Jeremiah was absolutely lost in his spent state, but Bruno guided him back through the fortress proper. The pace upstairs had increased. Orders reverberated even louder than before, and messengers scrambled to and fro.

　　Colonel Valen found them before they reached the war room, strutting and smiling broadly. "You fielded a battalion on your own! Our expectations may have sold you short. Come this way, we`re heading to an observation tower."

　　"What`s a battalion?" Jeremiah asked. He knew Valen had said something after that, but he couldn`t quite remember what. Colonel Valen furrowed his brow with concern.

　　"He gets a little flaky after a lot of casting," Bruno explained, patting Jeremiah on the head. "The worst of it will fade soon, but don`t expect any cognitive miracles for a while."

　　They followed Colonel Valen outside where a wagon waited. A group of Nosirin soldiers rode with them, just as young-faced and nervous as Dramir`s infantry.

　　"Did you see those monsters coming out of the sewer?" a soldier asked in a low voice as the wagon set off.

　　Others nodded. "Yeah! Zombies and skeletons!"

　　"Sergeant Fasso said we were lent a necromancer from Dramir."

　　"Thank the gods for that. We got shit from Barad Celegald."

　　"They`re holding back in case they get attacked next."

　　Jeremiah`s heart quickened with elation at his creations being regarded not with disgust and terror, but as saviors. Bruno gave him a nudge and pointed out Allison in the distance. She was still on horseback and riding alongside a squad of spearmen, spurring them faster and shouting words of encouragement. Jeremiah missed the sense of security when she was by his side, but he had his own troops to command.

　　The wagon rolled through a city steeped in dread. Soldiers stood atop the walls, their expressions ranging from grim stoicism to abject fear. When they arrived at the north observation tower, the infantry sprinted to their assignments. Colonel Valen led Jeremiah and Bruno up the tower, twice as tall as the wall itself and roofed with a cone of metal plates. A collection of spyglasses sat at the ready, affixed to pivoting brass stands.

　　They ascended to the very top through a winding narrow staircase. Several heavily armored soldiers snapped to attention as they entered. "Gentlemen!" Colonel Valen said. "My name is Colonel Valen, I will be the commanding officer of this tower, designated Tower One. Tower Two is our neighbor commanded by Colonel Gwiddop." Valen pointed to an identical tower built into the northern gatehouse. "This man here," he pointed to Jeremiah, "is the VIP you were informed of. You are to protect him at all costs. He`s the necromancer responsible for the undead squads you see on the walls."

　　The men saluted, which Jeremiah did his best to return. Jeremiah felt something was wrong, but couldn`t put his finger on what. "Why&wait why am up I here?" he mumbled. Wasn`t he going to watch the battle from King Growlack`s table? Hang on, what was he thinking about? He couldn`t remember, and the concern fluttered away.

　　Bruno was already peering through one of the spyglasses pointing toward foothills. He let out a low whistle and beckoned Jeremiah to look.

　　Jeremiah peered into the eyepiece. Out from the rocky foothills snaked a long black serpent, a dark column of foot soldiers marching towards Nosirin. Among them lumbered dozens of massive, gray-skinned giants. They were shaggy and lanky, and each carried what appeared to be a pine tree stripped of bark and branches.

　　"Wow, I`ve never seen a giant!" Jeremiah said. "They`re really tall." Bruno snorted a laugh behind him.

　　"Giants are a known factor." Valen waved a hand dismissively. "They plague Nosirin frequently, that`s what the ballista are for. They`re big, but they`re dumb as rocks."

　　There was a long, low horn blast from the mountain. The long serpent split down the middle, opening up like a mouth to engulf the city. Orders were shouted, and the soldiers on the walls began to scramble, redistributing their concentration from the north gate. Jeremiah wondered if he should move his undead as well. The fog over his thoughts was dense and stagnant.

　　The serpent had become a ring, surrounding Nosirin. The attacking army didn`t look nearly as threatening, dispersed as it was.

　　"Spreading themselves too thin. No concentration strong enough to take the wall," said Colonel Valen, furrowing his brow.

　　"You don`t sound convinced," said Bruno.

　　"It`s just&strange." Colonel Valen swept his spyglass across the horizon.

　　A cold silence settled over the city. Soldiers stood frozen in combat readiness. After the stream of shouted orders and military scramble since their arrival, the stillness chilled Jeremiah. He swept his spyglass across the line of barbarians outside the north wall.

　　"She`s out there somewhere, isn`t she?" Jeremiah asked.

　　"Assuming she`s not hiding in the mountains, which I doubt she would," Colonel Valen said.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

　　Jeremiah inspected the battle line. An array of races in ragged leathers stood at the ready. Despite their light armor and the imminence of the attack, Jeremiah saw no fear on their faces, no nervous shuffling. They were hardened veterans, one and all.

　　Another blast of the horn echoed off the mountains, and the noose around Nosirin began to tighten.

　　"They`ll be in range of the ballista soon enough," said Valen. "Then we`ll see ladders and grapples to scale the wall while their siege equipment tries to punch a hole."

　　"What siege equipment?" Jeremiah asked. He heard the rapid squeak of Colonel Valen`s spyglass pivoting.

　　"Sir!" One of the guards, a halfling, peered through his own spyglass, bracing his feet against the pole that supported the brass instrument.

　　"Yes?" Colonel Valen said.

　　"Look at the giants. Do you see the canvas attached to the trees they`re carrying?"

　　Colonel Valen`s spyglass squeaked. "I see it. What about it?"

　　"Looks like a sling-staff, sir. Halfling kids use them to hunt. Stone throwers."

　　"Ah! There`s the siege," Colonel Valen said with relief.

