We waited for around twenty minutes before the enemy showed themselves. Yipping voices shouted in the distance, and when the enemy entered the light of the watchfires, I was less than impressed. Short, gangly, and lizard-like, a swarm of small creatures charged toward us. Each wielded wooden spears with metal tips, but while the weapons were sized appropriately for the little creatures, they would have no reach advantage over a human with a sword.
“Do they hold us in such contempt that they’d throw a swarm of kobolds at us,” Saul grumbled as he reached down to grab one of the javelins that were neatly stacked at the base of the barricade. I joined him, knowing little about how to throw a javelin, but I figured tossing one out into the barking mass of kobolds, I had a better than even chance of skewering one.
The archers started up first. There was a total of four archers with longbows, and two with crossbows. Behind the main line, three of the older women began to shoot arrows at the swarming kobolds. They were the wives of some of the retired soldiers holding the barricade line. The final archer behind the line of defenders was a younger man, the grandson of one of the retired legionnaires that refused to leave the man who had raised him.
Two of the men at the barricade worked the crossbows, which they would drop in favor of javelins once the enemy closed in a bit more. Arrows and crossbow bolts sailed into the crowded kobolds, every shot seeming to find the mark. The kobolds wore no armor, and only a few had battered wooden shields to go with their spears. They paid the price for their lack of armor, and the numbers began to be whittled down with each volley.
After the second volley, the crossbowmen grabbed javelins and we all waited for Saul’s order to throw. I noticed the kobold formation was getting ragged, many had fallen to the archers and those that fell often tripped up others that were hot on their heels. Still, they seemed to ignore their losses and were keen to press the attack.
“Ready, throw!” Saul called and our first volley of javelins went out. With the scout that had joined us, we had fifteen villagers manning the barricade. Rupert, Grulnok, Lillia, and I joined them and a total of nineteen javelins slammed into the lead kobolds. The entire front of the enemy charge went down, many screaming in pain as they were pinned to the hard packed valley floor.
I fumbled for a second javelin and by the time I was ready to throw it, the retired legionnaires had already loosed their third volley. The front ranks of kobolds continued to melt and after five volleys, the charge started to falter. In ones and twos, kobolds turned and ran. The fear was infectious and spread like wildfire through the kobold ranks. They hadn’t even made it near the barricade, and I began to feel a bit of hope for our situation.
“What do you think they’ll do next?” I asked Saul as I pushed some mana into the magic missile wand to replace one of the charges I’d expended. If the enemy was going to take their time between attacks, I’d use all the mana I could to maximize my efforts.
“Their initial push was repulsed, but I doubt they had high hopes for the kobolds to succeed. If I had to guess, I think they’ll push forward with some of the less powerful reaver tribes, or some of their better mercenaries. I suspect we’ll continue to see the fodder as they try and wear us down,” Saul replied.
“Tribes? Are there separate reaver groups?” I asked.
“Yes, they typically are found in smaller bands that war among themselves as much as raid the civilized settlements. It’s rare that they can form an army as strong as the one we’re facing, and it likely means they have found a powerful leader to bind them all together under one banner,” Saul explained.
“At what point should we fall back to the forest?” I asked.
“If we start to take too many losses or it looks like we’re about to be overrun. Getting the landslide started is key for our escape, so if you don’t mind, I’d like you to position yourself near the rope controlling it. Can your magic reach the opposite end of the barricade from there?” Saul asked.
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“It can, and I’ll keep supporting you with healing and firing magic missiles when I can. On that note, I think I can spare the mana to go ahead and duplicate my most powerful minion,” I said as I cast duplicate on Grulnok. A second orc veteran, equipped identically, appeared.
The rope to trigger the landslide was positioned a few yards behind the right side of the barricade, and I would help hold that end of the line. Saul added the duplicate Grulnok to the left flank to reinforce the troops there. I kept the hound with me as my personal canine bodyguard, while Rupert and Lillia joined the barricade defenders. We’d already fought off the first two attempts, and rather than leave them in reserve, it was better to just place on the fighting line now.
While we waited for the next attack, I took stock of which consumables I’d be willing to use to bolster our defenses. I didn’t want to waste anything, but if the additional defenders I could summon might make a difference, I was willing to part with a few. The only thing holding me back from summoning them now, was the fact that they might be put to better use later in the battle when the elderly soldiers were worn down by the constant attacks.
“Here they come,” one of the defenders shouted, pulling my attention away from the inventory of consumables.
“Gnolls,” I said under my breath, recognizing the creatures from the time I had been summoned by them as prey for a hunt. Unlike the kobolds, this wave of attackers wore leather armor with metal studs reinforcing it, as well as round wooden shields to deflect the arrows and crossbow bolts our troops were ready to fire.
“Stand ready to throw,” Saul ordered. I was about five yards back from the main barricade line, but I had managed to grab a pair of javelins to use. The archers fired their first volley and began to unleash a steady stream of missiles at the attackers. If I had to guess, I’d say there were around a hundred gnolls in the attacking force. There had been triple the number of kobolds, but these gnolls were a far greater threat.
“Make ready…throw!” Saul shouted and the first wave of javelins flew out from our lines. Only a few of the enemy had been taken out by the archery, but the javelins had a much better result, impaling or critically injuring at least ten of the enemy with the first volley alone. I threw my javelin a few seconds after the main group, needing the enemy to get a bit closer before I had a chance to hit anything.
I was a bit embarrassed that my shot had missed hitting any of the charging gnolls, and I shifted from javelins to magic missiles where I knew I would hit anything I targeted. A second volley of javelins landed, and the gnolls absorbed the fresh casualties without a hint of breaking like the kobolds had. Their long strides meant that they would reach the barricade before another volley could be thrown and the defenders shifted from throwing to readying their melee weapons for the coming clash.
When the lead gnolls hit the trench in front of the barricade, several of them fell as hidden stakes and tripwires did their thing. The ones that did reach the barricade had some trouble making it past the sharp wooden spikes that were liberally sprinkled around the wall. The following gnolls avoided the traps and ignored their injured comrades as they pressed their assault.
Our defenders had no trouble hacking down the first few to make it past all the obstacles, though I could see one of the gnolls hammer his axe through the helm of a defender, dropping him in one hit. I almost cast Health Bloom, but it would have been a waste of mana as the poor man was already dead. Instead, I fired off a magic missile at the killer gnoll and was satisfied to see the ball of energy slam into the side of the gnolls head, knocking him from the barricade.
More and more gnolls were making it to the barricade and the fighting turned frantic. Grulnok in the center of the line was going to town on the gnolls. His axe and spiked mace dropped any gnoll in that area long before they could get close enough to take a swing at him. We were holding them, but while the others were distracted by the melee battle, I noticed that the kobolds had reformed and were making a second run at the barricade.
“Archers, ignore the gnolls, start thinning out those kobolds,” I shouted out. I wasn’t in charge, but the archers seemed to realize the new threat and shifted their fire. They had been trying to pick off any gnoll they could, but it was hard to get a clear shot with the barricade working against them, as well as the need to not shoot a friend by accident. The kobolds would be easy prey, and maybe they would break again if they took too many losses.
The retired soldiers were giving a good account of themselves, but no matter how much military skill they had hardwired into them at this point, most of them were far too old for the front lines of battle. Already, I could see a few tiring, but each was stubbornly staying in the fight, trying their best not to fail their friends.
It was just a matter of time before we were worn down, but would Saul’s troops have any chance of outrunning the gnolls and kobolds when the time came to disengage?