As Will and Illicia rushed outside each heading to their own tasks. Will began looking around at the people rushing to and fro, and something inside him made him want nothing more than to scoop Illicia up and run away from it all as fast as he possibly could. But he had a duty, something Illicia expected of him, and he could not disappoint her.
"Well, she is helping the Grenga and the mages try to block off the Shary'In. I guess I should see what else is stirring up trouble." Will said as he took off at a flat sprint for the wall and quickly climbed to the top. What he saw made him grateful he had pushed for the completion of defenses before anything else.
Two Shary'In, a Grenga, and twenty strange demon-esk creatures were arranged before him on the ground just beyond the effective range of magic or bows. Will grabbed the nearest person on the wall. "Go and fetch any of the Grenga who are in the village. On the double!"
The young man took off shouting at the top of his lungs for people to move out of his way. Moments later, Will, keeping his eyes on the enemy in case they initiated battle, saw the young man appear with none other than Gix.
Gix scrambled up the wall to stand next to Will; he quickly took in the sight before him before a snarl left his lips. "Damned bastard. This explains a lot. These Shary'In are not natural. They are summoned, most likely by that man over there. And he also managed to summon a good number of imps. This will not be a good fight then."
"Gix, I would appreciate an explanation," Will said with a hint of impatience.
"Of course," Gix said, turning to Will, "The Shary'In are native to the same realm of reality my people are native to. The same goes for the imps. As magical creatures, they can only exist in this realm of their own free will once they reach a staggering level of power. A level that I wonder if even you could face. However, If one of my people, who are not bound by these rules, were to summon the Shary'In, it would have several hours, or as long as the summoner's mana lasts, to carry out its master wishes."
"So, long story short, if we kill the summoner, we solve our problem?" Will asked.
"That is the general gist."
"I feel like there is a catch."
"There is always a catch, Will," Gix said with a smile. "Those Imps, even at your level of physical power, would overpower you through numbers alone; if there were three, then I would say it might be a fair fight. But I am guessing the summoner knew you were here and will not keep fewer than five of the imps at his side."
"Well, we will just have to work even harder than normal," Will said, watching the Shary'In and ten of the imps rush forward all at once. As he watched, he noticed Illicia step onto the wall with her team, and the mages began to chant; suddenly, a bright flash burst forth, sending the Shary'in fleeing into the shadow of the woods. The Imps, however, kept coming, reaching the wall, and began using claws to scale the walls.
The fighting that commences is brutal and goes on late into the night. After losing seven young men who had volunteered to man the walls, the Shary'In and the Imps suddenly vanished. Will quickly looks to where he last noticed the summoner, but they are long gone, not wanting to provide Will with any opportunities.
Will and Illicia quickly began working with those skilled in medicine to fix what they could on those injured. After that, Will quietly went to where the Graveyard had been established and threw himself into digging the holes of the seven young men who had died at his side.
Silently, Gix joined him, taking up another shovel and beginning to work. They passed the time in quiet labor for an hour, and as they both worked to complete the last grave, Will suddenly spoke. "You are a veteran of a war I know nothing about. And as such, I may have no right to ask this, but will you take up the mantle of soldier once more. I have a plan, but I need someone who has fought the Shary'In before; as far as I can tell, you are the only one who fits the bill."
Gix stopped digging for a moment. "I will do this for you, as you have already shown yourself to be a brother in arms when you first visited our city."
Will nodded, and the two men finished their solemn duty, laying the young men to rest, letting families say their goodbyes, and then filling in the holes they had just dug.
Will stood near a watch fire on the wall. Almost an hour later, judging by his internal clock, there were three hours until sunrise. He turned to Gix and said, "You should get some rest. I will rest in an hour."
Gix nodded and departed. One of the four night watchmen, an old man who looked grizzled, stepped up to Will. "You should take your own advice, lad. The others and I can keep watch, go, and sleep. I can yell real loud if the need requires."
Will was about to argue when he suddenly had to stifle a yawn. "Very well, thank you."
The old man laughed, "It's the least we old men can do."
As Will walked off the wall, he realized that every one of the night watchmen was one of the village elders. People who Illicia had specially instructed Will and the other combatants to keep out of the direct conflict. Will shook his head, remembering something his father had said to him, "You can command people if you want, but trying to stop someone, especially an old someone, from doing something they want to is tantamount to fighting a god. So just let it happen."
Will chuckled as he fell asleep. The next morning, nearly five hours later, Will was awakened by the calls from the wall. The old man's voice was raised and projected loudly through the village. "TO ARMS! THE ENEMY RETURNS."
Will sat up, nearly rolling out of bed in the same movement, and quickly made his way to the wall. He got there simultaneously with Illica, the mages, and Gix. Will gathered them quickly. "I think it's time we change this up; I don't want to play defense anymore."
The smiles that spread across their faces as Will spoke told him all he needed to know was what they thought of his plan.
