I was having a nightmare, a different one from usual. I dreamed of what would have happened if I’d been allowed to stay in my first world. It was a peaceful world with no war, where I lived with that girl. We were happy as could be, and I had no complaints. And yet, I still didn’t feel alive. While the girl smiled beside me so contentedly, I was ever tormented with the feeling that something was missing. My directionless impulses swelled as a black whirlwind within me, slowly eating away at my mind.
Until finally—
I woke up. Such a horribly realistic dream. My heart went on pounding madly. I couldn’t remember what my dream-self had planned to do. Or maybe I didn’t want to remember.
I had propped my sword against the bed, and I reached now to pull it close. The heavy weight of steel helped me regain a bit of calm. The metal fittings of its hilt were soothingly cool to the touch. Still, a strange unease lingered. For a moment, I puzzled over it. Then I realized this unease I felt was the familiar intuition that danger was imminent. War was close, the enemy near. This wasn’t some dream.
I leapt out of bed, changed in a hurry, and equipped my sword. I hadn’t brought any armor here with me, as it was better to fly light, the most I had being leather gauntlets and greaves. I rushed out of the main tower, but it was silent outside, with not a ripple on the surface of the water as it reflected the twinkling stars. Flames were lit here and there, where soldiers were on watch.
A cold wind blew, making the flames waver. So far, there was no sign of anything awry, but I was convinced something was about to happen. I went to seek out Herbert, captain of the garrison, who was surely in his room at this hour. I didn’t want to wake him, but I needed him to increase security.
However, when I started back to the central tower, I heard an alarm raised from elsewhere. I turned toward the voice to see a lookout pointing and crying out. I raced up to the parapet and peered into the valley below. Countless flickering lights dotted the darkness, and there was no way they were carried by human hands. They were orcs.
How had they gotten this close without being spotted? Despite the dragon patrols, there hadn’t been any reports of an advancing orc force. They had to have hidden during the day and moved only at nighttime, when dragons had more trouble flying.
The watchtower’s alarm bells rang piercingly. Silent only moments ago, the fortress had now burst into activity. Soldiers poured out of the central tower, racing toward their stations.
It was not long before Herbert appeared beside me with his guards.
“This isn’t good. How is the barrier?” he asked.
“Today, Worion reported it would take another week.”
The magic circle had already begun to emit a pale light, but it had yet to reach the point of activation. That being said, it was progressing more quickly than expected.
Herbert groaned in frustration, but said, “We should be able to repel them, so long as they don’t have cannons.” He leaned out from a crenel in the parapet and tried to pierce the darkness with his eyes.
“Be careful!” His guards lunged to pull him back, but Herbert didn’t budge.
“Don’t get in the way! They’re out of firing range!”
He was right in that the constellation of torches was still a good distance from the wall, but because of this distance, I couldn’t make out who exactly we were up against.
Herbert drew back and asked one of his men, “Did you send a messenger to town?”
“Yes, sir! More men are being awakened and readied.”
“And to the dragon house?”
“Also done. A message should reach the capital by sunrise.”
It was a new moon that night. I felt sorry for the rider who would have to fly through the utter darkness.
“Good. Now go to the priests underground. Get us some war priests.”
“Yes, sir!”
The guard rushed off to relay this order.
“What about me, Herbert?” I asked.
He looked a bit troubled. “Hero… I leave that to your discretion. You may help in whatever capacity you deem best.”
Being that I was field marshal, he probably didn’t feel comfortable issuing me orders, which was fine by me. I was grateful for the freedom to move and act as I wished.
First, I needed to gauge the enemy’s movements. I looked into the valley again. Something was bothering me. They had come so far without being noticed—why light their torches now?
I considered a few possibilities.
One: They had lit the torches to regroup their formation, which had drifted apart on their march through the darkness. They had determined there would be more casualties if they attacked without proper organization. This made a surprise attack impossible, but at least they hadn’t been detected earlier, and we were still scrambling to meet their attack.
Two: They were assembling or preparing something and needed the light. Perhaps they were readying cannons, or just setting up camps that could endure the water this time. If they had brought in materials during the day, they would have been washed away before construction could begin. However, the footing of the valley had only gotten worse since it was last flooded. Could they really work under those conditions?
They were both dangerous gambles. It would be all over for them if we simply opened the floodgates. Unless our opening the gates was their objective. Did they actually hope we’d panic and empty the dam, so a larger force could move through behind them? I felt this third possibility was quite feasible.
On to the fourth: The lights were a distraction to draw our attention. Since they were so conspicuous, they might be nothing but misdirection. If so, what was their real point of attack?
Dragonjaw Gate was protected on both sides by steep mountains, and it was winter, no less. Even if it didn’t snow very much around here, sending soldiers through those cold mountains in the dead of the night would be—
“Beak-dogs!” Herbert suddenly shouted. He’d arrived at the thought before me. “Those monsters would be able to race along the slopes! These lights are just a decoy! Their true aim is the gate tower! They plan on infiltrating the gate and opening it for their army! We can hold them off so long as we protect the gate!”
He ordered his men, “Gather soldiers in the east! Increase security around the sluice gate’s controls!”
After sending all his guards off, Herbert sprinted for the gate tower himself. Herbert seemed to have made the right call, but my own doubts remained. Was that really all there was to it? A formless intuition continued to prod me. I peered into the valley again, but aside from the torches, I couldn’t make out the enemy no matter how I strained my eyes.
Soon, a number of warpriests raced out of the small western watchtower. It was clear they had raced up all those stairs from the underground chamber at full speed, and I pitied them for it. Would they be able to perform their services in such a breathless state?
The sound of gunshots carried to me from the east side of the fortress. There followed screams, the groans of injured soldiers, and the horrible roars of beasts. Combat had begun, undoubtedly a beak-dog attack. So had Herbert been correct?
I saw the faces of the winded warpriests tense up at the sounds. Below me, they kneeled and began preparing a magic circle. One of them handed a prepared talisman to a soldier, who raced off toward the gate tower. Meanwhile, guards surrounded the priests in a close-knit formation, protective talismans already affixed to their shields.
I leaned out from the parapet again, watching the valley. Those flickering torches showed no change in their position, even though combat had begun. There was no doubt about it now—some major strategic plan was underway. This was different from the skirmishes and burnings. This was real war, and it set my blood astir. As inappropriate as it might’ve seemed, I couldn’t restrain the smile that came to my face.
No more holding back. This was a genuine battle for the future of humanity, and I would relish it all I cared to. So I raced off in search of the inevitable commander, who had to be somewhere close.