"What in Arthfael's holy name are those?"

"Goblins, soldier." Paul Allard, representative of the Allard family, says. "Be on guard, men! Should these beast cross our walls, then our loved ones will not see the end of the night. As night falls they will attack!"

"How many do you think there are?" The commander asks. "We seem to be understaffed."

"There might be thousands more in the forests, Helvicker." Paul says. "All we can do is defend this city from the horror they would bring."

"If you say so..." Helvicker says. "Listen up, men! These beast are weak to anything warmer than a fist. Be sure to load flaming arrows. Arrows fly at my command. Let's show these brainless monster what it means to invade the city of Oliron! We will not let a single one through. Remember your training and cover each other. For Oliron!"

An agreeing roar sounds among the men.

Darkness falls...

"Steady!" Allard yells. "Daren, try to stay back. This fight could turn bad quick and I would not want you to get hurt. Should I fall, then we will need you in the council."

"Yes, uncle." Daren says, stepping away from the front row.

Three rows of around fifty or sixty men are positioned along the wall. The wall is no more than ten metres wide. The geological position of Oliron is perfect for a choke point defence. Another twenty men are positioned to reinforce the gate, should it fall. The ditch the gate was build in would cause the attackers to fight an uphill battle.

The scratching of nails on stone can be heard now. It is followed by the sound of rattling armour. War cries fill the air.

"Lights!" Helvicker yells.

Every tenth man brings forth his torch and tosses it over the wall. These light the bails of hay placed there. Soon a big part of the land in front of the gate is ablaze. The railings of the bridge light up and the Goblin forces stagger at the high temperatures.

"Run back to your hovels, scum!" Helvicker yells triumphantly.

The bravest of the Goblins are charging through the flames, however. Soon the main force follows, undeterred by the fire.

"Archers, ready!" Paul yells. The men in the back row draw their bows with flaming arrows. "Fire!"

A cloud of sixty flaming arrows fills the air, killing dozens of Goblins. The Goblins hit, fall and burst into flame. Yet still the mass runs at the wall.

"Prepare for melee combat!" Helvicker yells at the soldiers. "Show them your training!"

Helvicker draws his short swords and takes position next to Paul.

"Prepared?" Paul asks.

"Of course!" Helvicker says. "I was born for this."

The first Goblins reach the wall and start their fast ascend. The men quickly kill the first wave, before it has even reached the top. Paul and Helvicker are hacking away at soft limbs. In the mids of the chaos of battle there occurs a short moment of rest for the two.

"You alright, Helvicker?" Paul asks. "Helvicker?"

Helvicker just stands there, looking forward dreamily. Just before the next wave of Goblins arrives he grabs Paul.

"What the..." Paul starts. Before he finishes, Helvicker tosses him over the edge of the wall.

As he hits the ground he hears a loud crack, followed by an enormous amount of pain. He coughs loudly, blood spraying the field. The Goblins are closing in now. Helvicker lands next to him, dazed. Anger overtakes Paul as he hoists Helvicker by the collar. As he does this, pain fills his chest and he falls back down.

"Why?" Paul coughs.

"I don't know..." Helvicker says. "It just happened..."

The Goblins are upon them now. One larches on to Paul's left arm. Helvicker is not so lucky, as one attaches itself to his face. Loud sucking noises and a faint screaming mark his end. Paul feels his wrist snap, as dozens of teeth work it's way up his arm. Paul could feel himself lose consciousness. With a mighty effort he lunges his sword deep into the Goblin. It quickly releases its grip and moves back. Mere moment later another Goblin springs forward, latching itself to Paul's right arm. Paul is forced to drop his sword and he screams in agony. More Goblins gather now. Most start to chew on legs and feet. Before long, Paul Allard is dead.

In horror Daven watches as Helvicker tosses his uncle over the wall. Anger overtakes Daven and he rushes over to Helvicker, but before he is anywhere near, Helvicker leans back against the wall and tumbles over. Daven rushes passed the rows of defenders and stares down the wall. There he sees his dear uncle get torn to bits. Unrest fills the ranks at the loss of their commanders.

