Chapter 60 - Things to Come
As the waves increased in strength we had to adjust our strategy to fight them. There were too many foes to continue what we had been doing. In the past, Austin and I would blunt the wave by fighting in front of the wall so the monsters never had time to build up and damage the wall.
It was all in the effort of not letting them accrue damage on the wall, letting them through. The wall was the bulwark that people needed for safety. It was what kept the fighting somewhat organized and orderly.
No one wanted a repeat of the 4th wave where boars ran amuck through our lines and we were beset from all sides.
To keep the injuries and casualties to a minimum, we needed to limit the angles of approach. We could just stay huddled behind the wall and only use ranged attacks, but that had many faults.
One, it was slow. It gave the beasts a lot of time to scratch and claw at the gates doing a not insignificant amount of damage. With enough of them, they would make it through. With the increasing numbers, that was untenable.
Two, it didn't empower the warriors enough. There was no challenge, no threat that pushed you further. I equated it to the heat of battle. Fighting in the thick of it was like forging a weapon.
The fires of battle where emotions ran hot was when a warrior was made. I tried to get people to do as I had done, throw themselves into the crucible, but they didn't have the spark.
They didn't have the spirit for battle that I seemed to have. Every new wave brought with it an undertone of excitement for me that others didn't have. The feeling of a challenge, of a worthy foe.
It was almost euphoric if taken out of context. There were enough outside forces acting on me that the feeling never had time to take root for long. The waves brought worry and loss that drowned out any other feeling.
I couldn't get excited about a battle if I knew another family member wouldn't survive it. It was cruel. To take something that I was beginning to enjoy and taint it with the worry about my family.
It was most of the reason why I fought alone. I knew that others couldn't handle the same weight that I could.
When the wave started to come from two directions, Austin and I split. It also gave rise to the rest of the family and broke them out of their shell. The beliefs that they held onto were shattered.