Right between the four slugs, and heading straight for the gate, was what looked like a moving volcano.

The monster was a snail, bigger than the house they currently perched atop. Its shell was made of obsidian, with sharp angles jutting in every direction. The body was made of red-hot magma—spurts of fire shot out from gaps in its shell and from its roiling body when bubbles of magma burst.

The grass before the advancing boss wilted and died before even coming into contact with the creature, small tufts of grass catching alight and burning out within five-to-ten meters of the slow advance.

Around and in the wake of the five enormous creatures, hundreds more of the monsters that’d already fought were milling and moving forward. They traveled with their leader, either ensuring its protection, or receiving protection from their benefactor’s overwhelming presence.

At least it looks like we have some time, Orion reflected.

It would take an hour, maybe more, for the slow-moving monsters to reach the town.

But what can we hope to do when they get here?

Orion shuddered and quickly sent a message to Tash, informing her as succinctly as possible of everything they had learned.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Shadow asked.

Orion smiled, knowing full well what he meant. They still had defending to do, and there was no reason they couldn’t keep using the warren they had created.

Even if it was a bad idea to let Orion do the planning, the setup was already done, and they would just have to make the best of it. He’d have to be a bit more careful with the newly discovered abilities of the creatures to get over the damn walls, but with Shadow at their side, Orion felt a lot more secure.

He turned to Arika.

“Is your leg healed enough to move?”

“I don’t have much of a choice, but yeah, it’s fine.”

Shadow slid down a drainpipe. Orion and Arika slid back down after him, arriving just as the gaseous clouds were dissipating.

Arika smiled through gritted teeth.

“Let’s kill some more of these fuckers.”

***

“Fish on!” Honeypot yelled, as a half-fish, half-wolf creature bit down on the bait at the end of his line and swallowed it whole. He arched his back, pulling as hard as he could as if to set a non-existent hook, but the line snapped as soon as it touched the wolf’s razor-sharp incisors. “Damn, he busted me off! That was a big one, too!”

“Move over, you suicidal fool!” Tallon raised his launcher, but Treyu put his hand on the man’s hand before the explosive shot could fly out.

“We need to see how long the poison takes to kick in,” Treyu said. “Wait, please.”

“Wisely put, young acolyte.” Honeypot was watching the wolf intently, looking for any visible changes.

Almost immediately, the wolf took a step back, appearing confused. It looked up at them, growled and took a step forward, then its head darted back as if recoiling from a flick on the nose.

“Ahh. See the effect already, my steadfast apprentice?”

“I do, boss.”

“Take note of that, Treyu.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Yes, boss.” Treyu pulled out a notebook, furiously scribbling down notes before returning it to his pocket.

The wolf continued to sway, looking at the adventurers, then darting its head around as if looking at invisible enemies. Three more wolves appeared around the corner from where the first wolf had come.

The afflicted wolf lunged at the first one, grabbing its hind leg and shaking viscously. The bitten wolf yelped and swung its head around to snarl and bite at its attacker. The other two paused in their run, raising their ears and looking at the brawling wolves in clear confusion.

“Ah!” Treyu squeaked as he took a step back and one foot accidentally slipped into the waste-water.

The noise drew the two wolves, who looked back toward the adventurers. They lowered their ears once more, and advanced as one, no longer caring about the fighting two behind them.

“Treyu,” Honeypot said.

“Yes, boss?”

“Take note that I need to verbally and or physically reprimand you for that later.”

Treyu sighed and pulled out his notebook. “Yes, boss.”

“Alright.” Honeypot took a step back, removing his hand from Tallon’s launcher. “Permission to release the boom is granted. Try to only hit the advancing two, if you please. That goes from now on, too. Don’t shoot any creatures that appear confused or disoriented. They will serve as our saboteurs.”

“Finally,” Tallon said, smiling and bracing his launcher against his shoulder. “You just tell us when and what to shoot, alright?” Tallon began to squeeze the trigger, but paused, turning his head to Honeypot. “You may want to take cover behind the—”

Honeypot, and everyone else, were already hiding behind the wall at the split in the tunnel, six heads poking out and looking at him. Honeypot smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

Tallon swore, also backed up, then pulled the trigger at the now-loping wolves.

His single shot raced forward, slamming into the two fishy-wolf-things and leaving only chunks behind. Air blasted down the tunnel, and he pulled his body behind the wall as a misty wall of filth sprayed where he had just been standing.

Honeypot peaked his head around the corner nonchalantly, seeing the two advancing wolves were no longer whole, and the two fighting wolves had settled their dispute, the afflicted specimen winning he bout, now standing over its victim and frothing at the mouth as its head darted around in disoriented fervor.

“All that from a single sausage,” Fener said. “I almost feel bad for the thing.”

“Ma'am…” Honeypot said. “With all due respect, that thing would eat you butt-hole first, given the opportunity.”

“Charming.” She gave Honeypot a flat stare.

“Indeed, my way with words is as prodigal as my apprentice-here’s way with animal treats.” Honeypot turned, casually walking further down the tunnel to his next defense point. “Come along, my innocent-yet-deadly-capable friends. We got more trappin’ and ‘splodin to do.”

Without breaking stride, Honeypot threw another sausage over his shoulder, down the hallway they’d come from.

***

Gizmo had been having the time of his life when the first magical-light was shot out. One minute, he had been gleefully shooting bolts from his Giz-bow, stealing the life from any enemy who dared come within his sights. The next, a projectile shot from an indeterminable location, and the bulb of one light blasted into thousands of pieces.

A few seconds later, the next shot took an adventurer in the chest, doing almost enough damage to kill the woman on the spot. She was launched back to the ground, and if not for the healer standing by, most likely would have died from the bleeding.

A full third of the cleared land before the western gate was now dark, and the smarter of the monsters that exited the trees started using it as cover, dashing and running as fast as they could into the cover of the night. The adventurers atop the wall started panicking. Some hid behind outcroppings after seeing the other adventurer be on the receiving end of a magical projectile. Others still shot their abilities, but at a much less effective rate, having to aim at only vaguely visible targets.

Another shot flew forth from the darkness, this one aimed at Gizmo. He saw it coming, moving his head out of the way too slowly, but unnecessarily; the shot missed his head by approximately 12.5815333 centimeters—recurring, of course.

Gizmo sprung into action, seeing a simple solution for the lack of vision. He picked up one of the remaining three lights, lifted it above his head, and aimed it at the darkened section. Gizmo suddenly made tens of creatures clearly visible again by moving the lights back and forth, intermittently lighting up both sections.

“Stop being cowards!” Captain Blanc roared as he also sprung into action. “Take your shot, then roll out of the fucking way! They’re not a perfect shot, and we have healers if you get hit!”

Shots from the wall began hammering the now-visible creatures once more, the revealed monsters being easy targets out in the open without cover. A fourth shot came from the enemy forces in retaliation, shattering another of the lamps.

“Ohhh! Roll!” Gizmo hummed in delight. “What a fantastic idea!” He Pulled his legs and head into his body, leaving only his arms extended above his head with the light firmly grasped in his metal hands. He rolled around on top of the wall, keeping the light upright and swinging the beam of light back-and-forth over the darkened night.

“Hey! You!” Captain Blanc pointed at a man that didn’t have any long range attacks, and was cowering behind cover. “Grab the other light and do what Gizmo is doing!”

“G-Gizmo?” the man asked in confusion.

“The robot! Do what the robot is doing!”

“B-but I could get hit…”

The Captain smiled at him malevolently. “In that case, I suggest you move fast.”