Crude stone arrows embedded themselves into the sides of the carriage.

Liam rammed his shoulder into the chest of an Orc, yanking its axe out of its grip as it fell off the carriage.

With the axe in hand, Liam spun around, holding up the axe over his head to block the axe of another Orc. Ulex thrust his spear into the chest of the Orc, swinging it around before pushing the Orc over the edge.

Liam grabbed the axe before it too fell and tossed it to Ulex, who used it to deflect a thrown spear aimed for Harper.

Tyron conjured a wall of stone mid air, expending Mana every moment to keep it suspended. The wall blocked a volley of five arrows from hitting him and Illa. Tyron then thrust his hands forward, sending the wall of stone flying through the air and slamming into a group of four Orcs.

As the rode past, the Orcs tossed aside the crumbled stone and continued to chase them, only a few scratches and bruises on them.

Liam swung his stolen axe low, bypassing the Orc's block and embedding the stone axe head into the Orc's stomach.

The Orc roared in pain, but in the same moment, swung its fist towards Liam's head. The boy released the axe and raised both arms to block the blow, but the force behind it threw him to his back, sliding until his head was over the edge.

An Orc clinging to the side reached to grab Liam's throat, but a blade of Wind from Harper cut deeply into the Orc's hand, causing it to scream and fall off, dragging another Orc off the side.

The Skeletal Knights and Steeds threw themselves into the fray to protect the carriage, doing anything they could to keep the majority of Orcs away, but it was not enough.

Illa summoned an explosive blast of fire in the midst of a pack of Orc Riders riding alongside the carriage, loosing arrows at the children.

The blast threw the Orcs and Wargs away but left them only singed, and bruised from the fall.

A few moments later, they were back on their Wargs and pursuing the carriage.

The four Skeletal Stallions pulling the carriage charged through the Orcs that attempted to block them, crushing them beneath their sharp hooves as they cut through the crowds.

Nightmare ran around the carriage, so masterfully designed and built by Alaster that it found the pace of the Stallions slow, enough to dash around, taking out any organized interference from the Orcs.

Anywhere Alaster's mount went, the Skeletal Knights and their Steeds focused, moving together, targeting specific foes and clearing paths.

The rest of the children within the carriage huddled in the middle, away from the walls as an arrow or spear occasionally pieced through to the interior.

Evelyn cradled her brother's head, praying to any God listening that this would all end soon.

The carriage rolled over the corpse of an Orc laying on a large rock. The carriage rocked steeply to the side.

Harper was thrown to the side, only barely staying on when Ulex frantically wrapped his arm around her hip. And grabbed onto the front ledge of the carriage. Tyron stayed on the carriage, his feet not even lifting up, grabbed onto Illa's arm, keeping her on even when her feet reached head level.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Liam was slower to react, and fell over the side, only barely managing to grab the ledge.

"Liam!" Harper cried.

"I'm fine!" Liam yelled back, swinging his body around to punch an Orc in the face, causing it to loosen its grip and fall off the side.

With a grunt, Liam grabbed onto the ledge with both hands and pulled himself up, rolling back onto the roof. Before he could catch his breath, an Orc jumped onto the roof and swung its club over its head towards him. Liam rolled to the size, and kicked the Orc wrist, forcing it to release the club, which Liam grabbed.

The Orc stumbled back, clutching its bruised wrist, growling at him. Liam grabbed the club from the roof and stood up, smiling as he weighed the weapon in his hands.

"Finally! A weapon I know."

* * * * *

Heldan looked out over the walls. It was cold, the wind had yet to turn warm. Ordinarily, he, and most of the other Guards stationed on the wall would be huddling around the Watch Braziers. But things had changed.

The entire city had been abuzz with activity, building the massive underground railway, forging weapons and armor, engineering siege weapons, and even digging a series of trenches.

And that was all before news of the Invasion even reached them.

Now, every single Guardsmen was on high alert at all times while on duty. Even when they weren't on shift, Heldan, and many others, found themselves patrolling the streets in their civilian clothing.

The memory of the near defeat at the hands of Taria still hung heavy in their minds. None wanted to be in such a situation that they needed an outsider's help.

As such, the Guardsmen atop the wall clung to their heavy cloaks over their chainmail, braving the cold as they watched their sectors dutifully.

Due to this, Heldan noticed the disturbance in the woods immediately after it began. Following the advice of his commanding officer, Heldan sounded the alarm.

"Better to sound and be wrong."

Alarms bells on the wall rung, rousing the Guardsmen on standby out of the barracks and onto the walls. Archers lined the battlements and engineers manned their weapons.

Heldan stepped back from the battlement, allowing an archer to take his place as a spearman stood to either side of him.

The same question was on everyone's mind, 'Is this it? Has the Invasion already reached their city? Their home?'

"Remain steady! No one looses an arrow or spell until the command is given!" The Wall Commander for their sector shouted, "Is this understood?"

As one, they all responded, "Yes Sir!"

A moment later, the disturbance in the forest breached the tree line. A dark gray carriage, pulled by a team of Skeletal Horses, and riddled with arrows and broken spears, charged out of the forest. Several dozen Orc Riders, harassed by Undead Knights, chased after the carriage.

Heldan spotted two figures standing atop the carriage, protecting against projectiles and boarders.

"Archers! Target the Orcs! Engineers! Fix your weapons on the carriage but do not engage!"

Immediately after the order was given, a volley of arrows flew, arching through the late morning sunlight, and crashing into the Orcs and their Wargs. A few of the Skeletal Knights were also hit, but as with all Undead, a few arrows meant nothing to them.

But Orcs were durable and powerful. A few arrows didn't mean much to them either, nor to their Wargs. And the Guardsmen knew this.

Before the first volley struck, the second was released.

The second volley caused many Orcs to fall limp in their saddles or fall off and even managed to cause a few Wargs to trip and roll, never to get up.

The rest fled, turning around and retreating back to the relative protection of the tree cover. The Skeletal Knights pursued them until the trees before trotting back.

The carriage slowed down as it reached the closed gate. Too close for the Siege Weapons, the archers turned their bows to the carriage, arrows on the strings, but not drawn.

Heldan looked over the wall and saw that the two figures on the roof of the carriage were children, or at least, young adults. One of them sat down, his legs dangling over the ledge. The other one looked around curiously, holding the Orcish Club in his hands behind on his shoulders. The boy was covered in the green blood of Orcs and seemed to have a few injuries of his own, but he didn't seem to care much about them.

A sound caught Heldan's attention and he turned to see a messenger run up to the Section Commander with a letter.

The Commander took the letter, read it for a moment, and then looked up, "Open the gates! Let them in! Bring medics over to check them for injuries!"

Heldan shrugged and returned to his spot as the rest of the Guards returned to what they were doing before the alarm was sounded. Of course, curiosity bit at all of them, but they knew that if it was important, they would be notified, and if it wasn't, they just needed to wait a day or so before the story reached them anyway.

Besides, his shift was almost over.

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