Ratface dragged one of the demon goblins away from the trench, slashing at the vines and monsters rushing forward. Halmir covered her in a flurry of claws. He’d change into a rat and dart onto an enemy before switching back into his humanoid form and going for the neck. He was very fond of going for the neck, she shouldn’t be surprised.

She shoved the downed goblin into someone’s arms and jumped back next to Halmir. The battle wasn’t going well. Intellectually she’d known that their group weren’t soldiers, but she’d hoped there were enough fighters to cover that problem. It had almost been fine. Then the lizard gorillas had hit the line.

“Lizard ape!” someone had cried out when the first one hit the line. Ratface had had enough time to be surprised how close her guess was before the line exploded. The people there crushed in a moment.

She’d been thankful for the glamours affect on her then. Most people had paused in distress, but she’d just reacted. She understood it was sad, but she couldn’t really feel it. Claudette had burned the first ape, but more of them had smashed into the line. The demon couldn’t be everywhere; besides, she had bigger problems.

Amaranth rushed out of the monsters again and swung her staff at Claudette. The demon dashed back but had to duck as one of the apes struck at her head. The demon was better than the elf on a one on one, but this was a war and there were enough monsters for Amaranth to spend. They all knew her win condition was killing Claudette.

Ratface’s line had finally got themselves in order. It was just as well the line had stabilised, neither she nor Halmir were really made for fighting in a line. They’d made up for the gap with knives and fury, but it would only take getting caught once. Fighting monsters wasn’t like fighting people either. They had enough bulk to just charge a spear. It was only because of the trenches they weren’t getting run down. No, holding the line wasn’t what the two of them were made for.

But hit and runs were their bread and butter. Ratface was small and had learnt from who she considered the best raider, though she couldn’t remember them. Halmir could literally turn into a rat and get lost in the crowd. His biggest enemy was watching for stomping feet. They slipped through the lines of defenders and monsters with grace until they made it to the demon and the elf.

Claudette was doing her best. She was a typhoon of flames and rage. Ratface had to hand it to her as well, she was strong. When the lizard ape tried to smash her with its fist, she caught it. Demon physiology must be really something. The only reason she didn’t finish it there was the elf. She struck at Claudette and forced her away from the ape once more. If it was just the ape and the elf, Claudette probably would have already dealt with them. Smaller monster kept coming in and forcing her to move before she could cut either of the big targets down down. Ratface and Halmir just had to give her an opening.

Ratface darted towards the ape. She wasn’t stupid. The elf may be smaller, but Ratface hadn’t seen Claudette even attempt to catch one of her blows.

“Still only blinking to people you know?” she asked Halmir as they got closer.

“It’s been a day,” he said. So that was a yes.

“Follow my lead,” ordered Ratface. She ran straight at the lizard ape and screamed. It turned to face her, and she jabbed her knife into its elbow. It roared and tried to backhand her, but Ratface darted back before she could be sent flying. It tried to crash its fist into her. Unlike Claudette, she couldn’t afford to let this thing hit her. She jumped to the side and started hacking into its arm. Its skin was so thick, like chopping wood. She made a nasty gash but nothing that would stop it crushing her. Its other arm, the snake one, reared back at her and she got ready to dodge.

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That’s when Halmir turned back into a rat noble on its neck. He climbed around it as he clawed at its face. Its neck was too thick, so he went for the eyes instead.

The ape lifted the arm next to Ratface and she jumped out of its reach. It plucked Halmir off its neck and tried to slam him down. Halmir blinked into her hand in rat form and the two of them moved even further back. They’d never planned on killing the ape.

Claudette grabbed onto the back of its head.

“Burn,” she hissed. Flame erupted out of her hand and engulfed the things head. It lasted a couple of seconds before the ape dropped to the ground. The smell of burnt meat wafted through the air and Ratface tried not to think about how much it smelt like chicken mixed with fish.

“I don’t suppose you got the elf?” Ratface asked.

“She ran as soon as she saw you two,” said Claudette. She held herself up tall, but her hands were shaking. She’d been on the front too much; she needed a rest.

The three of them didn’t have any more time to talk. The line had already been pushed back to the next trench and they’d get overrun if they didn’t move. They cut their way back as monsters attacked them. The kudzu joined in too. The vines lashing out at them in their own way.

They were nearly there when the kudzu revealed one of the demon plants. Ratface recognised it as the one that had covered her in pollen and belched fire. It was a sickly green where the kudzu had stabbed into it. It began to glow orange, and her eyes widened. She slashed into it with her knife. The flame belched out of the gash and hit her hand instead of her face. She hissed and dropped her knife as she jerked away from the fire. It hurt. Halmir grabbed her to pull her away, but the thing burst into pollen that covered both of them. It was sticky and gross but on the bright side the sudden spore explosion had made the monsters around them dart back.

They took the opportunity to jump over the trench as Claudette covered them before jumping over as well. They reached the next trench that the rest of the town was already running back from. Ratface grimaced, there was a lot of missing faces in there, both goblin and otherwise.

They joined up with Hannah who was overseeing the retreat.

“We can’t hold here,” said Hannah when they got close, “we need to fall back to the manor.”

Claudette nodded and closed her eyes. She chanted in a language that burned Ratface’s ears. Deep blue flames fire flickered over Claudettes hand; it was hot enough that the skin beneath it was burning black.

She opened her eyes and screamed as she swept her hands across the line in front of them. A thick wall of blue flames cut them off from the monsters. Claudette collapsed and Hannah caught her.

“Retreat!” called Hannah. She handed Claudette to Ratface and Halmir to carry while she cut down the small groups of monsters that had made it to their side.

Halmir and Ratface carried Claudette between them.

“Do you think the manor can hold?” Halmir asked Ratface. She shrugged.

“It should for a little while,” said a goblin. Ratface smiled when she saw it was Rabbittail. He had a gash on his arm but was otherwise okay.

“When we first got here, we all stayed in the mansion. It has defences though they’ve never been tested against this many monsters. Hopefully the others manage to take out the elf.”

Ratface looked at him in surprise, though she shouldn’t have. Abigail and the other’s absence was notable, and no one would accuse them of running.

The pollen on Ratface started to warm and she went to wipe it away. Her hand paused. What had she been thinking about?

Whatever it had been was pushed out of her mind as she looked at the mansion before them. It had changed from what they’d seen before. The garden was peppered with giant stones that had any magic users that still had any energy littered around them. They pressed their hands against the stones when the last of the town made it in. A blue barrier shimmered over the house and property. They rushed people inside. A second barrier covered the house except for the door where people were putting up barricades. It was an obvious weak point, hopefully the monsters would go against it instead of just bashing their heads again the barrier. It made for a nice chokepoint.

They dropped Claudette into a couch to rest then huddled inside the house with the rest of the group. Ratface was still covered in pollen, but she didn’t notice.