Our plan was simple, stop the gate from closing so the army could get in without a fight. To do that would require a little bit of scouting first to determine how best to go about it. The entrance always had four guards, lightly armored, and possessing both a spear and a short sword as their weapons. There were two orcs, a dwarf, and a human currently in charge of the gatehouse, checking people as they entered.
I thought about the ways that we might be able to take control of the gate with minimal casualties. The orcs would be the most difficult to handle out of the group. There was no guarantee that we would be able to subdue them without causing them injury.
Looking along the wall, the watchtowers had a pretty good view of the surrounding landscape for miles around. I would have preferred to do this at night so that way the army could get closer to the walls before they were spotted, but at that point the gate would be closed as was the custom for most cities once the sun went down. We would have to make our move during those few moments before sundown. The light would be in the eyes of any of the lookouts, which would provide some cover for the approaching army.
The plan was easy enough for us to execute as it was only a matter of timing. However, it all hinged on whether we could gain control without the entirety of the town guard emerging to stop us. There were only fifteen of us after all, plus we were only wearing normal clothes and wielding tools as weapons. If an armed militia showed up in numbers, we wouldn’t be able to hold out for more than a few minutes at the most.
That was a problem for later though. I had to get a message to the rest of the army first and set up the appropriate time for action. The one I had in mind to bring this message to the army was Liliana, so I had a talk with her.
“Liliana, I got a job for you.” That got her attention as she turned to face me head on. “I need you to go deliver our plans to the rest of the army, make sure that they move at the right time.”
She blinked a few times, looking a little confused. “What? But I wanted to help you here. I can’t just leave right as you are about to do all the dangerous work.”
“Look, I appreciate that, but I think this is the best thing that you can do for us. I don’t imagine that you have much experience when it comes to fighting, right?” The way she looked away from me told me that I was right. “Thought as much. Your talents would be better used after everything has concluded. Besides, there’s probably going to be a lot of animosity directed towards the followers of light, and if you ended up getting lost in the chaos and attacked by someone who doesn’t recognize you, then that would be a very avoidable tragedy.”
She let out a quick resigned sigh. “Your points are valid, and I don’t have anything to refute them with. Very well, I will deliver the plans.”
“Thank you, Liliana, stay safe out there.”
A light smile graced her face. “I should be the one telling you that but thank you. Try not to get yourself killed while I’m away.”
I escorted her to the gate so she could be on her way as quickly as possible. There was some concern that she might be stopped if someone told the guards that she was to remain in the city, but it appeared that was not the case because after a brief bit of pleasantries in passing, she started walking off into the distance.
Now that that situation was dealt with, it was time to do what I had seemingly been doing a lot of recently, waiting. It was always the waiting that got me too. My mind was just far too active to sit still for any significant amount of time. It felt like whenever I wasn’t doing anything it was just a waste. Part of me knew that wasn’t the case, but still, it was agonizing.
Luckily this wait wasn’t the days or weeklong ones that I had to endure previously, but just a few hours. As soon as the sun started to dip closer to the horizon, we moved out to take up our positions. I say positions, but it was more like pretending to loiter around the area until the first signs of an alarm were sounded.
We kept all the tools nearby, but not directly in hand to prevent suspicion from arising. I could see in the faces of the volunteers that they were nervous. If someone was paying attention, they might have seen the little fidgeting movements that they did that did not match up accurately to the supposed calm of the conversation that they were in. It was fortuitous for us then that the gate guards were more concerned with the people coming into the city than those who were already inside.
The army should be showing up any minute now, and I myself was not immune to the tension that was beginning to form in the air. It felt like it would snap at a moment's notice, and it did.
Suddenly there was a piercing sound of an alarm bell being rung with frantic urgency. The alarm being sounded caused a mild panic among the population of the town as they became aware that something was amiss. Maybe they thought it was a roaming group of monsters, but we knew differently, and now moved with purpose.
Weapons were gathered as we rushed to the gate to secure it before they could close it down. The guards were just finishing ushering in a cart when we arrived. They were just about to start locking things down, when we hit them from behind.