　　"Don`t see no stones, chief," Bruno said. The guards shifted on their feet. Some drew weapons. Bruno checked his weapons and tightened his leather armor.

　　A pit formed in Jeremiah`s stomach, shifting some of the fog. A half-formed thought drifted across his mind. We`re not safe here.

　　"In range!" called a voice from Tower Two. All the ballista on the north wall swiveled to life at once.

　　"Loose!" ordered the voice.

　　The thrum from so many ballistae shooting at once vibrated in Jeremiah`s chest. Hundreds of arcing bolts sailed into the distance. The barbarian line sprang to life, coalescing around the nearest giant, who raised a warding hand to protect the fighters against the incoming fire.

　　Bolts impacted gnarled giant bodies, shafts driving deep or even punching straight through. The giants staggered, then strode toward the wall as their smaller comrades followed on their heels. Jeremiah watched them yank the bolts free from their bodies and cast them aside, the wounds rapidly closing.

　　"Oh wow, they can heal. Who could have foreseen," Bruno said.

　　"Instead of making insolent comments, Mr&I actually don`t remember your name," said Colonel Valen, "I ask you to note the poison barrels."

　　Jeremiah turned to see a Nosirin soldier dunk a ballista bolt into a barrel of noxious purple ooze before loading it. "Will that work?" he asked.

　　"The healing magic, while strong, can be overtaxed. It`s our belief that concentrated poison in addition to the wounds themselves, will be too much for the healing factor to cope with. Please see the giant at 11 o`clock for example."

　　Jeremiah turned his spyglass and saw one of the giants had fallen to his hands and knees, his torso riddled with bolts. Barbarians yanked the out bolts as even more impacted his exposed back. The giants head hung limp.

　　But where are the stones? Jeremiah wondered. Those staves must have a purpose&

　　They soon learned.

　　Another giant, mostly untouched by ballista bolts, took a knee. He unknotted the long tarp at the end of his tree. It billowed out onto the ground and a group of barbarians pulled it out flat. Another group of barbarians clustered tightly together in the center of the tarp and waved to the giant. The giant tied off the loose end of the tarp, forming a large canvas bag that dangled down from the tree. He cocked his arm back, took a hopping step forward, and whipped the tree over his head in a wide arc.

　　"Trebuchet&" Colonel Valen murmured.

　　The canvas bag broke open mid-arc, and the cluster of barbarians sailed through the air, and high over the wall. Jeremiah watched them fly past, at roughly the same height as their tower. The barbarians crashed through the roofs of buildings or bounced lifelessly down cobbled streets.

　　"What the hell are they—" an armored guard began. But he was struck dumb as one of the barbarians whose body had smashed into the street began to move again. His broken, twisted form writhed, one arm bent in an S straightened itself, and he climbed to his feet. The man unsheathed a sword and heaved a ceramic canister into a nearby stone building.

　　The other barbarians from the flight were now joining him, hobbling on broken legs and pushing jags of flesh-piercing bone back into place. They barbarians let out a war cry as tongues of flame began to emerge from the stone building. Then the men scattered, disappearing down alleyways. Smoke soon rose from dozens of spots around the city.

　　"Enemies in the city! Enemies in the city!" Colonel Valen`s face had gone chalk-white. He leaned over the parapet to yell at a group of soldiers headed for the wall. "Counter attack! Kill them now!" The soldiers rushed to obey.

　　Jeremiah raised his gaze in time to see more barbarians flying through the air from all sides of the city. The giants launched groups of five to eight barbarians with every throw, and they kept throwing. Some part of Jeremiah was screaming at him to shake off the fog, but it sounded like a voice from across a great distance.

　　Bruno ran to the edge of the tower, grabbed the edge of the roof, and swung himself up onto it. They heard the rapid thuds of Bruno`s boots overhead, then a hard metallic twang. His magically propelled arrow struck a flying half-orc, sending blood in a great spiral as the barbarian spun in midair from the impact. The force of the arrow disrupted his fight path, and he landed on the wide walkway of the wall. He struggled to stand but was cut down by soldiers before he could heal. His body lay mangled beyond any magic`s ability to save him.

　　"Bows! Bows! Shoot them down!" Colonel Valen screamed. Their guards began firing wildly at the incoming soldiers. Only one in a dozen shots connected. Some of the ballista started targeting the flying men, lessening the pressure on the giants, who began flinging faster. Invaders filled the sky like a cloud of flies, and great plumes of smoke began rising across the city.

　　"Incoming!" Bruno called from above them. A flight of barbarians slammed into Tower One. Jeremiah`s world spun as a body crashed into him, the smack of the cold stone floor cutting through the fog in his brain. He gasped as he suddenly grasped the danger of his situation.

　　Two of the barbarians in their tower had already been set upon by the armored guards and beheaded. The roof rang out in another crash and Bruno shouted in fear and pain. Jeremiah heard metal scraping down the angled roof. He sprang to his feet and rushed to the side of the tower.

　　"Bruno!" Jeremiah reached out into the empty air. A second later, Bruno fell. He twisted and managed to grasp Jeremiah`s wrist as he hurtled past. Jeremiah grunted in pain as his arm was wrenched downward. His shoulder strained to remain in its socket. Another body fell past Bruno, its skull exploding on impact with the stone road below. That one stayed dead.

　　Colonel Valen grabbed Jeremiah and hauled him and Bruno back into the tower. "Any new orders, fearless leader?" Bruno shouted. Rage supplanted any mirth in his voice.

　　Colonel Valen was staring over the city, jaw slack and eyes wide. "This can`t be happening. Tower Two! Tower Two, we need new orders!"

　　But no new orders came—the second tower was consumed by battle. They stood atop a tiny boat in a churning sea of chaos.