"We need to help them!" Daven yells at one of the soldiers.

"Lord Daven?" The soldier says. "I am sorry, sir. There is nothing we can do now."

"But..." Daven starts.

He is interrupted by an agonising scream as Paul's life ends. The soldiers waver. A few men step back. Fighting through the anger and sadness, Daven Allard assumes command.

"I, Daven Allard, assume command of the defences." Daven yells. "Get back in line! We have a city to protect."

The name Allard carries through the ranks, as order starts to return to the formation. Breaches are mended and the defences slowly reform.

"Oliron will not fall with the death of one man!" Allard says. "Oliron will fall when all men are gone. When I look around me I still see men and women, ready to fight! Oliron hasn't fallen with the death of my uncle. We will make sure of that!"

The fight intensifies as more Goblins start reaching the wall. The casualties sustained in the laps of resolve are wearing down on the defenders, but the lines aren't falling. More Goblins stream across the bridge however.

"There is no end to them!"

"Every flood ends, soldier!" Allard yells. "Hold the line, men! For Oliron!"

The numbers of defenders is steadily decreasing now. Men are scattered everywhere, either wounded or dead. Everyone else is at the very least exhausted.

"Archer, shoot at the bridge entrance!" Allard yells.

A group of ten archers gathers and starts pelting the entrance with flaming arrows. Every Goblin hit explodes into flames. Soon the stacks of corpses form a flaming barricade, giving the defenders some well deserved rest.

Allard collapses against the wall. He has a big wound on his shoulder and his body is covered in scratches, bruises and gore. His armour and clothing is all but ripped to shreds and is hanging loosely off of him.

Maxwell approaches the wall.

"Daven Allard." He says. "I never suspected you to fall in for Helvicker."

"Please don't... say that name... ever again." Daven says panting.

"Why what happened?" Maxwell asks.

"He lost hope at the sight of the Goblin army and killed both himself and my uncle." Daven says.

"He killed Paul Allard?" Maxwell says seemingly surprised. "Very unfortunate indeed..."

"Unfortunate." Daven laughs. "That would be one way to say it, yes."

"We are currently gathering the off duty soldiers." Maxwell says. "Reinforcements are on the way. They will be here as soon as they are armed."

"That is some good news at last." Daven says. "What will be of the council now another two members have perished. After tonight I am going to be occupied with reinforcing our defences, so I won't be of much use in the council."

"I'll handle the political affairs, as head of the council." Maxwell says. "War is coming soon, so we need our defences to be in a good shape before then. Good luck with the fight, Daven."

Maxwell turns around and leaves. He soon disappears between the building.

"Get ready, men!" Daven yells. "The fire is dying down."

"Are we ready?" Xandrien asks. Night has fallen and a strong southeastern wind fills the air with noise.

"Ready." Gilbert says.

The group walks across the field towards Northpoint Castle. Few guards, guided by torches, walk across the walls, peering into the darkness. This night has no moon, however and so their sight is limited. Before long the group has reached the western wall undetected.

"What now, genius?" One of the soldiers asks.

"Now we go through." Xandrien says.

"Go through?" The soldier says. "You must be mad. How do you expect to break a wall without alerting anyone?"

"Just watch." Xandrien says. He focusses. The wind picks up, drowning out all noise. Xandrien then starts tapping on the wall. The entire section starts to shake. Slowly the stones come lose. The lower section of wall starts to collapse. Before the group can even move, a guard hits the ground next to them, dead. He must have been blown of by the wind. This startles Xandrien and the wind dies down. A tired expression covers Xandrien's face.

"Unfortunate..." Xandrien says. "Drag him next to the wall. We don't need to get spotted, because he fell. And put that torch out, before it lights the field on fire."

