Chapter 40: Defense of Horgen Part 1 (Dolf POV)

Dolf: "(Sigh)"

It was afternoon. During this time, the average dwarf is supposed to be sleeping and not watching for surprise attacks.

However, Dolf is the fort general at Warg, and that means he's miles away from being an average dwarf.

Why was I the one chosen to guard this fort? There are no chances of this place getting attacked!

They could be fighting exciting battles right now. Urghh! What if they encounter a colossal troll? I want to fight it!

As I was venting my frustration here in Warg, a soldier came up to me.

Dwarven Soldier: "Sir, would you like some rockberries or some mushroom ale?"

Dolf: "Uhhh, no. Are there any other foods available?"

Dwarven Soldier: "Ah, by the way, Master Dolf! We have a new selection that was recently cooked by our cooks!"

Dolf: "Don't call me Master, Idiot. Call me Dolf or Sir if you want. What's the new option?"

Dwarven Soldier: "My apologies, sir. It's a behemoth steak!"

Dolf: "Steak!? Aren't those the legendary dishes that our ancestors used to have!?"

Dwarven Soldier: "Yes, sir! We were able to acquire Behemoth steak since Lord Idmon has a lot of them in stock. The undead doesn't need food, so he gave it to us."

Dolf: "Amazing. Let's get down there right away!"

Dwarven Soldier: "Yes, sir!"

We were about to descend the tower when I noticed something strange.

I could see something floating on the river. It was big. If I could see it from here, it would be huge up close.

Dolf: "What is that?"

Dwarven Soldier: "Sir?"

I took out my Dwarvenscope. This tool would allow me to see ten times farther than usual.

When I look through the scope,

Dolf: "Mother of Ancestors..."

There was a massive boat on the river. However, it didn't look like a boat.

It looked more like a floating fortress. It had thousands of goblins packed on that ship.

It was sailing towards Horgen.

Dolf: "Send a messenger to both forts. Have all of them come to Horgen. Tell them, An army 10 or 20 times our size has come to invade."

Dwarven Soldier: "W-w-what!? I mean, yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

He ran as quickly as he could.

We didn't expect them to attack by boat! Horgen is not far from here, but we need to hurry before they overwhelm them.

Dolf: "Shit, how would we defend ourselves from those numbers?"

I remember that the undead army in Horgen was mostly the Skeleton Blacksmiths.

They had mages that were restoring the Bone Behemoths, but aside from them, they don't have any more fighting force.

Dolf: "Unless... I know!"

I ran down the stairs.

Dolf: "Hey, wait for you!"

Dwarven Soldier: "Ah!"

He ran back to me.

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Dwarven Soldier: "Yes, sir!?"

Dolf: "Change of plans; tell the messengers to regroup at Horgen. We'll hold our ground until Lord Idmon and King Wargh come back. Send Uld directly to King Wargh."

Uld is the fastest sprinter in the Dwarven Kingdom.

I believe in Lord Idmon and the King. They will come if we hold them back for a few hours. The other fort might fall if we left it unguarded.

I will need every dwarf I have to defend if we are to hold Horgen.

Dwarven Soldier: "Yes, sir!"

After that, I would get the fastest sprinter that we have here that will deliver a letter asking for reinforcements.

Dolf: "Oi!!! Everyone, pack up your things and get to Horgen!"

Soldiers: "Yes!"

The soldiers in the fort scrambled as they went into formation.

Dolf: "Hey, you! Hurry up!"

Dwarven Soldier: "Yeah!"

I could hear the dwarves shouting instructions and packing up their things.

That's good, since time is against us.

That river is only an hour away from here and 3 hours away from Horgen. We'll use that time to regroup and plan at Horgen.

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I arrived at Horgen in the evening. A skeleton dwarf welcomes me.

The goblin army might be moving slowly to avoid detection. I barely saw them through the afternoon mist earlier.

Dolf: "Huff... huff... greetings."

Dwarven Blacksmith: "Lord, Dolf! What are you doing here, exhausted?"

We ran non-stop so that we could arrive earlier. We were able to cut the travel time to two hours.

Dolf: "An enemy army... is coming... We need to prepare."

Dwarven Blacksmith: "You could have sent a messenger to the capital instead. They would send us reinforcements."

Dolf: "No, there wouldn't be enough time anyway." We evacuated because we are making our last stand here in Horgen. Their army is at least ten times bigger than us."

Dwarven Blacksmith: "10 times..."

After briefing the blacksmiths about the situation, I went to the place in the fort where they were reanimating the Behemoths.

If we can get them to fight, then this battle will be easy.

Dolf: "Greetings, Mages. I came here hoping to check the status of the Bone Behemoths."

Skeleton Mage: "Ah! Yes. We were making good progress, and we expect to raise it back by morning."

Dolf: "Morning!? Isn't there a way to make it faster?"

Skeleton Mage: "No, Lord Dolf. We're sorry. We need to repair every bone in its body, so it took a lot of time."

Dolf: "Okay..."

