Linus Level 66 Consul
The last transition off had been rough. Despite what he had said to the young priestess, she had become invaluable to the system they had developed to endure the almost constant waves of enemies.
Linus checked the gnomish device they had in the corner of the large healer's tent and saw that she still had an hour left on her leave. Erash had done her best to heal the worst cases before they came down, but they were losing too many in the wait to be seen by the few acolytes. The non-combatant's growth had been shocking in the last couple of days, but nowhere near enough to keep up with the strain of the constant inflow of near-dead and injured. The exhausted supply of health potions had made a difference, but they were gone.
Erash had blessed everything the fletchers and smiths had sent a few hours ago, but those supplies had run out as well. Linus thought about going up to check on her again, and while the tempestuous High Priestess was hard to read, the last time he had seen her, Linus would have bet that she was about to collapse. They all were.
None of the leadership had slept and they were all showing it. They had used every trick in the book to keep the soldiers as fresh as possible, but the wear of the battle showed deeply on everyone’s face… Well, besides Hiro. The Samurai Guardian had stayed near Erash’s side, making sure she only spent mana on healing or essential counters to certain enemy pushes, and seemed unaffected by the days he had spent on his feet, guarding their most precious resource.
“Watchman,” Linus called to a passing soldier who looked every bit as haggard as he felt. The Satyr was joining a century about to head back into the city for a few hours' rest.
“Consul!” he turned and saluted,
“When you get back to the camp, I need you to find the Priestess and send her back here.”
The soldier nodded sharply and then jogged off to join his century. They were down to twenty-four units… Yet every surviving man and woman had seen an increase of at least twenty levels in the last days… He once again winced at the lost opportunity. If they had true military classes and Unit Magics they could have benefited so much more, but as things stood, they where holding on.
When Aurelia returned, he just needed to find a way to get Erash a rotation off the wall and maybe, just maybe they could hold another day.
“BWWWWAAAAAAHHHH” A distant horn sounded.
A million things shot through the Consul's mind as he dashed from the tent and up the main stairs. Stalling tactics shattered in his mind as his day's long suspicion was finally confirmed. These tactics of attrition had grated on him. Not because they weren’t valid, but because they seemed to be completely in contrast with the nature of their enemies. His commander’s instinct had itched in anticipation of the whole balance crashing down and the enemy throwing forward all of its reserves at once.
Whatever reason held the main body of the Horde back, it could not last. He had known this as sure as the setting of the sun. So he had done his best to balance the scales for this moment, holding what little they could in reserve, preparing for this moment.
“Bastions! With me! Marcellus, get your ass on this wall, and fill out the first Rank!” Linus shouted down at the unofficial Bastion transition area near the stairs, where the surly veterans had waited days to face the enemy as a unit. They had all gained many levels on the wall leading their respective centuries… but there was not a man among them that didn’t long to show the enemy the true strength of the Line.
Linus kept up his shouting even as he topped the wall, “I want three more centuries up here! Form Second, Third, and Fourth Ranks behind the Bastion line. I want two more units in reserve on the stairs! The rest of you, form behind the wall! We are all in the fight now!” He declared as men and women started to rush in different directions at his commands.
He found Erash leaning heavily on her staff muttering an incantation as he approached. She finished and gestured forward tiredly, forming a circle of glowing runes that magnified the enemy forces enough to see clearly.
“Is it wise to use this again?” Hiro asked at her side, his ear twitching as the distant horn sounded again.
“I don’t think many of them are looking our way at this moment.” She replied tiredly, as she used the divination spell to scan the horizon until it hit on a distant glint. Night had fallen hours ago and you could barely see the Horde in the dark, but something about the spell also made its targets plainly visible.
There, moving forward at a trot building into a canter was a line of Heavy Calvary. As Linus watched, the spell began to populate classes and levels. The first rank all had the class, Knight of the Sanguine Order, their average levels looking to be in the upper seventies… But more importantly, they looked to be charging directly at the Horde's rear.
As soon as he saw this, a fierce smile cut Linus's face. This was somehow tied to the human's actions... he could feel it. They stood little chance of surviving the night, but at least now there was a chance.
Erash quickly panned back to the enemy mass and found disarray and infighting had begun amongst the chaotic groups that formed the enemy force. The monster's mysterious discipline was gone and Linus’s hope flared further. Then a fierce barking call resounded through the milling chaos, echoing so powerfully that even Linus felt the pull of some of its magic.
In response, the entire Horde split to meet their opponents on both fronts. Their heavy units moved into a counter-charge against the Knights, followed by thousands of support. The rest of the main body began to amble in a charge directly at the wall. Erash pulled back the scope of the magnification to sweep the entire mass.
Linus wasn’t sure of the count, but his gut told him there must still be ten to fifteen thousand coming in the charge against the wall. The average Flame’s Watch level was now in the forties… But it wouldn’t be enough to face what would likely be at least a thousand of the enemy’s elites at once. The mass movement built into a frenzied charge as the enemy army committed itself in its entirety to the attack.
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“BASTIONS!” Came a booming shout to the right of the lens Erash had created. Linus couldn’t keep the death’s head grin from forming on his face as he looked over to see the last of his old unit filing into the first rank of defenders on the wall, with Threstus at their center. The waiting was over, it was good to finally, honestly lay all the cards on the table.
“Vacation’s over!!” The new Commander shouted theatrically up and down the formation. “It's time to show these dogs what it means to HOLD THE LINE!” As one, the empire’s finest soldiers slammed down their shields on the edge of the wall, and began to emit the familiar glow of their unit magic.
