaud attacked the captain. All things considered, even that turned out pretty good. So, how’d you fare during the main part of the melee?”

Prauge groaned as he thought back to the fighting. “I s’ppose tha’ I got abou’ eight o’ ‘em. Chaud must’ve gott’n five o’ ‘em, six a’ most. I’d guess tha’ you go’ seven o’ th’ basta’ds. Mayim, though, she was brilliant! A’ leas’ ten o’ ‘em”

“More like eleven. I’d still call that a pretty damn good turnout wouldn’t you?”

“O’ aye. Doesn’ make it hurt any less, though.”

“Indeed. Well, I’d say that you’re good to go. Speaking of which, I hope that Mayim is done tending to Chaud. We need to get out of here, and soon.”

“Why’s tha’? We scared ‘em off! What’s t’ flee from?”

“Weren’t you listening? Torreo sent them. That means that we’ll have more if we linger. Let’s get up to the camp and get the hell out of here.”

Together, the wizard and the dwarf marched from the battle field to their camp.

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I agree with what The_Pimp_Neonblack says. From what I can see, America, as a society, is more up-tight about visual appearances than any other country in the world. There are some differences among cultures, but I find that it is more pronounced in American society since the "socially acceptable look" is something that you realize as you get older and try to conform to. In other cultures, you're raised into it. They also aren't nearly as destructive as some of the things that women in American culture do to lose weight (binge/purge, enforced starvation, etc.).

Anyway, getting back to the subject at hand, Japanese society has more loose restrictions on what a woman should look like, again as far as I can see. I remember seeing a show (I think on the National Geographic channel) called Taboo. On one of the segments for the episode, they go into female wrestling. It's nothing like the WWF Divas that we have in the US. This is brutal, undeniably real, and looked upon with a general positive light.

I think that the more amazing thing is not that the anime has a muscular woman in a positive light, but that it was aired on a major network, in the US, and was not censored to show otherwise.

In my opinion, I think that they were doing that to make up for Crowler. 😉

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You say geek like it's a bad thing. 🙄

Anyway, I think that it is a rediculous, although not entirely unfounded notion that jocks and geeks are incompatable outside of the bully/victim relationship. I actually know some couples that are as drastically different from each other as it is possible to be. In high school, I actually knew some couples that surpassed the normal social boundaries between the two groups. Regardless, it all comes down to individual preferences.

There are also faults found in the definition of "jock" and "geek". By socially accepted definition, those who are athletic are jocks, and those that possess an "unhealthy" interest in something non-athletic are considered "geeks". Even these seemingly clear-cut definitions are not perfect. I have purposely disassociated myself with any social group while in high school, so I was able to make friends whereever I wanted in the social heiarchy of schools. I had friends that were considered geeks and jocks. One of the jock friends that I have plays Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering. They are trading card games that are often (if not constantly) deemed geeky activities. I also have a friend that is considered a geek, but he looks like a professional bodybuilder.

As such, I would not neccessarily call anyone here a geek. Forums and groups like this serve as a meeting place for those who share a common interest. In this case, it happens to be, for the most part, muscular women. From what I have seen, there are even a few female members who either aspire to become physically more powerful, or already are. Some members here have the ability to appeal to the fantasies that many of us harbor inside ourselves through drawings and stories. I will say, however, that if a forum such as this is what you devote your life to (like how people will pay in excess of $7000, I kid you not, for a trading card for one of the many TCGs. not like how someone devotes their life to a job) then you may be deemed as a geek. Even then, there is no clear definition.

As I alluded to earlier, being a geek is not a bad thing. After all, we do live in the age of information. Being a computer geek is probably one of the best things that you can be right now. 😉

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Nicely done!  😮

I especially like the effects that were used for the abs. The left arm looks a little… off, though.

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Nice addition to story A. Since it appears as though she has been captured, I wonder if she is going to be taken to a lab for experimentation. If that's the case, wouldn't it be great if they found the key to make any other woman that powerful? Well, I can dream, can't I? 😉

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That's kind of a funny image, but I see what you mean. That picture is practically begging to be morphed.

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Not finished?! I just got my heart beating again! I'm not sure that I can take another hit like that!

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I'm getting a sneaky suspicion that we are going to see something along the lines of "the beauty vs. the beast".

Please? 😉

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RE4 didn't have any zombies and it was arguably the best of the series.

This would be an excellent look for Lara in the video games.

Ahem. If you would be so kind as to read the ENTIRE statement, I covered that. I said, and I quote, "It's like having Resident Evil without any zombies or monstrous creatures."

I think that the parasites qualify as monstrous creatures. Del Lago does, and the regenerators and iron maidens definitely do. The Ganado were also mindless mosters, for that matter. And the bosses, too. Actually, pretty much everything that you face up against in that game is some kind of monster. 😐

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How can you have something about Tomb Raider without Lara Croft? It's like having Resident Evil without any zombies or monstrous creatures. It just doesn't work.  😉

My ranting aside, I like the drawing. Sure, it may have been a pain in the ass to draw, but wasn't the end result worth it? I think it was!

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