Chương 48: Chapter 47: The Battle Of Survival

The larger goblins trickled into the village in small groups. All this time Ren assumed they arrived in one big force, as a coherent group, but that did not seem to be actually the case. Worth noting for the future, whatever it may bring. As the larger monsters moved into the village, they spread between the groups of smaller goblins already pushing through and ransacking the houses along the streets.

One disappeared behind a house with several of the smaller creatures running around its legs, while another shouldered through a fence instead of going around it and kept moving as broken boards scattered behind it. Ren watched a third swing its club into the side of an empty cart as it passed. The cart collapsed, but the goblin just laughed and kept walking. Ren stared after it for half a second.

If he ever needed another reason to hate those monsters, wanton property damage for no apparent reason would become yet another irksome addition to that ever-growing list. More of the brutes pushed deeper into the village, mixing into the smaller groups wherever they happened to reach them. Their size alone changed the shape of each fight.

The smaller goblins crowded around them while the larger ones smashed through whatever stood in their way, breaking fences, striking walls, and forcing defenders to pay attention whenever one came near. Then three of them turned toward the same barricade. They approached together, towering over the smaller creatures around them, and Ren's stomach tightened at the sight. The first brute slammed into the barricade. But the defenders didn't wait.

Something flashed near its feet, followed a moment later by a sharp crack that reached the church. All three big goblins recoiled. One stumbled sideways with its hands raised toward its face, while another froze long enough for two defenders to drive spears into it from opposite sides. The third pushed forward until another blast erupted nearby. The defenders surged into the opening and brought down two of the three before they could recover. Ren stared through the window.

If he had any doubts about the effectiveness of Little Yara's work, they were gone now. His little Master really went above and beyond! Her charms had done exactly what she promised. The goblins reeled long enough for the defenders to use the opening, and a few seconds of blindness and confusion turned into dead goblins surprisingly quickly when several people were waiting with bows, stones, and spears to use the advantage. More large shapes appeared farther back, but the people at the barricade adjusted with them.

Still, it wasn't all peachy, and there were injuries already. One villager had to be dragged away while another stepped into the gap, and the line held. Ren felt his heartbeat begin to slow. The village was actually holding!

"They got them!" Tessa said, pressing closer to the window.

"Stay back," Elna warned. Tessa shifted away from the opening without taking her eyes from the battle. Ren kept searching the defenders below. He still had not found Bren. The defenses spread far enough that finding one person among all the movement was just too difficult. Ren tracked one group, dismissed several faces, shifted his attention toward another barricade, and finally caught a familiar shape near Tovin. Bren. Ren leaned so far forward that Elna pulled him back against her chest.

His father held a spear and moved nothing like Tovin. The difference was obvious even from the church. Tovin shifted only as much as he needed, meeting each goblin with incredibly quick, efficient movements that wasted almost nothing. Bren was slower, and Ren could see the hesitation whenever he had to adjust his stance or react to something unexpected. Even so, he stayed with the others. A goblin pushed toward Tovin's side, and Bren thrust before it could get past him.

The spear caught the creature and forced it back just long enough for Tovin to finish it. Another came soon after, and Bren moved again. When he pulled the spear back, his arms were shaking badly enough for even Ren to notice. He might have been out of his depth and with only two weeks of training, but his father was certainly no slouch. Ren finally let out the breath caught in his chest.

"Papa," Tessa whispered. Elna found him a moment later, and her hand tightened against Ren's side as they watched Bren help Tovin bring down another goblin. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Ren could see the fear in his father's movements. Bren had not suddenly become some hidden warrior because someone placed a spear in his hands. He was still just a carpenter who did his best to prevent the village from falling to the invaders. Yet the training worked.

Bren was staying in line, protecting the people beside him, and surviving each attack that reached him. Another large goblin struck one of the outer barricades, forcing the defenders behind it to give ground. Ren's stomach tightened as the structure shifted under the impact and the line threatened to buckle. Just then, another of Little Yara's charms went off. The flash came first, followed by a sharp crack that carried across the village.

The goblin staggered, and the defenders used the opening to recover their position before it could push through. Ren felt some more of the tension in his chest loosen. This battle was already unfolding far better than any loop before. The barricades were stronger, the villagers knew where they were supposed to be, Bren had trained, Little Yara's charms were being used, and the church itself had been reinforced too. Most importantly, everyone Ren could see was still alive.

