I didn’t think he was wrong there. After being in a certain number of fights, you gained a sense of what sorts of foes were bad news. Even though he was small, that little green guy would be able to inflict significant harm to our forces, even all alone. “You got that vibe from him too, huh?” I said. “I could feel his anger from where I was standing. Not quite bloodlust, but he seems the type who could hide it well.”
Hegram nodded. “He wasn’t quite so imposing when last we met, but it’s been close to two months since then. I wonder if that anger is over his mistress being imprisoned, or something else.”
I wasn’t sure what else it could be, but I was glad the duke hadn’t joined us personally. I’d hate to be around when that fury found a target. I kept that thought to myself, though.
“May as well see what’s waiting for us,” I decided. “Tell the scouts to open the door.”
A few moments later, it was opened. The door was actually unusually large, so there’d be no problem getting the supply carts through. We had already left one of the carts behind at one of the rest stops after the remaining supplies inside were transferred to another cart. What we’d left behind was basically a cart full of empty crates and barrels—we could pick it up on the way back. If we made it back.
The report came back quickly.
“Sir! There are thousands of them!”
Beyond the door was a single, huge room full of little roundish monsters.
“The ‘squishy things’ you spoke of earlier?” I asked Hegram as I drew my weapon.
“That’s them,” he replied, reading his own blade. “They range from completely harmless to able to knock you out in one blow by ramming into you at high speed. Be careful.”
There really were thousands of them...so we led the army into battle.
It was brutal.
Fortunately, the weaker squishies were probably about fifty percent of their force, and those died fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the more of them we killed, the more obvious the problematic ones became. At first, the battle seemed like a lopsided victory for my troops—by the time there were only about ten percent of them left, only around ten percent of our own forces had been taken down. It seemed like the creatures weren’t interested in landing killing blows, but dozens of men were knocked out.
In the midst of this overwhelming disadvantage, the remaining foes were not going down quietly. Hegram’s group could manage one or two at a time, but most of the soldiers could only flail around ineptly as the squishy things bashed into them repeatedly. It took over an hour to whittle the enemy number down to about five percent of their original strength, but by then our own numbers had been cut nearly in half.
I couldn’t help but wonder what their game was. First, they warned us of the danger, then they refused to land a killing blow after knocking my soldiers to the ground—not that I was complaining about the lack of losses. The deaths of over fifty percent of my men would have been a staggering loss, especially when we held such a huge numerical advantage. As the enemy numbers dwindled, I had to order some of the men to drag their unconscious fellows out of the way. Perhaps that was the reason for leaving them alive, to force me to allocate resources to the wounded that I wouldn’t have bothered with for a dead man.
Normally, with losses that bad it would have been wise to call a retreat, but according to Hegram there was a possibility that the enemies would return in full force if we left, so it was better to stay and try to finish them all off. So that’s what we did. After another hour of combat, with groups taking turns fighting and resting, we finally put an end to the last of them.
Over seventy percent of my men were on the ground. The other thirty percent quickly joined them as they sought to rest their weary bodies. As we all sat there gasping for air, I heard a faint noise that sounded like someone clapping.
I turned my head toward the sound, and noticed a balcony above the battlefield. The armed humanoids from earlier were there, but they weren’t the ones applauding our efforts. Our one-person ovation was coming from someone much shorter than the others: a stunning little woman with brown skin. Her hair was a light purple that looked almost like silver depending on how the light hit it. Noticeable even in the dim lighting, her dress was a sparkling silver color as well. She was practically glowing.
“Hegram! Good see again!” she shouted with a wave. Her voice was high-pitched, but cute. She motioned below the balcony to a second door directly opposite the one we entered.
I’d been briefed beforehand on the peculiar nature of this little girl, but I was completely at a loss. I had no idea what to do.
Hegram volunteered again. “My group will check it out, to make sure it’s safe.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m definitely buying you a drink if we make it back.”
“When we get back, then,” he corrected me.
They checked out the room on the other side of the door, and brought back good news.
“It looks like there’s a fountain on the other side of that door, but that’s not the best part. The water seems to have healing properties. Look, we bottled some of it.” Hegram took out a waterskin and splashed the liquid inside on some of the fallen troops. In just a few seconds, they were back on their feet.
We grabbed some empty barrels from one of the supply carts, and splashed all of the fallen troops with the healing water. I found myself wishing we’d brought along the empty barrels we’d abandoned earlier. When I looked up, I noticed that the elusive Miss Grimwood was no longer watching us from her balcony. Her armed guards were gone as well.
Luckily, the area ahead also included plenty of space to rest. There were even beds available, though only a dozen of them. Each of the rooms that contained a bed also contained a chest. According to Hegram, these chests were similar to the chests he and his men had obtained items from during their first visit. After some investigation, we determined that all twelve chests had identical contents: a single, unremarkable, leather bag. At least, we thought they were unremarkable at first.
It was one of Hegram’s men who made the discovery.
“Hey chief, don’t make a huge deal out of this, but these bags hold a lot more than they look like they can. I think there’s somethin’ special about ’em after all.” He was speaking in a low voice, but I still overheard it. I quickly intervened.
“Let’s not make a fuss,” I said. “It seems like these bags have some unique properties we’ll need to experiment with later, but keep that to yourselves. We wouldn’t want any conflict to break out over it if the men learn what they can do.”
“Good point,” Hegram agreed.
Each of us took two of the bags, and I made sure none of the troops made a fuss about it. Perhaps farther in there would be rewards we could share with the men. Here’s hoping we find booze.