The human and dwarf were tackled by two people each who immediately started to tie them up with rope. There was a lot of confusion from them, some voiced it. “What are you doing?! Are you insane, there’s an alarm?!” The human man struggled against those on top of him but could not overcome their combined strength.
I stepped up to answer his question. “Sorry, but this must be done. If you cooperate, then you won’t be hurt.”
Before either of us could say anything more, an enraged voice carried out from closer to the gate. “Get off me you little shits!” My head snapped in the direction of the voice to see the orcs fighting the villagers, throwing them off every time someone tried to tackle one. Despite the numbers advantage, the orcs were fending them off using their superior size and strength.
I watched as one villager attempted to charge in from the side only to be met with a fist straight to the gut which certainly put him out of action for at least a few minutes. Damnit, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. I would have preferred not to have harmed them simply for doing their jobs, but it looked like that would be impossible to do with the orcs who were tossing around any volunteer who tried to take them down.
Now that it became clear that I would have to get involved, I rushed over to assist while drawing my own weapon. I moved to attack, slipping between my allies as I came in low against the large orc. He saw my obvious intent and answered with a short sweep of his spear head that he gripped near the front for added mobility.
I felt a sense of strange familiarity with the situation before realizing that I had been in it before, just as the opposite party. In my training with Garth, I had always been the one that was over a head taller than him, but in this situation, the orc cast quite a long shadow. Once again, I was thankful to Garth for everything that he had taught me. In this particular situation, it was how to fight an opponent larger than yourself.
The long and short of it was leverage and redirection. I used both hands on my blade to block, one on the handle, one on the flat of the sword. Working with the angle of his attack, I forced the blow to slide of my block and strike uselessly on the floor.
Taking the opening, I dashed forward and around my opponent’s side to strike. My blade was thrust forward with the target being his calf. I struck true, cutting neatly through the flesh on the back of his leg. A pained cry escaped him as he dropped to one knee, unable to put any amount of pressure on his now injured leg.
He snarled at me and readied his weapon to attempt a counterattack but was interrupted when three villagers went to restrain him again. Without the use of both of his legs to stabilize, he was knocked prone and wrestled into submission. He attempted to fight back against them but couldn’t get enough leverage to counter the ever-growing number of men on his back.
His partner, seeing that state of his comrade, attempted to come to his aid with a shout in our direction. “You bastards, get off of him!” He drew his short sword and charged, making it clear that he wasn’t planning on being ‘gentle’ with us anymore.
I braced myself to receive his charging attack, trying to predict how he would swing at me. He apparently went for a strong horizontal cleave, seemingly with the intent of severing me at the waist. I was in at least a good position to stop this attack and braced the blade with both hands to intercept it. Digging in and trying to stop the force in its entirety would be futile, so instead I allowed myself to be moved with the strike somewhat, taking two steps back as I danced with the blow.
Raising his sword for another heavy blow he was interrupted when one of the volunteers took the opportunity that my distraction created to hit him from behind. Realizing my attack on the other orc had been purposefully non-lethal, they followed my lead in that regard. Two prongs of a pitchfork found its way into the leg of the orc attacking me. Once the leg was skewered, the man responsible started to pull it with the tool in what was probably a very agonizing way. The orc confirmed as much when he started howling in agony as he dropped to his hands and knees, punctured leg splayed out.
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Several more people jumped on the orc, disarming and tying up his limbs so he was immobilized like everyone else. With the rush of conflict now ebbing in the absence of opponents, I started to feel badly for the injured and confused gate guards who didn’t even understand why this was happening to them, particularly the orcs who now both had bleeding holes in their legs. We would have to do something about that because it was never our intention to kill them if we could help it.
“Look, I apologize for this. We’ll get you medical attention as soon as possible and I hope that you will be able to understand why we had to do this one day.” There was a lot of grumbling and murmured insults from the injured orcs as the gate guards were hauled away like luggage to be placed in a secure location nearby.
Now it was time to stand our ground. Soon enough, guards would show up to investigate why the gate wasn’t closed. This wasn’t a great position to defend from the inside, but we did our best to fortify the position with whatever scraps we could find. Things were looking rather ramshackle, but at least it would make it difficult to advance on the position.
