Chapter 134: Final Show down
___ The Next Day, Midnight ___
Even without being told, the stench of war was already in the air, and every goblin within Ashmork knew the Vaal’kor invaders would come soon. The village had spent the entire evening preparing for the inevitable, yet nobody knew exactly where the attack would begin.
The northern and southern gates had already been attacked once, and because of that, there was no way to know whether the enemy would return through one of them or attempt to exploit the eastern or western walls.
Molu could not afford to concentrate their remaining forces in one location and leave another completely undefended, so their forces had been divided between the two major entrances. Fifteen people were posted at the southern gate while another fifteen guarded the northern gate, with the remaining soldiers and armed civilians spread along the eastern and western walls.
They stood beneath the moonlight with weapons in hand, constantly scanning the darkness beyond the wooden palisades for any movement that might reveal an approaching enemy.
Loki had been placed in charge of the southern gate while Crow held the northern gate. Both understood the importance of their positions and neither complained about the distribution of forces.
Meanwhile, Molu sat inside the council house, staring down at the map drawn on a large piece of paper spread across the table before him.
The remaining thirty or so armed civilians had been divided into groups of five, each led by an experienced warrior. They were positioned neither too close to the walls nor too far away, occupying the space between the village’s central buildings and its outer defenses.
From there, they could quickly move toward either gate if one came under attack, reinforcing the defenders before the enemy could break through.
The situation was far worse than it had been only a few days earlier. After the disastrous hunting expedition, the Ashmork Clan had run extremely low on capable fighting forces. Their population was barely over two hundred now, with about a hundred and fifty of them accounting for women, children and the elderly. That left only a fraction of the population capable of actually defending the village, and even among those remaining, many had little experience with real combat.
Molu had already begun thinking about what would happen if the village fell. If he had his way, he would have sent the women and children out of the village before the battle began, but after the attacks in the forest, it was already clear that stepping beyond the walls meant risking death. The enemy had demonstrated that they could hunt Ashmork’s people outside their defenses, and sending their most vulnerable members into the forest would essentially be handing them over.
“Once we determine where the attack is coming from, lead the people out through the other gate and escape. Even if the village falls, as long as our children and women survive, Ashmork is not completely dead.” Molu said to Kia, who sat in her usual chair inside the council house.
His eyes remained on the map as he spoke, but there was nothing uncertain about his voice.
“I can’t leave. This is my home too. I should stay and fight!” Kia argued, her fingers tightening around the edge of her chair.
She had spent her entire life in Ashmork. It was where she had grown up, where Varg had taught her, where she had learned to use magic and where the people she considered family lived. The idea of simply abandoning all of them while they fought for their lives felt almost impossible for her to accept.
Bwwoooooooooooooooooo!
Kia’s voice trailed off as a loud horn tore through the village, its deep sound echoing against the wooden walls and buildings. The sudden signal caused her eyes to widen as she immediately understood what it meant.
Enemy forces had been spotted.
The moment she looked toward Molu, she saw the expression on his face change. The exhaustion and bitter humor that had been present moments earlier vanished, replaced by the hard expression of a chieftain preparing to make a final decision.
“Find out where they are coming from, take the Red Scripture and leave!” Molu said again, this time in a stern voice that left no room for argument.
Kia stared at him for a moment, clearly hesitant to obey. Her hands tightened around her clothes as conflicting emotions passed through her eyes, but she eventually forced herself to stand. She quickly left the room, her footsteps fading as she hurried toward the source of the alarm, leaving Molu alone inside the council house.
Molu leaned back in his chair and released a slow sigh. For a few moments, he simply sat there listening to the distant sounds of the village preparing for battle. Then his gaze drifted toward the far end of the room, where three skulls hung from the wall.
They were human skulls taken from the heads of Grash’s victims, trophies that had once represented the strength and brutality of the Ashmork Clan. They had been displayed as reminders of what their people had accomplished.
Molu stared at them for a long time.
To think the Ashmork Clan would fall so much faster than it had been built up, and that it would happen during his time as Chieftain.
“When they grow up and talk about everyone… They will talk about how Goresh unified our Ashin, Mok and Dar tribes. Then how Grash dominated the Evergreen Forest and built up the Ashmork village to the powerful force it became… And what will they say about me?”
Molu laughed bitterly, his heavy eyes remaining fixed upon the skulls. “The fat loser who lost it all in a few days…”
His laughter slowly faded, leaving only a hollow expression behind. “Goresh the Great… Grash the Conquerer and Molu the fat.”
He lowered his head and rubbed his face with one hand before leaning back again. For a moment, doubt crept into his mind. Maybe he had never been suited to lead. Maybe strength and courage were all Ashmork really needed, and perhaps choosing Loki would have been the better decision.
“Maybe I should have let Loki be Chieftain. That way I wouldn’t have to go through all of this.” Molu sighed, though even as he said it, he knew it was not true.
Thud!
Molu rose to his feet and reached down to pick up the short sword resting beside his chair. He tested its weight in his hand before reaching toward the other side of the table and taking the circular shield that had been leaning against the wall. He strapped it securely to his arm and stared once more at the map before turning away.
If everyone else was going to fight, then he had no business sitting inside the council house waiting for the outcome. He might have been a strategist rather than a warrior, but he was still the Chieftain of Ashmork, and if this was truly going to be their last battle, then he would face it alongside his people.
With that, Molu walked out of the room to help defend Ashmork for the last time.
Meanwhile, Ka’z stood within sight of those stationed at the northern gate. He had deliberately positioned himself close enough for the goblins to notice him, yet far enough away that their arrows would not immediately become a serious threat.
Only half of his team was with him. Drak, Thrak, Luk, Kren and Korv stood nearby, their bodies concealed among the sparse vegetation while they watched the goblins atop the wooden walls.
Drak had brought up the possibility that the enemies might attempt to flee through one of the gates once the battle began, and Ka’z had immediately decided to prepare for that possibility. He had therefore sent Mi’ya, Bigi, Bruk, Gruk and Tark to watch those attempting to escape through the southern gate.
They were not supposed to attack immediately. Their role was to wait until all attention had been drawn toward the north, then enter the village through the southern gate and set the entire gate and surrounding walls on fire. Once the southern defenses were burning, the escape route would be cut off and the goblins would be forced to remain inside the village or attempt to flee through an area Ka’z’s people could control.
Tonight, the Ashmork village would be defeated completely.
“Remember, we didn’t bring all those bows and arrows for nothing. I will keep their attention on me while you guys support with arrows.” Ka’z said quietly while watching the goblins mounted upon the wall.
He could see them nocking their arrows and taking aim, their bodies tense as they tried to determine whether the lone figure standing in the darkness was truly the enemy they had feared for days. Their weapons were ready, but none of them had fired yet. They were waiting for an order, and Ka’z knew that the moment he made his move, every bow on the northern wall would be directed toward him.
“Understood…” The team said in low voices, careful not to reveal themselves to the goblins above.
Ka’z nodded as he tightened his grip around his battle axe. His eyes remained fixed on the village while crimson fumes slowly poured from his body, spreading around his scales like smoke. Blood Empowerment surged through his veins, causing his muscles to swell beneath his golden scales as his physical strength climbed higher.
Red light spilled from his eyes, illuminating them against the darkness, while a cruel smile slowly bloomed across his face.
After tonight, he would finally have almost everything he needed to begin building the life he had envisioned for himself in Athedal.
His time living in the caves was about to come to an end.