It was raining outside. It rarely rained during the month of Frost, dampening an already downhearted mood.
“Mera? What do you think?” Edra asked.
I brought another spoonful to my mouth. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either.
“It’ll get us through at least,” I said.
Andreina’s granary was rapidly becoming the only source of bread in the entire town. Meat was still plentiful, fortunately, but its price was skyrocketing. As such, Edra was experimenting with different kinds of soup.
It was… mostly water. It had something in it, though. I was hesitant to ask what, but some mixture of dried vegetables was my guess.
Edra sighed, glancing over to the map on the wall. It prominently displayed food locations and how much was left from anyone who had shared the knowledge, as well as the locations of the few remaining stashes of wild berries, and some hunting locations where deer and other wild game had been spotted.
“Aye, that it’ll do,” Edra sighed.
We weren’t in any danger yet, but some foods were becoming less common. Fish was more prominent than ever, and I felt lucky I’d always enjoyed seafood. This broth would be an option if all else failed. It might get us through till next spring, but I doubted anyone would want to sustain themselves on it.
The door suddenly burst open, admitting a soaking wet girl with a wide grin on her face.
“Mera!” Elsee exclaimed proudly. “I got one!”
I blinked. “In this?”
“Yeah! One shot!” she shouted excitedly, rain drenching the nearest patrons. “But I need help! We’ve got to bleed it! Quick before it spoils!”
I frowned, glancing around the room. There were a few people I didn’t know who looked like they might know their way around a fresh kill, and gods knew Edra could use the meat. The skin would be useful too.
Despite her parents’ protests, Elsee had been living her dream these past few weeks. Whatever resentment she’d had against me had faded, replaced with a unique joy of getting to do something she’d always wanted to.
Strapped for hunters, anyone willing to spend their time killing game animals was needed. Even Omoali and Mularet couldn’t complain when their girl brought home a rabbit, a duck, or even a deer.
I was happy for her, though certainly not interested in helping directly. Bleeding a deer carcass wasn’t any way I wanted to spend my afternoon – especially not in the rain – but if she was coming to me for help, then she’d probably already exhausted all of the better options in town.
…All of the better options that were left in town, anyway.
I looked around the room and found a very slim selection of people who might be willing to help. No one I knew. They were all busy already. Scouting the surrounding woods, building what was quickly becoming a nearly Earth-esque production line of crossbows, or building the granary or the wall, helping Burnom apply the new stucco to houses that got particularly cold during the winter, or any other number of tasks that needed doing.
Nothing for it.
I got up, my ankle barely bothering me anymore, and stepped over to a table filled with three men and a woman. All of them had cups of something. They’d been here for a few days, but I got the feeling they were intending to move on soon.
“Hello there,” I said. “Who might you folks be?”
“Wondered when you’d get around to us,” the woman said, snickering.
“Huh?” I asked.
“You been making your rounds for the past three nights, introducing yourself to everyone and anyone. Usually, they end up running off afterwards. Wondered when it’d be our turn,” one of the men asked. He was bald, but didn’t look particularly old. I thought the look must be a fashion choice.
I shrugged. Thinking back, I had been using the bar as a way to meet newcomers quickly, and also for quick labor. For a bit of coin, which these travelers would certainly find useful wherever they were going, they’d usually help out with whatever task happened to come up.
Not every solution came from my silvers, though. Sometimes I could negotiate some help for just a meal on Edra’s dime. Fresh eggs, or maybe a new winter cloak, would buy a few hours from anyone most days.
There was a mini economy building around the trade of crossbow bolts, too.
“I didn’t realize I was developing a reputation,” I replied. “I’m Elmerina!”
“Trommel,” said the bald man.
“I’m Yureka,” said the woman.
“Beldonnel,” said the man closest to me. He held out a hand warmly, and I was happy to shake it.
The last man didn’t even look up, his eyes swimming in the bottom of his glass. He was big and had a wicked-looking double-sided axe leaning against the back of his chair. No strangers to a fight, these folks.
“Well, Trommel, Yureka, and Beldoah,” I said. “How would you guys like to make a few quick coppers? My friend there just managed to kill another doe, but she’s not strong enough to haul one up a tree to bleed. Could you–!”
I winced as the sound of a massive horn flooded the entire town. My blood ran cold. Everyone in Pemolar’s Hill knew that noise now.
An attack was coming.
The scouting parties had never stopped roaming, since the first attack, and it seemed our days of peace were finally over.
“Well, gentlemen. M’lady,” I said with a dark countenance. “It seems I need to ask you to help with a slightly bloodier task than bleeding a deer.”
Trommel snorted. The joke wasn’t funny.
No one was panicking. Conversations had ground to a halt. Rather than fear, though, the faces I saw around me were filled with anger. A simmering heat that had been building since Maulander, and a fuel to fire it in the form of readily available weapons.
“You’re under no obligation to fight,” I said, as chairs scraped the wooden floor. “But we could sure use every person we can get.”
