96 So it begins (2/2)
”RELOAD! RELOAD!”
”Give me that quick!”
”What is this? How can we fight this!”
”Shut up and bring me my ammunition.”
The giants taking so much focus, no one noticed that nearly all the undead that were destroyed previously were not resurrected. If they had, there wouldn't have been so many guards murmuring prayers for all the gods they knew. While the numerous siege weapons were reloading, the position of the undead army was close enough for the archers to begin to fire too.
”ARCHERS!”
”AIM!”
”FIRE!”
The first volley of arrows destroyed the progress made by the skeletons at repairing the giants. Because a bow was quite easy to reload and that the enemy was not even trying to defend itself, Seron felt that he could let loose the bowman under his orders.
”ARCHER! FIRE AT WILL!”
The order was immediately put into action, and while the damage was less visible, it still stalled the advancement of many giants. Many arrows were not even aiming at them, but in front of such a large force, it always hit at least a skeleton. As for whether it only injured it or destroy it, it was most of the time up to luck.
”CROSSBOWS! AIM AT THE LEGS!”
Seron ordered to destroy the very foundation of the gigantic skeletons. Even if that sequence only lasted a minute, it was enough to prevent anything besides a few undead to reach the ramparts. Fortunately, the stiff body of the skeletons was not the best at climbing a surface like a stone wall, and several of them destroyed themselves while climbing and falling into others.
”Ready!”
”Ready!”
”Ready!”
Hearing that the balistas were armed again, Seron patiently waited for a bigger target. However, he could still that some giants were already completely formed, and couldn't let any of them get closer.
”The three scorpions and balistas near the reformed giants, fire. The rest, stand still.” Because the battlefield was getting louder and louder, it was more and more difficult to organize everything. At the same time, the scouts were having a very hard time running in a more and more chaotic rampart. Nonetheless, they still achieved their purposes, and the few remaining intact giants were taken down.
But even after all those things, none one could see accurately where the army of undead ended. The night was getting more and darker, and the sight of many was restricted to a dozen of meters beyond the ramparts. It will not take a long time before only the area around the torches and braziers will be visible.
Looking above him for a brief second, he only hoped that the clouds will not obstruct any of the two moons. Remembering that only one should be clearly visible in this night, he felt that even the gods were not optimistic about them. He knew that they had nothing to do with the moons and couldn't control whether they were full or not. But it was such a stroke of bad luck to fight against undead without any light.
”Captain, the number of ammunitions is drastically getting smaller and smaller. No undead has yet to reach the top of the ramparts, but many arrows are wasted on those that are climbing.”
Adventurers and guards alike were firing without any care of all the arrows they had. In a way, that was logical, since they couldn't miss their target in such a situation. The only issue was that because they were not aiming properly, skeletons with a few holes in their bodies were legion. However, the moment they stopped such a deluge of arrows, they will have to fight the undead personally. Feeling mixed about it, Seron could only think of what was the best for him.
”Guild Master, the liches will not visible any time soon. The bombs are too exposed here, retreat with them and guard the device of the White Hand. Only you and those around you right now are allowed nearby. No accident will happen; we cannot allow them. From now on, only the adventurers with a higher grade than K and the marksmen of the garrison can use the arrows. As for the siege weapons, they will only target the giants until they run out of ammunition. From now on, the real fight will start.”
Clutching his fist on the sturdy battlement, he could only sigh thinking about all the lives that will be lost in the next hours. ”So it begins.”