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When I returned to town, seeing our livestock grazing in the meadow alarmed me. People milled about town, checking the doors and hatches secured across the building’s openings. The only buildings not boarded up were the battle college and orrery, whose entrances opened too wide for make-shift doors, but neither building concerned me. Dino couldn’t be killed, and the orrery’s contents weren’t vulnerable to regular weapons.

I spotted Murdina first. “Why is everyone outside the barbican? The goblins are in the woods, only an hour away.”

After a casual glance north, she shrugged and gestured to her flock. “Gobs won’t come during the day. I thought the animals would like some fresh vittles and exercise.”

Greenie functioned comfortably as long as he stayed indoors during the day. His transition made me believe goblins could quickly acclimate to daylight hours. Murdina, who had suffered their enslavement, seemed to treat it as an unbreakable truth. Goblins hated sunlight.

After I spotted four guards from Fort Krek, I called them over and relayed my nighttime encounter. They echoed the same lack of concern about attacks during daylight. Yula, Iris, and Ida gave everyone leave from the barbican during the day. Ringing chimes at dinner brought everyone inside. Even the work crew had returned to constructing the temple.

I headed to the building site, hailing Rocky and the cooking crew, who grilled meats. Nearby, the bakery’s ovens filled the air with the aroma of baked bread. Aside from closed hatches and doors, it seemed like a typical workday.

Beaker flew toward the lake, likely looking for a fresh meal. It cheered me to know his death in last night’s hectic combat hadn’t affected his appetite.

Corporal Lazaar greeted me at the barbican’s gates with a salute, as she seemed to be the officer in charge at the moment. “Good to see you, governor.”

I nodded and returned the salute. “Corporal, is Commander Yula or Iris inside?”

“Commander Yula is in the manor, awaiting news from the perimeter.”

“Is there anyone in the forest?”

Lazaar nodded. “We’re performing a full sweep at the commander’s orders.”

“I’m countermanding them. Get some horses and intercept the scouts. Bring ‘em back. It’s too hot out there for anyone.”

“But Commander Yula—”

“Commanders answer to the governor—even during wartime. I’ve got intel that she doesn’t. In the meantime, our scouts are vulnerable. I want everyone inside the barbican after dinner. Do you have soldiers available to recall them?”

Lazaar saluted. “I’ll do it myself, sir.”

“Good. I’ll tell the commander and Captain Iris.”

Inside the manor, Ida scanned a matrix of work assignments at her desk while Yula glowered over the table covered in large sheets of parchment—Hawkhurst’s city plans.

“Hiding eenside houses ees fooleesh. Battle ees miles away.”

“I just came from the battle. You’re glad you missed it.” I gave her a detailed account of my fight, explaining why I rescinded her orders. The news hadn’t bothered her as much as the lack of things to do. We had nothing to do but wait until the goblins made the next move. Yula considered defensive situations an indignity. Orcs preferred to settle things on a battlefield, no matter the odds.

“Do either of you know where Captain Iris is?”

Ida didn’t look up from her charts to answer. “She’s double-checking her guild house—making sure it’s secure.”

“If they’re closing the barbican gates and I’m still asleep, don’t wait or wake me. I’ll Slipstream inside.”

Ida nodded without saying a word.

“Yula, I need to reset my cooldowns before the goblins return. Update anyone who wants to know what happened. Post a guard outside the manor to ensure no one bothers me while I rest.”

The orc hunter nodded.

I retired to my bedroom upstairs to get some badly needed sleep. I considered dismissing Beaker but decided against it. With his keen eyes, he might sound the alarm before anyone else, and if the goblins attacked before sundown, his caterwauling might help prepare us for battle.

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I didn’t expect to see enemies until Blood Drinker’s attack bonus diminished to zero. That gave me plenty of time for shuteye.

I awoke at night with reset cooldowns and a cleared head. I stretched contently, knowing my griffon let me sleep. It occurred to me Beaker played a significant role in Hawkhurst’s defense. Even if he picked up the wrong goblin, every reduction in Rezan’s forces reduced the damage his forces could cause.

Without a buffed-up Blood Drinker, my only course of action involved waiting for Rory and Fin to finish my darksteel blade. I made Rory’s forge my first visit.

Thankfully, no one downstairs waited for me in the manor offices, so I slipped out and secured the door behind me.

Forren’s unfinished temple counted for Hawkhurst Rock’s latest addition. The surrounding scaffolding made it look like a squat version of the barbican. It faced the lake and beside our hallowed ground of memorial stones and flagpole.

The pink sun peering over the Highwall Mountains gave the stone a purplish hue at this time of day. Rory’s smithy stood empty and shuttered up. All of Hawkhurst remained silent.

The map interface showed no one in the watchtower—but that made sense. Warnings weren’t necessary with the town already assembled.

