The woodlanders, forty strong as the squirrel had said, approached the the palisade surrounding the Empty Paw tribe's village.
Arrayed outside their wooden gates stood the vermin's warriors, their numbers noticeable superior to that of their foes.
The woodlanders' forces approached the shield wall of the vermin defenders, jeering and making threats towards their larger foes.
But forty strong and many not waist high yet still so confident, Tiwaz thought as he watched from his place in the second rank behind the shield wall. How foolish.
Chief Iblis stood just in front of the shield wall, the captive squirrel kneeling bound before him.
Crack!
The woodlanders stopped their advance, watching in horror as the rat brained his captive in front of them.
"All of your beasts shall follow him before the day is out.", Iblis boasted as he stood over the body of his executed foe. "Save for the females, they'll die later."
He stepped back into the vermin's line as the woodlanders shot disgusted looks across the field at the rat.
"Slingers!", the hare leading the woodlanders shouted as he drew his saber. "Archers!"
Here we go, Tiwaz thought as he crouched behind the armored stoat in front of him, nocking an arrow to his bowstring.
"Loose!", the hare shouted, pointing at the vermin with his sword.
The woodlanders artillery, comprising a quarter of their number, loosed the first volley, sending stones and arrows hurtling towards the vermin lines.
"Ready!", Iblis shouted as he and his warriors braced for the impact.
Clink!
The volley of stones and arrows struck, bounding harmlessly off the vermin's shields, electing laughter from the defenders.
"Archers!", Iblis ordered, raising his mace. "Loose!"
Tiwaz picked his target and loosed his broadhead-tipped arrow, sending the missile sailing across the field to sink into the skull of the largest otter in the woodlanders' ranks as his fellow archers also loosed their arrows.
Cries of pain and terror could be hear across the battlefield as the woodlanders, most of which had no shields or armor, were decimated by the vermin's first volley.
"Charge!", the woodlanders' leader, an older gray hare, shouted as he charged forwards, saber held high.
The defenders readied for their second volley, drawing their bowstrings back.
"Loose!", Iblis shouted again.
Twang!
Another volley shot towards the charging woodlanders, killing many.
The survivors, less than half the original number, continued their charge, finally meeting with the first rank of the defenders.
Unfortunately for the woodlanders, much of their remaining force was comprised of mice and voles, their small size having helped them to avoid most of the arrows.
"Kill the vermin cowards!", a little mouse squeaked as he charged under the legs of the stoat in front of Tiwaz, his staff held at the ready.
Tiwaz stomped on the diminutive rodent, cracking his bones under his weight as he unsheathed his kukri.
"You vermin bastard!", a hedgehog shouted as he thrust at Tiwaz with his crude spear, in his anger neglecting the stoat in front of him.
Schlunk!
"Ahh!", the hedgehog screamed as the stoat's short sword sunk into his fat belly, causing him to fall backwards onto another mouse, crushing him under his spines.
"Die vermin!", a squirrel shouted as he vaulted over the stoat, swinging his bow at Tiwaz.
Tiwaz parried with his own bow as slashed the squirrel's throat with his kukri, killing him.
"Ha ha!", Iblis laughed as he parried a strike from his opponent's blackthorn stick, smacking her arm with his shield to disarm her, before backhanding the squirrel with the face of his shield, knocking her unconscious. "Facing me you long-eared blob of lard!"
The fat hare before looked about, seeing most of his allies laying dead or dying around him.
"Bally vermin!", he shouted, his monocle flying off his face in rage as he swung his saber at the rat.
Iblis blocked the blade with his shield, striking the hare's forearm with his mace in the same tempo.
Crack!
"Ahhhh!", the hare cried as his forearm snapped, disarming him.
Iblis skillfully reversed his swing, backhanding the hare across the mouth with his mace.
The hare gave a wet screamed as his teeth flew from his bloodied mouth, sinking to his knees as Iblis's mace rose over his head.
Crack!
Iblis swung the bloody bludgeon downwards, felling the hare with a blow to the temple.
"Run away!", a small yellow mouse cried, dropping his staff as fled from the battle.
Thwang!
Tiwaz loosed another arrow, impaling the retreating rodent and leaving him staked to the ground.
The remaining dozen or so mice and voles attempted to regroup and mount a counterattack, but their poor equipment and diminutive stature hindered them significantly.
The vermin laughed as they hacked and slashed and stabbed at the little beasts, wounding and maiming them grievously.
"Mercy!", a vole cried as he dropped his club and fell to his knees.
Tiwaz hacked into the vole's neck, severing his spine and leaving his head to flop grotesquely from a little flap of flesh as gouts of crimson spilled down onto the ground.
Granted, the weasel thought as he turned to the next woodlander.
He slashed through two more throats before Iblis gave the order to hold.
"Take these remaining scum and bind them.", the rat ordered, grinning evilly. "They'll make great sport later tonight!"
The rest of the vermin laughed as the seized the woodlanders and began restraining them, boasting of all the horrible things they'd do to them later, as well as searching them and the dead for valuables.
Oooh, Tiwaz thought as he took a closer look at the vole's mangled neck, his sharp eyes detecting the glint of platinum from the slain woodlander's necklace.
He deftly concealed the treasure and began searching for more loot.
"Is it over?", Azalea asked as she picked her head out, making sure her hood was up first.
She noticed the rest of the village looking about, relief creeping onto their faces as the heard the victorious shouts and cheers of their fellow vermin.
I guess so, the otter thought as she slunk out of the hovel and began walking towards the settlement's entrance, quickly joined by the rest of the vermin pups, as while as the rest of the non-combatants.
"It sounds like we won.", a ferret maid said as she lead her two sons towards the victorious cheering.
"It would seem so.", a vixen added as she followed her kit down the pathway.
The tribe's non-combatants slowly began emerging from their shelters, making their way towards their village's victorious warriors.
Azalea sighed in relief as she saw Tiwaz, alive and well, rummaging through a mouse's bag.
She quickly scurried over to her adopted father and hugged him.
Tiwaz smiled as he returned the little otter's embrace.
"It's alright, girl.", the weasel said, stroking Azalea's head gently. "It's over now."