When leaving the fortress and returning to the town of Greenest, Calder was starting to grow more hopeful. Most of the fires have died away and left behind smoldering ruins. Which it looked bleak, to the ranger, it was a sign that the attack was coming to an end. Many other builds remain standing after the chaos, untouched by the raiders. Speaking of the attackers, many of them were no longer in sight, leaving the town mostly abandoned. The trio of adventurers could walk the streets without needing to sneak around since there was no one out looking for someone to attack.
There were still doubts that rested in Calder's mind. Skylar described a mill as a way to produce and store food from plants grown in the fields, making it important for the town's survival. If it was a target for the raiders, then they most likely sent all of their forces out to deal with it. While the sorceress was capable in her own right, most of her spells had been drained, leaving her with the weak cantrips. Likewise, Zavier was down to those minors spells, and although he handled himself well enough with his rapier, he was more inclined to run. The ranger hoped that his archery would be enough to make up for the absence of Fargrim.
When they finally came in sight of the mill, a large, rectangular barn, Calder was surprised to not see any raiders. Instead, there were a half dozen kobolds standing in front of the entrance to the building. There was a small fire picking up by the door, but the draconic creatures struggled to keep the flame lit. Two kobolds were fetching wood from a house while the other four wandered around the mill. The adventurers took position in a ruined house across the mill, taking careful observation of what they were dealing with.
"The raiders must be packing up," Calder commented, pulling out his longbow. "The kobolds should be easy enough to deal with, especially if we have the element of surprise."
"Then let's get to work," Skylar pulled out her crossbow. "Zavier, do you have any hidden weapon on you for ranged combat?"
"Only my words," Zavier grinned, his eyes concentrated on the mill.
"So, you've been using a spell whenever you insult your enemies," Calder realized.
"I think it's called Vicious Mockery," Skylar told him. "Not that effective, but better than nothing."
"I suppose so," Calder shrugged. "Ready?"
"Ready." Skylar nodded and took aim.
"Just a moment," Zavier held a hand up. "They're not trying to burn down the mill."
"Uh, Zavier, we can see them setting fire to the mill," Skylar pointed out.
"I mean that they're not trying to set fire to it," Zavier pointed out while Calder analyzed the mill. "You see, well, uh, there was this old play troupe I met once, and in one of their skits, they set fire to a prop building. Because they need both the prop for the next show and that it was happening inside-"
"It's a controlled fire," Calder informed them. "He's right."
"What does that mean for us?" Skylar asked.
"I don't know," Zavier sighed. "It's easy to see that they are trying to deceive us."
"It could be a trap," Calder thought out loud.
"A trap?" Skylar scratched the back of her head. "Who are they trying to trap?"
"Us," Zavier answered quickly, catching on. "Think about it. Whenever a hero interferes in a villain's plan, the villain sets a trap by leaving bait for the hero. We've been fighting raiders all day. After the battle at the church, they probably know we're around."
"So, they know we're here, and they want us to come," Skylar started to think. "Where are the rest of the ambushers?"
"It doesn't matter," Calder pulled out an arrow. "We stand here and let whoever come to us."
Skylar nodded and took aim at her own kobold at well. Zavier stood by their side, keeping his eyes out to the different houses for possible raiders. Best to be paranoid now that they knew there was a trap waiting for them. Skylar fired her crossbow towards a kobold, striking him in the throat, while Calder landed a headshot on his target. Only his target fell, while the other kobold, despite bleeding from the neck, remained living.
"Zavier!" Skylar called out while she reloaded her crossbow.
"Oh!" Zavier snapped back to reality and glanced towards the wounded kobold. "A goblin with one hand nailed down would make for a better threat than you!"
The wounded kobold's hand went from his neck towards his head before collapsing to the ground, unmoving. How the bard came up with these insults on the fly was beyond him. Calder pulled out another arrow and fired it the same time Skylar fired her crossbow. His arrow took down another kobold while her bolt injured the other kobold in the leg. Zavier, who was still focused on finding intruders, turned to the wounded kobold to strike it down with the same insult from before. Although it was not original, he did not have the time to come up with something new.
No one emerged from any of the buildings except the two kobolds gathering firewood. They came out of a house, saw their companions on the ground dead, and bolted away while dropping their collected wood. Calder did not bother to shoot at them, knowing that the ambushers took priority. Yet, nothing came after them. Slowly, the ranger lowered his weapon and took a look at his companions, confused.
"Were we wrong?" Calder asked them. "Perhaps they were expecting us to charge in head first."
"Only one way to find out," Skylar glanced towards Zavier. "Go out there."
"Me?!" Zavier quickly took a step back. "Why me?!"
"Out of the three of us, you're best suited to handle yourself if a fight does break out in close quarters," Skylar told him. "Now, go out and be our bait."
"I'd like to think that Calder is a better swordsman than I," Zavier pointed out, a bead of sweat falling down his forehead.
"He probably is, but he's the best archer we have," Skylar complimented. "He stays with me."
"And I wouldn't want you trying to cover me," Calder smirked.
"Why not you, Skylar?" Zavier asked. "Storytelling 101: the damsel in distress is the perfect bait."
"Well, this damsel is not in distress, and has a crossbow," she smiled playfully while pointing her crossbow at Zavier. "It's settled. You got out, and not another word of complaint!"
Zavier opened his mouth to snap back at her, but when she had a finger on the trigger in the crossbow, he closed it. Calder was not sure if she was bluffing but it was enough to get the bard moving. He left their protective cover and emerged at the road where the kobolds were killed at, rapier raised. No one came after him as he passed over the corpses. The ranger and sorceress kept their weapons raised just in case trouble did come. It was only after the man kicked some dirt on the dying embers that they lowered their guard and emerged from cover.