It wasn’t long after when the first small group of guards arrived to investigate, pausing for a second as they ran up to us when they saw the simple fortification. The lead elven soldier shouted towards us from a safe distance.
“What in the name of the gods is going on here!? Where are the gate guards? Why is the gate still open?”
“They’ve been relieved of their duties for a while.”
The soldier looked dumbstruck before shaking himself out of his stupor. “I don’t have time for this, we need to close the gate now!”
He started to march forward and I drew my sword in response. “You will do no such thing.”
There was another pause in their advance accompanied by a scowl. “Are you stupid? Do you not hear the bells?”
“I can hear them, and they are irrelevant. The gate stays open.”
A range of emotions crossed his face. There was outrage, confusion and then finally understanding. “You’re part of this, aren’t you?” I didn’t bother to answer, which was as good as saying yes. “You’re putting this town in danger. Surrender immediately and you will be arrested and tried in court. Fail to do so, and we will accept no prisoners.”
“No one will be in danger if you simply choose not to fight. We are not here to pillage or conquer, we are here to right an injustice that has been done to us.”
“I’ll take that as you’re not surrendering then? Fine. I do not care for your reasons; it is my duty to defend this town and I will do so against anyone that threatens it.” He quickly turned and gave a command to one of his followers. “Assemble the guards, quickly!” The designated messenger nodded before sprinting off to fulfill the order.
There was nothing that could be done now. I let out a sigh and started to stretch my limbs a bit in preparation. Here we go.
I looked along my side of the barrier and saw many nervous faces. A lot of these people probably haven’t been in any fight more significant than the occasional drunken brawls or friendly match with a buddy. They needed some encouragement.
“Don’t worry everyone. Remember, our goal is simply to keep them back, not fight them all. If we can outlast them, then we will win. Steady yourselves and know that you are fighting for a better future for us all.” That seemed to do the trick as many of their faces became more stoic and resolved.
We had a few long weapons, both improvised and stolen from the gate guards, that would make the defense somewhat easier. How much of an effect they might have, we would soon find out. The guards were back, and they brought some of their friends with them as well. A quick scan through their numbers and I estimated a little over thirty new bodies had joined in this fight. My body tensed a little in preparation and anxiety. Hurry it up out there. I silently asked the army that was still making their way towards us.
Our opponents formed ranks, weapons at the ready. The elf I was talking to early stood at the front of his troops, drew his sword and leveled it at us. “Retake the gate!” A simple command, but effective one.
The soldiers started to march towards us at a steady rate, moving as a well-trained unit. When they got closer, their weapons were lowered, prepared to strike. Once the tips of their spears were but a mere foot away from our simple barricade, everything exploded into motion.
Their front line quickly lunged forward, thrusting their weapons over the barricade at anyone they thought they could reach. Many of us backed up a step to dodge before returning with our own attacks. Thus began the deadly dance between our two sides, stepping and dodging while trying to do whatever damage they could.
The town guard was a little more confident in their attacks, most likely due to their training and light armor that protected their torso. However, both sides held a healthy respect for the weapons being used against them, making sure to dodge whatever attacks were thrown their way rather than test just how well their armor could hold up.
This stalemate between us lasted for what felt like minutes but was probably less than one. It had to break eventually, and unfortunately; it broke at our disadvantage. I saw a spear being thrust past our barricade and into the arm of one of the volunteers. A savage growl of pain came from the injured man as he gave a retaliatory thrust of his weapon to get his attacker to back off.
Immediately I ordered the man to fall back and took his spot. The loss of a man, even if temporarily, was a blow to our ability to defend. I quickly shot a glance behind me and out the open gate. No sign of the army. I cursed under my breath as I knocked aside a spear with my blade.
My mind rushed through a hundred ideas of how to delay them more even as I frantically swiped at them to keep them back. The rush of combat and the sound of my own heart hammering in my ears was drowning those thoughts before they could fully form. Desperation was beginning to take hold, but then, when I deflected another spear strike, my sword bit into the wooden haft of the weapon before it was yanked back.
