They spotted Madla’s wooden walls about the time that the sky began to grow dark. The rain began to fall a bit harder as they pushed onward toward the torches that lined the top of the wooden fortifications.

  “That’s strange,” Allthier said, concern lining his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever managed to reach a town without seeing a farmer first. All the fields on the way here need to be tended once every couple of days, and usually a traveler will start running into workers once they make it within a half day or so of a settlement.”

  “I’m assuming that isn’t a good thing?” Erich asked, looking back and forth toward each of the flood plains on either side of the road. He’d spotted a couple more garr in their journey, and his second night with Allthier had ended with the two of them finding webbed footprints all around their camping structure.

  Allthier pulled gently on Benny’s lead again, speeding the ox up slightly as he replied.

  “The only good reason I can think of would be if there was an early harvest, but we walked past plenty of fields that still had half-grown rice in them. The means that the villagers were avoiding their fields. I can think of a handful of reasons for that, but all of them are bad.”

  Erich didn’t say anything. He couldn’t disagree with Allthier. The best case scenario might be that the farmers were having a feast day or that their tools were broken and dulled. It was much more likely that they were either injured or afraid of attacks.

  Given the growing number of garr the two of them had seen as they traveled, Erich had a pretty good guess as to what was happening. Even now, eight eyes were watching the two of them as the walked toward Madla. None of the garr were making a move to intercept them, but Erich was pretty sure that the animals were slowly paddling along in the steadily filling basins in order track their team.

  “At least we’re almost to town,” Erich said finally, trying to put on a brave front over the sensation of his hair standing on end on the back of his neck. “Barely fifteen minutes away from having a roof over our heads and bed beneath our backs.”

  Allthier didn’t respond. Erich could see the stiffness in the cinderborn’s back and the nervousness of his hands as he repeatedly fretted with Benny’s rope.

  “Maybe,” Allthier relented. “I’ll have to ask around when we get into town, but we might be in for a bit of a rough time. We’ve seen a lot of garr on our trip so far, and I can’t help but think that it’s a miracle that we haven’t been attacked yet. Things might be a little more dire here than I’d like.”

  “What does that mean for us?” Erich asked. “We’re still going to push through to Kratter starting tomorrow morning. Even if things have gotten a bit out of control, those walls must be at least twelve feet tall. There’s no way the town itself is at risk.”

  Allthier’s hand clenched and twisted, pulling gently downward on Benny’s rope as he he seemed to search for an answer.

  “Possibly,” the cinderborn said with a sigh. “In part that wild depend upon your skill with that sword know. It’s possible that Madla will want some help. If things are that bad, we’d be better off earning a couple coins defending its walls than risking an ambush on the high road. I can assure you that you don’t want to deal with an entire swarm of garr jetting out of the water to attack you in the middle of a daydream.”

  “It doesn’t sound ideal,” Erich agreed. “Still, I thought that you wanted to get back to Kratter and your family as quickly as possible.”

  “I do,” Allthier replied. “I really do. That said, part of survival is not jumping at every opportunity. If something is a big risk, its better to know when to cut your losses.”

  “Still,” the cinderborn continued, his face shifting into his much more characteristic smile, “we’re just borrowing trouble right now. For all we know some of the villagers are getting married today and the village elder has called everyone off work. Maybe we’re making a big deal out of absolute nothing.”

  “Maybe,” Erich said, unconvinced. The four garr still sat in the water, just watching the two people and the ox as they arrived at Madla’s gates.

  “Call Derl!” A bass voice shouted above them as the wooden doorway began to slide inward. “Allthier’s here and he brought a guard with him.”

  Erich shot the merchant a look, and Allthier just shrugged.

  The two of them stepped into Madla proper. There were about thirty buildings inside. All but two of them were made from stucco and covered in what looked like grayish brown paint. Light shone from open windows, and Erich saw more than a couple of faces pressed to the openings, amber eyes shining with what looked like hope.

  He stopped himself from glancing Allthier’s way a second time. A guard clambered down a ladder that was leaning up against the wall. The man wasn’t wearing any armor and the weapon strapped across his back was a spear that had seen better days. The spearhead was polished and sharp, but the weapon’s haft was warped slightly and splintering. At some point someone had wrapped some sort of cloth around the bottom third of the spear creating something like a crude handhold.

