They were blessed with a reprieve of an hour spent contemplating their next move. In that time, Sylaxxa had them granted potions to recover their lost stamina and food to nourish their hunger. An additional healing potion was used to clear up the small cuts he’d been dealt during his time outside, and most of Myr’s lingering wounds.
After that hour was up, when both he and Myr were as close to hundred percent as they were likely to be, was when two grim-faced acolytes hurried into the chamber and one of them spoke the words that Ash had been dreading.
“Great and honoured elder, the next horde approaches. The great chief has already taken his post upon the battlements and is requesting your presence by his side.”
Sylaxxa was readying herself before the goblin had even finished speaking. The wisps of mana she’d been directing towards Calixxa faded into nothingness and she turned to face the messenger. “How big is it?”
“Larger than the last, say the scouts. We will endure them, but not without loss.”
“I can expect no less from our fated doom.” remarked the elder with an almost nonchalant smile. “Take my place here, the both of you. Keep this girl protected.”
The two goblins bowed in understanding. Sylaxxa turned then towards Ash. “Will you stay here by her side?”
The young man looked towards the meditating girl, his brow furrowed with a grim acceptance of his situation, and what he needed to do. “No.” he said simply, and that was that.
“I see. Come then. We can hardly expect you to keep fighting in that rubbish.” She said as she eyed his gear. He could hardly counter that. His leather armour had seen better days, and his dagger was hardly the mightiest weapon. Sylaxxa started to stride away without another word and after he’d spared a final glance towards Calixxa, both he and Myr both followed after her.
He could do nothing here, he knew. If he was to save the tribe and Calixxa along with it as Sylaxxa seemed to hope he could, then it could only be done up there, amid death and war, for that was what this undoubtably was. A war for the survival of the Everwatch. Win or lose, he had to do his part.
Ash would be lying if he said that he wasn’t scared. Even as he walked, a niggling voice in his head cried out, screaming at him to abandon everything and flee back towards the realms of humanity. The villages he had seen, or the towns. Even Totenstrong for all its dangers and oppression would be a better bet compared to a village about to face the might of a tier six demi-god.
But he didn’t. Couldn’t.
Ash mercilessly quashed those thoughts and continued on his way, swallowing down his mounting terror and upon its grave, erecting a shield of unyielding determination. He would see this done, no matter what.
Myr quietly took position by his side and he spared her a grateful smile. She accepted it with her usual blunt grace, and so did the three of them make their way through the winding corridors of the temple until they arrived at an armoury of sorts. There waited several goblins with several sets of equipment already laid out and waiting.
“Don it quickly. We do not have long.” said Sylaxxa.
Ash nodded and without shame started to strip out of his clothing and into the prepared armour. His chosen garb was a vest of scale-mail and leather bound together in an intricate pattern. It likely had no small amount of mana flowing through it, from what he could sense.
There were also matching greaves, pants and boots, and though he had the aid of the armoury goblins in putting it on, the effort still took a few minutes of time.
Myr’s own armour was a much heftier suit of pure metal that made her seem twice as large and far more menacing. Along with it came a large shield and what looked like a spear with a jagged tip.
His dagger was plucked from his hands and replaced with a newer, far more mana-imbued variant that felt twice as light in his hands. In fact, the whole set of armour felt far lighter than he’d have assumed. Its effect on his agility would likely be of no consequence, which was a relieving thought.
He didn’t want to sacrifice his speed for defence.
“Your armour is enchanted. Funnel mana into it and you can muster a shield that matches your shape.” informed Sylaxxa with an educator’s tone. “It isn’t unbreakable, and the mana it drains will leave you an empty husk if you plan to keep it always active so use it sparingly. The dagger has a similar effect but the mana is used instead to sharpen its edge and enhance its reach.”
Damn did that sound great. Especially the dagger. He still relied more on his magic to deal damage than any weapon, but it certainly didn’t hurt to have it around.
