The first creature folded around Nessa’s arrow and fell from the roof it had been climbing.
Two more reached the roof before it finished moving. One braced its rear feet against a beam and drove both hooks beneath the boards. It pulled until the wood split, then tore the loose section backward. The other struck through the opening, smashing more boards into the room below.
"They will destroy it..." Milan said beside him.
Carlos looked toward the small house under the climbing creatures.
Milan’s jaw tightened as a broken section of roofing fell into the house. He had moved every person out of it, but his tools and the things he hadn’t managed to carry were still inside.
His hand had closed tightly around the wall’s edge. Carlos could see his knuckles whitening, but Milan stayed beside him instead of running back outside.
"Stay down," Carlos said, pulling him back from the edge. "Nessa, get them off that roof!"
More Crawlers reached the house from the yard. One hooked the window frame and pulled it out while another climbed toward the damaged roof.
Nessa turned her bow, and the Archers beside her followed the targets she called. Carlos watched another board come loose before looking back toward the gate.
They had people protected behind the wall, but the enemy was tearing into the homes left beyond it.
He inspected the nearest enemy when it dropped into the approach.
--
[Hookclaw Crawler]
[Common Grade]
[Level: 2]
--
Its front hooks scraped along the ground as it ran. The body behind them was narrow and flexible, able to turn where the larger creatures had to push past one another.
The Crawlers that reached the broken roof ridge turned toward the old wall. Others stayed below, ripping at the exposed woodwork.
Carlos called a warning to the guards. The climbers were close enough to jump toward them, and the people carrying arrows stood on the other side.
Kaia had already sent the reserve Archers toward that section. Nessa remained above the approach, choosing the climbers the others could not see clearly from below.
The larger creatures came straight toward the gate.
A few of the Crawlers broke away around the new plots toward the southern side. Carlos watched the guards there brace, with the Burstpod’s barrel turning above its bed.
It was finally time for the living killing plant machine to show what it could do.
Its first pellet struck the leading creature hard enough to roll it sideways. And it stopped as none had entered its range after it. Many creatures were confused by what it was too.
The next one reached the Militia’s spears instead of an empty path to the kitchens.
Their backs were covered in overlapping dark plates, with a broad head carried low between two cutting forelimbs. They ran on the four legs behind those blades, churning the loose ground as they gained speed.
--
[Ironback Raker]
[Uncommon Grade]
[Level: 3]
--
"Shields together," Kaia ordered. "Let them reach you."
Carlos stood behind the first line with his spear angled through the space Garr left him. A new Epic Guardian held each side of the entrance. The third waited several paces back, ready to move where Kaia sent it.
Brann watched the enemy bodies without raising his hammer yet.
The first Raker struck Garr’s shield hard enough for Carlos to feel the impact through the arm beside him. Its cutting limb scraped down the rim. Garr drove forward, lifting the creature’s front end just as Carlos thrust beneath it.
The spear went into softer flesh behind the plate.
Carlos pulled it out and stabbed again when the creature twisted. Garr shoved the dying weight aside before the next one reached the entrance.
"That part," Carlos shouted. "Under the front plate!"
Tomas repeated it to his Militia on the inner left. A hooked limb slid over one shield, and he caught the soldier’s shoulder before it followed the movement too far.
"Stay with him and stab when it lifts."
The smaller troops could not throw the Rakers backward like the Guardians. They could keep their shields together while somebody struck through the opening. Carlos saw the difference training had made when the line held its place after another heavy impact.
A Crawler tried to squeeze beneath Garr’s shield while he held back a Raker. Two rose behind the Guardian’s leg and fired through the lower gap. Its Water Shot struck the Crawler in the side, rolling it out from beneath the shield and into a Militia’s spear.
"Great job, Two! Keep hitting these critters," Carlos called.
One was working beside Tomas’s position. A shot caught another Crawler as it climbed over a fallen body, knocking its front hooks loose. Tomas’s Militia struck before it could get its feet back under it.
Carlos moved his boot out of Two’s way as the slime shifted for another opening. He was glad Kaia had given them space.
The smaller enemies were getting between the heavy shields, and his slimes could reach them without breaking the line.
Then a Crawler dropped from the wall.
It landed behind the outer shield line with its front hooks already spread. Evan shouted from the carrying path, and Carlos turned as the creature sprang toward a worker holding an empty arrow basket.
The Warden Chain left his arm and caught the Crawler across its narrow body and pulled it sideways.
One hook tore through the basket instead of the worker’s face. Carlos drove the creature against the stone footing and held it there until a Militia put a spear through it.
Evan had dragged the worker clear by the back of his coat. He remained crouched beside him after the creature stopped moving, his hand still gripping the cloth.
"Behind the inner barrier," Carlos told them. "Go."
Evan nodded and got the man moving before picking up the unbroken arrow bundle. He brought it to the sheltered part of the wall instead of leaving it where somebody would have to run out for it again.
At the gate, the pressure grew. More Crawlers were squeezing around the Rakers, trying to exploit the spaces the larger bodies opened.
Kaia looked up toward the Archer holding the padded carrier.
"I PERMIT THE BOMB DROPS, REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING!" she shouted for everyone to hear.
The Archer lowered the open carrier directly toward Carlos, keeping both handles steady. Carlos set his spear against the inner stonework before taking the fruit.
Carlos’s eyes showed excitement while he lifted the first Impactburst Tomato carefully. He saw the orange lines as the fruit cleared the wall and dropped into the tightly packed bodies beyond the entrance.
The burst was sharp enough to make the nearest Militia flinch.
Loose earth and broken pieces struck the Rakers’ plates. The larger creatures staggered but stayed up. The Crawlers behind them were thrown apart, several landing with their thin limbs bent badly beneath them.
Some were scared and too panicked for a collective mindless attack.
Garr stepped into the gap and knocked the front Raker away from the gate. The other Guardians followed him far enough to free the entrance, then came back together when Kaia called.
Carlos retrieved his spear and grinned through the sweat. He had seen the fruit break boards. Watching it create room for his people to move was much better.
"Keep that line!" he shouted. "They haven’t got through us. Push them off!"
His War Cry carried past the Gatehouse. Brann answered with a deep roar and brought his hammer across the nearest exposed head. The creature folded sideways, leaving its own body in the path of the one behind it.
Cedric had moved the next arrow basket before the call for it came. Rhea kept workers behind the protected carrying corner, sending only the people needed to reach each position.
Carlos caught a glimpse of Milan fastening a replacement strap around a Militia’s arm. His Goblin held the shield up while the soldier fitted his hand through it. They finished and sent him back before the reserve Guardian had to cover the place a second time.
The five had come asking for protection and so far, Carlos had mixed feelings about it. But now their people were helping hold his gate, and Carlos could see where the line would have been thinner without them.
A sound like two stones grinding together came from beyond the empty homes.
The next creature did not squeeze between the buildings. It struck the corner of one and tore part of the wall down.
Its shell rose above the other Rakers. A thick ridge ran from its head down the length of its back, and its forelimbs ended in pale hooked edges long enough to reach over a Guardian’s shield.
The creatures around it began spreading toward the sides of the approach.
Carlos recognised the last enemy from the raid list. Seeing the name there had been much easier than watching the creature tear through a building.
Carlos’s inspection opened as it turned its broad head toward the Gatehouse.
--
[Raker Broodlord]
[Epic Grade]
[Level: 5]
--
Brann lifted his hammer, but Carlos caught his shoulder before he stepped forward.
"Wait," Carlos said, and a confident smile crept over his face. "We take that one together."