Chapter 30: Unresolved Resolve
The sun had fully dipped below the horizon when the Summoned emerged from cover and crossed the clearing.
They reached the outer wall without being spotted.
A couple of goblins seemed to hear them, but they likely mistook the noise for an animal.
Now, pressed against the stone, the Summoned skulked toward the gatehouse. Two goblin guards stood outside, each gripping an iron-tipped spear.
When they were close enough, Lucas, leading the group, raised his hand.
Claire and Julia slipped forward.
They raised their bows and nocked their arrows. When Lucas swept his hand down, they fired.
Claire’s arrow struck one goblin through its neck, killing it instantly. Julia’s arrow buried itself in the other guard’s shoulder.
"Kreeeeeee!"
Its shrill cry heralded the ruin to come.
"Charge!"
At Lucas’s command, the twenty-five Summoned abandoned all stealth and sprinted toward the gatehouse.
As they ran, Claire nocked another arrow and fired past the charging group, striking the wounded goblin, silencing it.
Reaching the black wooden gate, they quickly set it alight, allowing the flames to eat into and weaken the wood. Axel then spun and drove an Aether-reinforced heel through its center, blasting open a jagged hole.
A few more kicks tore the large gate from its frame.
Instead of continuing into the courtyard, however, the Summoned crowded inside the narrow gatehouse and paused to catch their breath.
Packed together like sardines, they could barely move, but for the moment, the walls concealed them from the archers above — provided no goblins descended from the watchtowers.
Lucas leaned toward the courtyard entrance and peered around its edge.
A hail of arrows immediately ripped through the opening.
He jerked his head back as the arrows clattered into the gatehouse floor, piercing the exact space his face had occupied an instant earlier.
Lucas huffed an awkward laugh.
"It seems we’re lucky. No goblins are in the courtyard yet, and there is an entrance to the watchtowers from the ground."
After an odd pause, he added:
"Shielders, to the front."
When Lucas said "shielders," there was no confusion about whom he meant. Four of the Summoned carried tower shields without weapons.
Darrel shivered, then shouted:
"Wait, wait, wait, what? Why us?!"
Planning an assault was far easier than carrying it out...
’We are all normal people from the modern day.’
They weren’t barbaric tribespeople raised amid bloodshed. Discussing the charge had been simple. They had called it their best option, nodded along, and convinced themselves they could do it.
Actually stepping into a storm of arrows was something else entirely.
The very idea was absurd.
Lucas’s close call confirmed the truth none of them wanted to acknowledge:
Whoever entered the courtyard first would become the archers’ primary target.
They had been fighting goblins for almost a month, and perhaps they should have grown accustomed to risking their lives. But this was different.
This was not simply a battle.
Someone would have to offer themselves as a target so the others could advance.
’To die for us to live...’
It left a sour taste in Axel’s mouth. But it was a taste he begrudgingly chose to stomach.
Lucas turned to face the group, standing only inches from the end of the threshold and the hell waiting beyond it.
"They’ve all got weapons drawn and are prepared to fire. Meaning that their first attack when we step out will be their most brutal. To counter this, those with shields will go out first and draw the initial fire. After that, we..."
As expected, Cynthia immediately shouted her objection:
"That’s suicide! A charge where luck decides a survivor is one thing, but now you’re just asking people to die?!"
"Waiting here is also suicide," Lucas said, keeping his voice as calm as he could manage. "The goblins are starting to fill the courtyard. We will go in twenty-five seconds! Steel your resolve!"
Darrel grabbed Lucas by the shirt and pulled him close.
"Even if we have shields, how will they protect us from all directions?!"
Lucas’s patience snapped. He roared:
"I will not tolerate reluctance! If you have any pride as a human being, do what you’re told! Twenty seconds!"
Darrel began to cry.
"Y’know... I respected you. Without you, we never would have come this far... But this here is too far, Lucas."
Darrel’s muscles tensed.
Before anyone could intervene, he shoved Lucas through into the courtyard.
As Lucas staggered backward into the open, an ever-so-slight smile crossed his face — one that nobody but Axel noticed.
"What the hell?!"