The two companions stayed observing the milling Orcs and their apparent undead overlords for some time. They wanted to gain a better understanding of how many foes they could expect to be fighting, they learnt a number of things during this time.
First was that the undead seemed to regularly travel to a cave located right at the back of the canyon. They would travel inside and some time later a new undead would travel out. Almost as if they were taking shifts to be outside amongst the living. The second is that whilst the Orcs did seem to be subservient to the undead for the most part it did not seem to be an entirely willing service they were in.
They witnessed one orc bump into a skeleton whilst carrying some logs back to the village. As this happened he managed to smash one of the logs he was carrying into that skeleton and knocked its head clean off. Whilst it appeared to be an accident the undead were not happy apparently and within moments dozens of the undead had swarmed around the orc brutally beating him before dragging him back into the cave at the back of the canyon. Not an hour later a new undead emerged from the cave looking distinctly like the orc that was just brought in.
This seemed to confirm for both girls that they were dealing with either a necromancer or Litch as how else would a previously alive Orc suddenly become a zombie in such a short time frame. It also proved that they may not need to fully defeat the Orcs as it appeared that the undead were already doing some of their work for them. Now not to say that the two women wouldn't still begin fighting but it did provide some additional information about the kind of foe they would be fighting against.
Whilst the orcs seemed content to stay in smaller groups the undead reacted swiftly and as a unified whole. So whilst they could easily catch out orc hunting parties when they went to challenge the undead it would need to be done carefully else they get overwhelmed with numbers. Not to say that the orcs don't still outnumber them dramatically, but at least they are a semi known threat, the undead however are entirely new to both companions.
They spent some hours watching and learning their patterns but eventually they decided to make their way back towards the slope that led down the cliff face, they would camp up at the top as it would be getting dark by the time they arrived at the location but if they got an early night they could be making progress down the cliff before first light.
It took them a little longer than anticipated to find the same route back down that they used before since it was dark when they made their first assent but they did still eventually get there and set up camp just on the tree line nearby the cliff edge.
By the time the morning sun was cresting the horizon our companions were almost half way down the cliff pass. Thanks to Violet's void shadows they could both see quite well in the dark so the potentially treacherous climb in the dark was reduced to a challenging but manageable decent. Then once the sun rose it only few easier, although they now had the additional worry of being spotted by anything they may wish to remain hidden from.
They eventually did make it to the base of the cliff and back onto the rocky ground that was only sparsely spotted with trees and other plant life. But thanks to the abundance of rocky outcroppings and boulders scattered about it was not hard for the two to quickly find cover as they began their journey back towards the orcs base.
They journey had been fairly quiet so far but all good things eventually come to an end. But this could be counted as a blessing as it was not any random beast that our companions ran into, no it was another orc hunting party. This time Violet managed to hear them coming so she and Luna quickly hid themselves behind a nearby boulder and waited in the shadows to see their oncoming prey. By the time they had hidden themselves Luna could also hear the sounds of footsteps approaching. She may have quite strong senses but compared to a dragon… well it was quite an unfair assessment.
From around the boulder Violet and Luna watched as a group of 5 orcs slowly made their way forwards, they were similar to the previous orcs they had witnessed. In the lead was a scraggly and smaller orc, likely the scout based on it walking several meters in front of the rest of the group. Their was 1 more of the scout orcs taking up the rear but the 3 in the centre were all clearly warriors of some kind based on their larger stature and the mix of crude clubs and spears they wielded compared to the bows and bone daggers the scouts held.
"Aim to take out the two scouts first, we don't want them running away and telling the others about us." Luna said through their bond to keep the conversation silent.
"Okay I'll take the one in front do you want the one at the back?"
"Yes please!" Was Luna's eager response.
Plan made they went about executing it. Violet began to form a void Lance, last thing she wanted was to underestimate their foes, she still remembered how easily the first orc she had encountered had broken one of her legs. She knew that she was stronger now by a large amount compared to the Violet of back then but just because she was stronger doesn't mean she was invincible. She had after all nearly died not too long ago.
When she had finished summoning her Lance she informed Luna who had similarly been repairing her own attack by summoning and sharpening the ice formed over her own spear. On violets signal both girls burst into motion.
BOOM, SHING, Thud, Thud
Before any of the remaining orcs could respond a lance of the blackest night raced out of the shadows and impacted the lead scouts head, instantly pulpping it and sending a mix of blood and brain matter flying. Similarly Luna dashed forward and with a decisive swing of her spear she sent the head of the rearmost orcs head flying. Shortly after this initial onslaught the three central figures soon collapsed to the ground both corpses now missing a head.