They slew the first two who exited The Pig and Iron. It was tempting to stay and do more damage, but that wasn’t the plan. If they got overwhelmed here, it could all go wrong. Edmund pulled Ashlyn away, and they retreated back towards the church.

Outside the church entrance, they turned to face their enemies. A mass of people escaped the burning inn, six of whom were brigands. Three more of them exited the smithy, no doubt after hearing the commotion. Another came from the direction of a house on the same side of the road as the church. That made ten in all.

The Baron highlighted the nearest with the Rod of Light. The Bowman’s arrow flew down from the church roof and slammed into him, doing six points of damage.

‘Is it me,’ Ashlyn commented, ‘or is he getting better?’

The brigands kept coming, but something was wrong. No missiles came from the opposite side of the road. That was the whole point of the plan, catching the enemy between the archers. Edmund peered into the shadows of the houses where he expected The Explorer and the others to be, but couldn’t see anything.

The brigands were getting closer now, threatening to rush them. There was no time for prevarication.

‘Come on,’ he said to Ashlyn, silently cursing. ‘We need to get inside.’

They retreated into the church.

***

Brickhouse

Human

Brigand

Action Stats

EXP Level

3

Action Points

5

Hit Points

22

Weapons

Pike (Breaker, To Hit +2, Damage +2, damage 3-12)

Armour

Ring mail

The Explorer shot at the big target of Brickhouse. His arrow pierced the man’s ring mail. Jaelin nocked another arrow and released it. The second struck home as well. In total, he took ten hit points from the brigands’ leader.

Mila was the next to react. The intimidating figure of Brickhouse persuaded her to select one of the other brigands. She got in close and surprised herself when her dagger pierced the tough hide of his armour and took two points of damage. Her final stab was a miss, much more in keeping with her expectations.

Brickhouse charged at The Explorer, intent on taking out an archer.

Jaelin was fortunate that he had reduced the big man’s action points to three. Nevertheless, he reached him with one action, and slammed Breaker down with horrendous force. Jaelin fell to nine hit points, and his bow stave lay broken on the ground. Brickhouse’s final strike was a poor miss, betraying a lack of skill with the weapon, which probably saved The Explorer’s life.

Twerk ran for the third brigand. His twin axes swung—a hit and a miss, dealing nine damage. His next action was the same again, but it was enough to kill the brigand outright. The gnome still had enough points to reach Mila’s opponent and launch a final attack, for which she was grateful. Neither strike penetrated.

But it meant that now it was the brigand’s turn, he decided to target the gnome instead of Mila. He only caught Twerk with his third and final hit, causing three damage.

Auntie’s turn. She took up position by Jaelin’s side and swung her cudgel. Her first two strikes connected, but took a paltry three hit points from Brickhouse.

With his bow stave broken, The Explorer drew his dagger. His first cut took four hit points from Brickhouse, taking him down to five. But Jaelin’s next strike was weak, and failed to get through his opponent’s armour.

Uninjured, Mila had three chances to wound the brigand she and Twerk faced. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make a single one count.

Brickhouse flailed with Breaker, but again failed to strike Jaelin. His one action point used, it looked to Mila like her crew now had the upper hand.

Both of Twerk’s axe strikes sunk home, killing the brigand he faced. He moved behind Brickhouse, and despite the height disparity, landed a blow. Brickhouse slumped to the ground, unconscious. The gnome raised his axe to deliver the coup de grace.

‘No!’ Auntie shouted at him. ‘Remember, Stiff said to take him alive.’

With some reluctance, Twerk dropped his arm.

Auntie knelt by the side of Brickhouse. ‘Come on, Mila! Help me with him.’

‘With him?’ Jaelin asked, slumping to the ground.

‘You’ll live,’ Auntie said. ‘He might not.’

Mila caught movement on the other side of the road. An arrow flew down from the church roof and struck one of the brigands. One of ten. As she watched, they barged open the door of the church and swarmed in.

‘They’re in trouble over there,’ she warned.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

‘I see them,’ said Twerk. ‘You help Auntie. I’ll go help the others.’

***

‘We’ll need our shields for this,’ Edmund said.

They wasted no time in securing their shields to their left arms, then he led Ashlyn to the winding stone steps that led to the tower.

‘This is the best place for a stand,’ he told her. ‘They can’t surround us and make their superior numbers count.’

Ashlyn nodded. She looked uncertain, rather than afraid. ‘Do you think we can beat them?’

‘Christoph has softened them up for us. And the others should arrive at any moment.’

It wasn’t an answer, but the girl accepted it.

The door burst open. They retreated a few steps, so they were out of sight of the brigands. Edmund heard them searching the ground floor rooms. But it was no surprise when a group approached the stairs. After all, they knew Stiff’s crew had an archer on the roof.

The first brigand wasn’t stupid. Unfortunately. He led with a short spear, which made it hard to take him by surprise. Edmund pushed it aside with his shield, then came with his sword. But the steps were steep, the angle of descent tight, and the brigand easily escaped him before he had a chance to thrust with Slayer. The brigands called their comrades, and Edmund retreated to his original position on the outside wall of the steps.

The brigands gathered at the bottom of the steps, calling out challenges. But Edmund had no intention of going down to meet them, and it seemed they weren’t in any rush either. He wondered what that meant in regard to the fates of Auntie, Twerk, and the others. But whatever had happened to them, there was no point in getting him and Ashlyn killed, and so he waited.

