We made it safely back to the village and were assigned positions on the wall. It was too large a space to defend with the numbers we had, but Saul had a plan to bait the enemy into attacking the main gate. It would be the first thing the enemy would see when they emerged from the forest.

The gate had been left open, and a wagon overturned in the gateway to block it. Just behind the wagon-filled gateway, and out of sight of the attackers until they reached the wagon, a second defensive line had been created. The second defensive line was composed of another barricade about the same size as the one we had defended earlier.

The enemy would have trouble pushing enough forces into the gate to overcome the defenders at the barricade. All the while, our troops on top of the walls would be peppering them with javelins, which the village seemed to have an enormous supply of. To hold the barricade, ten of the village defenders would be stationed there with long spears designed specifically for this task.

Saul and the others from our group would also join the barricade, though I would stay on the wall and use the vantage point to cast spells and order my minions around. So far, they were all still on cooldown, but I had a decent supply of consumables to work with if I needed them.

There was some discussion on where to place the ballista, and their final choice wasn’t too surprising. The villagers quickly built a small platform behind the barricade with leftover lumber from its construction. They worked fast and the task only took about thirty minutes. While they worked on the platform, I kept my eyes on the forest.

Hamish and his troops must have been engaged with the enemy, as we could see some torchlight in the distance and once, a huge ball of flame rose up. Saul was busy with the platform, so I couldn’t ask him, but I suspected that the defenders had more of the flaming oil traps hidden in the forest. The other villagers guarding the wall let me in on the fact that the forest defenses had gotten almost as much attention as the village itself.

When the platform was finally completed, I summoned the weapon on top of it. The siege engine looked primitive, but was stoutly constructed. Next to the engine was a score of the heavy bolts the weapon fired. Each was about four feet long and had a cruel, barbed iron tip. A couple of the defenders who had used similar weapons in the legion took charge of the ballista.

They seemed like kids in a candy store, and I could see that the weapon was going to be rather effective when fired into the narrow confines of the gateway. With that task completed, I had recharged enough mana to give anyone that was still wounded from our first battle, a bit more healing.

After that, all we could do now was wait. Saul said that they had done all they could on the defenses inside the village, and there was a marked out a safe path for us to take when were forced back from the wall. Many of the side streets and homes had been trapped as well. In the center of town was the great hall, a huge, stone structure that looked like it was a small fortress. That was where we would make our final stand when the time came. For now, Saul and the others rested.

I wasn’t as bone weary as the elderly defenders were, but I didn’t pass up the wooden crate one of them offered for me to sit on. There was no reason to stand when I could keep watch atop the wall just as well while seated. Time continued to pass as I monitored the progress of the battle by the light of the flickering torches the enemy carried. My mana eventually recharged, and I began to push it into the magic missile wand, topping it off as I watched the battle draw ever nearer to the edge of the forest.

“Runners leaving the tree line,” one of the other scouts atop the wall shouted. The shout had woken me up, I hadn’t even realized I’d slipped off into sleep. I had no way to tell how long had passed, but it must not have been too long as it was still night.

Turning toward where the scout was pointing, I could barely make out a couple of indistinct figures in the moonlight. From the way they deftly avoided any of our traps, I was pretty sure they were villagers. I headed down the ladder to join Saul and some of the others in the gateway as we waited for the pair to arrive.

“Hamish sent us. He wants to make sure you’re ready when he makes a break for it in a few minutes,” the runners reported as they tried to catch their breath.

“Thanks for the heads up, we’ll be ready. Why don’t you two get into the great hall and rest for a bit,” Saul ordered. The pair looked like they were going to protest for a moment, but I could see the weariness in their faces.

“Will they join us on the wall when they’re rested?” I asked Saul once the others left.

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“No, Hamish wanted most of the forest team survivors to fall back to the great hall. That way, they can rest and then cover us when we finally withdraw from the wall. A few are even assigned to some of the homes we’ve fortified as strongpoints. The reavers’ numbers might overwhelm us, but they’ll be bled white by the time they’re done with this place,” Saul said.

Back at my position on the wall I waited. Everyone was now at their posts, our chance to join the battle was going to happen soon enough. In addition to myself and Saul, there were twenty villagers manning the wall, and ten more at the barricade. Joining the barricade force were the other six survivors of the first battle. It wasn’t a large force, but everyone was armed and ready to fight.