“Your armour does much the same-” she said as she turned to Myr. “-though its shield is a dome that covers a zone one meter in radius around you. The shield is an artifact that works to reduce the armour’s mana drain so that you may keep it active for far longer than he can, but the same rule still applies. Use it wisely.”
They both nodded in understanding and with their flashy new gear firmly adorned and in hand, they wasted no time in finding their way out of the temple. With Sylaxxa at their head, they crossed into the outer ring of the village quickly enough and meandered through the legion of stationed warriors and war weaponry on display. The air was deathly quiet despite the number of goblins assembled, and there laid an almost suffocating tension that pressed down him from above as he strode closer and closer to the walls.
It took more will than he’d like to admit to just keep moving forward and then up a staircase carved into the wall until finally, they stood upon the battlements. Row after row of what he assumed was the tribe’s most lethal warriors stood adorned in the finest armours he’d seen since his arrival to this world, their faces set into grim masks as they stared at the edge of the forest.
And at their centre was a single hulking goblin nearly Ash’s size with a mane of vivid crimson hair running down his back. Surrounding him was a small formation of guards that boasted the same vivid hair.
Even without an introduction, Ash had no doubt about who that was.
“You’ve arrived, honoured elder. You are as wise as always.” greeted the goblin in a deep, baritone as he eyed their approach, a jovial smile on his lips that stood in stark contrast to the mood that permeated the air.
“And you’re still as annoying. Did you dye your hair again?” remarked Sylaxxa grumpily as she took position by his side.
The goblin chuckled and nodded. “Today will be a red day, elder. Should I not have the hair to match?”
“Aye, it is good fortune. Sinaxx will be pleased, no doubt. Still, must you force your guards to adorn that garish colour?”
“Colour is the boon of we who praise the name of Sinaxx! Colour is the fire of our life! Besides, it was their choice, elder. I would not deny them that wish.”
“Of course it was.” she said with doubt lacing her tone. The helpless look he saw some of those ‘willing’ guards shoot her way was answer enough.
“You’ve brought your guests along?” asked the chief as he deftly pivoted the conversation away from himself. “Are you prepared to witness my tribe’s moment of great triumph, humans?”
“Of course, great chief. I know that your mighty warriors’ll come out on top against any foe.” lied Myr through her teeth, though he couldn’t fault her attempt at the diplomatic answer considering their situation. Unfortunately, her lie was obviously seen through by the chief. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to care.
The goblin laughed uproariously and slapped Myr on her shoulder. “You do not believe in us? I do not blame you, human Myr! Our foe is great indeed! Another tribe may have broken and fled to what safety they could find in the trees, no doubt! But the Everwatch do not flee. We will see this to the end, whatever it may be. Though I do hope that today is not our last day. Mayhaps our human saviour will see that it is not.”
The chief’s eyes were on him then and Ash found it hard to respond with any measure of confidence in his voice. Fortunately, he needn’t have bothered with the effort.
A call resounded across the battlements and Ash immediately felt magic muster and blades make ready.
“They come! Five minutes until contact!” notified a scout.
His gaze snapped towards the distant treeline and he tensed. He heard or sensed nothing just yet, but he could feel them coming like the distant thrum of some unheard war-drum. The seconds ticked by at a painfully slow pace, and with each he felt his tension mounting upon his mind.
And yet he held firm. Myr shot a glance his way but he hadn’t the focus to look anywhere but forward.
Towards the war charging right at him. Towards his likely death.
And then, when the stress nearly became too much to handle, he saw the first monster break into the clearing. It was an ugly thing, he thought, like some kind of twisted bulldog. Its face was a rictus of rage and bloodlust and its maw laid open baring its needle-like teeth to the goblins it would call prey.
The monstrosity charged ahead at a break-neck pace that even he wouldn’t have been able to match until it was nearly halfway across the field, and then erupted a spear of earth from the very ground it tread that skewered it in half. Blood splattered across the field and its corpse rolled to a stop.
And as if a signal had been loosed, the treeline erupted with the figures of dozens if not hundreds of monsters of all shapes and sizes. They came then like an avalanche of teeth and fang and claw, their hunger an almost palpable wave that crashed into the ranks of defenders. Ash staggered at the sight but he immediately felt Myr bump his shoulder, a steadying look on her face.