Sound from the steps above made him turn. It was only The Bowman, no doubt drawn by the noise. ‘They’re all down there?’ he asked.

‘Yes. Unless you’ve seen anything outside?’

‘Nothing.’ He wafted his bow stave. ‘Should I shoot them?’

‘It’s not safe,’ Edmund answered. ‘The angle is so tight you’d have to be on them before you could shoot, and at least one has a spear. Better if you position yourself at the top of the stairs. Should we need to retreat up there, you can be ready to catch them.’

‘Alright.’ With a brief nod at Ashlyn, the lad returned upstairs.

‘You can see he cares about you,’ Edmund commented.

Ashlyn said nothing, staring ahead.

Meanwhile, the brigands had evidently decided to break the deadlock. The spearman was back, and this time he wasn’t stopping. The angle of the steps meant Edmund was his natural target. He tried to move out of the way, but the space was too tight. To his frustration, it was a clean strike to his midriff. He lost six hit points, and his action points dropped to five as a result. At least when the second strike came, he had the strength to block it with the Shield of Resistance.

Now it was his turn. He still had five action points. Enough to do some damage before they took him down. He led with the shield, and followed with Slayer. The spearman fended him off at first, the weapon working well in the close quarters of the stairwell. Edmund connected with his shield—a blow on the head that stunned his opponent, but he still struggled to get his sword going. He was frustrated now, his chances at making an impression on the enemy evaporating.

His second shield strike finally felled his opponent. The next brigand was so close, he was able to slam Slayer in his direction on the same action round, but the thug somehow blocked it with his short sword. Finally, on his fourth action, he got in a sword stroke that left a corpse. Blood pumped down the steps. Keen to make amends for his lack of progress, he rushed and slipped on the spattered stone, barely keeping his feet—his turn done. Eight brigands still left. Sorry, Ashlyn, he had time to think.

The girl appeared on his right, shield held up, Greenblade at the ready.

He was proud to see her draw her opponent’s club to her shield, then strike with her sword in the space she’d created. The strike was true, and she slaughtered the brigand with one stroke. She didn’t hesitate to continue, this time landing a blow with her shield rather than her sword. Two fails on her third action and she had one chance left. This time, both shield and sword struck and Ashlyn slew a fourth brigand.

But that still left six.

They had to climb up the gore covered steps, over bodies. Perhaps, Manslayer dared hope, that would be enough to slow them.

The first came for Edmund.

Another damned spear.

Two chances. The first strike missed. The second clashed against Slayer, then somehow slid on into his shield arm. Three damage. He could live with that.

The next reached Ashlyn and thrust forward with a short sword. She stopped it with her shield, then leaned flat against the wall and avoided the follow up.

A third squeezed his way between the others, his club aimed at Edmund’s knees. He dropped his shield to take the blow, then failed to stop the brigand giving him a sharp crack on the head for one more point of damage.

There were three more of the bastards, but they couldn’t get past their comrades.

Edmund grinned. His turn. Shield and sword dispatched the spearman. With his second action he crunched his shield against the clubman’s wrist, making him drop his weapon. With his third, Slayer severed his head from his shoulders. With his fourth, the sword penetrated the swordsman’s hide armour, through his chest and out the other side.

Ashlyn didn’t hesitate to continue the attack. Making her way around the steps, she found the three remaining brigands. All looked hesitant. All had an arrow wound, courtesy of The Bowman.

A shield blow reduced the first from ten to seven. On her final two turns, she only managed one hit. It was more than enough to finish the injured brigand.

The remaining two brigands took a moment to look at one another. Then turned and ran.

***

Wilson tore across the road towards the church, knowing every moment counted. He barged open the door. Two wild-eyed brigands were coming straight for him.

He let his axes fly.

A miss. A miss. A miss. A miss. Crap on it. A hit and a miss.

His hit saw his axehead sink into the forehead of a brigand, killing him instantly. But the other one smashed a gauntleted fist into the side of the gnome’s head as he ran past and burst out of the church.

***

The door of the church was flung open once more. It took Mila a few moments to identify who it was.

One of the brigands.

Then she realised he was sprinting in her direction.

So intent was the man on escaping that he didn’t notice Mila, Auntie, and Jaelin before he was on them.

Two stabs with her dagger and both struck home, reducing his hit points from thirteen to nine. I’m getting good at this!

Auntie joined her, swinging her cudgel with venom, and not getting close even once.

The Explorer, badly wounded and keen to avoid another blow, threw his dagger. It struck Mila between the shoulder blades, doing four points of damage.

She then received a gauntleted fist in the face, before the brigand broke off and ran past them, heading for the north of town.

He stumbled, and Mila realised he had taken an arrow in the back. As he regained his feet and pressed on, she saw The Bowman putting another arrow to his string. The second took the brigand in the buttocks. He fell to the ground, and didn’t get up.

MISSION COMPLETE

SUCCESS: Eisenberg was liberated

Some of your mercs improved their stats:

Twerk:

Skill with axes: expert

The Bowman:

Agility +1

Might +1

Hit Points +1

Auntie:

Agility +1

Mila:

Might +1

Hit Points +1

Skill with knives: competent

Manslayer:

Intellect +1

Ashlyn:

Might +1

Hit Points +1

Skill with shields: proficient

The Explorer:

Skill with bows: proficient

No mercs levelled up