So we have to wait until morning. Let's hope that Lord Idmon and King Wargh arrive earlier than this morning.

Nope. I know they will!

I also briefed the mages about the current situation.

Skeleton Mages: "But Lord Dolf, we don't have any commanders here. You'll have to give us orders on what formation we will take."

Ah. There's that, too.

Dolf: "Okay... Gather everyone in the training field of the fort in 5 minutes. I'll give out orders there."

Skeleton Mage: "Yes, Lord Dolf."

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Dolf: "Eherm..."

All of the undead in Horgen are gathered in front of me now.

Aside from their mages. I had them continue their work.

There are also some dwarves from Jorg and Warg arriving every few minutes.

Dolf: "You already know that a huge army will attack us in a couple of hours. I want your cooperation in this defense."

I bowed my head.

Everyone: "Yes, sir! Use us in any way that would make us useful."

Dolf: "Okay, I want the Skeleton Dwarves to help our blacksmiths make traps for their enemies."

Skeleton Dwarves: "Right away, sir!"

Skeleton Blacksmith: "Of course! We'll work on it now."

Dolf: "Thanks; now for the others... I would like for the mages that are not currently helping with the revival of the Bone Behemoths to man the ballistae on the walls."

Skeleton Mages: "On it."

A ballista that is powered by magic is sure to kill hundreds of goblins in this battle.

Dolf: "Lastly, for all of the remaining soldiers without orders... Pick up any ranged weapons and spears that we have. We'll make our stand on the walls."

I hope they didn't bring heavy machinery.

If it's a battering ram, we can shoot the operators, but if it's a trebuchet, we cannot sally out against thousands of goblins.

We had a lot of crossbows and spears from the other forts, and Horgen also had a storage room full of them.

Everyone picked up either a crossbow or a bag of spears.

Even the blacksmiths and mages carried it with them in case of emergencies.

While the enemies are not here yet, we would help with the setting of the traps.

We set up spike barricades, pitfalls, and rock traps on the walls. We also have some explosive barrels set up outside the walls for us to target with flame arrows.

It would take out groups of incoming goblins if it exploded.

The good thing is that we left the torches lit on Horgen and Jorg. The enemies might attack them first, thinking that we were still there.

After an hour of setting traps, we haven't received word yet from the scout group I sent before.

Looking at the scope didn't provide me with any information either.

Where could they be?

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(Idmon POV)

An hour after the battle, an exhausted dwarf came sprinting inside the tent.

Everyone was shocked, thinking it was a disguised goblin.

They held him up and were about to execute him when

Dwarven Messenger: "Wait!!! Huff. Wait. Dolf. Dolf sent me!"

King Wargh rises from his bed and sits.

King Wargh: "You're Uld the Sprinter. If he sends it to you, it must be urgent."

Uld: "Yes, very. A goblin army came from the river!"

King Wargh: "What!?"

Idmon: "(t) What!?"

That was absurd. Goblins can't swim.

Uld: "They came from a floating fort. It was a huge ship that looked like a fort.".

King Wargh: "Ah, sh*t. It must be the goblin master's tricks. To think they would use the river."

Idmon: "(t) We need to send reinforcements right away. Since the dwarves are tired from battle, my army will"

Suddenly, another dwarf comes sprinting.

Dwarven Messenger: "Attack! We're under attack!"

Idmon: "(t) What? From where?"

He told me that they were coming from the south. It was the direction where the remaining territories of the goblin are.

They have already issued a counterattack. We just finished fighting an hour ago.

Then another dwarf came sprinting.

Dwarven Messenger 2: "Attack! We're under attack coming from the north!"

Idmon: "(t) Shit. The army from the river is already here. Or at least a part of them.".

They would crush us with all they have if they decided to attack us from both sides.

It's a praiseworthy strategy, but failure is not an option in these types of attacks.

All or nothing, huh?

King Wargh: "Idmon, what's our next step?"

Idmon: "(t) Everyone, let's hole up in Gargan. We would need to repel these attacks first."

King Wargh: "Then Dolf would be left all alone!"

Idmon: "(t) He would have to hold. Let's hope that only a small army went after them."

King Wargh was furious and also worried. But we cannot risk being caught in an attack from the back while we are reinforcing Dolf.

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(Dolf POV)

It was only after an hour when the scouts came back. They brought troubling news.

Skeleton Mage: "Sir, the river army split into three parts. The other two already took Warg and Jorg and are already on their way to Gargan."

Dolf: "Shit, that means our relief will be held up for quite some time then."

I finished the trap that I was making just now and dropped it on the ground.

Dolf: "What's their estimated number?"

Skeleton Mage: "8000."

Dolf: "Holy, we only got 250 or 300 here! Damn. Do they have various monsters?"

Skeleton Mage: "Yes, they do. Trolls and ogres, most of them."

Okay. At least we know their number. We need each one to take out at least 30 to 35 goblins.

That's easy! For me, that is.

Dolf: "Everyone gets inside! It's going to be one hell of a night."