by Jeff Inlo
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The slow trot of the horses drew to a close. The soldiers of Fort Nebran along with the cavalry of Connel and the guard of Burbon now surrounded Connel. The edge of the circle remained well out of crossbow fire from any structure within the city. The soldiers sat patiently on their mounts in the encroaching dark of early evening. The air grew ever colder as any faint glow of light completely disappeared behind the gray wall of mountains to the west.
Colonel Haravin eyed the city and his soldiers that surrounded it as he considered the next phase of the attack. He spoke to Sy openly of what they had to do.
“I have six squads mopping up both to the west and east and securing those farmlands. We will not need them in our initial attack, but we now deal with our biggest challenge. I do not want to risk casualties, but we must make Sazar believe that we are focused on entering the city and not acting as a diversion.”
“Agreed,” Sy said. “At this point, things have gone better than I would have dared hope. I’m guessing that Ryson knows we have the city surrounded.”
“How sure are you of this?”
“It’s amazing what that delver can hear. Even below ground, he had to hear the charge of the horses. Even the elves probably heard that.”
“That is assuming the dwarves did as the delver asked and cleared the tunnels. If they did not, then the delver and elves may be nowhere near the city.”
“He would have gotten word to me if he wasn’t there. In fact, he’d probably be right here now ready to scout the city for the openings.”
“Unless the dwarves threw him in their prison.”
Sy frowned, but then stopped himself. “Can’t think like that.”
The colonel nodded, “You are right. We can’t. We must believe that the evacuation is about to start, so we should begin with our initial assault plans.” Colonel Haravin turned to the flag bearer to prepare the next set of signals. “Fore and back, every other soldier!”
The aide next to Haravin raised two red flags. He kept the first one still as he thrust the other forward. He quickly pulled it back and then kept that one still as he waved the first one forward. He did this several times in quick succession.
Once the signal was called, the soldiers carried out the orders. In the large circle that surrounded Connel, every other rider urged his mount forward at full speed. Those that remained stationary prepared their bows and waited for the first rush to conclude. From a hook hawk’s perspective high in the sky, the original circle now looked more like a dotted line that lost small segments of its mass as half of the formation members broke from its ranks. The soldiers that rushed forward now created a second circle which appeared to be collapsing inward with Connel as its central focal point.
Those that charged forward strung arrows in their bows. In the thickening dark, it was difficult for them to locate their targets. They had been instructed earlier to first look for the bloat spiders nestled in the webs that sealed off the city. In some cases the riders spotted dark masses in the center of a spun web. These made easy targets, but in other areas, the spiders had moved to dark corners or clung closely to the shadowed walls of buildings. For these creatures, the soldiers would have to take their best guess and hope at least some of their arrows might find their mark.
The riders also knew the goblins would be waiting with their crossbows. Again, the night assisted the defenders for their positions were cloaked in dark and shadow. Still, the riders knew a barrage of crossbow fire would welcome them the moment they came in range. At the moment they believed the exchange would occur, they urged their mounts on faster in hopes of racing beneath the arc of fire. The tactic worked with amazing success and as the hail of crossbow fire sailed over their heads, the soldiers released their own arrows.
All around the city, the barrage of shafts split the night air. The bloat spiders centered in their webs died instantly from numerous impacts. Even those monsters clinging to the shadows did not escape the accuracy of the first volley. So many arrows littered their webs that well over three quarters of the bloat spiders were either killed or mortally wounded. Those that survived were now trapped where they hid. Their webs remained intact, but the cascade of arrows plunged into the threads made them impassable for the spiders’ movements.
Those riders making up the first assault turned about and headed back to the outer circle before the goblins could reload. As they returned to the perimeter, those soldiers that had held steady now moved forward with hopes of matching the success of the first attack. Again, a second inner circle formed and tightened about the outskirts of the city. As this group reached the ground marked by the goblins’ bolts, they prepared for the next volley of crossbow fire.
The goblins anticipated a similar tactic from this second assault. They believed the riders would increase their speed to avoid casualties. The diminutive monsters had lowered their aim in hopes of turning the tactics against the human riders. They fired with glee, but this soon turned to curses of hate spawned anger.