"No trap," Zavier let out a sigh of relief. "What's next?"
"If you were paying any attention to Governor Nighthill, you would know that we're supposed to hold out until reinforcements come by," Skylar reminded him.
"Then it would be best if we wait inside the mill," Calder suggested. "It would prove to be more defensive than being out in the open."
"Agreed," Skylar nodded, opening the door. "After you, Zavier."
"Hold on," Zavier was glancing over his shoulder before turning back to the group. "I think the trap is still in effect."
"Then you would be safest inside," Calder pointed out. "Or are you afraid of old mills now?"
"But what if the trap was inside?" Zavier asked rhetorically. "Think about it. We were sent out to fight kobolds. We expected an ambush. There wasn't an ambush and we took down all of the kobolds. Our guard is lowered now. This is the perfect time to strike!"
"You're paranoid," Calder sighed.
"I live this long by being paranoid," Zavier told him.
"I thought that was because of your remarkable dragonslaying powers," Calder reminded him.
"I don't think there's a trap waiting for us inside," Skylar glanced in through the open door. "I'm not seeing anyone inside."
"Of course you wouldn't see anyone on the ground level!" Zavier pointed to the mill. "Two stories, at most. I expect archers up on the second level."
"There are lofts above," Skylar reported.
"A perfect place for archers," Zavier told them.
"Zavier, if it makes you feel any better, I'll go in," Calder shrugged, walking up to the door.
"Go ahead, but be sure to look up," Zavier warned. "And keep your fancy bow out, will you?"
Calder sighed, trying to think how much longer he could put up with Zavier's crazy antics. To appease his companion, he kept an arrow nocked on his bow while stepping inside. Once inside, he took a quick glance up, and gasped. Much to his surprise, there was a man in the lofts, spear raised to throw down. The ranger was quicker on the attack, his arrow flying into the ambusher's shoulder. He let out a scream of pain while three of his companions started to move up, two more spears raised.
"Zavier, you were right!" Calder yelled back while rushing over to a stack of hay for cover.
"Of course I was right!" Zavier stepped into the barn and glanced up at the injured raider. "Obvious trap is obvious. Feel ashamed for your failure."
The guard grasped his head, and without warning, fell down from the loft with a sickening crack. Calder knew that he was dead long before falling head first and reminded himself to hold back on the insults to his companion. The bard rushed inside, allowing for Skylar to step in. She fired her crossbow right as the two spear throwers launched their weapons. Her bolt slammed into the shield of one of their attackers, the first spear struck the ground right in front Zavier, and the final spear seemingly missed Skylar, sailing over her shoulder and outside the mill.
Skylar rushed to cover by Calder while reloading her crossbow. The final attacker jumped down from the loft, pulling out a scimitar to face Zavier in battle. The ranger took a glance at his companion to see that his friend had a small cut across her cheek. The spear was able to injure her. The half-elf grunted and quickly broke away from cover, pulling an arrow from his quiver and onto his bow. He pulled back and let it fly free, slamming into the head of the attacker that injured her and sending him crashing down to the loft.
Zavier pulled out his rapier with one swift motion and jabbed his attacker straight in the chest, drawing blood. The raider roared out in pain and raised his scimitar to strike his foe. However, his life was ended when a crossbow bolt fired by Skylar struck him between the eyes. The final raider pulled out his own scimitar and jumped down from the loft, striking the bard across his arm. Calder let loose another arrow at the remaining attacker, but the shot was wide and slammed into a wooden beam instead.
Instead of reloading, Calder threw his bow down on the ground and charged forward, pulling out one of his shortswords. Zavier struck the raider across his cheek, drawing blood and leaving him with a nasty scratch. Skylar charged past the ranger and grabbed onto the back of the man, electricity gathering around her hands and blue flames forming around her neck. He screamed out in pain until Calder struck him across the throat with his blade, ending his life. From the door, Robert emerged with a war cry, crossbow raised. However, his excitement faded away when he saw that that the battle was over.
"Looks like you three had it all covered," Robert sighed and holstered his crossbow. "Are you three alright?"
"Scraped and bruised, but we'll live," Calder assured his friend.
"Please tell me you're the calvary," Zavier quickly added.
"Aye," Robert nodded. "The rest of my men are securing the perimeter. You three did good work."
"We can help you defend the mill further if needed," Skylar offered.
"It's not needed," Robert shook his head. "Castellan Escobert asked me to pass along a few messages. Three, to be exact. The first is that the raiders are mostly on the run. There are a few stragglers like this band here, but the attack has died down. The gates are opened for you to use."
"It's good to see that our hard work has finally paid off," Calder sighed in relief. "The second message?"
"Fargrim is awake," Robert reported. "He's making quite the scene back at the stronghold about being left behind."
"That blasted dwarf needs to learn to take a great," Zavier smiled. "It's good to see he's back to his old spirits."
"What else?" Skylar asked.
"In celebration of the raider's defeat, and for your efforts and part in our victory, Governor Nighthill is hosting a feast tonight to celebrate," Robert concluded. "After all we've been through, I could use a good party."
"Then we shall make our way back to rest, then party!" Zavier declared. "With me, my friends!"
Zavier led the way, eager for the celebration tonight. Of course the man that claimed to be a hero would want to go to a feast that celebrated him. Calder held back a chuckle, then followed him alongside Skylar. The three of them, and Fargrim, and even Robert, had been hard at work for the past day to keep Greenest safe. With a feast to celebrate their victory, and raise moral, the ranger felt that he could keep his guard down and enjoy the awards of their heroism.
A/N: Although it pains me to say it, but I will be taking a break from writing for a few weeks to focus on other matters that require my immediate attention. Defense of Greenest will pick up on April 11th.
Until next time.