Chapter 382 Behind The Walls (1/2)

Even before Arran reached the village's opened gates, he was hit by an overwhelh that he alh battles to recognize the foul smell immediately It was the s even here, he could scarcely iine what horrors they would find behind the walls

Yet there was no choice but to continue There were two hundred Blightspawn barely two e's tall walls offered the only protection they would find for h to save the villagers, but there was no other choice Outrunning the Blightspaould have been a tall order for the mercenaries on the best of days, and with the number of wounded they carried, it was utterly i the wounded behind, their only option was to seek shelter And disastrous though the battle had been, leaving the wounded was a step Arran was unwilling to ates, he saw at once what caused the unbearable stench that filled the area And the sight of it filled hie square lay a h that it almost reseled beyond recognition, the pile that held theled mess of blood and broken limbs

Arran knew at once that these weren't just villagers There were far e this size would hold That could only htspawn had been here for days, perhaps even weeks,all soldiers and traders who passed

He stared at the pile of bodies for several moments before his daze was pierced by the captain's voice

”Take the wounded to the teates and man the walls!”

Arran tore his eyes away fro at the side of the village square that he knew must be the te, he saw that the main hall was filled with rubble — the rehtspawn must have sh Darians hts were of his wounded allies and the horde of monsters that still threatened them

Carefully, he laid down the wounded e And as he did, he realized it was the lone borderlander who'd chosen to join the Rannoc's offer

”Thank you,” the youth said weakly, forcing a small smile to appear on his pale face ”I'd be dead without you We'd all be”

Arran quickly looked over the young man's wounds, and was relieved to see that none seemed fatal While the injuries were serious, they would heal with time

But then, tio check the gates,” he said to the borderlander ”You stay here, and don't move too much The others will take care of you”

There were severalfor the wounded troops who'd been brought into the tehtspawn attacked, only he and the captain had a chance of repelling the for a reply, then quickly clihtspawn in the distance

”They're not ,” the captain said as Arran approached ”I suppose they'll wait for nightfall before they attack”

”Then we have a few hours to prepare,” Arran replied

”For all the good that'll do” Kaleesh shook his head in frustration, and continued in a harsh voice, ”This should not have happened”

”But it did,” Arran said ”Things rarely—”

”You don't understand,” Kaleesh interrupted hi your tiht They've never attacked east of Knight's Watch, and even in the Desolation, their groups never count more than one or two dozen This—”

He took a deep breath, and the anger in his eyes faded ”This shouldn't have happened,” he said again, though his voice eary now ”We've lost twelve— if we even last that long”

”We'll think about that later,” Arran said ”Right noe should search the village I don't think any Blightspawn remain, but we have to check And we'll have to find out how they got inside”

”You're right,” Kaleesh said ”But first, take care of your wounds If they attack, we'll need your strength”

”My wounds?” Arran looked at hi mid-sentence, as he realized that there were several wounds on his body And although they were already healing, the carnage of battle should have provided the Blood Ruin with enough fuel to have healed even the most serious wounds instantly

And yet, that hadn't happened

”Just take care,” Kaleesh said ”You're strong, but you're not immortal”

Without any further words, he set off to search the village

Arran re in silence for severalthat the Blood Ruin seemed far weaker than it should be Hundreds of deaths should have hi with power, but instead, what he felt was only a sliver of that

The poas ained from his allies' deaths, but far less than he should have seized frohtspawn that died

Briefly, he worried whether there was so with the Blood Ruin — whether it had weakened somehow If so, it would be a disaster

Yet before he could even finish the thought, he recalled that so else had been different, as well In the heat of battle there had been no time to consider it, but now, he realized that he had only barely Sensed the Blightspawn as he was fighting theic when they used it, but other than that, it was as if they were shades, their figures somehoeak and blurry to his Sense