"Five hundred?" the Warlord asked as he paced back and forth in front of the officers of his horde. "Five hundred today?"
There was a moment where the tent was filled with nodding heads.
Ashren glared. "Well, I asked for a fight. Keep up the attack, but only with most of the horde. And from a distance only. Archers, ballistae, slings, and spears."
"What of the rest, Warlord?"
"Cut down as many trees as it takes to make enough catapults to break that wall down."
The officers nodded and left.
Ashren watched them go. He then exited his tent, looking out towards the village. Several siege towers were still burning. He was suddenly struck with an idea. Walking among the horde, he spoke to the ballista operators. They went into the woods and among the horde's supply wagons, taking various items and then rolling them into large spheres. They went over to the ballistae and loaded the objects in, tying rope around them so that they retained their shape. Ashren watched them go about the process, then waited as they set the spheres on fire. At the ready nod from the closest ballista, he raised a paw. Vermin paws clenched on the release levers.
Rayn was walking along the wall, but had stopped upon seeing the first light. He peered out into the night. Janglur, Rusvul, Tiber, and Skipper joined him.
"What do you think those are?" Tiber asked.
"I don't know," Rayn replied. "Something bad."
"We've taken everything they could throw at us today," Janglur said. "There's nothing more they can do."
"Yeah." Rusvul said, nodding. "They looked finished for the day."
"What you don't know about Ashren," Rayn told them without taking his eyes off the lights, "is that he can turn from defeated to tricky in the blink of an eye."
Back at the ballistae, Ashren let his paw drop. A rain of fireballs shot through the air towards the walls.
"Take cover!" Rayn shouted, dropping. The others followed his example as the first fireball exploded against the wall, just below them. Others hit the parapets, finding a mark or exploding and doing no damage. Others hit buildings, setting them alight.
"Put those fires out!" Tiber shouted, as watchbeasts began to run to get water.
"Return fire!" Rayn cried.
It was chaos. Watchbeasts ran everywhere, some to get water and others to attempt to load the trebuchets. A few managed to be fired, sending fountains of dirt into the air. In their confusion, however, none hit the ballista. As the ballistae fired a second volley, Ashren smiled.
The horde was coming out of their tents to watch the bombardment. They cheered as they saw what was happening.
Back behind the wall, creatures were running everywhere. There was a deafening bang as one of the fireballs hit the gates. Rayn climbed the wall and looked out over it, but sighed with relief upon seeing that the strike had done no damage and had caused no fire. He then looked up at an orange light growing in intensity. Rayn jumped from the wall just as a fireball smashed into where he'd been standing. Landing heavily on the ground, he rolled and ran as more fireballs flew over the walls.
Awoken by the sounds of shouting, Dann rose from his bed in the fortress's infirmary. He and Song looked out the window, staring in shock at the fires that now raged in the village.
Ashren turned to his horde. "Prepare to charge!"
They cheered and ran to get their weapons. Meanwhile, the ballistae were running low on ammunition. There were only a few of the projectiles left.
Rayn turned to Tiber. "Wake the rest of the garrison! Quickly!"
The otter assassin ran to do his duty, while Rayn turned as a second wayward volley from the trebuchets fired, hitting closer to the enemy this time but still doing no damage.
"Cease firing!" Ashren shouted as the final projectile was thrown from its ballista. Behind him, the horde stood ready. One of his personal guards had brought him his sword and shield. Ashren drew his blade, then began banging the flat of it against his shield in a slow, steady beat.
More guards were beginning to get up on the wall, staring in shock at the vermin that were ready to come and take another crack at the walls so soon.
The beating continued, now being echoed throughout the entire horde. Rayn looked around. Several of the guards looked nervous. "Steady," he said loudly.
The vermin were now advancing, still making the noise. Finally, Ashren held his sword forward and with a great roar, the horde charged.
Tiber shouted, straining to make his voice heard over the noise of the oncoming enemy. "Archers ready!"
Arrows were set to string.
"Fire!" Rayn shouted.
A rain of arrows flew through the air, cutting down several vermin. Spears and slings began to join the arrows, downing more vermin but not daunting the rest in their charge. Return arrows were beginning to fly up from the vermin ranks, felling guards all along the wall. Rayn took a bow from a wounded mouse and began firing, his sharp eyes assisting him in slaying enemy after enemy. The horde was now bringing ladders up as the two sides exchanged fire. Meanwhile, a number of other vermin had formed an upward-facing wall of shields, covering a group of other vermin as they began to dig.
Rayn fired his last arrow, killing the first vermin that had jumped on a ladder with an arrow that took him right between the eyes.
Ashren watched from behind as the horde marched forward around him. The villagers had been rattled by the sudden attack but were still able to put up a competent defense. Hopefully, the diggers would succeed in their task.
Back at the wall, there was now fighting on it as more and more ladders were raised. The odd hordebeast fell from them, killed by an arrow or pushed over. The occasional ladder crashed to the ground as well. Rayn blocked a sword blow, then whirled and sliced his attacker across the throat with a throwing knife. He spun as another hordebeast came over the wall and threw the knife at him. The blade lodged in the fox's throat and he fell forward, onto the wall. Rayn finished him off with a stab of his sword, then turned, ran back to the ladder and kicked the ferret that was trying to get onto the wall. The vermin fell screaming.
Ashren sighed. "Pull them back!" he told one of the messenger vermin. The weasel nodded and put a horn to his lips, blowing a long blast on it.
On the wall, Rayn had just stabbed a rat when the horde began retreating. Those on the ladders began to climb back down, though others, unable to get away from the fighting, chose to die where they stood.
Rayn, breathing heavily and his robe stained with blood, sat down and leaned back against the parapets. He summoned enough strength to look around. The bodies of vermin and guard alike littered the wall. Several had been killed by the fireballs and others by the vermin arrows. A pair of paws entered his vision. Rayn looked up to see Tiber standing there.
"Go get some sleep, Rayn. I don't think Ashren will try anything today."
Rayn nodded and rose with effort, unsteadily walking down the stairs and back up to the fortress.