“How long do we have to keep those going?” Chuck asked CJ as they stood on the streets of Scaleback.

“I honestly don’t know,” CJ said. “I don’t know how they planned to communicate their plan being successful.”

Smoke was filling the streets, and there was even an unhealthy amount of debris from some exploded crates. A building was in shambles near the West tower. But the fires were all controlled, more regulated bonfires than the blazes the Princedoms likely wanted. The citizens were indoors and safe for now. No panic in the streets, no guards killed before they could assemble. Now Chuck and CJ were standing with the bonds of the Scaleback city guard, waiting to be called to action. The gates were still open, and they had lookouts above looking for the first signs of the enemy.

“No more to check,” Byr said as he emerged from the gatehouse.

They were having members of the Akahi magmaguard interview suspicious people. CJ didn’t like the details of it, but it was necessary before they could let all the citizens shelter from the fighting. So far they discovered four people with allegiances to the Princedoms. They were sure that wasn’t everyone, but Byr told CJ earlier in the day that likely some were already in hiding.

He couldn’t do anything about that now. For now they needed to be prepared for the fight to come.

“Okay,” CJ sighed. It was exhausting to try to work on their plan for the fight, while coordinating with Byr to check the citizens. But it worked, and they caught all but one bomb. A fire still raged in the city, with several guards still fighting it as they waited for the enemy to show up.

“This was a smart plan,” Sir Byr said as he came up beside CJ. “We either scare them away from attacking, or we get to fight them on equal terms. This is the best we can pray for.”

CJ nodded. “That’s what I was going for. Thanks to you, I had a good idea what they did last time. It sounds like they didn’t want an even fight. They gave themselves every little advantage, and then swept you up in the chaos. No reason to let that happen again.”

Byr gave CJ a pat on the shoulder, though the old man didn’t smile. “I’m going to go get suited up. We should see them soon if they still come.”

Larl spoke from the door to the gatehouse. “You should also get on some armor. You’re Iron Attunement now after all.”

Byr stopped walking away and looked at CJ, then back to Larl. “True. Even if you don’t see any action, it is better to be safely in armor.” Byr left with a few members of his bond, leaving CJ to stand with Chuck and Larl.

“Where are the others?” Larl asked.

CJ thought for a moment. “Alyss and Mae are off somewhere talking. No idea what about.” He pointed off toward the center of town.

“They are probably just worried.” Chuck said as a guard brought him a helmet. “This won’t be an easy fight no matter what. I’m surprised you plan to drag the duchess into it at all.”

CJ shook his head. “Oh I don’t, Alyss said she would rip me apart if I did. But in an emergency, she might end up under attack anyway. She doesn’t seem like the kind of leader that would want to hide while the fighting is happening.”

Larl chuckled. “She definitely is not. When Akahi was burning, she took us through the streets. It was only Byr’s direct commands that kept her from taking point in our march to find refugees. She really is a leader in the making, I guess you could say she was raised for such a role.”

CJ looked at Larl as the priest approached. “What about you, Larl? You seem too excited to be in all of this for a holy man.”

Larl furrowed his brow, and then smiled. “Well, I’ll be honest. I think a once in a lifetime moment is happening here. My previous path wasn’t working out, CJ, so this path sounds much more exciting.”

“Oh yeah, what path is that?” CJ asked.

“I’m not completely sure,” Larl said. “Hibe will show me, I’m sure. So far, you have kept it well illuminated, so I have no fear I’ll lose my way.”

CJ didn’t know how to feel about that. It was a lot of weight to carry, illuminating someone’s ‘path’.

“Sir! Captain!” A voice called down from high up on the wall.

Everyone looked up to the woman calling down.

“We have eyes on them. They’ve reached the bridge!”

A male guard came out of the gatehouse. He huffed from his run, then got hold of himself. “They seem endless sir. Just a mess of people running without any coordination. Most of them are not bothering with the bridge, they charge through the river.”

So they were coming. CJ hoped there wouldn’t be a fight, but it was going to happen.

Chuck looked back at CJ. “Go get your bond suited up. I’m going to take the field, and I’m sure Byr won’t be far behind me. You can keep everything organized here while we scare these monsters away.”

Larl grabbed CJ by the shoulder and started to lead him away.

They didn’t give CJ anything fancy to wear for armor. It seemed like Scaleback guard gear, but without the symbols patched onto the front and back. It was metal armor at the shoulders, and of course there was the helmet. But the rest was leather. He was given a sword, with the sheath to put it in, and a shield. But just like during his training, his facet made the armor feel lightweight. It was easy to forget he was wearing so much as he made his way up the East tower steps.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Larl followed behind him, while Mae and Alyss walked ahead of him.

“The fighting should already be underway,” Alyss said.

CJ didn’t mention it, but he knew that it was. Now that they were back by the walls, he could see the forces on his map. Two of Akahi’s three bonds were out on the field, with the last held in reserve. Scaleback didn’t have some massive army, it was just five more bonds, with a fair number of loose soldiers to supplement them. Two of those bonds were within the walls as well. The wall was manned by many individuals instead of bondmates.

They emerged at the top, and CJ was struck by how blustery it was. The air stank of smoke from the fires, with ash being whipped all around them. The red from the flames danced behind them, while looking ahead revealed a battlefield filled with soldiers in a frantic fight for their lives.