One of the soldiers grumpily starts moving the body while the other one puts out the fire.

"One of them should stay here and guard our exit." Gilbert says.

"Yeah..." Xandrien says. "You, stay here and guard our exit."

The soldier Xandrien points at still looks unhappy about taking orders, but does what he is told. He puts his cart against the wall and starts looking around.

"That was new." Gilbert says as he follows Xandrien into the castle.

"I met fake..." Xandrien responds.

"What did he say?" Gilbert asks.

"He told me a thing or two about magic." Xandrien says. "Now be quiet."

"Do you smell that?" Gilbert says. "Ash?"

"Quiet!" Xandrien says.

The castle is quiet. The only activity comes from the guards on patrol. The group slowly moves to the door of the central tower. Two torches light the entrance, but no guard stands watch. Xandrien carefully looks around to make sure no guards are around.

"Let's leave the carts here." He says. "They would be too noisy inside."

Xandrien gives the door a push and, to his surprise, it isn't locked. Since the castle is out in the middle of nowhere, nobody bothers to lock a door behind a wall, especially of that door is used a lot. The group slowly enters the building.

Six doors are on the ground floor. The last two are definitely part of two separate, circular staircases, since they are build into a rounded wall. The hallway is dark and only a single torch hangs on the wall at the end of the corridor. Xandrien slowly advances towards the first door on his right. No signs mark the doors, so Xandrien can only guess which door is the right one. No light shines underneath the door, so the room is dark. Xandrien pushes the door, opening an abyss of darkness before them. As their eyes start to adjust to the darkness, they see a few rows of beds lined up. Most are occupied, but some are empty. Xandrien quickly closes the door, almost slamming it shut. Gilbert intervenes and catches the door just in time, gently closing it. Gilbert puts his finger to his lips.

Xandrien, looking a bit ashamed of himself, moves to the next door on the right. A faint light glows from within the room. Xandrien opens the door a little to see if someone guards the room. He sees rows upon rows of boxes, but no guards. Two torches light the room.

Xandrien signals the others to follow him inside and softly closes the door behind them. They then proceed the open one of the crates. It contains a lot of salted meat. Other crates contain other food and some are filled with spears and shields.

"We can't take the weaponry." Gilbert says. "Let's grab two crates of food each and bring them back to the carts."

"Good idea." Xandrien replies, picking two crates.

They are interrupted by the door falling shut. A man stands dreamily across of Xandrien.

"Hey you!" The man says. "I know you."

"I'm not s..." Xandrien starts.

"No, no, no!" The man says. "You are that new recruit. Of stealing food are we? Not that I blame you. There is too much anyway." The man lets out a loud laugh. "Now let's find something good..."

"This crate contains something interesting." Xandrien says, pointing at one of the opened crates in front of him.

"Really?" The man says, walking towards Xandrien.

Just before he reaches Xandrien, Xandrien notices the man draw a knife from his belt. The movement was slight, but definitely there. A few passes away from Xandrien the man lunges forward, ripping a part of Xandrien's shirt. Xandrien quickly retaliates by grabbing the man by the neck and bringing him down onto the floor. The knife hits the floor next to Gilbert, who quickly picks it up. Xandrien did not have enough time to start using magic again, so the man is merely restrained.

"A little help here." Xandrien says softly.

Gilbert rushes over and kneels next to the man, putting the knife to his throat. He looks the man in the eyes. The man struggles even more, desperate to escape the cold metal. With a smooth motion, Gilbert slices the man's throat, blood gushing out of the gaping wound. The man struggle for a few more second, drowning in his own blood. Moments later the movements stop and the man is dead.

"Let's move." Xandrien says.

The three men quickly gather there crates and start making their way to the door. Just a Xandrien reaches the door, it is flung open by two men armed with spears. Xandrien slams into one of them, flinging him into the wall. The other one looks around in confusion, before the soldier hits away the man's spear, knocks of his helmet and headbutts him. The man falls to the floor, unconscious after the helmeted headbutt. This action forced the soldier to drop his crates and he quickly gathers them again.

