“We should have some warning before they get here, so there’s no need for you to wait by the barricade,” Hamish told me.
“Is there someone tracking the enemy?” I asked, a bit worried that Hamish might be a bit overconfident in his ability to spot the enemy before they arrived.
“Yes, while the army is taking its time to muster, at least the leadership sent out a recon company of cavalry who are tracking the enemy’s progress. They send a rider every few hours to report back to their headquarters and they pass warning to us on the way. We should see the enemy here sometime around midnight,” Hamish advised.
“Good, what can I do to help now?” I asked, not wanting to stand around being useless while everyone else was working.
“How good are you with a shovel?” Hamish asked.
“Not great, but I have a few friends that can help,” I replied, summoning my team. With my class, the minions would remain for as long as I was here, so I didn’t have to worry about them despawning.
Hamish led us back to the fields surrounding the village. People were still hard at work, but I now realized that they weren’t bringing in the harvest, they were setting traps for when the enemy arrived. We were put to work digging leg breaker traps, narrow, but deep holes that would allow someone’s leg to slip in and then snap the limb as they fell. It was a rather nasty trap that would leave its victims crippled and easy prey for archers.
Some larger pits were camouflaged to look like part of the field. Inside were sharpened spikes that would do a number on anyone who fell in. In addition to the pits, there were also tripwires hidden where the crops still grew. Placed around where the body and head of a normal man would land if he was tripped up, several more spikes were waiting.
A dozen people were in the fields, and I joined them with Grulnok, Lillia, Rupert, and the hound. While the hound was of little use in the construction efforts, I had gotten used to having a dog around. Somehow, the companionship always made the work seem to go by more quickly. Melvin also joined the party, and while he gave the other workers a bit of a shock, one of them had a good suggestion as to how the gelatinous cube might contribute to the defense.
The idea was for Melvin to lurk inside one of the larger pits we were working on. When the enemy fell inside, he’d go to work on them. If everyone in the pit was down, he’d lurk around the fields, slipping into other pits, or dealing with the enemy tied up in the leg breaker traps. He seemed content to fill the role he was given, and I left him to it.
While we worked, Melvin made the rounds, and seemed excited to introduce himself to the other villagers. They were reluctant to get too close, it seemed that they had never heard of an intelligent version of his species, and the ones they knew were deadly ambush predators. It didn’t take long for the cube to win them over, and I spotted more than one try to slip him a treat from the lunches they’d brought with them.
It was hard work, and the villagers that had remained behind were mostly on the downhill slope of 60 years old. Still, they had grit and determination, doing as much as they could to help prepare for the village defense before the enemy arrived. I did catch a glimpse of riders from the cavalry unit moving past the village once. Hamish had remained in the forest and would let us know if the riders brought any urgent news.
I had arrived in the village in the early afternoon and by the time the sun was setting, everyone was too exhausted to continue with the heavy manual labor. My minions were still able to work, it seemed that since they were mana constructs, they recovered more quickly than normal. There was more to do, but the rest of the villagers were called away to rest before helping to work on defenses in the town, and the tricks they were planning inside the forest.
The village had known about the threat and with military efficiency, they had planned for the inevitable attack. Precut lumber for barricades, stockpiles of ranged weapon ammunition, and even smaller items like the wooden spikes for our pit traps were already prepared, allowing us to do more than you’d expect with the time we had.
While the others were called away to other tasks, I remained in the fields with my minions, having them continue to work. The enemy would come pouring from the forest, and from what the villagers had told me of the reavers, the odds were that they would charge directly for the nearest gate to the city. The fields outside that gate were where most of the defenses that I had been working on were placed. Now, I had the team work outward from the main approach, expanding the danger facing our foes.
I was brought some food about an hour after dark by a pair of old women with an honest to goodness picnic basket. My minions didn’t need to eat, but my stomach was starting to growl. They brought a bowl of a thick and hearty stew. It was filled with fresh vegetables and chucks of seasoned pork. The dish had just enough spice to give it a kick, and along with a small loaf of crusty bread, it made for a filling and satisfying meal.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Do they need to eat?” one of the pair of older women who had brought my food asked.
“No, they’re mana constructs and don’t need to eat,” I explained.
“Thank you for all your hard work today, I don’t think we would have made nearly as much progress without you and your friends,” one of the women said as she “accidentally” dropped a small bread loaf for Melvin who had somehow magically shown up as soon as the food had.
“I’m glad to help, you seem like good people, and I don’t want to see you hurt,” I replied.
“Do you have reavers where you come from?” she asked.
