Cheese felt his heart quicken as he strode towards the eastern wall. Looking up he saw that the men had already begun loosing arrows, and he had to strike a returned bolt from the sky as he walked. The bolt glanced off his blade, and Cheese let out a bellow to those around him as he did. "WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO THE LONGHOUSE!" he bellowed. As he did he infused his voice with a modicum of his power, and he felt it be amplified greatly.
Nold and Torv were both beside him in a flash. Cheese reached over and patted the young man on the head saying "If you are to follow me then you must have a shield and spear, go. To the gatehouse with you, grab a horn while you are there. Meet me atop it as swiftly as you may."
Nold looked up with scared eyes and nodded. Then he darted off in a flash. Cheese watched him for a moment, happy to see the boy kept close to the wall as he did.
Suddenly Cheese felt his skin tingle. He looked up quickly and saw a stone that was as large as a wagon fly through the air some twenty feet to his left. before he could warn anyone, it hit with a thud rolling over five or six men. Cheese felt the bile rise in his throat as he processed this. For a moment his vision went back to Hald and Bjorn dead on the ground. He began to tunnel as his vision closed in and his breathing quickened.
Then from behind him Cheese heard Mauren shout "We need to move Bladesman!" and he snapped out of it in a flash. He moved to the stairs that stood beside the wall. There was a clamor of bodies, but he cleared them with a shout of "Make way!" from Torv. The men turned and began opening up, allowing Cheese to rush to the top of the ramparts.
Mauren quickly began relaying orders to men as they filled in spots in the walls crenelations. Torv stood beside Cheese as he took stock of the tide of bodies approaching them.
It was like looking on a writhing field that was covered in ants. There were thousands of the creatures coming towards them in a swath that reached as far as he could see in every direction. Cheese could not guess how many there were before him, but he was sure it dwarfed all estimates that had been given before. As he watched he felt a series of calculations go, and then he found that suddenly he knew things about the enemy force. Not specifics, but he had general ideas that he did not think were his own.
His first thought was that the force before him was akin to a rabble or a mob, not a true army. Cheese looked out and as he did, he could feel something on the edge of his senses. Cheese tried to look at the tags of the individual creatures, yet he could not. he strained his sight, but it did nothing, then right before he gave up Cheese had an idea. He took a deep breath and pressed out to his foes with the strange energy that had filled his body in the fight with the giant. he pushed that power into his skull and began working it. For a moment nothing happened, and then Cheese felt the sense strengthen. He realized that what he was feeling as a tingle in the back of his head was the energy of the army arrayed before him.
As Cheese came to this realization he was met with a loud *PING* and a notification of a new ability.
[Observe Mana (Epic) 1]
Normally such an event would be reason for celebration, but Cheese immediately put it to work as he swept his eyes over the army rushing towards their walls.
Cheese realized he was not looking at their individual powers, but the aggregate power of the tide as a whole. It seemed dim but he didn't have a reference point. Cheese looked to his left and right, and noted that most of his people on the wall burned far brighter than those who were collapsing on him.
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Cheese grasped his axe in both hands and threw it into the tide of bodies, he was able to sense denser clusters, and he aimed haphazardly at one of those lumps of power. As he did so he bellowed "To me! Captains to me!" and began moving towards the gatehouse.
He had yet to see the origin of that original stone, so as Cheese moved along the wall towards the gatehouse, he kept his eyes out for whatever had caused that stone to fly towards them. Cheese resummoned his blade and then threw it yet again, this time he aimed at a large orc that was rallying a group of goblins. The creatures were beginning to close the gap between the walls of Fairhaven and their own as Cheese made it to the top of the gatehouse. It was not an enclosed gatehouse like many walls have. The mills gatehouse was an open construct that had a slightly wider ledge for the men to stand on. It was here that Cheeses` banner flew, and where he had decided to gather his command.
He was followed quickly by Elder Tompson, Ibron, Torv, and Mauren. Mauren quickly reported "I sent a runner to the western gatehouse to apprise us, but there has been no sound."
Cheese nodded and looked at Tompson who said "They poured out and I sent a signal to sound the horn. They just keep pouring out of Fairhaven."
"Where did the stone launch from?" Cheese asked quickly.
Tompson pointed to the far gatehouse and said, "Behind that, I do not know if it is some engine of war flinging it, or an act of magic, but It came from there."
Cheese nodded as he looked off into the distance. Before he could say anything, a horn began blasting from the western gatehouse. Cheese felt his breath catch, but after a moment he began to breathe again. Two more short blasts had sounded. Friends. By the gods Cheese hoped it was the Baron.
Cheese turned to the western gatehouse and saw them opening the gate. "Send a runner" Cheese said to Mauren. "We will direct the defense from here. I will rely on you two. Also I have a new ability that might help."
He explained his new ability and saw Mauren's face light up as he said "That is astounding. We can use it." Then the man turned and called over a trio of boys who he sent out with messages. One ran to the western wall, and the other two scampered off to find Elric and Mareen, the two strongest archers they had in the camp.
Then their commands were sent, and Cheese knew that Mauren would direct anything he told him to, so the Bladesman turned his attention back to the tide that was moving towards them.
Less than a minute had passed since they had gotten to the walls, but the goblinoid ranks had already covered the majority of the distance from Fairhaven to the mill. Cheese remembered the exodus they had made carrying Halds body. They had spent tend of minutes crossing that stretch, yet these creatures came forth like a tide. As he looked out Cheese began to notice a number of ladders being carried by the creatures. yet there were so few. He called out Mauren, have the men aim for the ladders" and heaved back with his arm throwing his axe at a large flame of mana.
Cheese was cycling his ability on and off as he marked targets and kept a look out for any flying stones. Luckily none came but he watched anyway. It was slightly disorienting, but he was able to find the brightest center of mana, and from there narrow down on a target. His throws did not always hit, but he slowly began accumulating levels in his skills and abilities as they pinged up and up. As the enemy closed and began to throw up ladders his last level of throwing dinged.
[Throwing (Uncommon) 11]
[Axe (Common) 39]
[Observe (Epic) 4]
New Skill [Leadership (Uncommon) 2]
The last was gained as Cheese turned and shouted "Draw blades! Close ranks! ARCHERS KILL THE ONES WITH LADDERS!"
This last he had imbued with a touch of his power. Cheese stopped throwing his Axe as an archer an forward, it was Elric, as he ran up Cheese said "A bit late, you stand over there" he gestured to the corner of the gatehouse "And do your best to make sure that those who are climbing the ladders don't come up to fast, they don't have many but you need to stem the tide." Cheese didn't even give the man a second thought as he unquestioningly moved to take up position. he did cast a quick glance about as he noted that runners were bounding up and down the walls. To his left was a crenelation that elder Tompson had taken up, and a small boy who could not be more than eight ran forward and placed a bundle of arrows into a barrel that was to the Elders left. Then the first ladder slammed into the wall and Cheese turned to meet it. behind him Elder Tompson and Elric were shooting their Greatbows with a calm precision, but Cheese drowned the sounds around him out as the first of his foes showed their heads.