There was a Scaleback lieutenant there to meet them, a woman named Eryn. She nodded at them, and motioned for Mae to come look over the side of the wall, the three of them followed.

This wasn’t the massive battlefield someone would expect from a fantasy world. This wasn’t the massive armies charging into the wall of axe-wielding orcs. It was neat, small, and contained groups of soldiers fighting off waves of zombies.

“Where is Byr in all of this?” Mae asked.

CJ saw him on the map. The bonds on the battlefield were mostly in a line, staying spread out enough that no zombies would be able to easily get around them. But Byr was easy to spot when you were looking the right way, his bond had swords that blazed red.

“There,” CJ said. “See the red.”

Mae nodded, and her eyes stayed locked on the knight.

CJ could feel her worry, but also her awe. The man meant so much to all of them, he was a rock that held the Magmaguard together.

“Is it like you said?” Larl asked.

CJ turned to the priest. Seeing the battle play out in front of him, he forgot to check. But Larl was right, they were up on the wall for a reason. Back in Akahi when he saw the Ash Walkers, their tethers all went to some other location. CJ never saw them go to another person, and they went high enough into the air that it seemed like they were arcing somewhere distant. From here he could see the lines again, and they did head back past the first wave of the creatures.

“That clump of them there,” CJ pointed. “The lines head there. I think Whitetune said those ones were carrying supplies?”

“Wait,” Alyss turned to him, “You’re saying they are all tethered there? That isn’t possible, Eastman.”

CJ looked at her, “I don’t know how all of this works, but I know what I’m seeing. They all head back there to…” There was a puck for the bond, but it was just marked with what looked like a pile of dirt. CJ tried to check it, to see what information his field guide would know about it.

|Unknown Bond Unknown Bond Affinity

|Unknown Unit Bond Ok

|Members: Unknown

|M. Spd Avg

|>Facets

“…I can’t see anything else about them. Even though we’re actively fighting them, I can’t even read the bond leader. That can’t be right.”

Larl crossed his arms. “There are ways to hide your bond from facets that would reveal them to the enemy. It is possible they are using something like that.”

“Dangit,” CJ said.

Alyss shook her head. “Okay, so assuming this isn’t some fluke, then we can just take out that camp and this all stops, right?”

Larl nodded. “With the leader of the bond defeated, they would lose their connection. That is even more devastating for Ash Walkers. They are nothing without a mind to lead them.”

CJ didn’t question why Larl was so sure of that. It seemed this particular priest knew his enemies well.

Alyss turned to Lieutenant Eryn, “You have flags right? We should be able to send a message down to Chuck. We should be able to pressure these monsters.”

“Of course, this way.” Eryn said, leading Alyss along the walls at a jog.

CJ stayed put. The battle was going fine. Byr’s bond in particular chewed through Ash Walkers like they were nothing, and they were more than capable of helping out their neighbors along the line of soldiers. The bonds were getting hurt, but the city was safe and eventually the enemy would run out of Ash Walkers.

A horn sounded down the wall, and CJ looked over to see a series of flags being lifted in succession. He had no idea what each flag meant, but soon Byr’s bond was pushing into the mass of Ash Walkers. They cut through Ash Walkers with red-hot blades and the nearest Akahi bond followed behind them.

“They are doing it,” Mae said. “Look, we’re going to strike them down. The monster that took the duchy is going to die by Byr’s blade.”

CJ felt her excitement, even her lust for revenge, but he wasn’t nearly as excited. It all felt so easy. It was strange not actually being in the fight, not even helping. Sure he pointed out a target, but that was nothing. Whitetune might have been able to do the same with enough time.

“Good,” CJ said. “Hopefully they capture them alive, I can ask them a few questions. Maybe they know how I ended up here.”

Mae looked his way. Her eyes refocused on him, and for a minute there was something regretful in how she stared at him. Then she nodded. “Yeah, hopefully.”

Byr’s forces got closer to the enemy with every passing minute. They had to fight through Ash Walkers for every foot of progress, but CJ watched them on his map. They shoved through the mass of icons for individual Ash Walkers, getting ever closer to the central puck. Extra waves of the creatures crushed in toward the Akahi fighters, some even retreating from other fights along the front line. They knew they were in trouble, they were repositioning to try to take out Byr.

“They are going to try to pinch him in, I think,” CJ said. “They have to fight Byr or they lose. I guess they didn’t expect such a direct charge through the middle.”

Larl sighed, “Byr really is just that amazing. This all came together, didn’t it?”

CJ nodded.

Then they heard the sound of a building exploding behind them.

CJ threw himself to the ground as debris was tossed all the way up onto the walls. Another explosion happened, a building further into Scaleback.

CJ, still flat on his stomach, turned himself around to see what was happening. There were panicked cries from guards on the walls, and those below waiting at the gates.

“What is going on?!” Larl shouted.

Mae cried out, “I thought we got all the bombs!”

CJ crawled to the edge of the wall and pulled himself up enough to see over the ridge.

Out of the smoke and flames he saw brief glimpses of horned men with long beards. Some were carrying axes. They charged the reserve fighters inside the walls.

He looked at his map, there were several red bonds inside, all marked with the symbol of the Attunement of Burdens. There were more mercenaries!

“Mercenaries in the walls!” CJ cried out, “they must have been hiding. I can see at least four bonds, they are fighting the reserves!”