All around the room, crossbows were pulled out of packs, and swords were fitted to the waists of inkeepers and craftsmen. I watched Travis strap the bearded axe I’d made for him to his waist while hefting one of the many crossbows he’d made. Dobretin strode purposefully to the door and opened it. A flood of people left the bar. Most of them silent.
A few fearful murmurs. A few quiet curses. We’d all been waiting for this day.
“Are you coming, Mera?” Elsee asked.
I met the younger girl’s eyes and was certain she would be going. Her parents would likely have something to say about it, but they weren’t here right now. Her delight at the deer kill had turned grim. She remembered being cornered by the goblins. My Networking skill allowed me to see her absolute determination to never feel so helpless again.
Another horn call echoed from the East. It was easier to make out the direction of the call with the door open. No one was surprised. The east was where the rift break happened.
“Of course I am,” I said, before turning back to the table of travelers. “Any interest in helping a small town with a goblin problem, folks?”
“It’s not my war,” Beldonnel said.
I nodded. “Alright th–!”
“Wait,” Trommel interruputed. “I’ll come.”
Beldonnel’s eyes snapped to the bald man in irritation. “Trommel, we don’t have time to waste on these peasants. There are bigger issues.”
Trommel snorted. “What, like drinking here? If you didn’t notice, it looks like the Pubkeep is closing up shop.”
Sure enough, Edra and Lupkep had both grabbed a pair of crossbows and were following the crowd. Lupkep had actually donned a crude leather vest. It would probably block a few glancing blows if it needed to.
“It’s not our problem,” the other man insisted.
“Get over yourself, Bell. Let’s go kill some fucking goblins.” Trommel said.
The woman, Yureka, stood. “He’s right, Bel. We should help these people.”
I cocked my head, irritated by these four.
“Fine… your bleeding heart is going to get us killed someday, though,” Beldonnel said, as he, too, stood.
“Would you rather see these people die? They have such nice ale!” Trommel said.
The fourth man suddenly snored loudly. As one, the three of them turned towards the drunken man, who hadn’t yet moved a muscle.
“Should we…?” Yureka asked, oddly.
Trommel shook his head. “Leave him. He’s a liability with so many civilians around.”
The other two nodded.
I scowled lightly, insulted. Still, I was unwilling to turn away help that we might desperately need.
“If you’re willing to help, we’ll be meeting at the east end of town,” I told them, courtesy forgotten.
I turned and walked back to my stage, grabbing my own crossbow and the quiver of bolts. Rift monsters were swift, and if the call had come up close to town, there might already be fighting. Unlike last time though, this time we’d be ready.
I blinked as I stepped outside and found the street nearly clogged with people. Every last one of them was holding a crossbow and a quiver just like my own. Each of them moved as fast as they could toward the east wall, and the blazing sound of the horn as it called once more.
The false joviality of a town beaten but not broken by war had completely evaporated, replaced by a cold, hard thing.
Elsee fell into step beside me as we walked.
“That isn’t the crossbow, is it?” I asked.
“Of course not,” she replied. “Eysee’s staying with it.”
I nodded grimly.
We walked a little further, crossing the bridge. It was so clogged, I thought every non-wounded person in the entire town must be here. Every house had emptied.
It was one thing to know how many crossbows I had made. Quite another to see it in action. People who would never have dared approach a battlefield before were following behind us, ready and willing to fight, with the cover of a half-built wall and the existence of so many, many weapons.
We passed my house. The empty field felt extra lonely, knowing that neither of my parents were there. Mom would want me to go to that house and stay there. Better yet, she’d want me to flee north to Denarla. She’d certainly want me to snap the teleportation beacon.
If I did that, no matter how much food she’d managed to gather in Denarla, the whole mission would be a failure. We might win this fight, only to lose to starvation as Frost turned to Freeze, and then Bitter.
We arrived at the half-finished wall to find what felt like a small army of people gathered around it. The scaffolding above was filled with people, but the wall only stretched from the edge of the beach to the road. The area north of the road was completely open to attack.
It wasn’t enough. Half a wall might as well have been no wall at all. Trolls, simple creatures that they were, would attack the open space. Goblins might be a tad more clever, but I bet the vast majority of them would follow their larger kin.
“Mera! Up here!” I heard a sudden call.
Dobretin, of course, stood atop the wall, accompanied by Irena, of all people. I cocked my brow at the scene. It would make sense if Tom were up there. Less so his wife. Still, she held her own crossbow like she knew what to do with it.
I didn’t know why the Mayor was singling me out, but I shrugged. I turned to Elsee and laid a hand on her shoulder as another horn cry echoed throughout the woods.
“Be safe, yeah?” I said.
She nodded.
No fighting had started yet from what I could tell, but even I was shocked by the sheer number of people out here.
I spared a glance back and saw that the three travelers I’d just met had followed us to the wall. All three of them had swords, but the bald man, Trommel, was holding up a hand. An orb of water appeared to be hovering above it. A water mage.
I nodded to them as well. All the help we could get.
I turned and walked over to the scaffolding behind the wooden wall and began to climb the ladder.