“SHIELDS UP! Let our enemy come and crash against us! DON’T GIVE AN INCH!”
The familiar notifications washed over him as Linus’s soul brimmed with nostalgia and not a small amount of pride. The centuries that filled in behind the first Rank, however, had never seen the unit in action. They only knew these men as commanders, a role his men had chafed under just as much as he had.
The effect of the magic taking hold was unmistakable. The shuffling stopped, murmuring quieted, and the top of the wall became unnaturally still, facing the sea of approaching enemies unmoved. Spears bristled over the heads of the first rank, who stood with stoic, almost bored expressions. These were soldiers who had elevated indifference in the face of death to an art form. Linus would know… He had trained almost all of them himself.
He didn’t know what that Calvary was capable of, or if the status of the quest was even close to being complete. But none of that mattered…
They would hold... as long as it took.
…
Cog, Level 0 Gnomish Child
A little sigh of relief escaped his mouth as Cog considered their closing window of opportunity. They wouldn't even have a chance if those overbearing treehuggers hadn’t been so busy constantly checking the plant barrier for bad guys trying to sneak in. The two oldies seemed to have eyes in the backs of their heads.
But even with them busy, no one was just leaving them to their own business. No matter how many times Cog snuck into the Alchemist’s burgeoning workshop, someone would always come for him before nightfall to collect him back to the “safety” of the oldies house near the forest. Well away from the city, the refugee camp, and the wall.
Away from anything that mattered.
“Mrs. Amelia asked us to watch you! You need to be grateful and mind her wishes.”
“Running messages is plenty important! Do what you can now, and soon enough you will be able to help in other ways!”
The adults kept repeating these stupid sayings over and over. The original fifty that had hung around Mrs. Cooper’s shop may not have been adults, but they sure as Pits weren’t kids. To make matters worse, the youngest of their number had snuck off and somehow become full-grown, with a Class and everything!
It wasn’t fair, and no matter how many times he asked about it, they just kept stonewalling him.
He was sick of it.
‘Everyone else gets to fight! It's not like keeping us penned up at night will save us if they get through…’
These and other more intrusive thoughts had made Cog what the adults called, “surly”. Well, they could think what they wanted… He and the rest of the originals were going to find out just how Aurelia had done it, and to do that, they needed to make it to the temple without any more of the adult’s meddling.
So they had hatched a plan. Earlier that day, Cog had run messages with the rest of them, getting away as soon as possible to the Alchemist workshop. He liked the three haggard crafters who seemed to do little besides work and sleep. As long as he wasn’t in the way, they treated him like another of the assistants hoping to unlock the class and never mentioned his age, or lack of Class.
He spent the last few hours till evening crushing leaves into powder in bulk, running out to get more wood for the cauldron fire… whatever they needed, but all the while, he kept an eye out for a few of the more “useful” ingredients. He didn’t feel that bad about pocketing a few things, they weren’t that valuable and probably could be counted as payment for all his hard work anyway.
But just as the sky started to change hues, he snuck around the back of the workshop, and started rolling zip rocks in along with spark leaves, twisting the edges of the water-tight packet just like his favorite uncle had taught him…
“Cog! What have you got there?” One of the Farm hands said, coming up on his not-so-hidden spot and trying to catch a glimpse of what was in his hands. Cog slipped the packet into his pockets, not bothering to hide the guilty look on his face.
“They gave me some sweets for the rest of the kids… I just wanted to try one!” He wheedled.
The farmhand's eyes softened and a knowing smile quirked the edge of her mouth, “Oh, alright. I won’t tell then. But it is time to come along.”
‘Idiots.’ Cog thought, disgusted at how quickly she bought that load of Auroch crap.
…
“Everybody ready?” He whispered into the large room where they usually bedded down for the night. Mila sat straight up, throwing off covers and showing her fully clothed form, her horns glinting in the moonlight. If he was the brains of the outfit, she was the brawn.
“Yeah, we are all ready to go. You got the goods?” She whispered back. Cog nodded slowly in response, his teeth glinting in sharp anticipation.
“What's the status on Flavian” She turned and whispered to the little form at the door.
“He’s out!”
“Alright, let's move. And for Pit’s sake, everyone keep quiet!” Cog followed up, barely keeping his voice down himself in his excitement.
The whole group filed out into the short hall, past Flavian, the farm hand who had watch duty tonight. He liked to sit for the first part of his watch, and would almost always be asleep by the time his shift was up.
They eased through the doorway, past the farmhand house that the rest of the workers slept in. Both George and Edna had been called away almost every night as stray bad guys pressed the barriers at different points near the wall.
If they were ever going to make it to the temple, tonight was their night. The moon shone brightly as they moved through the quiet fields, staying as close to the river as possible.
This was the trickiest part of their plan. The newly built stone bridge was guarded, and not an option… But the old ice bridge had held up surprisingly well, showing as a sparkling ruin just above the water upstream from the bridge. It was almost completely gone, but it could still be crossed if they were careful… and small.
Mila had perfected this over the last few days, and she helped each of their group over the uneven mostly melted structure. Once they were all over to the other shore and quite a bit wetter, they followed the river bank until it met the base of the mountain.
It would take about an hour or two to climb in the dark, but they would be halfway up before the next farm hand woke up Flavian at midnight and found the ‘Originals” missing.
Too late to stop them.