He took comfort from that, and then again in the chief as he spread his presence wide across the battlements, like an umbrella to shield them from the rainstorm.
The Everwatch stand!” he roared.
“THE EVERWATCH STAND!” repeated every goblin around Ash, their faces alit with a fierce devotion to that creed.
“TO THE DAY THE LAST LEAF FALLS AND THE LAST GOBLIN RETURNS TO THE EARTH! THE EVERWATCH STAND” roared the chief again.
“THE EVERWATCH STAND!”
“TO LIFE, DEATH AND BEYOND! AGAINST ALL FOES! AGAINST THE WORLD ITSELF!”
“THE EVERWATCH STAND!”
And with that final declaration bloomed the tribe’s retaliation upon the monstrous invader that had dared to threaten their home. The earth shook as more earthen spears and pit-falls than he could count came into being upon the field, bringing down dozens of monsters before they’d even crossed the halfway point.
Still, even with that carnage, their numbers remained undaunted and their ferocity, undiminished. Worse yet, many of the creatures started to use their own magical abilities to rain horror upon the defending goblins. A galloping monstrosity crossed the field in the span of a few seconds at a speed far beyond Ash’s own and then blinked away in a shower of magical motes, only to reappear by the base of the wall, its figure dazed. A ripple of magic cascaded along the wood of the wall for a moment before it settled again onto stillness. A flying thing that vaguely resembled an eagle swooped onto the rows of goblins a moment later, and unleashed blades of wind to slice and dice all it touched.
The magical attack slammed into the defenders who hadn’t even attempted to dodge, and for a terrifying moment Ash feared the worst. Of course, he quickly realized that there had been a very good reason why they hadn’t so much as blinked at the attack. As strong as it had felt to him, the monster’s blades hadn’t as much as drawn a cut from its targets and the creature itself was swiftly put down by a ferocious assault of arrows and magic.
The youth smiled in astonishment at the sheer efficiency in which the goblins put down the assaulting waves of monsters, their stances firm and their dispositions unwavering no matter what they faced. Like clockwork they moved, shield-bearers shifting to brace and protect when needed, archers loosing upon those too strong to allow an attack through whilst swordsmen and spearmen cut apart the closest vermin upon the walls.
It was mesmerizing, and he found himself completely distracted until Myr snapped him back to reality. A monster scampered up the wall without a care for gravity, its salamander-like face snarling at him as it drew closer. Ash steeled himself and loosed a Fire Bolt at the damn thing. The spell struck it upon its head and his follow up empowered jab saw his dagger cut through its snout like a knife through butter. The creature shrieked in pain as it fell away, its body lost to the writhing mass of monsters that covered the earth below.
His first kill claimed, Ash knew that it wouldn’t be the last before the day was done. Far from it. Still, he felt like a weight had somehow been lifted from his shoulders and allowed himself to be carried away by the routing of frantic combat. Further Fire Bolts were loosed and more monsters slain. Some proved too strong to be put down so easily, but then again he was hardly alone.
Where he failed, his goblin allies more than pulled up his slack.
The diminutive men and women hollered and chanted their war cries as they put down invader after invader and the minutes continued to tick on. Ash struck out with his blade to cleave apart an ape-like thing that had nearly cleared the wall in a single bound and saved a goblin warrior from being smashed to bits in the process. The warrior grunted his thanks and the routine continued.
Cast, strike, shield, repeat. His mana capacity eventually dipped low, and Ash plucked a mana potion from the carriers that were constantly running loops of the wall, ensuring that its defenders were all propped to full.
And thus did the defence continue. Ash hardly had time to think through the frenzied combat, but after a while he dared to hope that despite the tribe’s estimations, they would get through it all without a single casualty to mar the day.
Of course, he should have known not to tempt fate, for that was when a section of wall exploded and the controlled chaos that the defenders had maintained all throughout was shot to hell.