Maybe the knights were not necessary after all? The thought made him uneasy since so much of his plan had depended on outside help arriving in time. Every day without the knights had felt like another chance for everything to go wrong. Now, from the church window, he could see the village holding anyway. His gaze found Bren near Tovin again, still on his feet.

If Hadrik and Tovin kept the defenses together, then perhaps by tomorrow Tessa might be back to treating being kept inside as a greater injustice than goblins in the woods. That thought almost made Ren smile. Then movement beyond the houses pulled his attention back to the battle. More goblins were still coming, and the defenders had only survived the opening exchanges.

Ren rested one hand against Elna's arm and kept watching Bren below, letting himself believe, cautiously, that this time the village might actually make it. And for a short while, everything seemed to be going well. … Unfortunately, good things had developed a bad habit of not lasting long around Ren. The longer he watched, the more obvious the shape of the unfolding battle was becoming. The first wave had looked almost manageable from above.

Small goblins rushed the barricades, defenders met them in prepared positions, and Little Yara's charms disrupted anything too large or too stubborn to stop cleanly. And the first wave had not even been completely cleared when the second began pressing forward. A lot of the smaller goblins still darted between buildings or crawled away from the barricades while larger shapes appeared behind them. The problem was that the goblins were not dumb beasts charging forward to their deaths, no matter what.

No, the hateful monsters learned. At first, they approached much as Ren expected. A few rushed the defenses, died quickly, and the others stopped following them blindly. The change was painfully obvious from up above. A cluster of goblins halted short of one barricade instead of charging straight into the waiting spears. Then one of the larger creatures dragged something burning from beside a house and hurled it forward. The flaming piece struck the barricade, and another followed soon after.

"Fire," Tessa whispered. Ren briefly looked down at how his usually energetic sister was too anxious to say anything more. He shook his head. There was nothing he could do for her right now. His sister was strong. As terrifying as the battle was, it wouldn't change that. Below, defenders backed away while people carrying buckets hurried forward. The moment the line opened, several smaller goblins moved from between the buildings and gathered with two of the larger ones. They charged together.

The defenders struck down the first few, but the rest kept coming. Spears stabbed through the gaps, stones flew from behind the line, and an arrow dropped one goblin before two more climbed over it. Then the larger creatures slammed into the wood. The barricade shifted beneath the impact. A charm went off among them. The sharp flash reached Ren first, followed by the crack a moment later.

Several goblins stumbled, and the villagers pushed forward quickly enough to recover the line before the larger ones could break through. Another group charged farther down almost immediately. Ren's earlier hope tightened into worry again. The big goblins had understood the problem, and adjusted to it. Charging alone got them killed, so they waited for one another, used the smaller bodies to draw attacks, forced defenders away with fire, and the larger creatures charged in once the barricades were under pressure.

The method was crude, but Ren could already see how much harder it made every defense. Worse, it wasn't like every charging goblin died either. They attacked, then pulled back when the push became hopeless. More would then arrive, prepare, and charge in once more. But while attackers were learning, so were the defenders. The villagers were becoming more accustomed to the fighting. The stone throws more powerful and accurate. They were walking the tight rope of outadapting the attackers.

Hopefully, it would be enough. Elna shifted away from the first window when the fighting slipped out of sight, and Ren was reminded how limited their view actually was. From below, the upper floor had seemed like the obvious place to watch the battle. Up here, it was still only the second floor of a church with windows placed for light rather than observation. To follow the fighting, Elna had to carry him from one side to another. One window showed them only part of the village. Another gave them the road.

A third revealed another slice of the battlefield, and the edge of a roof, while buildings hid everything between. Ren tried to connect those pieces as Elna moved. At the next window, they caught sight of a barricade just as it gave way. The wood folded inward beneath the weight of several bodies, and one of the larger goblins forced its way through before another followed behind it. The defenders scattered far enough to avoid being crushed. Another charm landed among the attackers.

The blast made the first goblin stagger. The second raised an arm across its face and swung its club blindly through the gap. Ren flinched when the weapon smashed into the broken barricade. Little Yara's work had bought the defenders time, but the larger goblins could still do plenty of damage even while blinded. The villagers seemed to realize the same thing. They stayed beyond the wild swings until the creatures slowed, then rushed them from several sides. Another goblin went down.

The other caught someone with the edge of its club, sending them skidding beyond what Ren could see from his perch. He leaned against Elna's arm, trying to see around the window frame, but she had already started moving and the fight disappeared behind the wall. Ren had no idea whether the man had gotten back up. Beside him, Tessa's fingers tightened around Elna's sleeve. Ren looked at her. She had stopped commenting.