They were slightly faster than I had expected crossing the ground between us but this actually wasn't necessarily a good thing for them. Sure it lessened the amount of time needed to reach us but it also meant that avoiding any of the traps we had placed in front of our defences in enough time to do any good was a little harder than otherwise. Well those that they hadn't been able to detect before they had begun their charge anyway which unfortunately was more than half of them.

When they got to four hundred yards of us about twenty of them stopped and immediately got out their slings and started launching them at us. It was also at four hundred yards that our archers started opening fire at them, half targeting their slingers and the others the rest of them. I left it to the sergeant’s to order the men when to raise shields to defend against the incoming projectiles while I joined the archers firing on the enemy slingers and I managed to loose five arrows off before the rest of the Mibritum reached the area just outside our walls.

You have helped Slay (1/2) (Level 15 Hunter)

By which time thirty to forty of the enemy including seven of their slingers and six who had fallen to our traps were either dead or out of action and we had only lost ten to their slingers, thankfully none of whom were from my platoon. Once they reached the walIs I shot off one further arrow at a slightly wounded enemy before swapping my bow for my sword.

You have Slain (Level 16 Crafter)

By this time we had killed a few more of the enemy but still, there were about eighty of them right at our walls plus their remaining slingers who were still firing on us.

We tried our best to prevent the enemy from climbing, jumping on or over the walls or destroying them but our best wasn’t good enough, not by a long shot. Sure we still kept killing them but at a reduced rate and they of course started killing us.

You have helped Slay (1/2) (Level 14 Miner)

You have helped Slay (1/3) (Level 15 Hunter)

Thus very shortly thereafter I had to order the Platoon to withdraw from the walls in retreat, which they did so in a very disciplined manner. In the end, with lots of help from the Sergeants especially Tucker, we managed to successfully vacate the walls with minimal losses and regroup with the rest of the remaining defenders. While all the time the enemy tried their best to prevent this from happening and I am sad to say not everyone was so lucky, third platoon lost half their number before they we able to join up with the rest of us just in front of the entrance to the cavern were since it was still light out all the under-dwellers were currently residing.

You have Slain (Level 16 Hunter)

Your class rank has increased to 11, 2 Free Stat Points and an extra Class Skill slot awarded

Even if using my free stats might help me fight better doing anything about this in the middle of a fight was next to suicidal so I left it alone and I would deal with it later, provided I survived that was.

It was over an hour before sunset and until then they were unable to fight above ground with us and hopefully before then the enemy wasn’t able to get to them Delos ground. If that wasn’t the case then it would in all likelihood mean that most of the Ebony Hyenas Mercenary Company and the other humans fighting with us would already be dead or at the very least forced away from the cavern entrance.

By this point the enemy surrounded us and even the remaining slingers had joined them though they were still hanging back on top of the walls that we once called our own. We were down but we were far from out as could be witnessed from the number of arrows our archers myself included kept shooting at the enemy, especially the slingers, the wall of spears held high waiting for them to attack and those the scouts included on horseback just behind that wall of spears ready at a moments notice to charge at the enemy. We still outnumbered them, heck by a slightly larger percentage than we had at the start.

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No attempt had been made by them to talk to us though the same couldn’t be said of our side, we expected them to charge at any time and they did not disappoint. A long and bloody battle ensued and by the end of it not a one of us who remained alive was unwounded.

You have helped Slay (1/4) (Level 14 Crafter)

You have helped Slay (1/3) (Level 17 Hunter)

You have Slain (Level 16 woodsman)

The enemy was not so lucky as only a single one of them was still to be counted amongst the living and how long he would continue to be was anyone’s guess. We hadn’t slaughtered them near to a man because we were savages but because they were unwilling to give up. As long as they continued to breathe they continued to fight us and were unwilling to surrender.

We had originally left some of their wounded alive but the moment any of us turned our backs on them they bounced upon us and were unfortunately killed in the ensuing fight or killed themselves by drinking some kind of poison. Why this wasn’t the case with the one that did survive wasn’t completely clear until we searched his person and found the remains of a small vial of poison that had been shattered long before he was able to use it.

Out of the fifty-three men in my platoon myself included at the start of the fight seventeen were dead or not expected to live through the night, four may or may not be alive in a week, two will never hold a weapon in their dominant hand again and one will need a wooden leg. The rest of the company lost even more with fifty-nine dead including three of the scout under my command, eleven not expected to survive, nine whose fate was unsure and thirteen seriously wounded. Of the locals also involved in the fight the situation is even worse though his lordship Sir Reginald Moore was still alive and thankful for that fact.

Our fight against the Mibritum was over but our contract was not, the last of the Under-dweller pilgrims whose lives we had just saved had to be sent on their way and the return leg was still ahead of us. Our dead and that of the enemy had to be buried, their weapons and belongings collected and the holes that they had come out of investigated plus we had to make sure there were no more of them about and hope none of his lordships neighbours decided to take advantage of the situation.

But that was for tomorrow tonight was for beginning to mourn our dead and celebrating the lives they had led before their passing and perhaps even keeping the only surviving Mibritum alive long enough to find out why exactly they had attacked us.

Anyway, dealing with such things was not something I had any experience with or even wished to though I knew if I rose any further up the mercenary hierarchy one day that might have to change. Besides it was best left to his lordship, the captain and would no doubt require the help of the under-dwellers.

Before dealing with the progression of my class and other personnel matters I first had to deal with matters concerning my platoon and thus I ordered them to form up for a post-battle debriefing. While they were forming up I went looking for my sword that I had managed to drop and lose track of in the closing stages of the battle while dealing with one of the enemies who had proved a particularly challenging opponent.

That took longer than expected but then so did gathering the platoon for the debrief.

“Alright men once again it is time to mourn the passing of brave and valiant fellow mercenary soldiers who died so that we and others may live. It was not our time to die today but perhaps that will not prove true the next time we face foes whether lesser or greater than those on this day. If that be the case then I would hope that you will remember me as fondly as you no doubt do those who perished on this day.

I cannot say whether in the greater scheme of things their sacrifices are will mean anything but to those still alive today because of that sacrifice whether knowingly or not what does it matter if that is so or not. All that they care about is that today we faced our enemies and triumphed and because of that fact, they will not have to face them and the certain doom that would have meant for them.

Take solace in that fact as I do, never forget their sacrifice and the bravery of all the others yourselves included who fought most valiantly on this day and know that I am proud of the actions of each and every single one of you as should you all be. I would be proud to have you serve under me in a thousand battles and from what I have seen of you this day I know in each and every single one of those I and everyone else could depend on you to do your duty.

Now you are all dismissed, try not to get too drunk for we have work to do on the morrow, not as bloody as the work we did today mind you but then what is.”