Ashes of the Fallen

If you were a threat to some guild's expansion, you would become a target.

War had already broken out in the Central Kingdoms as resources were scarce and so too, was land. Guilds fought for supremacy, and word around the web was that a few were moving north, to the border. That was a few hundred miles away though.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling.

Checking again with [Keen Sight] giving a scan over the horizon, nothing appeared.

About to give up, one blip appeared.

Waiting a minute, I scanned again.

Five blips appeared this time, as a sixth shined right at the end of the scan.

Reactivating the ability and leaving it on perpetual scan, the glimmers of light steadily grew one by one as they entered within my visual range. Numbers far too large for a party or small traveling group… twenty, then thirty humanoids headed this way.

"Selene, emergency, get all of the livestock and NPCs to gather at the rear of the village, by the mountain side," I messaged telepathically as I continued to count the numbers appearing in the distance. "After that, gather the warriors at the south gate, expect trouble."

"As you command," she replied solemnly and shortly.

They were thirty minutes out but the group had bloated to a sizeable number of around fifty players. There was no indication that they were hostile, but a large group didn't move together unannounced.

This wasn't a daily stroll.

No, this was no stroll… coupled with the fact that Milly had scouted the place out and mysteriously left while blocking me from contacting her and this had the makings of an enemy raid. I knew what was coming next, for I knew player behavior far too well.

The only part that bothered me was the lack of declaration.

In The Dragon's Wrath, when guilds declared war on each other, there was exactly that, a declaration of intent. Due to the nature of an MMO spanning multiple time-zones, surprise attacks were penalized with a reputation hit and as cowardly.

You declared intent, and then a time-frame was set up for large scale battles with guilds agreeing to terms. Old school thinking, but it fit for the timeframe the game was set in, and made it reasonable for players that couldn't sit online all day.

What were these people intending.

Fuck it, I'll kill them all.

Even if I was shorthanded, they weren't taking my land.

Leaping off the top of the cliff and flashing to the ground, I quickly broke into a sprint as I ran to the cabin and grabbed my halberd and full battle-armament. Shield, one-handed axe, bow and arrows in a quiver slanted at the small of my back, a dagger across my chest and along my thigh. Hardened leather, a mixture of boiled, tanned, and woven strips formed my ensemble, as I was covered from head to toe.

Stepping outside of the cabin, the scene in front of me was managed chaos as men, women, and children ran about in a hurried, but ordered panic. The warriors, all thirty-one that were left, along with the four priests had lined up at the palisade, standing behind on the ramparts that allowed us a firing angle on the approaching army.

An unannounced grouping of fifty some players or NPCs was an army, after all.

A small amount, sure, but lethal this early in the game.

"Sigurd, where do you want us?" asked the men that had lined up.

"Hold position here on the walls! Don't break off unless you're forced off or they've penetrated the walls," I yelled out to the men. "Stay safe! If you need a heal, rely on your priest! Don't do anything unnecessary to risk yourself!"

Selene came up behind me as she whispered in my ear, "Sigurd, what about us, where do you want Katherine and I?"

I wanted to put them at the back with the non-combat NPCs as a last line of defense but I realized that would be futile if it came down to it. We would either successfully defend here or the village was going to be lost.

Swallowing the lump that had appeared in my throat, I nodded at her and Katherine, who was standing a bit behind Selene. They would have to join the fight, if we wanted to win. We were up against a literal rock wall; there was nowhere else to go.

"Join me on the wall Selene, Katherine, join up with the priests and manage the healing, stay safe," I said softly to them, but confidently. I was worried for them, as they weren't replaceable, not like the other NPCs. I didn't want to lose any of them, but I couldn't stand to lose Selene or Katherine.

"Hey, you two, don't do anything rash, if the wall falls, I want you two to break out and retreat, gather the non-combatants in the back and move them to the Northern Triangle," I instructed sternly. "I'll rely on you two to direct them, if I fall. If I fall, you retreat, got it?"

They both nodded as they understood the stakes and took up position on the wall.

The army of players was slowly approaching, easily within a ten minute walk or a short sprint. They didn't wear any colors to distinguish themselves, but they were all armed. Too heavily armed for a walk in the park; their intentions were as clear as day.