Most of the villagers joined him near the gate. They held the advantage in the ranged fight, but in close quarters one gnoll could easily take on two or three trained soldiers, let along regular villagers. A portion of them stayed along the wall, ready to stab any gnolls that dared to climb the walls. The rest formed a small barricade with their shields and spears, similar to a phalanx, in front of the gate. In theory, the villagers at the front of the formation held their shields high and blocked any attacks, focusing on defense. The ones behind the formation stabbed out, killing the gnolls as fast as possible. Aleister stayed on the wall, his job to stab the gnolls in their back and prevent one's splitting off. All they could do now was—

Here they come.

The wooden gate burst open in the deluge of gnolls.

Aleister looked down, but then back up. He didn't have time to help the villagers on the ground as a gnoll scaled the wall and attacked him in an instant.

He raised his right hand, which held his shield just fast enough, and blocked the sharp swipe. Still, it pushed him back. Without a moment to spare, he lunged his spear forward.

The gnoll side-stepped. After dodging the attack, it grabbed the spear on its back and struck down at a forty-five degree angle. Aleister jumped back, pulling his spear with him. One of the spear wings caught onto a chink in the gnoll's hide armor and pulled it forward. This sudden force went against the momentum of its earlier strike and toppled it over onto his back.

Taking this opportunity, Aleister stepped in, but before he could attack, the gnoll reacted by rolling over and grabbing the ledge of the inner wall. Aleister turned around and lunged his spear down as he stood above. The gnoll jumped up before he could even attack. Now in the air, it used that advantage and smashed down, gripping its spear with both hands.

Aleister dodged with ease. He lunged his spear forward again, and this time pierced the gnoll's shoulder. It let out a visceral howl and struck out in rage. He raised his shield, but the force of the attack was too great. The spear pierced through and cut part of his leather helmet off. A trickle of blood dropped from a cut on his cheek. His blood pounded and drowned out sound around him.

He clenched his jaw and jutted his right hand to the side. This pushed the spear along with the shield away, allowing him to close the distance. The gnoll pushed itself in as well, but it bared its sharp fangs, hoping to bite down. Aleister didn't give it the chance. He plunged his spear through the bottom of its chin. The gnoll's face caved in as its head split. Blood splattered all over Aleister's chest as the parts of the gnoll's brain slopped off the spear and onto the ground.

Aleister dropped the broken shield onto the ground and pulled his spear out. He took the quickest of breaths before turning around to help the villager next to him. Luckily, it seemed as she shared in the same success. Aleister acknowledged her with a nod before scanning the rest of the walls.

A few of them found similar victories to him, while others died. The majority, though, were still engaged in combat. Unfortunately, most of them weren't close enough for him to help. So, he turned his attention to the battles on the ground.

Combat on the ground was messy. Too messy. It seemed like nothing went according to plan. The gnolls broke the villagers' formation quickly and asserted their dominance using their savagery and innate battle instinct. Fighting in small groups put the villagers at a massive disadvantage. But on the flip-side, there weren't nearly enough gnolls to take complete control of the situation. With both hands on his spear, he jumped down and joined the fray.

Aleister took in a deep breath and let it go as he slumped down, exhausted. The battle on their side finally died down. A couple of villagers still fought some stragglers as the remaining ones rested, but maintained enough diligence to help at a moment's notice.

From he could see the casualties on their side were good. Besides the unfortunate first incident, only a handful more died with another two dozen injured. The gnolls gnawed and gashed Aleister's armor in multiple places. few gashes and bruises, he didn't suffer too much. Especially since he joined in with a group.

He took a swig from a waterskin he carried as a one villager he battled with approached him.

"Son of Gilmore, correct?" he asked.

Aleister nodded.

"Fine job you did here tonight," she said. "The battle on this side is almost over. Most of us will hurry on over to the other side and check up on the situation there. Helping if need be, but their situation should at least be similar if not better than ours. Why don't you go report the situation to your father?"

"Thanks for the compliment. Any idea where my dad is now?" Aleister asked.

The woman shook her head. "No, but I saw him walk off to the right when he first left."

"So by now he would have ended somewhere along the northern left wall?" Aleister surmised.

"That would be my guess as well. Good luck."

"You too." Aleister watched the woman walk away.

He didn't get the chance to ask for her name. Oh well. He would probably see her sooner rather than later, anyway.

Aleister stood up and hesitantly grabbed his spear. Although he was tall and a well built, carrying a spear around his height on his back would still be cumbersome. So, he forwent taking the spear and in the case he still needed a weapon; he carried a short sword before running off.