“No, not like what Hamish described, but we do have more than our fair share of evil people who will do just about the same thing as the reavers, but without the mutations and whatnot,” I explained.
“Well, whoever they are back in your world, I’m sure you’ll deal with them just like you’re going to deal with our reavers. Would you care for a slice of pie? I used up the last of the berries from the garden to make them,” the other woman said, pulling a slice from the basket. It made me wonder what other treats were in there, and if there was such a thing as a basket of holding that created baked goods.
The pie was as tasty as it looked. Its thick filling was made of various sweetened berries I wasn’t familiar with, and the flaky crust had the texture and flavor that only homemade from scratch things could possess. They left after feeding me, and without further orders I continued to do what I had been doing.
In addition to the food, the women had brought out several lanterns that could be hung from a stake, allowing us to work in the dark. What felt like several hours had passed before Hamish sent word for me to hurry and join him at the barricade. As I reached the forest, one of the villagers was there waiting for me.
The villager showed me how to spot the markers for the safe trails through the trees. The team in the forest had been as busy as me and the others had been in fields, and the idyllic forest was now a deadly one. It didn’t take too long to reach the barricade, and it looked a lot different from when I’d last seen it.
The barricade had added a small trench in front of it, making the wall effectively taller than most people. Wooden spikes like the ones that I’d been placing all day, had been inserted into predrilled holes in the barricade. It now looked like a wall crossed with a porcupine, and I wouldn’t want to have to charge into it and try to climb over. Saul and the other defenders at the barricade gave my crew of minions more than a few curious stares as we arrived.
Hamish was nowhere to be found, and the guide that had brought me here said he was still working with the team in the forest. It looked like the forces here at the barricade had also been reinforced during the day, and I recognized a few of the faces from the villagers that had worked in the fields with me. The total count of defenders was up to eighteen, not including my team. Hardly enough to stop an army, but we’d slow them down.
“Rico, that’s quite the circus you’ve brought with you,” Saul said, taking in the rather diverse set of things that I’d summoned.
“They’re ready to fight, despite digging ditches all day. Just tell me where you want them,” I replied.
“Ha, that big orc fella can stay right here in the center of the line, the young lady with the spear and shield, as well as your dwarven friend can remain back as a reserve. Can he use a weapon other than that toe scratcher you’ve given him?” Saul asked as he positioned Rupert.
“The dagger was all I could bring with me, but if you have a spear, he’s decent with one,” I added. It turned out the defenders weren’t hurting for weapons and there was a nice six-foot spear with an iron tip that I grabbed for Rupert. I considered summoning a few of my consumables, but I’d wait until the enemy was spotted and I got a look at what I’d be up against. There was one consumable that would take a bit of prep work though, and I figured I should bring it up before the battle started.
“Saul, I do have something that might help. Do any of your people know how to work a siege engine. I can summon a small ballista if you think it would help,” I offered. The consumable was an expensive one, but I was willing to part with it to help these folks.
“A siege engine! Why didn’t you say so sooner. Let me see, we got plenty that can operate a ballista, it’s part of legion training after all. The question is where the best place would be to position it. I’m thinking either atop the village wall, or better yet, inside the great hall. How long does it take for you to summon it?” Saul asked.
“Just a second or so, show me where to put it and I’ll have it ready to go in no time,” I replied.
“Excellent, hold onto it, when we fall back to the village we can decide where to place it. I do need to let Hamish know, he might have other ideas for that weapon,” Saul said, sending a runner back to the forest to find Hamish.
“Riders coming in!” someone shouted from out in the darkness of the pass we were defending. Saul and Hamish had not just counted on the cavalry to spot the enemy and had their own scouts out in the dark watching for danger.
“Everyone stand to, there’s no indication that the enemy have any mounted forces, but I’m not going to take that for granted,” Saul ordered.
The defenders at the barricade stopped whatever they were doing and began to don their armor. They all had a thick chainmail hauberk and a large oval shield. In addition, each defender wore a shortsword and there were several stacks of javelins placed within easy reach. Four of the new defenders, older women from the village, wore no armor and instead had longbows and several bundles of arrows ready to fire.
“Should I light the watchfires Saul?” one of the soldiers asked.
“No, not yet, best to wait for the enemy to arrive, it might gain us a few minutes,” Saul replied as several dark figures emerged from the dark. It was four of the cavalry troopers and they looked much worse for wear.
“Hail, Saul, I hope your people are ready, the entire enemy army is right on our heels and they’re out for blood,” one of the riders, who had a dirty and bloody bandage over his head said wearily. The fight was about to start, and I was more than ready to do my part.