An idea struck me like a bolt of lightning. The next time one of them attacked me with a polearm, my free hand lashed out and seized the weapon. It was a contest of strength to prevent him from retracting the weapon, but it didn’t last long as I raised my blade and brought it down with a chopping motion, severing the head of the spear from the rest of the former weapon.
If I removed their ability to fight at a range, then it would be easier for us to keep them back. I targeted their spears specifically, hacking, grabbing, and doing whatever I could just to damage their equipment. They caught onto what I was doing and became more reserved in their attacks to prevent me from taking advantage of any opening. This was also beneficial because it meant they weren’t trying to kill us as much.
Every second we delayed them was a victory in my mind, but another problem inevitably reared its ugly head. It had been a few minutes since the fight had first started, and my group was flagging as exhaustion started to creep in. Weapons became heavier, breaths more ragged, movements sloppier. Our opponents were rotating the attackers to keep themselves relatively fresh during the fight.
This disparity of energy resulted in many wounds that were beginning to accumulate on us all. Shallow cuts bled at a steady rate for many of us. Even I was bleeding from a small slash on my forearm.
It wasn’t all one sided though. A few of the guards were injured during the fight as well. One of them even took a spear to the gut, folding in half due to pain as he was dragged away from the front line. My own contributions to the fight weren’t just in broken weapons as I had managed to land a few debilitating hits on their hands.
Whatever we managed to accomplish wasn’t enough though. Inch by inch they were steadily pushing us back until they stood at our hastily constructed barricade of boxes and scrap wood. They peeled away at the barrier, opening a path for them to continue to advance. We were quickly running out of space to retreat in what was starting to look like a desperate last stand.
Someone got stabbed in the leg, another received a blow to the shoulder, all of us were simply trying to survive at this point. It was increasingly looking like we weren’t going to get out of this, but then, beneath the noise of combat and the pounding of my own heart, I heard something that made me pause.
There was a faint rumbling sound, quiet, but steadily growing in intensity. Before long, everyone took notice of the noise. It had progressed, but it wasn’t until it sounded more like a landslide that I finally figured out what it was.
Turning around, I saw our army, rushing through the field in a tireless sprint to reach us as quickly as possible. They did not know exhaustion as the living did, so even running as fast as their limbs could move, they would arrive fresh and ready for a fight. A smile formed on my face as relief flooded through me, but the same could not be said of our opponents. There was a realization that even if they could get by us immediately and start closing the gate, they wouldn’t make it in time.
I’m sure that the commander of the guards was desperately trying to think of a suitable way to handle this situation, but at this point there were few paths that they could take. In the end they simply decided to cut their losses and regroup, shouting out to his forces.
“Fall back! We’ll hold them at the town center!” With that command they turned their tail and ran, giving up on the gate that was all but lost. By the time they got halfway down the street the first of the soldiers in our army came streaming through the gate.
Dozens of skeletal bodies shrouded in ghostly flesh charged in, establishing complete control over the entrance. I watched them all for a minute as the realization slowly came to the front of my mind. With this realization came a wave of both relief and fatigue. The rush of battle drained out of my blood and my limbs felt like they were weighed down with metal.
Lumbering over to the wall of the gatehouse, my back collided with it before sliding down its length. I landed on my rump somewhat roughly as I let out a deep sigh. We... we did it. The thought inspired a lot of different feelings. There was pride and excitement, but also nervousness and hesitation. This was a momentous step forward, but so too was it the beginning of darker days.
My brief moment of rest was interrupted by the appearance of one of the undead captains. They performed a quick salute to me before launching into the conversation. “Thank you for opening the way for us sir. How should we proceed from this point forward?”
How to proceed? It took me a moment to realize he was asking what my policy for taking a town was. The norm was most likely to involve some pillaging, but we weren’t here as conquerors, and I had no plans to rule or carve out a piece of the continent in my name.
“Try not to disturb the general population. If you encounter soldiers or guards, allow them the chance to surrender, but if they fight, do what you must.”
I received a nod in acknowledgement as the captain turned to direct the forces that were still flowing into the town. There was nothing for me to do at this point. Directing battles and large numbers of troops was better left to those who had more experience in the matter. I took the opportunity to rest and treat my wounds, knowing that there would be plenty to do in the future.