As long, running strides ate up the distance between him and the attackers, Ordhan saw the man he struck totter, legs slowly buckling beneath him as the sword slipped from his fingers. Luckily it landed away from the woman, but it was not so fortunate with the man himself--when one leg finally crumpled, the body fell directly on top of her. Ordhan could only spare a thought for the hope that she hadn't been injured by it before he was upon the first of the attackers.
The element of surprise was with him, and his battle shout had startled the bandits as much as the thrown knife had. The closest he cut down before the man had the chance to prepare himself; the second had drawn a sword and was already mid-swing. Ordhan parried and knocked the blade forcefully away. Stealing the second this gained him, he spared a glance towards the fallen bandit and the woman under him. She was struggling to get from underneath the twitching body--good. His head spun back to face the fight, and after catching another hasty blow on his shield, his thrust his blade beneath his opponent's ribcage.
With a jerk of his arm he pulled it out and faced the rest. There were more than it had seemed at first, and the dimness may hide yet more. They rushing at him already, but he was ready. Three long paces took him to where the girl still lay trapped beneath the body, now still in death; there he planted his feet and braced himself. Just then the body rolled over, and the woman rose unsteadily to her feet behind him. There was no time to see if she was injured. He jerked his head towards her without taking his eyes from the bandits running at him. Stay behind me, it meant, and he hoped it was understood.