To my relief, the summoning figurines started to regenerate as well. As soon as one was ready, I called them forth and cast Empower Minion on them. The orc veteran also got duplicated when he arrived, giving us some extra muscle. My minions would remain on the wall for now, bolstering our forces, but I suspected they would be called to help defend the barricade before too long.

Melvin was out there somewhere, lurking in one of the pits, waiting for an enemy warrior to fall in. I kind of wished he was here at my side, but the cube would do better out where the enemy wouldn’t suspect his presence. I had plenty of other creatures to summon once the time was right.

“Here they come, that’s the signal,” Saul said as several of the trees at the edge of the forest erupted in flames. Backlit by the fires, figures started to appear, Hamish’s surviving troops running for the safety of the wall. It was hard to get a count, and several seemed wounded and needed to be helped along by their comrades.

War cries and bloodthirsty shouts erupted from inside the forest. Before the defenders could make it even halfway to the wall, the enemy appeared. At first, a trickle of figures charged out from the forest, but then the trickle became a flood. They quickly spotted their fleeing prey which seemed to prod them to increase their pace.

“Light the watchfires,” Saul ordered, and just like at the barricade, torches were touched to several oil-soaked ropes. The flames crawled out from the gate where they eventually met several bonfires that were pre-positioned to give our archers enough light to fire. About half the defenders on the wall carried some form of ranged weapon, and we all had plenty of javelins to use when the distance closed.

Reavers began to fall to the traps liberally sprinkled out in the fields. A few at first, then more and more became victims of all our hard work earlier. Sadly, it didn’t look like it was going to be enough and the ten or so villagers retreating from the forest were going to be overtaken by the enemy before they could reach the wall.

I tried to think of what to do, and finally decided it was time to use the Whistle of the Houndmaster. The hyenas would have no trouble reaching the enemy before they caught up to our people. I put the whistle to my lips and blew. A shrill noise sounded out and several defenders turned to look at me strangely. I could feel the mana in the item respond, and I was able to summon the pack just outside the wall where they wouldn’t have to navigate their way past the wagon that blocked the gateway.

One after another, the five hyenas appeared. Once the last one was called, the whistle crumbled to dust, it’s magic spent. I ordered the pack to head out and attack the nearest enemy reavers. Our link made them understand the fleeing villagers weren’t targets and were instead to be protected. With the odd yipping noise they made, the hyenas charged forward.

Spotting the threat, the lead reavers slowed up, and while it was too dark to make out the details, I could see the hyenas leap and attack. I would have been terrified to be assaulted by a pack of hyenas, but the reavers just laughed and shouted in pleasure at the chance to face an unexpected foe.

Our people made it to the wall, and we dropped down a pair of ladders for them to use to climb up. Once everyone was on the wall, I had any who were injured gather where I dropped a Health Bloom on them. I couldn’t afford to burn the mana for a second cast, but at least it would stabilize anyone with serious wounds.

The surviving forest defenders were bloody and weary, and I was glad to see that Hamish was among the living. His arm had been broken, and there was a nasty wound on his leg where a reaver’s sword had hit, but he was still in the fight. He directed the other survivors to head back to the great hall and join the other pair where they waited to make their stand.

“That was a close-run thing. These reavers are even more aggressive than usual. I wasn’t sure that any of us were going to make it out of there,” Hamish said.

“How did you do against them?” Saul asked. Hamish grinned before replying.

“We left their dead scattered all over the forest. They initially taunted us for being weak and elderly villagers, but when they kept dying to our traps and ranged attacks, they changed their tune. It doesn’t look like they’ve learned their lesson here either,” Hamish said, watching as the reavers overcame the hyenas and continued their advance, losing even more troops to the maze of traps we’d created out in the fields surrounding the village.

Before long, they halted their advance, and a smaller team began to poke and prod the ground with long poles, looking for traps. They stopped their advance just outside the range of our bows, and the largest reaver we’d seen strode forward, holding a wounded villager in one of his massive hands. With a booming voice he issued a challenge.

“Is there any man or woman among you who will face me in single combat? I’ll grant an hour reprieve if one of you can beat me. If I win, you’ll retreat from the walls and unblock the gate. What say you, is there anyone among you brave enough to stand against Bhartak the Bloodfeaster!” he called out, holding a still squirming villager by the neck. The reavers massive hand squeezed and we could hear the sickening crack of the man’s neck snapping even from this far out.

I looked around at the elderly warriors manning the wall. Any of them would gladly take up the challenge, but I doubted that even the best of us would last ten seconds against that monster. None of the villagers could stand against him, but maybe one of my minions could.