Putting his right feet in the stirrup, Captain Maron pulled his body on his horse. Once comfortably installed, he looked around himself.
Hundreds of soldier were getting ready to join the advanced fortification, to gain the Beson fortress some time. His men were filling carts with supplies to last a few weeks, but Maron knew they wouldn't use them.
Captain Maron had accepted the responsibility of suicide mission in exchange of a sizable amount of money that would be send to his son. He was an old widower and his only son was a small marchant, his business was still small but he just needed an opportunity to get started seriously. He was going to give him the funds and he had just sent him a last letter before going.
But if he was in peace with sacrificing himself, his soldiers weren't aware of the details of the mission. They didn't know of the size of the tribes coming their way, they simply thought that Fort Kast would be enough to keep the monsters at bay. They were all expendables soldiers and once Fort Kast would be sieged, they wouldn't be able to run away. They would have to fight until they died or killed all of the enemies.
Captain Maron knew it wouldn't happen. They didn't stand a chance against even the sighted units, and they didn't know what kind of surprise they might get in the rest of the invading forces. But monsters' tribe always attacked with the weaker monsters first, using them to weaken the enemy and as meat shield. The role of Fort Kast wasn't to beat the monsters, but to chip the meat shield.
Also, once the leaders of the tribes were killed, it wasn't rare for the surviving monsters to divide in smaller tribes, and it would be problematic if those new roaming tribes where to go further south during the confusion. The tribe wouldn't be really beaten as long as they didn't kill at least 80% of them. So they needed to start weaken them first before killing the leaders to save themselves the troubles.
Before midday, the convoy was ready, and, unaware, started its final trip.
Walking alongside his brother in arms, Armant had a bad feeling. He was the one that had pulled the injured messenger from the horse and he could remember the tired and traumatized face of the poor rider.
In a way he was glad to go to the front line as it was where he would prove his worth, but he didn't feel good. Like if something was weighting on his heart.
Surrounding him were the senior who had been keeping watch with him at dawn. They didn't had as much sleep as the others, but the officer that were preceding them didn't give them any favor. Behind them were the supply cart and they weren't allowed to be passed by them. So Armant kept walking despite the weariness and his bloody feet.
Two days later, the hastily sent battalion arrived at Fort Kast. Thankfully, they had been faster then the monster tribe. Even if the original garrison of the Fort hadn't been made aware of the approaching army until yesterday by a scout sent by the fortress, they knew something was up since the communication had been shut down. They had readied themselves for an enemy force for a few days now.
Leading his men, Captain Maron entered the Fort with his troups and he was welcomed by the commanding officer : Commander Ponce.
Commander Ponce should have been too old for his functions and he was supposed to have retired at least 3 years ago, but in this situation, it was a relief for the 'Northern Guard' as they wouldn't loose a valuable officer.
"According to the scout, you are the commander of our reinforcement." smiled the amiable old man.
Captain Maron nodded. He felt uneasy. Since the scout that had brought Fort Kast the information of the incoming army wasn't in the know on the number of monster coming, Commander Ponce wasn't actually aware of the whole situation either.
Under the excuse of delivering a private message, Maron managed to get a few minutes alone with the Commander to brief him on the whole situation.
Once he was the done, the elderly officer seemed to have aged a few years and he was noticeably paler. He didn't intent to run away as he had nowhere to go.
Fort Kast was actually older then the Beson fortress and the rest of the northern fortifications. It was an historic Fort built here hundreds of years ago. Even when the fort wasn't active, it had always been garrisoned to prevent bandit from settling in and it had just been renovated by the fortification project.
Commander Ponce had spent his whole life working here and this was why he had refused to retire, he had spent his whole life in the castle.
Even if he was aware, he might die here since he was now on the front line, when the news arrived that he probably wouldn't survive to the end of the week, he felt like if his energy and strength had already started leaving his body.
While the old man was trying to recover his bearings, Maron looked around the wall, examining the soldiers and the walls. They were now 5 000 soldiers sheltered between the thick walls of the stronghold.
For a moment, he stopped walking, instead thinking of the absurdity of the situation. 5 000 against more then 250 000 monsters. It was more then 1 to 50. Even if the entire tribe was constituted of goblins and other weak monsters, they didn't stand a chance. They were only the bait. The monsters may spend more time pillaging and destroying the place, then actually sieging it.
A hand landed on his shoulder, he looked behind and saw Commander Ponce.