  Erich glanced back up at the wall. There were three more guards, a woman and two men. All of them were wearing smocks, and their weapons were in worse shape than the man that was hurriedly walking toward Allthier and him.

  “Allthier,” the guard with the spear said, relief pouring off of his voice. “By the angels you’re a sight for sore eyes. We sent runners in all four directions to ask for reinforcements, but we haven’t heard anything for days. Derl was starting to think that they hadn’t made it.”

  The merchant stiffened. He didn’t look back as he addressed Erich.

  “I didn’t see any runners. What about you Erich? Did you see anyone from Madla on your way here?”

  “No one,” Erich replied with a shake of his head. “You’re the first person I saw after exiting the caves Allthier. It’s been entirely you and Benny since then.”

  The guard’s face darkened. “Derl isn’t going to like that,” he said quietly. “I don’t like it either.”

  A couple nearby doors cracked open, sending rectangles of light stabbing out into the gathering gloom. Yellow eyes glowed back at Erich. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, struggling under the expectant gazes of the townsfolk.

  “Allthier!” A voice called out. Erich glanced up, grateful for the distraction. A tall woman was walking toward them. She was wearing leather armor with strips of metal set into it, with a long sword sheathed across her back.

  “Derl,” Allthier replied. “It sounds like you’re having a spot of trouble.”

  “More than a spot,” Derl said with a scowl. “I can’t help but notice that Samas isn’t with you. I don’t suppose that you spotted her on your trip back from the caves?”

  Allthier winced. “No, I haven’t seen Samas. I take it she’s your missing runner?”

  “She’s one of my missing runners,” Derl replied, sighing. “We sent one down each road a day or so ago and haven’t heard back from any of them yet. I’ve been trying to hold out hope that they’ve reached their destinations, but part of me knew that I was sending them to their deaths.”

  “She was a good woman,” Allthier said, his expression darkening. “How bad are things that you’d send her away like that? I doubt you’d waste her on something futile unless there weren’t any other options.”

  Derl pursed her lips, looking from the grim spearman to Erich and then back to Allthier. There was a flicker of interest in her glowing yellow lies as she took in Erich, but she didn’t address him directly.

  “Garr. A lot of them. Enough to kill anyone foolish enough to work the farms. I’m sure its a wave, but even if it isn't, Madla will die without a rainy season crop. We need to defend our walls and thin out their numbers, but we don’t have the militia for it.”

  “Rimsot is the only member of the militia that actually served in the army, and he never learned how to use mana,” she continued, nodding at the spearman. “The rest of the militia are just farmers. I’ve taught them how to use clubs and flails, but bludgeoning weapons aren’t great against the garr. Their hides are spongy and cushion the blows. Its better than nothing, but what we really need are axs, swords and spears.”

  “Human.” She turned to address Erich, her armor jingling as he squared her shoulders. “From the sword at your side it seems like you know a bit about fighting. What do you say, would you be willing to spend some extra time in Madla? We aren’t a rich town, but I can assure you that we’ll give you all the bits we can.”

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  “I’m under contract,” Erich replied, glancing at Allthier. “If Allthier is fine with staying in town, I’d be happy to help, but I do know that he wants to get back to his family in Kratter.

  “You’ll never make it to Kratter without the herds being thinned Allthier,” Derl said. “There are too many garr and they’re acting too aggressively for you to make it. If you leave your cart and ox behind you might be able to make a sprint for it, but I doubt that’s what you’re looking to do.”

  Allthier opened his mouth to say something and Derl lurched forward, grabbing hold of the merchant’s shoulder.

  “Please Allthier,” she said urgently. “I know you’ve served in the army as well. If we don’t do something Madla is done. Ninety souls eaten by swamp monsters. Even if our runners make it to the other towns, there’s no way their militias will get here in time. The wave is going to attack in a day or two, I can feel it.”

  Allthier reached up with his left arm, removing Derl’s hand from his shoulder. He opened his mouth to respond only for Derl to cut him off again.

  “Name your price. I don’t care what the Lord says. You’ll never pay taxes going through Madla again if you help us today.”

