People tell me that the battles fought at Ansdron during the Drant War were quite interesting, but I didn’t see the big picture. I wasn’t part of the strategy decisions and had no idea what was happening most of the time. I just went where the fighting was and did my best. I did order Venzik and my guards to stay out of it. I needed them to guard me from everything else and that required that some of them remain alive to do it. I fought with Delik Slin and Sir Aryoss at my side, I would have loved to have Kralnik and Vone, too, but they had their own people to lead. Sometimes I ended up fighting near their troops but not with them, if you follow me.

Nobody seemed to like the idea of me manning the walls but somehow it made me feel better. Like I was actually accomplishing something. I’ll admit that it also distracted me from all the things I didn’t want to feel or think about. Killing drants is good for that, and thinking you are about to die is even better. It really keeps you focused.

The drants aren’t usually big on planning. Drantor must have left strategy and tactics out when he created them. That’s why the sneak attack on the riverbank was so surprising. Usually they just swarm, like bugs. They run up to a city and try to climb the walls. They use the bodies of other drants as ladders and ramps. These bodies can be dead or alive. They can even unintentionally kill some of their own comrades who get stuck at the bottom of the pile and eventually suffocate. A lot of them do manage to make it to the top of the wall, one way or another. Since they don’t use siege engines the attack isn’t centered on or two places. They attack the entire wall.

It is no fun to defend against. If no drants make it up top where you are waiting, then you have to run to another section of the wall to help out before that part is completely overrun. Not everyone can go because drants might make it to the top after everyone has left. It is exhausting. And sometimes exhilarating.

The first day they attacked I was stationed near the West Gate since they love attacking by the gates. They try to clear the walls there and then open the gates from the inside. This has happened lots of times over the centuries. You can pour oil on some of them and shoot arrows into others, but the swarm keeps coming and the dead just become part of the ramp. The awful part of the drant war coming early was how unprepared the army, and the city itself, was. If the war had happened in twenty years or so, like everyone thought would be the case, the riverwall would have been completely rebuilt and they never would have even tried the sneak attack. We also would have had a lot more oil to burn the drants with. More arrows, too. Oh well, you fight with what you have handy.

It was an early morning. Dawn was just an idea, it remained pitch black beyond the torches set in holders on the wall. They probably made it harder for us to see what was out there, ruining our night vision. There were a lot of sounds though. It was hard to make out individual ones but it was clearly a lot of drants coming our way. The noise grew louder but it was impossible to tell how many drants were out there or exactly where they were. Had they reached the bottom of the wall? Were they even now forming a living ramp and trying to climb up the walls? Last year they had seemed quite impressive at twenty feet high. Now I thought one hundred seemed like a smarter idea.

I looked at my fellow defenders on either side. At least every other person manning the wall had a bow and the bins of arrows behind us were well stocked. I’m an okay shot with a small bow but I had decided I would rather just use my sword when the drants finally reached the top of the wall. That’s more personal and I had been looking forward to it.

The noises seemed to be right below us and I imagined hundred of drants about to pop up over the top of the battlements. I must not have been the only one who thought so because officers started shouting out the order, “Torches away!” Every so often men were lighting new torches from the ones already lit and set in the holders. They waited a few moments to ensure that they were burning well, and then tossed them over the side of the wall out into the darkness.