And then Everyone Ran Away

Their chance of evening the odds was lost, but Dige bravely stood his ground. The lad didn't perform, and he could hear him yelling something behind him, but it was lost in the Dwarf's complete focus. Three thousand. He had trouble fighting orcs and men in the dozens a week before, but that fact didn't enter his head once, perhaps because, unlike those times, he didn't have to move. No maneuverability, no athletics, simply staying in one spot. Dige had never felt more in his element.

"Aight, you bilgerats," he grumbled. "Come taste this axe here."

Mars grabbed him by the collar. "Oh hell, you're not!"

The line followed as such. The demon army in the back, followed by Mars and Dige about 50 paces ahead, and then Artemis at 70. The guards broke the second the magic spell was cast, and Gunch had left the second the monsters appeared, about 150 and 400 paces ahead, respectively. All things considered, everyone held out a lot longer than expected.

The defenses around Fargo extended further into more defensible areas to quell the oncoming darkness, from trenches to fences to embankments from where the Lady Sylain river once flowed, all the way to the city walls that protruded out in star-shaped fortresses. The pass had been modified to make getting back up the pass into Fargo as difficult and grueling as possible, and Dige was traversing it with 8 seconds of lead time from the mob.

“Why are we running!?” Dige yelled. “We have to hold the line!”

“Are you crazy!?” Artemis screamed. “They’re gonna kill us, you idiot!”

“Casualties spike whenever there’s a retreat, boy! Read your military history!”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Mars grunted, hobbling every other step. “Who the hell put down caltrops!”

They could think of an answer, but upon fear of painful death, they persevered over the trenches and up the embankment. The scraping of their hands against the stone and friction from their boots kept them a stone’s throw away from the rabble that crashed over the obstacles like a literal wave, eeking the corruption forward with their filthy footsteps.  

In the back of their minds, Mars felt like he was being watched in the distance, but he couldn’t surmise where exactly, other than that it made him uneasy.

This compounded with the realization that once they pulled themselves through the defensive line and back to the foot of Fargo, no one was around. The field was empty, and the gates were shut. They did find Gunch as he scaled the door to the city walls.

"They locked me out," he said.

“We’re trapped! What do we do now!?” Artemis screamed. 

“We’re gonna have to climb too!” Mars added. 

“Hold on, lads. I think I have the answer!” 

Dige grabbed them by the arms. It was time for Dige’s second flight. While he wasn’t sure what two extra passengers would add to the flight path, he put his faith into his special boots and ignited the flames. It worked like a charm. The strong fuel got them airborne immediately, and with a delicate balancing act and a tip of the heels, the three flew toward the wall, straight into the wall, and then slowly up the wall, their faces smearing against the stony surface. 

Mars eventually found something to hold onto to let go, leaving Artemis on his own as his boyish good looks shed away. He smacked against a protrusion and nearly fell, but Dige grabbed his leg.

“Steady, boy!” Dige said. “Stop squirming so much!”

“We’re all going to die!” Artemis cried, feeling the blood rush to his head. 

As the boy dangled, he got a full view of what exactly they were running from. Whether it was because they retreated or not, giant ogre warriors with heads stacked upon heads emerged from the darkness and approached at the rear of tens of thousands of goblin demons. It was an unending sea of black and red ahead of the gates of Fargo, with no one on the walls to stop them. A good shove from one of the ogres would leave the city open to attack. 

There had to be a counterattack plan, Artemis thought. They wouldn’t have just left them today against such immeasurable odds? Where was everyone? Who was going to help? Anyone, help, please. He closed his eyes, waiting for the nightmare to end, and in the darkness behind his eyes, his sight was spared.

A lightning strike struck the center of the defense lines leading up to the walls, engulfing everything in light before the magic circle above unleashed devastation on the army. Within a second, the pass was severed by a clean, circular gap, with most of the behemoths annihilated with it. Moments later, a second one struck further down, fully ensuring that the pass could never be constructed again, and leaving thousands of demons stranded to assault the walls themselves. That was when Artemis looked up to see a black coated man floating in mid-air as if a god, pointing his sword down as if aiming for the ground. His face told a story of beleaguered resignation.

He impacted the earth with quaking terror, and with the swing of his sword, he cut through the demons like no one else the young mayor had seen before. He could barely call it combat, nor even swordsmanship. It was as if the man was enforcing his will upon reality, and the swing of his weapon commanded that will with a gust of wind. Outnumbered and vulnerable as he was, the demon army posed no threat to him. It was like a gardener tending to his field.

Only then did new forces assemble to drive off the enemy. Beams of light picked off sturdier monsters from afar, and the ninja sisters struck from the shadows with wire and short swords. Their agility and distance allowed them to combat the frantic enemy with great efficiency, but their contribution was minimal compared to the walking god. Eventually, Mars felt his honor in question and scaled down the wall to battle. It felt right to him as a man to do so. Dige felt the same way.

“No no no!” Artemis cried. “We can’t go down there! They’ll kill us!”

“But we’s gots fighting, lad.” Dige nodded. “We’ll be fine now.”

“No, I don’t wanna die! Please, I’m begging you! Stop!” But it was too late.