In front of the gate tower, the soldiers under Herbert’s command fought tooth and nail.
Beak-dogs would leap from the darkness, the orcs on their backs raining down bullets from the handguns they carried. Guards would drop with each volley, but the line didn’t falter. A row of spears prevented the beak-dogs from breaching the line, and crossbow bolts would fly at the backs of the orcs as they retreated to reload.
The garrison at Dragonjaw Gate was different from the ruffians, mercenaries, and farmer conscripts the lords made use of. These were soldiers by trade who trained day in and day out, the majority of them experienced veterans.
Dragonjaw Gate’s walls were impressively wide. Even the narrowest part of the wall was at least thirty paces across. Where the gate tower met the highway was a plaza over two hundred paces from end to end. This was where Herbert had deployed his troops in a fan, defending the entrance to the fortress. When the attack had first begun, the soldiers who’d hurried there could only form a thin line. However, reinforcements continued to arrive from all over the fort, and now the wall of fighters was more densely filled out.
Almost had us there, Herbert thought with a chuckle. Had he been late in making the call, perhaps the enemy would have overrun the gate tower. He had been away from the battlefield for quite some time, but he was happy to know his instincts hadn’t grown dull just yet.
A little later than he had hoped, talismans charged by the warpriests started to arrive. Herbert had the soldiers at the forefront affix these to their shields during gaps between attacks, and in the blink of an eye, the talismans’ protective magic came into effect.
The orcs fired a volley of bullets, which simply bounced off the barrier with pale blue sparks. Seeing this, Herbert was already convinced of their victory.
“Push the line forward!”
On his command, the crossbowmen in the back unleashed their bolts at once to support the vanguard as it charged in an unbroken line. The beak-dogs that had encroached on the open plaza fled back to the slopes in a panic, disappearing into the mountains.
Shame, shame! Herbert thought. Always so quick to run!
His soldiers advanced to the foot of the mountains, finishing off straggler orcs who had failed to escape in time. Here, they stopped. Herbert was irritated that he had failed to do any real damage to the enemy force, but he was satisfied that he’d managed to drive them back. However, no sooner had these orcs fled than others began firing from the forest.
They fired from various locations, yet all their shots were concentrated on a single point: the vanguard. The barrier was broken, a number of soldiers dropping to writhe in pain. Herbert both cursed and admired the orcs’ marksmanship.
How can this be?! How do they fire like that in the dark? What now?
Chasing them into the mountains would be like running into a trap. However, it was clear that remaining here would only increase their casualties. In the corner of his eye, Herbert noticed something that was reflecting moonlight. The others might not have noticed yet, but Herbert was a warrior who had survived many a battlefield. This something was coming from the village. Reinforcements! The soldiers who’d gone into the village for some rest were coming back.
These reinforcements were headed right toward them despite having no torches by which to spot them. No doubt the returning soldiers had cleverly determined their position by triangulating the streams of enemy gunfire.
This turn of events inspired Herbert’s next move.
“Pull back! Retreat to the gate!”
First, he would need to draw the beak-dogs back into the plaza. They would exchange fire to hold them there until the village reinforcements could flank them. Depending on the timing, the new force might even be able to surround the beak-dog riders. The reinforcements were not a significant force, but what they lacked in numbers they could make up for with a sneak attack. Herbert sent a runner to meet the reinforcements, all the while slowly pulling his line back. He simply needed to wait for the enemy to answer this invitation.
As expected, the riders appeared in the open space once more. In unison, the crossbowmen launched their bolts, but this hardly damaged the prowling beak-dogs. Whenever the orcs fired, however, one or two of Herbert’s fighters would fall.
Just you wait!
Suddenly, there was another flash of concentrated fire from out of the darkness, off to one side. Herbert heard one of his men scream along with vicious, bestial roars.
So there was a separate unit of beak-dogs as well. The reinforcements had fallen victim to a surprise attack themselves. Herbert gritted his teeth in frustration. His plan had been thwarted, but he still maintained his composure.
They haven’t landed a decisive blow either. As long as they don’t capture the gate tower, they will never see victory. Morning will come, the dragons will fly, and we will win. Their handguns cannot take down dragons.
That was when he heard gunshots behind him.
Behind? The majority of his forces had gathered at the gate, which lay to the east. Only a minimum number of troops remained to the west.
“Form a half-circle around the gate!” Herbert shouted. To a messenger, he ordered, “Tell the warpriests to get back underground!”
The messenger sprinted away to pass the order on to the warpriests, who were chanting their protection magic.
We should be able to hold here, even if the enemy comes with twice the numbers, and we have guards at the sluice gate controls. But… Herbert had his doubts about the western tower, which had been left all but defenseless. If the enemy got inside and infiltrated the underground chamber, that would put both the magic circle and the priests working on it in great danger.
No, the orcs couldn’t possibly know about the circle, he thought, shaking off that ominous notion. Their current distribution should suffice. He couldn’t afford to disperse the troops any further. And yet, the enemies he heard firing in the west never appeared here at the gate tower.
Don’t tell me they really did…
His face went pale.