Rhea stopped the first cart before it entered the kitchen path.
"Where are you taking that?"
The worker pointed toward the storage. Three bedding rolls had been tied over a crate, with somebody’s cooking pot hanging from the side.
"Take the bedding to the shelter first," she said. "There are people trying to sleep on their bags because they don’t know which things are theirs anymore."
Carlos heard her while coming through the gate and went over himself. She looked ready to argue until he untied the upper roll and handed it down.
"Show me where they are."
They made room without emptying somebody else’s sleeping place. Cedric brought the household lists he had prepared during the transfer, and Rhea went through them with Garr, identifying which families and workers had arrived together.
Carlos helped carry two rolls before Mira came looking for Cedric. She needed the last food list confirmed, and he left Rhea to finish rather than keep all five assistant Lords standing beside him.
The raid countdown had fallen through the night. By morning, the new ground was part of a territory that had to defend it.
Kaia brought Carlos to the old western Gatehouse after breakfast. She had laid stones on a board to show the integrated land beyond the wall.
"The transferred homes are here," she said, moving one stone with her finger. "We bring their residents behind this wall. Their soldiers join our positions. Nothing living is left outside; we can make sure of that."
Tomas studied the line, then pointed toward a narrow space beside the gate.
"Your smaller shields will catch on the turn. Mine did last night when we carried them through."
Kaia went to look instead of telling him she already knew the position. Carlos followed them and watched Tomas demonstrate with one of his Militia. The shield rim struck a stack of unused boards before the soldier could turn fully.
"Move those to the other side," Kaia said. "Keep the opening clear. You and your Militia take the inner left with Garr."
Tomas nodded and moved the first board himself.
Carlos sent a runner through the district portal to bring One back for the raid, leaving the other posted defenders at their work. The slime returned before the final preparations were finished and bounced toward Two beside the western Gatehouse.
"You two stay behind the shields," Carlos told them when Kaia came over. "Knock the smaller ones off their feet. Don’t go under something just because you can fit there."
Two lifted its front while One pressed against Carlos’s boot. Kaia placed them where they could fire through the gaps without having their cores exposed to the first charge.
Milan was sorting straps near the same wall. He had asked Cosmic for sound leftovers from the warehouse rather than trying to make a new order arrive before the attack. His Goblin held a shield steady while he shortened the hanging leather that kept catching on its knee.
"I didn’t change the fittings," Milan told Carlos. "Only the loose end. He can lift it without stepping on it now."
The Goblin demonstrated, looking toward Milan afterward.
Carlos crouched enough to see the difference. "Good. Check the others who have the same problem. Ask their commander before altering anything that holds weight."
Milan nodded quickly. He took the next shield when Tomas passed it over.
Evan came back from the new outer ground with two workers beside him. He had gone to check the empty buildings after Kaia ordered the residents withdrawn. Now he was carrying a small bundle of tools against his chest.
"One Woodcutter went back for these," he said. "I found him behind the rear wall. He thought Rhea would be angry if he lost them."
Rhea, approaching with the last bedding list, stopped beside him.
"Where is he?"
"At the shelter. I brought him first."
"Thank you. I will speak to him."
Evan put the tools down carefully. Carlos gave him the job of checking the arrival list against the shelter groups, with a runner available if somebody was missing.
Evan looked toward the outer ground again before accepting. He had disliked going there. He had gone anyway.
Rowan met them at the tomato enclosure shortly afterward. The three held fruits rested in their divided carriers.
The newer plants had not yet supplied another mature batch, and he had left them alone rather than force an unplanned harvest for the raid.
Before taking the carriers away, Carlos had the five assistant Lords and their arriving people introduced to the Burstpod Sentry under its recognition procedure.
He wanted the southern approach guarded, not somebody who had joined him last night mistaken for an intruder. Kaia kept its firing lane clear while the new residents learned where they could walk.
Carlos was happy to see the three already prepared. He would have liked thirty, but there was no use pretending he had them.
Kaia assigned them to a practised handler. They would strike lighter enemies grouped on the approach, where a burst could break their movement before the shields met them.
"Don’t throw at the first thing you see," she told the Archer. "Wait for my call."
He lifted the carrier by both handles and followed Nessa toward the wall.
Carlos visited the kitchens before putting his armour on. Mira had completed the day’s contracted deliveries in the morning, including the last twelve-meal batch of the current original-buyer renewal. Dorian’s six and the second ten-meal delivery had been accepted too.
The first buyer asked to renew again. Carlos agreed to discuss it after the raid instead of promising another run while Mira was feeding the new arrivals.
"We have enough for everyone today," she told him. "Their stored grain helps. I have people washing and carrying so the Hearthkeepers can stay with the cooking. Hollis has the bread here."
The Baker was taking another tray out with his helper. He glanced toward the shield Carlos carried, then returned to the oven before the loaves darkened.
Carlos ate while standing beside the door. He wanted a proper meal in him before the warning reached zero. His grandfather would have had something to say if he had skipped it again.
Cosmic found him there and handed him the supply list Kaia had requested. The bridge to his preserved territory remained guarded; his Lizardmen knew which side they would hold if anything approached it.
"Arthur asked again?" he said.
"Evelyn checked the time. I told her we are ready."
"Then go be ready. I will keep the carrying paths clear."
Carlos went to the wall with the Warden Chain settled around his arm, his Reinforced Long Spear in hand and the Ironweave Battle Coat over his shoulders. He had recovery supplies available, but Ada was no longer here to put people back together while he stood waiting.
Brann turned when Carlos reached the gate.
"Now?"
"Soon. Stay with Kaia’s line and don’t break her orders, got it?"
The Guardian nodded, holding his hammer loosely in both hands.
Outside, the five transferred plots lay quiet. Their residents stood behind the old wall with Ironroot’s people, watching the western edge of the new land.
A dark opening spread along that boundary as the countdown ended.
Something struck the ground beyond it with a dry clicking sound. More followed, low armoured bodies moving between the empty buildings toward the open approach.
The Bellvine’s flowers began ringing along the western wall. Heads turned toward the sound, then back to the positions Kaia had already assigned.
Carlos tightened his grip on the spear.
"Nessa," Kaia called. "One’s climbing."
The first arrows left the wall before the creatures reached the new homes.
--
[Territory Raid has begun]
[Defending territory: Ironroot]
[Combined attacking force]
[Hookclaw Crawler x28 — Common Grade, Level 2]
[Ironback Raker x16 — Uncommon Grade, Level 3]
[Raker Broodlord x1 — Epic Grade, Level 5]
[Total attackers: 45]
[Includes the transferred forces from all five integrated territories]
[Defend your territory and eliminate the attacking forces]
--