Hoppit shouted what sounded like an order, aiming at the nearest badger as she prepared to launch her first bullet. At her cry, the other slingers did the same.
Hammer, on the other hand, jumped down from her wagon, bellowing an order for others to follow suit. Half the melee fighters accompanied Hammer in bracing themselves against the wagons to help weather the coming impact. I noticed that sacks of the heavier supplies had also been lodged behind the wagons’ wheels to make the barricade sturdier, while several layers of spidersilk girdled the outward-facing side. Binky’s thread would not only ensure the wagons held together for longer, it would also potentially hamper and maybe even hurt any creature unfortunate enough to brush up against its sticky surface.
The slingers launched their missiles just before the first badger crashed into Hoppit’s wagon. It had looked about to hit it head first, but at the last moment it twisted to the side, barreling into the wood with its muscular gray-furred shoulder instead.
Hoppit had seen it coming, of course, and the instant she released her bullet, she dropped down behind the wagon’s high side, stretching out her legs to brace herself against the opposite side. The wooden vehicle shuddered, and one of the wheels even lifted from the ground a little, but the badger’s attack was not enough to damage the wagon nor dislodge its armed passengers.
Successive crashes rocked the barricade as four more badger bodies impacted it. The wagons heaved violently, forcing the slingers on top to lurch to the side and grip the sides for balance, but gnomes and vehicles alike remained upright.
Dire Badger x 5 marked as hostile.
Red auras appeared around each of the enemy badgers, just like had happened with the tiger owl. It seemed the Augmentary only recognized new creatures as hostile once they’d actively tried to cause harm to my denizens or damage to their property.
There’s probably a way to alter that somehow. But not now.
They flung themselves at the barricade again. Though the wagons rocked and creaked, it seemed the badgers lacked the individual strength to tip them over fully.
Unfortunately, it seemed the badgers had realized that too. This time, two of them lined themselves up to charge at the same wagon. The sound of cracking wood rang out as they hit; the warriors bracing the wagon were pushed back, feet sliding on the leafy ground as the makeshift barrier tipped violently. The badgers retreated, one of them shaking its head as though dazed. Then, they regrouped and headed for the same wagon.
With a cry, Hoppit rallied the warriors from the other side of the circle to join the others in bracing the wagon on which the two badgers had placed a bullseye.
This time when they collided with it, the extra gnomes behind it meant it didn’t budge an inch. The warriors cheered as the badgers retreated once more, though it was likely they would try again. And again.
The cheers were cut short by a shout from the opposite side of the circle. The other three badgers, who up till now had been circling the barricade and making ineffectual attempts to break through on their own, had suddenly launched themselves at a different wagon. Like a fierce race to the finish, their claws dug into the ground as they pushed themselves forward, pink eyes fixed on their shared target with unnatural intensity.
Binky—Spit!
The spider had an excellent vantage point atop the tent, and didn’t even have to move in order to aim his goopy missile at the nearest enemy. The opaque ball of spider-spit splashed across the badger’s face with a sizzle, then erupted with tendrils that covered the creature’s eyes and entangled its legs.
Nice shot!
A quick use of Insight showed that it now held the ‘Slowed’ status in addition to ‘Fury.’
The other two were still coming. I ordered Binky to Web Shoot, but as soon as the first badger was hit with the spit, the others had started to zig-zag, and the sticky projectile sailed past them both harmlessly.
I cursed my lack of mana more vehemently than ever before. If I’d interpreted the Augmentary correctly, under normal circumstances Adjure would allow me to expend mana in order for Binky to use his abilities as often as I wanted him to. Without that option, both Spit and Web Shoot were on cooldown for the next minute or so.
I was out of options.
The slingers on the targeted wagon yelled in alarm, but to their credit they held their position, loosing bullets at the rapidly oncoming juggernauts. But while the slung stones embedded themselves in flesh and decorated the silvery hides with splashes of red, the badgers barely flinched, and a moment later both of them crashed into the wagon’s side.
Wood splintered, fragments flying like shrapnel from a grenade. The non-combatants who’d been herded to one side screamed and flinched, those on the outside using their bodies to shield the children from the sharp debris that whipped through the air. Sling-wielding warriors were flung from their positions as the very wood beneath their feet was shattered.
The badgers burst through the wreckage, snarling. The one that came through first seemed to have taken the brunt of the impact; blood streamed down its face from a plethora of cuts, staining the white stripes of its cheeks crimson. Shards of shroomwood still protruded from some of the wounds, but the creature seemed not to notice.
Already warriors were forming a shield wall between the badgers and the civilians. The latter were grouped in a large huddle as far away from the intruders as possible, but they were cornered. If the shield-gnomes couldn’t hold…
If only we’d had enough stonebows for the warriors as well as the scouts. A few point-blank shots from those weapons would have taken care of the creatures by now, as Longshank had already proved. Instead,
