I set the tanks closest to the road, Tejón and a few of the larger pets behind them, so that they could rush out and block the enemies’ progress. The casters and ranged units stood further away, a few even finding places in the limbs of one of the taller trees.
Then we waited.
No more than five minutes later, the peryton came racing back.
Serina, its companion, spoke with it through mind chat for a while before turning to us. “They are about a half mile off. Mostly nezumi, whatever that means, and hulking beasts that walk on two legs. Maybe trolls or ogres? It’s hard to understand her descriptions sometimes. And in the rear of the column, giant spiders as well.”
I thought a moment, then called out loud enough for everyone to hear, “Okay, so we attack and clean house. The nezumi are ratkin. It’ll be like fighting humans with tails. They are probably well armed and armored. The hulking things are probably trow. They have insanely tough skin, so go for the eyes and face or just hit harder than you normally would.” I paused for a second, seeing every eye on me. “When the spiders come into view, we split. We don’t want to tangle with those bastards unless we have a better position. Just fall back to the bridge. Tejón and I will stay a bit longer as the tanks fall back. Casters and ranged units, buy us time, but don’t linger.”
My words hung in the air a moment before I added, “And remember, everyone: The most important thing is to have fun!”
A few chuckles issued from our slap-dash band, but I could see they were as nervous as I was. Nobody here wanted to lose the XP and overall progress if they died, and worse yet, none wanted a companion to die.
Soon, the clatter of troops in plate and mail came into earshot. Some among us were elves and other keen-eared races, so their own reactions had presaged my own. I glanced up and saw the sexy little ranger with an arrow nocked. She gave me a nod then gestured towards the enemy, who were just beginning to come into view over the top of a hill in the short distance.
Their equipment, their numbers, and, of course, their size and ferocity all sent a chill up my spine, but it was their discipline that was most disturbing. No rabble was coming down on us, but trained platoons. Each rank was five wide, taking advantage of the width of the road, and looked to be ten columns deep. I watched the first group descend and the beginning of a second come up behind them.
That was one hundred right there. At least they were easy to count.
The first group was coming into range as I saw a third crest the hill, this one different in several ways. For one thing, the soldiers were a head taller and had no plate armor. These were the trow, all towering hulks with haphazard forms and unwieldy weapons. Still, even these walked in a group, though the ranks were looser. Though they took up nearly as much room, only twenty or so of the creatures marched in the third group.
My thoughts flickered to the spiders, those horrors that Hana and I had fought. Hopefully there weren’t any of their matriarchs or this fight would be a good deal more difficult.
I wanted nothing more than to stay hidden. With my view of the road, provided only by a thin crack in the top of a boulder I hid behind, I could remain out of view until this mass of enemies passed us by. But that wasn’t the way of things.
I bellowed, and I watched Tejón run up alongside a string of other beefy companions and the shield-bearing tanks in our numbers to block the road. “Tanks! Into position!”
The enemy reacted quickly. “Ambush!” a commander shouted from the side of the first column. He had a plume in his helm and the painted symbol of the Rat King on his breastplate, a fist clutching the wrist of another hand.
An arrow from one of our Rangers blossomed from the commander’s neck, and his next command was promptly drowned as his lungs filled with blood.
Another took his place, and the formation quickly fell into battle stances, with only a few of those following bunching up into those who stood before them. The call of alarm was passed backward, and a few horns were blown in a distinct three-burst pattern.
Not wanting to give up our few moments of advantage, I shouted the next set of orders I’d decided on. “Ranged fighters, fire at will but avoid the front line! Casters, AOE spells now!”
A few arrows whistled overhead, finding places to rest in eye sockets and throats alike. Several instant-cast area of effect spells landed next, turning the front column into a killing zone. The first turned the ground into viscous mud that the ratkin soldiers, weighed down with so much steel, sunk into up to their knees. Another caused a foul acid to bubble up around the enemies, burning their skin and even their armor and weapons.
Some spells took longer, and the front lines had already met in bloody conflict when they took hold. Two of them spelled a quick end for those caught in their blast. One of them was a miniature blizzard that settled over the road, sending tiny fragments of ice down on the enemy troops. The second brought fire from the sky, and though the elements were opposed, neither seemed to take away from the effectiveness of the other.
I wondered briefly what the spells’ names were, especially the fire one that had conjured a cloud of ethereal red dragons writhing among the enemies, scorching
