There were another couple of horn cries over the next several hours. For some they could hear return peals.

Zipper and Delta staged what they could atop the windmill. There was a collection of sturdy furniture, bags of flour, and whatever basins and buckets they could find, filled with water. It had been tiring work, and they each caught snatches of rest in turn.

Around midnight there were loud cries carried to them by the wind from the forest. Half the pickets had withdrawn, and there was a lot of movement in the forest eaves.

“Sounds like they are already celebrating”, said Zipper, glumly.

“If I had a keg of brandy, I’d roll it out for them”, said Delta. “Overconfident troops make mistakes.”

Zipper looked at the stars. “It’s still a long time until sunrise.”

“I guess we’ll just have to bloody a few noses”, said Delta.

The ruckus raised in pitch. They could hear the distant clash of spear on shield.

“Burn that energy”, said Delta. “Come to us drunk and tired.”

“Does seem kind of wasteful”, said Zipper. She looked around suspiciously. “Weren’t there four pickets left?”

Delta’s head whipped around. The wolf and rider furthest from the front were missing.

“You have any schooling?” asked Delta moving from side to side. The large dome housing the main gears for the windmill was in the center of the platform, obscuring their view of the far side.

“Some”, said Zipper, confused.

“Stand near the edge there and recite something”, said Delta. She took her glaive by near the head and crept quietly to one side.

“One and one are two?” said Zipper, hesitantly. Then “Two and two are four”, more conversationally. “Four and four are eight!” she said like it was the biggest joke ever.

Delta had decided if she were going to sneak up on someone at the top, she would come up on the side opposite the forest, then creep around to where the transverse axle connected to the blades, since there was the most cover there. So, she crept around the far side and hugged the curve closely. It was always better to assume your enemy was smarter than you. It was just less embarrassing in the end.

And then she saw it. A hooded head was just raising itself over the edge. Not seeing anything immediate, two clawed hands reached further up and pulled it halfway over the edge. Delta kept as still as she could, but the goblin only spared a glance to that side of the dome. It was fixed mostly on the main axle, and the wheeled support that cradled it and allowed it to pivot around the platform. It pulled itself the rest of the way onto the platform and began to slink in that direction.

Delta had never seen a goblin before, and she wasn’t quite sure this counted as seeing one now. It wore a hood, which came down over its shoulders. Its clothes were dark and tight, covering a small frame, about the size of a dwarf, but much slighter.

She gave it time to progress to its target, creeping around the center dome just enough to keep the goblin in sight. She wanted to give it just enough time… there it was. The goblin had stiffened and strained forward. It had just noticed Zipper was alone. It whipped around just as Delta was closing the distance on it.

“Surprise!” shouted Delta and lunged at it with her glaive. The goblin leaped to the side and eeled under the axle, putting it between them. Delta struck several times over and under the bar, keeping the goblin engaged in dodging her.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Until thunk, Zipper’s spear caught it flat in the back. “Surprise, surprise”, chortled Zipper.

The goblin fell to the ground, breath knocked out of it. The two mercenaries held their pole arms ready, waiting for its next move. They saw the goblin’s breathing start up again, and it looked desperately from one to the other. It then sprang out of its curled-up position, not at either of them, but along the shaft. It leapt from the edge, trying for one of the windmill sails. Delta was quicker and slashed the goblin in mid leap, knocking it off its trajectory. It hit the sail hard, and failed to get a grip, wailing in a high-pitched shriek as it slid down the slats. It fell then, bounced against the side of the windmill, and landed with a solid thump on the ground.

“Two down”, said Zipper.

“Thirty more to go”, said Delta.

The ruckus in the forest had quietened with the shriek. It turned into more angry grumbling and the tromp of feet.

“Here they come”, said Delta. Dark shapes could be seen trudging up the hill toward them, ignoring the cover.

“But what are they going to do when they get here?” asked Zipper. “They look like spears to me.” Then she slapped herself. “Oh, yeah.” She put her spear down and picked up the bow. After three tries she got it strung and nocked an arrow. “Get ready to laugh”, she said.

Her arrow whipped out into the night, not aimed at any individual goblin, but at the general congregation of dark masses. Yelps and cries went up.

“Did I hit something?” asked Zipper, incredulously.

Delta peered out over the edge. “You didn’t need to.” The goblins had scattered from the dense formation to a broader one. Now they were clinging to every piece of cover they could find. “Just stand there silhouetted and make sudden moves now and again.”

“That works”, said Zipper.

“I just hope none of them have any bows”, added Delta.

“I just hope any they have are as bad as me”, said Zipper, in good cheer.

No archers materialized, and Zipper saved her few arrows for more opportune moments. It took them a while, but the goblins did eventually take the hill and an unruly mob gathered at the base of the windmill.

Before long they started beating on the main door. It crashed and reverberated up and down the windmill. Delta hooked her glaive on some of the support struts and used it to anchor her while she leaned far out to get a good look directly down.

“No one brought an axe”, she said. “The door is tough, but it’s not going to last forever.”

They picked up a solid oak bench they had lugged up to the top. They swung it between them and gave it just enough of an arc to clear the edge. It went crashing down below raising some satisfying howls from the goblins underneath. They stopped for a while, until they were sure there wasn’t anything else coming down, then started up again. After a couple more pieces of furniture they put a spotter out to watch and give a cry when the next piece came.

Zipper looked at the sack of flour and scratched her chin. “I have an idea.” She picked up a torch they had in reserve and handed it to Delta. “We’re not worried about archers, right?” Delta nodded. “Light that and hold it for me.”

Zipper moved the sack of flour to just above the door, and gently scored the side of it, not quite slitting the coarse fabric. She nudged the bag over the edge and leaned out to watch it fall. There was a warning cry from below, and then lots of shouts of alarm as the bag hit, and a huge cloud of flour dust went up. She grinned and motioned for the torch. Leaning out again, Zipper dropped it and then dove for cover.

There was a woomph and a flash of light as Delta watched a gout of flame shine from over the edge. Laughing hysterically Zipper pulled herself to the edge to look over. Screaming goblins were running all ways flapping around, crashing into things, and each other.

Delta looked at Zipper in alarm. “Did you serve with the Gnomes?”

Zipper laughed even more, then wiped tears from her eyes. “Let’s just say country life can get really, really boring. You would be surprised what you get up to for amusement.”

Delta looked over the edge again. “No fires. I’m not sure there are any bodies.”

Zipper shrugged. “The light probably upset them more than the fire. They’ll work out no one was hurt in a bit, I’m sure. But it might put the fear of Hearth Mother into them.”

The goblins did calm down in the end, but it took them over an hour to work up the nerve to approach the windmill. And, when they did, they had a few captains about to make sure none of them congregated too closely in one spot.

“I think they are going for the 1st floor door”, said Delta, after leaning out for a bit. “They’re forming a sort of pyramid to scale the side.” She looked about. “We should drop what we have and get down there.”

Zipper looked up at the stars and sighed. “We still have several hours before first light. Here’s to luck.”