"Run!" Xandrien yells.

As they run down the hall the barrack doors fly open. Xandrien slams into the one on the left, shutting it again. Gilbert tries to do the same, but without magic the impact hurts. He stumbles, but is caught by the soldier, who drags him along. Xandrien is just ahead of them, preparing his cart. Gilbert and the soldier quickly toss the crates on the cart and start running after Xandrien. The alarms are now being raised and activity on the wall is increasing.

"Hurry up!" The soldier at the hole yells, preparing to run.

Xandrien passes him and he starts running along side Xandrien. The are closely followed by Xandrien and the other soldier. An archer on the wall bring up his bow and releases an arrow at the retreating group, but he misses the completely in the darkness. Just as the cross the hill however, a faint light from the south illuminates the group. One more arrow is fired and this one finds its mark...

The soldier, that was previously guarding the hole, lets out a short yell, before falling down with an arrow sticking out of his spine. With the noise from the castle and the darkness of the night, no one notices the man's death.

"Where did James go?" The remaining soldier asks.

"No clue." Xandrien says, maintaining his sprint. They soon reach the carriage and head back to Taere.

"We need food, Meckrin!" Tevron says. "We can't hope for the travellers to make it back alive. They haven't returned since yesterday. If we don't do something, the city will descend to anarchy."

"What would you have me do?" Meckrin asks. "Kelna can't help us because of the Goblins and the fields won't be ready before next month!"

"Order a full search of the city." Tevron suggests. "Find every single crum of food that is left."

"The people will never agree to that." Meckrin argues. "Too many of them hide the last supplies they own. If we take those away and redistribute them, a rebellion will follow. I agree we must act in some way, but that is not the right course of action."

A short man runs into the tent.

"Tevron, sir, the travellers are back!" He says.

"What?" Tevron says, walking out of the tent.

A carriage is driving further down the main street.

"Unbelievable..." Tevron says. "The morons pulled it of. They actually got us food."

"And so are people are doomed to join a forsaken rebellion..." Meckrin says, joining Tevron outside. "I hope you know what you are doing, Tevron."

"That makes two of us." Tevron mumbles. "Thank you, travelers! We can't be more in your debt."

"Our pleasure, sir." Xandrien says, jumping down from the cart. "You might want to increase the watch though. The garrison was not all too happy about us stealing their food."

"But now we will face them on our terms." Tevron says. "I assure you that we have more than a good chance of defeating an attack of that small garrison. You two, bring those crates to Meckrin's tent!"

"Yes, sir!"

"James died..." Xandrien says.

"Unfortunate..." Tecron says. "At least he died so we could live. He lost a lot to the hunger. His family was one of the unlucky ones. They died too early."

"How is the city itself?" Gilbert asks.

"It's still in one piece." Tevron says. "Thanks again, for ensuring our survival."

"Why would the capital let their food supply starve though?" Gilbert wonders. "It just makes little sense to me."

"I must say, I don't much care what the capital is thinking at this point." Tevron says. "And, unlike Meckrin, I would be glad to join your revolution."

"Good to hear." Xandrien says. "We have our allies, now all we need to do is assemble them. When are your men ready?"

"In one month, when we harvest the crops, we will be back at full strength and even capable of feeding a full army." Tevron says.

"Could you send a messenger to Kelna to inform them of the time?" Gilbert asks. "It would be great if Fenwick is there to receive the message."

"I can do that." Tevron says. "Farewell, travellers. I have food to redistribute."

"Farewell." Gilbert says.

Tevron leave to the tent, passing Meckrin near the opening.

"You have my greatest thanks, travellers." Meckrin says. "We will be ready to return the favour, when the time is right."

"Thank you, Meckrin." Gilbert says. "We are glad to be of help."

"Oliron knights spotted!" A panicked voice yells. "Alarm!"