"Sorry, the news was perturbing, but i should have been ready to die here a long time ago." The old man was already back at smiling. Maron wasn't sure, but the veteran seemed to stand even straighter than before.
Commander Ponce went with a few rider as scout to try and predict when the monsters would arrive, while Captain Maron gave order to help reinforce the defenses.
As the sun started setting, the scouting party came back. While Commander Ponce looked calm, the other weren't, they had found the enemy army and they were going to be there before the end of the night.
When the soldier heard about the number of monsters sighted, panic quickly spread amongst the soldiers.
Maron and Ponce looked at each other, they needed to calm everyone down and give them hope.
"We will sent a message asking for reinforcements." Explained Captain Maron loudly, above the noise.
"We already know that the various armies and garrisons of the region where called to Beson fortress, they will be there in a few days. We just have to hold from the safety of out walls until reinforcements arrives."
It wasn't entirely wrong, armies and garrisons were assembling at the fortress, they would just never come here to help them. The soldiers didn't need to know.
The unrest had lowered, but some people were still talking about abandoning the Fort and joining the fortress.
"Soldiers ! It is our duty to guard Fort Kast ! We fight for the Empire ! Trust in the Gods that the Empire won't abandon us !"
Claimed Commander Ponce.
"Plus we have no guarantee to be faster then the monsters, we are safer behind the walls. The reinforcements will be there before 4 days !"
Most of the soldiers had now been convinced even if moral wasn't high. Ponce and Maron looked at each other again. They probably wouldn't last 4 days anyway, and even if they did, they would be stuck in the Fort or what would remain of it. You couldn't surrender to the monsters.
For now, they needed to keep upgrading the defenses, but for the sake of appearances, Commander Ponce choosed a soldier to send as a messenger. He took a young man, whom he knew had a family back home and send him toward the fortress with a fake missive. The messenger told his goodbyes to a few friends, innocently promising them to come back with an army and asking them to hold out until then.
After he left the Fort Kast, Ponce ordered the gate to be sealed, furnitures were ripped out of the barracks and piled in front of the main door. The invaders wouldn't use siege weapons, but massive monsters could destroy the gate by ramming into them.
Inside the keep, preparation were made to hold as long as possible. If they had to give up the walls they would still be able to fight in the tights corridors.
Ponce and Maron were getting to the improvised headquarter of the Fort, they had to climb up a bookshelf that had already been toppled to slow enemies down.
Inside the room, the few officer were standing around the table, waiting for instructions.
While Ponce explained their functions to the commanders, Maron looked through an arrow slit. The sun was rising and the enemy army was still missing, but he didn't doubt that they would come. Their drive to hunt the native was too strong.
From the narrow opening, his eyes drifted on the bits of lands he could barely see, dissimulated by the walls and towers.
He had never fought the monsters, but like everyone, he had once told tales about them to his son when he was young to scare him. He remember telling him that after the monsters passed, even the grass would die, that even after they were gone, the leaves wouldn't grow back on the trees ever again. He always talked about the consequences on nature to his son because he didn't know them. But he never talked to his son about what the monster were doing to the people as he knew what they were doing. They wiped them out. In fact they killed every forms of life that were native to this land, even the dogs and the cattle. He once heard that trees were living being. Maybe the monsters were also killing them. Cutting them down and burning them.
After all of those years, he was thinking about it again.
He was train of thought was interrupted by Commander Ponce that called him. He turned his head toward the old soldier.
"We should go on the wall. Moral is going to be important."
Maron nodded and followed behind him. Forgetting his earlier thought.
The 2 man reached the wall as the sun was rising. And as soon as they got closer to the battlements, a guard screamed.
"Here ... ! They are here !"
Following his finger tip, the 2 officer tried to look at where the man was pointing, but they couldn't see anything.
Squinting his eyes, Maron managed to see something : Dust.
They couldn't actually see the monsters, but they could see dust rising from the other side of the hills. Maron took out an horn and blew through it. The low sound vibrated in the entire Fort, waking the few soldier that had managed to fall asleep in the first place.
As the last men finally came out of their buildings and got ready to fight, the ground started vibrating slightly. Maron wasn't surprised, if they were as many as he heard, they wouldn't need to step in ranks to shake the ground.
On the wall, the pressure felt by the soldier kept increasing, until finally, the firsts monsters started appearing from the other side of the hill.
Please update.