The second wave of riders did not urge their mounts forward. Instead, they pulled up their horses to a near halt and allowed the bolts to fall upon the ground before them. They fired their own arrows into the darkness, letting them rain down on the heads of where they believed the goblins would be hiding. They quickly turned about and returned to the circular formation that surrounded the city.
“Call for a hold!” Colonel Haravin ordered and the signal caller raised a solid yellow flag that he held firm above his head. The colonel turned to Sy. “Let them think on that for a while.”
Sy pulled a spyscope from his pocket and peered into the edges of the city before him. He reported his findings of obviously dead bloat spiders to the colonel and informed him as well as to the condition of their webs. He could not venture a guess as to the casualties of the goblins and wishing to remain conservative he stated that most probably escaped injury.
With the break in movement before him, he urged his horse slightly to the left and then back to the right. He tried to get a clean view down one of the wider roads that led further into Connel. He didn’t expect he would see anything, but he hoped he might get a glimpse of humans moving toward cover. That would at least give him an indication that Ryson had begun the evacuation.
As his horse sidestepped further to the left at Sy’s urging, Burbon’s captain let out a grunt of surprise. He pulled the horse to a halt, and peered deeper into the dark streets, then pulled the spyscope away from his face. He looked at the city in absolute bewilderment and then returned the scope to his eye.
“What is it?” the colonel commanded.
Sy shook his head and at first said nothing. He quickly handed the spyscope to the Colonel. “Take a look down the wide street straight ahead of me” Sy then pointed in front of him.
Colonel Haravin took the eyepiece and moved his own horse into a better position. “What in blazes is that?!”
“Those are dwarves,” Sy said.
“Are you sure?”
“Beyond sure, I’ve seen them before, I’ve fought them before. I know what a dwarf formation moving down a street looks like.”
“What in blazes are they doing here now?” the colonel barked. “They attacked Connel before.”
“Yes, right before they attacked Burbon,” Sy confirmed.
The colonel urged his horse further off to the left and looked down another street. “There’s more of them. Good Godson, a great many more!” He handed the eyepiece back to Sy for him to take another look. “Could they have used this as an opportunity to take the city for themselves, or perhaps even joined with the creatures?”
Sy took a quick look and then shook his head. “Doesn’t appear that way. They’re attacking the goblins, and they’re attacking in great force.”
The dwarves began swarming into Connel from dozens of points all across the city. In some cases they used existing access tunnels. Some of these were clear, never sealed by the humans because they were not found or because they w
ere located beneath the rubble of a collapsed building. Dwarves, however, could move rubble like the wind moves dried leaves. Others that had been sealed proved even less a deterrent as the dwarves plowed through the dirt that filled the holes as if it wasn’t there. They also quickly dug new passages to the surface, passages that would bring them closer to the outskirts of the city and directly upon the goblins they sought.
Once in the open streets, the dwarves dropped into battle formations. They drew close, their armor locked together, forming wedges that pressed forward with undeterred power. Though they lacked natural speed, they marched in unison at double time. Soon nearly every road leading to the outer edges of Connel was filled with dwarf battle groups looking to smash their intended foes.
The goblins at first had no idea what was coming for them. Their backs were to these streets, their attention on the humans that were engaged outside the city. The hook hawks, however, patrolled the skies, and as they screeched warnings, eventually the goblins took heed. As they turned to witness this spectacle of doom that now charged toward them, their eyes widened in terror. In their haste, they fired their crossbows wildly. Most bolts missed their targets completely. Those that managed to hit a dwarf simply bounced harmlessly off thick battle armor.
In this moment, the outcome of the ensuing battle was already clear. No matter what the size of a goblin horde, it was no match for a fully armored battalion of angry and determined dwarves. Dwarves worked and fought together in unison. They understood war and battle tactics and they did not know fear. This was a combination of assets that stripped the goblins clean of any potential advantage.