  “I was always going to stay,” he said, slightly embarrassed. “I’d be a failure of a merchant if I turned down your offer to eliminate all future tariffs, but it’s not about the money. I stop in Madla every time I take goods from Kratter to the caves. I’ve faced danger beside all of you in the past, and it would be wrong for me to turn my back on you now.”

  Erich stirred slightly as he listened to the merchant speak. Derl lit up like dry tinder, her eyes glowing brightly as she smiled at the two of them. Emberborn began to whisper urgently from their doorways and windows. A couple stepped out into the rain so that the could move closer to the conversation between their village chief and Allthier.

  “Now that we’ve settled that,” Derl said, relief dripping from every word, “what about you, Human? I can feel a little bit of mana about you, but I don’t know what kind or how powerful you are. What do you think, can you be the factor that saves Madla?”

  “My name’s Erich,” he replied, extending his hand to the cinderborn warrior. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to save your village, I’m a tier two swordsman, not some sort of legendary hero. Either way, I’m willing to try.”

  “Swordsman?” Derl asked, her ears seeming to perk up at the word. “Not a yeoman? A second mana user will help a lot regardless, but if you have your own image rather than one you’ve learned from a school-”

  “I do,” Erich replied. “I’m not nearly as skilled with it as I would like, but that’s half of reason why I’m interested in this fight. I need to test myself against living beings in order to improve my abilities.”

  He shrugged. “The other half is that Allthier seems to trust you. He’s been good by me and if he thinks that your town is full of good folks that are worth risking his life over, that’s all I need to hear.”

  “What do you want for pay?” Derl asked, her voice suddenly tinged with worry again. “I thought you were a yeoman when I offered to pay you. I didn’t mean to insult a swordsman with such a low offer, but-”

  “It’s fine,” Erich said, forcing a smile onto his face. “I really don’t think that I’m as important as you seem to think I am. For now, I’d be happy with room and board while we plan the fight against the garr. Once the battle is done, simply pay me what you think my skills are worth. As long as your assessments are fair, I’m happy to expect your judgment.”

  The handful of cinderborn that were clustered in the town center around Derl and her assistants began to whisper anxiously. Derl managed to keep a professional expression on her face, but Erich swore he could see her paling despite her dark skin.

  Allthier opened his mouth to say something, but once again he was interrupted. This time, but a loud splashing sound followed almost immediately by a loud ‘thunk’ that shook the town’s eastern wall. Shouts followed shortly thereafter as the guard covering that section of the fortifications grabbed one of the torches from the small sheltered area that protected it from the rain.

  The fire hissed and crackled as the constant precipitation tried to put it out, but it did its job, providing a rallying point for the other guards manning the village’s walls. Erich didn’t wait for any instructions.

  He ran toward the wall, his robust body providing him strength far beyond his stature as he jumped from the ground and dug his fingers into the thick black pitch that bound the logs of the wall together. It clung to them for a second as Erich reached upward and pulled himself up onto the platform that sat atop the palisade.

  Below him, eight garr were slamming their bodies into the wall. Each of the dark green monsters was about six feet from the edge of its long narrow snout to its hind legs. When they moved, they were a blur, almost impossible to see in the dark.

  The pitch-covered wooden walls were tall and thick, but they shook with each attack. Two of the garr threw themselves at the logs in front of Erich, slamming their shoulders and sides into the wall and rattling it in its moorings.

  None of the animals was showing any pain or distress as they assaulted the wall over and over again in a mad frenzy. A grim certainty filled Erich. The village’s defenses were going to give out long before the bodies of the garr began to fail.

  Some eight feet to his right, one of the town militia threw a big rock, about a foot and a half on each side, over the side. It hit one of the garr with a dull thwack before bouncing off and splashing into the water.

  The monster yelped, but the blow didn’t do anything to slow it. A second later it jetted out of the water that lapped at the edge of the wall, hitting the timber barrier about five feet into the air.

  Wood began to splinter just as Derl and the rest of the militia reached the narrow walkway atop the wall with Erich. His eyes flickered over the tired and frightened collection of cinderborn with their improvised weapons.

