Erdan Merrek blinked a few times as he realized the sun was shining down on him. Typically, he made it a habit to be on the road and moving so late in the day, though it was barely morning. Today, however, he and Atalia had decided to get a later start today. There were supposed to be all manor of nasty things down in the ruins, but all of them slept during the day. They had gotten as close to the ruins as they had dared before calling it a night, and now that the sun was up, they could collect their prize.<br/><br/>He pulled himself into a sitting position and ran his fingers through his short, light brown hair, which was mused from sleeping on his side during the night. He would have to straighten it out before Atalia could get a good look at him. While there was nothing between them, he found the idea of appearing less than his best before her...distasteful. He was a professional, after all, and had a certain image he wanted to project. At least that was what he told himself was the cause of his concern.<br/><br/>Erdan rushed his fingers through his hair a few times, straightening it out, then ran his hand down his neatly trimmed beard. His facial hair was far too short to show any signs of last night's rest, but he found that stroking his beard helped him think. If things went well, they would have the Heart of Anadan by noon, and could be on their way back to Lord Ulan. Erdan still wasn't sure why Ulan wanted the gem. It was valuable enough to more than justify the cost of the two mercenaries, but Ulan was already plenty wealthy. Some of the stories said that the heart was magical, but stories claimed that everything was magical. Perhaps their employer simply believed in wild stories, or wanted to be able to entertain guests with flights of fancy. It wasn't for Erdan to judge. In the end, his employer's motives didn't matter much.<br/><br/>He pulled himself to his feelt and stretched out his limbs. He had slept soundly, knowing that there was another close by, making it that much harder for him to be ambushed. Still, he was a little surprised she hadn't gotten up yet. "Are you still sleeping? You don't need 'that' much beauty rest." When she didn't answer, he finally turned his attention to her, and abruptly realized the mistake he had made. "Oh, bloody hell."<br/><br/>He took only a second to grab his bow and quiver of arrows, then started towards the ruins as fast as he could. If she thought she could claim the prize and ditch him, she had another thing coming!<br/><br/>******<br/><br/>"ALARM!"<br/><br/>That single, deep cry was enough to wake up the entire tribe. More than a dozen dark eyes suddenly showed through the dimly lit chamber, and all of them quickly came to rest on Atalia and the light spell she used. An orc was never far from his blade, and for a moment, the room was filled with the sound of metal scraping as orcs drew blades and axes to confront their prey.<br/><br/>Confronted in their sleeping grounds, their first instinct would be to slay the intruder, but a thunderous voice called out from somewhere in the back of the room. "I want her alive!" The speaker had enough power that the group was forced to take notice, and while the anger still blazed in their eyes, the bloodlust was tempered. Taking her alive would be harder, but they had the numbers. A pair of orcs moved to cut off her path, blocking her from the upper chamber where the heart was supposed to rest, while a half dozen more closed the distance behind her. Less experienced orcs might have underestimated her because of her smaller size, but the tribe had fought humans before, knew how they used speed to their advantage. Of course, in close quarters like these, there was only so much that speed could do.