THE BLADES.
The familiar warmth of Wall settled into his limbs -- just like that night so many weeks ago -- and Rictor gave the girl a rueful smile of thanks, a dip of the head. He then resumed standing like a rigid statue beside her until his compatriots arrived; once they did, however, he seemed to melt into movement, delivering a broad grin and striding over to meet them. "Took you fucking long enough," he said, knocking Auvray's shoulder with his own. The other man harrumphed, and returned to readjusting his longsword in his sheath and watching their undead opponents in the distance.
Balder, on the other hand, was shooting the blonde mage a quizzical look. He gave Rictor an arch of the eyebrow and a mouthed word, but Rictor immediately stifled him with a punch to the arm -- the two almost scuffled before the Kaplan cleared his throat, whereupon they settled down like unruly schoolboys. Balder was his best friend in the Blades, and therefore Rictor's propriety tended to slip around him, like a curtain being swept casually aside.
You're the Korporal, Rictor thought, so act like it.
The knight glanced over to his squire to make sure Storm was staying put, then gave the boy a silent nod. Confirmation granted. All his senses were now peeled for the enemy: the sound of rustling, faint breathing, the occasional moan. Other fighters were arrayed throughout the area, all of them trying to empty the clearing of these monsters... and clear a path towards the cave entrance. There was Ari, and the woman who had travelled with them. Aspel had already disappeared. He'd seen a glimpse of Maria's tell-tale red hair somewhere in the field, and he could taste the holy magic starting to thicken the air.
Alright. Time to go.
"We need to get into the cave," he said, falling into step beside Amos. No other words were necessary: five minutes later, the trio of Blades had unsheathed their swords and had thrown themselves into the mass of zombies closest to the entrance, cleaving limbs and hacking torsos, occasionally directing a Cure right into an undead knight's chest.
Auvray went straight for the knees, leaving the zombies felled like trees, scrabbling on the ground and struggling to drag their way towards their prey.
"Isn't this fun?" Rictor asked, and he was -- Faram, yes, he was actually laughing.