"An attack?!" Renat was in shock. He was not trained for battle and had never seen so much as a minor skirmish.

Mairwen's face was serious. "We have to warn the garrison."

Eira shook her head. "You have to stay here, Your Highness. You must stay safe."

"I am of the Royal Family. I will not stand idly by and let others suffer or die." The Princess fled from her hiding place. Eira and Renat were forced to follow her as she ghosted along the ground. Fortunately the enemy was coming at an oblique angle and not focused on them. By the time the opposing force noticed them, it was too late to intercept the trio. Trying to do so would have given away their position. Instead, a lone arrow whizzed wide as they shut the small kitchen entrance.

Mairwen looked for the night watch. She spotted the one guarding the door, who had drawn his sword at their entrance. He lowered it as he recognized the newcomers. "Rouse the troops. An attack is incoming. Find the spymaster." The princess's voice was quiet and crisp. The watchmen saluted, pointed to the top rampart, and moved urgently through the compound. Climbing the ladder to the top of the wall, the princess found the spymaster looking out at the horizon. Like the elf, many soldiers were crouched waiting.

Brinn noticed the girl and moved quickly to her side. "Where have you been?" Then she spotted Renat. Brinn took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do not tell me you were outside the fort! You could have been caught or killed. Or maybe you should have stayed outside until the fighting was over. Time will tell." The elf's words ran together.

"Wait, you know that there will be a fight?" The Princess's mouth fell open. It seemed her warning had been unnecessary.

"Of course! We have been watching them for the better part of an hour while looking frantically for you. If they had not been moving steadily towards us, we would have thought that they abducted you."

Mairwen felt suddenly guilty. In her quest to do something worthwhile, she had caused a considerable amount of panic. "I am sorry. I was trying to finish the glasses before we left. The glasses!" She whispered hastily.

Renat heard her quiet cry. He leaned in, "Do not fear, Your Highness. They are with me." He patted the satchel at his side gently.

"Do they know we have seen them?" Mairwen moved back to the problem at hand.

Brinn shook her head. "I do not believe so. They would have started moving much quicker to attack. We are waiting for them to get close enough to put some arrows in them. If we can just make it until morning, the light will help us with our defense."

"Wouldn't the light help them too?" The whispered question was from Renat.

"Their biggest assets are the darkness and surprise. They already lost one of those." Brinn gave an ironic smile. "Get a bow," the elf told Mairwen. "We will need your accuracy." She left out the word 'deadly' before accuracy, but the princess knew what was being asked. The blue-eyed girl hurried down to the ground to fetch a weapon. "Eira, protect her and keep her supplied with arrows."

Eira nodded and disappeared from sight to follow the princess. Not to be left out, Renat started his descent. "I need to grab a couple of things." With the others out of her way for a moment, Brinn tiptoed along the wall bent in half until she reached General Beadu. "Are we ready?" She asked.

"Yes. The archers are in place. We will try to get those carrying the ladders first. That ought to slow them down." The General was clearly excited. He was old enough to remember the last battle to unite the Empire. He craved the thrill of battle. "Get ready to teach these fools a lesson."

Everyone took their final places. Mairwen and the other two returned to the wall, and for a moment there was silence. Beadu raised his arm. The archers pulled taught their strings. "Now!" He commanded. The whispers of arrows filled the air. Most of the archers had off a second or third shot before the first landed.

The slowly advancing enemy suddenly lost its line as those that were hit dropped to the ground. There was a moment of confusion. "They have seen us!" one of them cried. After regrouping, a hail of arrows was returned toward the fortress.

"Duck," Brinn pushed down the princess as a shaft whizzed past. While those on the top of the walkway were pinned down, the enemy charged at the wall with their ladders. The first ladder made a clattering sound as it bumped up against the wooden wall. Because of the spikes at the bottom, the men had to tread carefully to get to the first rung. Three of them were taken down in the process before one could successfully climb. With his sword in his teeth, he scaled the wall and leapt onto the walkway just as an arrow hurled him backwards. He fell, knocking the two men behind him on the ladder to the ground.

"Push it off!" the General ordered. With effort and timing, the ladder was slung to one side and the two combatants on it met their fate on the wooden spikes below. Brinn used her wind magic to knock the next two ladders to the ground in quick succession. In their places three more ladders rose, and the walls received a surge of pirates and enemy soldiers. A clash of steel rang out. A few unguarded archers went down, but Mairwen kept her stance and took as many of the enemy down as she could.

Seeing their number being decimated by one archer's arrows, a hook-nosed pirate tried to take the girl down. Cutting his way through the imperial soldiers, he he made a swipe at Mairwen. Sensing his presence, Eira blocked his sword. Renat threw a ball that popped like a bubble in the pirate's face. "My eyes!" he screamed, dropping his sword. He clawed at his face and twisted, his body needing only the slightest push before plummeting to the spikes below.

A few of the enemy soldiers held buckets in addition to their weapons. In between attacks, they each dumped the contents against the outside of the wooden wall. Alternating between archery, magic, and sword fighting, Brinn was making a valiant effort as a one-elf army. With her help, the tide began to turn and more were being thrown from the wall than scaling it.

"Keep at it!" General Beadu called to rally them.

"Fall back!" The enemy began to retreat. They hurried off the wall and into the distance.

Mairwen heaved a sigh of relief and sat on the walkway. The Empress's troops whooped, except for General Beadu. He was eyeing the new dark substance caking the wall. Brinn also came to examine it.

"Hold my feet," the elf told the general.

"What? Oh!" Beadu was startled as Brinn leaned over the outside of the wall and wove through metal studs. She took a cloth and dipped it into the gooey substance.

"Pull me up!" Brinn called crisply.

Together, Beadu and Mund lifted the lady back onto the walkway. She presented the black sticky cloth. "What is it?" Mund asked.

Brinn sniffed and her nose wrinkled. "It's pitch!"

The two officers' eyes widened. The enemy was not retreating. They had accomplished their goal. Beadu turned to his troops. "Incoming!"