  Only Derl and Rimsot, the man with the spear, looked like they would be useful in a fight. The rest of the town militia were heavily muscled from long days spent in the fields, but their eyes were dim and their hands clutched tightly at awful and decaying weaponry.

  Something clicked. Waiting atop the walls for the garr to break through wasn’t a solution. None of their group had bows or any sort of weapon that deal actual damage and thrown rocks weren’t going to cut it.

  He drew his sword and threw off his cloak. Before any of the cinderborn could stop him, Erich jumped, trusting in Poison Tempered body to keep him safe.

  His right foot struck the back of a garr, knocking it off of its legs and into the water. His sword darted downward, parting the monster’s thick, blubbery hide. It yelped in pain, thrashing under his feet to try and throw Erich off, but a second stab ended its struggle.

  The three nearest garr sloshed in the water as they turned to face him. Erich made a note that their long, low slung bodies couldn’t turn quickly. One of the garr lunged at him, launching its body from the water with startling speed.

  Erich stepped back, his feet naturally slipping into the first stance of Magma Blossom. His sword seemed to glow a deep red as it swung upward, striking the monster in the chest just below its shoulders, parting its thick hide skin with ease.

  A second garr jerked toward his legs, its long thin muzzle opening to reveal a double row of inwardly curved teeth. Erich danced backward, his smooth footwork almost immediately disrupted by shin deep water the second he stepped off of the first garr’s corpse.

  For a fraction of a second it looked like Erich was going to make it. Then, the sole of his boot slipped on the mud.

  Erich caught his balance, but not before the garr managed to sink its teeth into his calf. Poison Tempered Body kept the monster’s fangs from digging in too deep, but its jaws held him in place long enough for the rest of the garr to swarm him.

  Mana pulsed up from his image as Erich hacked downward with his sword, chopping off the head of the garr that was gnawing at him. Another two garr lunged at Erich. He managed to jerk his shoulder to the side in time to avoid the first attack. The second grabbed hold of his bicep.

  He twisted his body, slamming the body of the garr into Madla’s wall. Before it could wriggle free, Erich braced himself and rammed his sword through its chest, pinning it against the wood.

  More of the squishy monsters swarmed toward him, and Erich planted his feet, spinning in a tight circle. His sword led the way, mana burning along its length as it slashed through two of his assailants.

  The garr yelped, blood welling up from their wounds as they backpedaled urgently. Another two garr surged past them only for one of them to meet Erich’s sword as he slashed downward again.

  Its companion jolted forward, leaping out of the water toward Erich’s throat. He couldn’t pull his sword free in time, so Erich didn’t bother.

  He released his weapon’s hilt, grabbing the monster around its throat and snatching it from the air before it could attack him. Mana flowed through him like water, and Erich’s strength surged. He bashed the monster into the village wall, stunning it.

  Erich kept hold of the creature with his left hand, suspending it a couple feet off the ground. His right hand balled up into a fist, the raging forest fire of his image burning inside his grip.

  He slammed his fist into the monster’s chest. The garr’s thick, slimy hide absorbed most of the blow. Erich’s second punch landed with a satisfying ‘crack’ of snapping ribs.

  The garr squealed in pain, its stubby legs pawing uselessly through the air as Erich spun around, launching the injured animal into its companions before one of them could summon the courage to attack him again.

  Erich took the moment of confusion earned by the desperate splashing and pumping of limbs triggered by the throw to rip his sword free. This time when he set his feet, Erich made sure that his boots were properly dug into the slippery mud.

  None of the garr attacked him. Erich glared at the monsters, mana pumping hot and angry through his veins as they slunk away, submerging themselves in the water as they abandoned the walls.

  “Holy-” a voice called out above him, devolving into a low whistle.

  Erich took a minute to survey the scene. Four garr floated dead around the walls, purpleish black blood staining the water.

  “Are you alright down there?” Derl asked. “Do you need any help? Some gauze maybe?”

  He flexed his arm, squinting through the gloom at the tooth marks left behind by the garr. None of them were deep enough to draw blood, a testament to the strength of his body enhancement skill, and the shallow wounds were already starting to heal.

  The same went for the bite marks on his calf. They tingled and stung, but there wasn’t any sort of serious damage.

  “I’m fine,” Erich called back. “I could do with a towel and a ladder though.”