Chương 79: Book 2 Chapter Fifteen: Relieving the Siege part 2

FIFTEEN They moved together through the edge of the woods to the far side of the village. With the squad of shamans and hob killed their section had grown quiet. Goblins and ogres still ran about, but there were less and less of them as the remaining defenders were able to focus fire on the walking behemoths. Taoya led the way, weaving between the trees with grace that belied his strength.

"What is your ability?" Roan asked, turning to look at Harris as they got closer to a more active part of the battlefield. If he'd remembered correctly he'd been told that Harris was a good defensive fighter, but not what it was he managed to do. Darren often kept Harris close to him though.

"Nothing special. I emit a small slowing field around myself. Let's me slow down ambushes," Harris said, shrugging with a single shoulder.

"That's a good ability," Roan said. He now understood why Darren kept him around. If Harris was stronger he'd be a great counter to any type of high speed blitz attackers. Combined with Darren's increased perception the two would be a deadly combo.

"Thanks, but you should see the stronger members of my family. They're impressive, I'm just a runt." Harris' voice held hints of bitterness in it that Roan could identify with. It was the same bitterness that had been in him every time he'd seen one of the elites use their bloodline while he was stuck with just muscle and skill." You need to explore your bloodline after this." The intrusive thought floated by his conscious and Roan added it to the long list of things he had to do as fast as he could.

"Quiet. Look at that," Taoya said, breaking them from their conversation and pointed over toward where another quartet of shamans were scaling the walls. Climber corpses dotted the ground at the base of the walls, thrown over as the attackers had secured the ramparts.

"Think the hob is in the village itself?" Roan asked.

"Yeah. With its speed and strength it'll be a menace if I don't have room to move," Taoya said, grimacing as he thought of it." Retreat then. Fight another day. This village is lost even if the false-dragon does not arrive." The thought was the same cold, pragmatic voice that had been whispering in his ear since he'd entered the tower. Roan fought it down, wrestled the instinct to leave as fast as he could and save his life.

"We'll have to be careful. Pin it down and give Taoya a clean shot on it," Roan said. It felt bitter to say the words and part of him rebelled against the idea of risking himself in the town. Roan shoved that part down and into the pit of his being. He couldn't allow himself to be ruled by fear, not here and now.

"Shamans first. There's a pair of ogres guarding their ladders and a ton of goblins in the way. We're going to have to be fast," Taoya said. He started to walk forward, breaking out of the protection of the forest and picking up speed as he did so. Roan followed right after with Harris a step behind, the two of them hopelessly outmatched by Taoya's speed. The long strides the man could take ate up the ground in moments and he crashed into the backs of the goblins like a landslide.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Not even using his abilities," Roan muttered in disgust as Taoya slaughtered goblins with every punch. He was just so much bigger and stronger than they were, his fists crushed the small mobs into the ground as he walked straight into the first ogre. Taoya began to punch the ogre. He bobbed and weaved like a boxer as power began to build up around him. The second ogre started toward him but Roan had cut the distance enough that he could leap and slam the warhammer into the mob's side.

Ribs shattered as the ogre twisted on itself, a groan of pain escaping its wide mouth. Roan spun to gain momentum and brought the hammer back around to crush its skull. The tried and true method of killing the ogres continued as the body slumped to the ground." Getting faster and faster with that." Roan launched himself up the ladder and winced as he felt the rungs bend under his feet threatening to snap. His premonition came true halfway up when a rung broke and his foot fell to the next one.

The goblins were small enough the drop hardly slowed him as he flew up the rest of the way, breaking another two rungs as he reached the top of the wall. Heat washed over the ramparts from the backwash of the shaman's attacks. Roan reached the top and one of the emaciated creatures turned to look at him, eyes widening in horror as Roan's hammer caved in its skull. The staff clattered to the ground as the thin bodied creature went flying off the wall and down to the ground level of the village.

It landed with a sickening crunch as its limbs skewed each way. The other three began to turn, spinning in a lethargic circle as they lifted their staffs. Roan jumped closer to them, slamming the hilt of his warhammer against the chest of the closest of the shaman, throwing it into the feet of the other two. Harris was up the ladder a second later, his blade scything through the downed foes. Roan smashed his warhammer into the confused mess of bodies.

Bones crunched and veins were split, the three shamans broke apart beneath the two of their onslaught.

"Catch them off guard and they're not too bad," Harris said in between hurried breaths. Taoya's wide hand caught the edge of the rampart and hefted himself to the top of the wall. He glanced down at the bloodied corpses and nodded his head in approval.

"I don't think this place is going to last," Taoya said. Roan looked over the burning wreckage of the village and couldn't help but agree. Half the village was on fire, the buildings burning merrily from where the shamans had managed to land their attacks. Bodies were piled in the streets, goblin, defensive mobs, and climbers all mingled together. Roan scanned the streets, looking for the signs of a hob. They weren't sure that there would be a second hob, but Roan was pretty sure there was.

The way the shamans had been fighting together was similar to how the original hobs team had fought and the second group. Which should mean the hob was close by.

"There. Two streets from the burning blacksmith's shop," Harris said, pointing it out. Roan looked over and saw what Harris had seen. A group of climbers were clustered together, back to back, shoulder to shoulder in a circle. A half-dozen of the corpses on the grounds were climbers, mingled in with the goblins. From the burning wreckage of a building a shadow darted out. Firelight gleamed on steel and another man collapsed. Blades lashed out, slicing apart nothing but air.

"It's toying with them," Harris said.

"We need to get down there and help them," Taoya said, leaping from the wall and landing in a sprint, more and more power bleeding off of him as he ran.

"Do you think he knows he's too fast for us to keep up?" Harris grumbled as he and Roan followed after the giant into the burning village.