I sent my Familiar a telepathic message. “Beaker, where are you?”

“I’m up high, and everyone is paying attention to me.”

Usually, that meant the town hall, but I suspected he roosted on the barbican’s roof, where the siege machines belonged. After Slipstreaming through an arrow slit, I climbed the stairs to the top floor. All eyes inside pointed north.

Lloyd spotted me first. “There he is, back from the rack. How was the nap, Cap?”

I winked at him. “Good to go and ready to rumble. Where’s Yula?”

Lloyd pointed to the huntress and Captain Jourdain. The pair leaned on the crenelations, peering into the forest. Along the edge, never-ending torches blazed in greens and blues. “Yula, do we have defense assignments?

She turned to Captain Jourdain, who nodded.

After opening my economy interface, I assigned everyone under my leadership. We weren’t out in the field and didn’t need speed buffs, so I saw no reason to designate militia members under Iris’s control.

“Yula, get these non-combatants on the second floor now. We need this floor cleared.”

Groans rippled throughout many of the humans crowding the roof. The noise sounded like children being sent to bed. Aside from Bernard and Blane, Angus was the only dwarf outside, and he stamped his foot at the news. “T’isn’t fair, Guv! I was gonna pish on ‘em when they got close.”

“You’ll have to hold it a little longer, Angus. We need the roof clear for battle.”

Angus shook his head. “Hold it, my eye! I’ll widdle into the river. Two pints of ale—gone to waste.”

Greenie busied himself fitting a brace between components on a ballista, and the space didn’t seem to his liking.

Beaker nestled himself between the ballistas, and while the goblin worked around him, he sat in the engineer’s way—as usual. My Familiar watched him work, indignant that someone had invaded the griffon roost with war machines.

I caught the goblin’s eye. “Are these gadgets operable?”

My griffon answered with a loud squawk, drawing our attention to him where he felt it rightly should be.

“Beaker, go look for goblins. Pick them up and drop them—if you can. Get the one with glowing eyes.”

Instead of taking flight, the griffon cried out in protest, as if letting Greenie concentrate would allow him to install something in his absence.

“Go on, now. Be a good boy and hunt goblins.”

Beaker’s confused expression made me laugh. “I don’t mean hunting Greenie. Go after the other goblins—the mean ones in the forest. Greenie’s a good goblin. He’ll build you a nest overlooking the castle when all this is over.”

Greenie turned to my pet. “Omitting a roost was a terrible oversight. For that, I apologize.”

After Beaker dove off the side of the barbican, I turned to Greenie. “Did you just tell a joke?”

“I don’t believe so, governor.”

Unable to tell if he acted facetious, I dropped the issue. “And the war machines?”

“To answer your question, neither ballista works. My winding mechanisms are an improvement over yesterday’s iteration. But I need to secure them so repeated use doesn’t loosen the housing.”

“Is this something that will work tonight?” I knew the answer already, but I had to ask.

“I’m afraid not, governor.”

“Still, it’s good to see you’re making progress.”

Greenie bowed before going downstairs.

After the civilians cleared the roof, I counted our defenders. The Sternway guild only had four mercenaries in town, including Iris and Lloyd. We had a dozen from Fort Krek, including Commander Thaxter, who watched over the stairs. With the Silverview brothers, our numbers matched Rezan and the Deathless—19 combatants.

I gave Lloyd my Eagle Eyes when I saw him scanning the tree line. “Thanks, Cap’n. I see no signs of goblins, but the little fellers are hard to spot. Sometimes I can hear ‘em caterwauling before catching sight of one.”

I gestured to the billhook in Lloyd’s arms. “I see you’ve landed a job on our welcoming committee.”

The old sailor grinned. “Same crew, different day. Repel all boarders, as they say. I used to keep billhooks handy in case we land any keepers.”

“I’m glad you’re not sore over delaying your second ferry. We needed the smithy for the ballistas and my sword.”

“Not a worry, sir. I’m refitting the design to address the ferry’s tracking. Me helpers, Otto and Gretchen, are getting a feel for the wind, but sometimes, they spin around like everyone else. Since these muddy waters leave plenty of room for a draft, I ‘spect a deeper keel will solve the problem.”

I didn’t understand, but sensed he didn’t need the blacksmiths. “I see. That reminds me I need to speak to Rory. Have you seen him downstairs?”

Lloyd winked at Bernard and Blane. “He’s below deck with the dwarves who have the sense not to fight goblins at night.”

After giving Lloyd an appreciative clasp on the shoulder, I headed downstairs. “It’s good to be back, Lloyd. I want to see what’s happening with my sword before things get hot.”

I met eyes with Commander Thaxter on my way down the stairs. Before I recapped my battle with the goblins, Lloyd interrupted us. “Goblin Ho! North-by-northwest. And bless my soul, but one has eyes blazing like stern lanterns on a foggy night.”