The goblin horde had no such harmony. Though their strength rested in numbers, they could never boast of being a truly cohesive unit. They moved in waves of bedlam and used chaos and turmoil to confuse and demoralize their victims. On this day, they faced dwarves and dwarves laugh at such attempts. The goblins could not intimidate this foe through fear, and though their ranged weapons might have given them an edge against the slow moving dwarves, they lacked the proper discipline to use that advantage effectively. Eventually, the dwarves would fight through any barrage of crossbow fire and turn this into a battle of close quarters, a battle the goblins could not possibly win.
Those shags that guarded the few clear passages in and out of Connel and others that protected the goblin flanks would fall first. Shags possessed the strength and size and could match a dwarf in a test of sheer power, but one shag against thirty dwarves with mace and axe was not a fair contest. Those shags that charged the dwarf formations head-on were dispatched with frightening speed. While their thick fur was ample protection against most hazards, it could not save them against bone crushing mace blows or the powerful swings of a dwarf axe.
The dwarf battle groups marched unimpeded toward the final positions of the goblins when they met their first true challenge. Attacks from the air began to impede the dwarves’ progress. Hook hawks began to swoop low from the sky and grab and scratch with sharp clawed talons. Though razor crows joined the fray by flying in maddened circles, they did little more that distract the dwarves. Still, they proved an annoyance and allowed the hook hawks greater time to make more passes that slowly began to cause casualties.
From their position outside the city, Sy and Colonel Haravin witnessed the battle with growing enthusiasm. It was clear the dwarves were attacking the dark creatures, and it was now their attention to assist in any way they could.
The colonel called for his closest lieutenants. He had new orders and they could not be delivered with flag signals.
“Disperse this order throughout the ranks. We will move to the very edge of the city and keep circling it at attack speed. Keep the goblins sandwiched between us and the dwarves. If a hook hawk swoops down into range, open fire with bows. The same goes for any goblins trying to escape out of the city. Make note of any clear entrances you see. Do not enter the city at this time, but we will need to make use of them later.”
The soldiers urged their mounts forward and came to the very outskirts of Connel, almost within arms reach of the webs that encased the outer edges of the city. They no longer feared crossbow fire for the dwarves were now engaging the goblins in close combat. The horses began to move at a furious pace always circling the city. Whenever a hook hawk attempted to swoop in for an attack, it received a barrage of arrows that swiftly dropped it to the ground. Even the razor crows were quickly dispersed by the flood of arrows that now swam through the dark night air over the heads of dwarf and goblin.
Trapped between the human cavalry circling the city and the dwarves storming through their entrenchments, the goblins panicked. They broke ranks and ran with disregard to their ultimate fate. In the end, this simply hastened their demise.
With the goblins routed, the dwarves turned their attention to the bloat spiders. Their axes made quick work of any web threads that blocked a city street, and their maces ended the threat of those few creatures that remained alive. Once all the webs were cleared, the dwarves turned about with a mind toward destroying every last goblin retreating back through the streets.
As most streets were now cleared and entrance into Connel could occur unimpeded, Colonel Haravin could not pass up the opportunity. “Signal an entry into the city, secure the main roads and follow inward to engage any fleeing goblins.”
The soldiers followed these orders gladly, especially those belonging to the cavalry of Connel. They moved through the streets quickly passing the dwarves and closed upon the heels of the few remaining goblins. As they secured the roads, Sy and Haravin pulled to a halt to size up the situation.
“Do you think your team even bothered to evacuate anyone?” Haravin asked.
“I doubt it,” Sy replied. “They would have had to use the same tunnels as the dwarves. I’m sure Ryson would have seen what was going on and put a halt to it even if they started. My guess is most of the people are probably taking shelter inside their homes.”
“Once we secure these main roads, we can begin searching the inner sections of the city. The dwarves didn’t leave much of the goblins to be any threat.”
Sy nodded and then looked about curiously. He realized the number of dwarf battle groups in the streets was dwindling fast. Those he could see began to drop into holes in the ground and fell completely out of sight.
“They’re leaving,” Sy pointed out. “I guess they did what they came to do and are going home. Maybe Connel has turned an enemy into a friend.”