Oh? The reports they'd gotten estimated five thousand had hit Goldschmidt. Did they lose that many men in felling the city? Or had they left a number of people behind? It might be a mix of both. Goldschmidt was the first city to put up any real fight. Stott and Channel Pass had been hit without any warning and so hadn't given any real resistance.

That made their job easier, certainly, in defending Converse. Whatever the reason, Wolf wasn't about to complain.

Looking to the left and right, he took in the general expressions and attitude of the people with him. Some of them looked determined, some of them nervous, but underlying it all was a tremor of fear. These people had never seen a body of men that large before-not a caravan in the world came even close to this number. Seeing three thousand men marching for them, as bloodthirsty as starving wolves, would make even the stoutest heart shiver. Even Wolf, as seasoned as he was with fighting, found the army's approach unnerving.

Sending a man into a fight who was afraid was the worst thing a commander could do. Wolf knew this from experience. It was part of the reason why he was missing a hand. He absolutely could not let this air of trepidation suffocate them.

Taking in a breath, he prayed for guidance from any god that might be listening, then he tried to phrase in his own head what to say. He hashed through several sentences, wishing absently for either Fei or Markl (they were better at things like this), but eventually came up with something that he felt would help. With another deep breath, he opened his mouth and said as loudly as he could, "MEN OF ROBARGE!"

The whole line atop the wall jerked, their heads snapping around in surprise to stare at him. Clearly, they hadn't thought he would say anything to them.

"I CALL YOU THAT BECAUSE NO MATTER YOUR GUILD, NO MATTER YOUR CITY, YOU ARE OF ROBARGE!" He had to take another deep breath to have the lungpower necessary to keep speaking. "THE ARMY COMING AT US ARE MINDLESS BEASTS. THEIR WILL IS WEAK. THEY THINK TO PUSH PAST YOU AS EASILY AS THEY HAVE BEFORE, PLUNDER AND MURDER, AND CARRY OFF WHAT THEY WISH. BUT THEY HAVE NO POWER HERE!"

Wolf gauged the reaction of his words and found that he was only half-hitting the mark. So he repeated it, with even more emphasis on the words. "THEY HAVE NO POWER! THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIGHT. YOU DO. THEY HAVE NO STRATEGY OR TACTICS. YOU DO. THEY HAVE NO LOYALTY TO EACH OTHER. YOU DO. YOU ARE EACH OTHER'S ALLIES. DEFEND EACH OTHER, FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER, AND DO NOT LET THEM PASS!"

A roar went up from the walls, men and women of every age clanging their weapons against shields, or against the stone wall, making a raucous sound that was nearly deafening. It was like a wave of sound, a war cry that spoke only of determination and courage, with not one trace of fear to be found.

The army that had been marching with such speed before faltered, their approach visibly hesitating as pockets of men stopped dead in their tracks, intimidated by what they saw and heard.

The men that stood with Wolf saw this reaction and they let loose another war cry that could rival the first in volume. It unnerved their enemy so that only half still wanted to advance, and the other half clearly had second thoughts about this whole venture.

Wolf had just been trying to rouse the morale of his own troops so that they had the courage to face the enemy. He hadn't anticipated that by doing so he'd scare his enemy. A wolfish smile split his face in two. He wasn't about to complain about that either.

The war cry from the southern side of the city was loud enough to carry around to the other walls, and from a distance, he could hear them also shouting a war cry that would curdle a man's blood. It was an open challenge to those that marched against them-come and take us, if you can.

From above, Fei leaned forward, almost precariously balanced on the very edge of the roof, his hand up to shield his eyes from the afternoon sun. Whatever he saw surprised him, as his head jerked back and he leaned even further, straining to see better. Wolf watched this behavior in bemusement and the beginnings of alarm. Just what had the man seen to make him react so?

Turning in place, Fei waved a hand to catch Wolf's attention, then cupped his mouth before yelling to him. Wolf only heard the tone, but couldn't decipher the words through all of the shouting going on around him. Helplessly he shook his head, pointing toward his ear to show he couldn't hear anything.

Frustrated, Fei gave up on this and instead climbed down, as limber as a monkey. Within two hops and a leap, he had gained the main level of the wall. Wolf pushed through his people, meeting Fei halfway. "What?" he asked, still having to raise his voice to make sure that Fei could hear him.

"They're not properly armed!" Fei said in disbelief.

Wolf blinked at him. Surely he hadn't heard the man right. "Not properly armed?" The men he had faced in Goldschmidt had been.

"Most of them don't have real weapons. They're carrying hammers, or hoes, or butcher knives. The few that are armed have weapons so old or oversized that it makes me think they're stolen."

This seemed insane to Wolf, at first. Who went into battle without a proper weapon to his name? But it made complete sense when he thought about it. Good weapons were expensive to make and a financial burden to replace if lost or stolen. The whole reason why Orin had put together this rag-tag army in the first place was because of a practically destitute economy. Where would they find the means to arm five thousand people? And even with them looting the other three cities that they'd taken, the first thing that a man did when under attack would be to take up his sword, or whatever other weapon he used. So there would be little chance of gaining weapons through looting.

Wolf must have been (un?)lucky enough to meet up with the men that were armed while fighting in Goldschmidt. Or perhaps they sent the people with true weapons as a vanguard into the city and let everyone else come in after them.

He blew out a lungful of air in a steady stream. "Well, that makes the job of fending them off easier. How long till they reach the walls?"

"I give it minutes."

"Then let's get back in place." Wolf switched the shield to his right arm, absently locking his thumb in to hold the hand around the handle. That set, he pulled his sword free and gripped it rhythmically in an old habit. As he did this, Fei moved back to the watchtower, picking up bow and a quiver of arrows as he moved.

Eyeing the army's approach, Wolf waited on taut nerves, and slowly raised his sword above his head. "Archers ready!" he boomed out.

The three hundred men under his command instantly notched arrows and pulled them back, ready to fire into the air.

Giving it another few seconds for more men to come within range, Wolf bided his time before giving the command, "LOOSE!"

With twangs and whistles splitting the air, hundreds of arrows were released all at the same time and came down like black rain to the unprotected army below them. Not all of the arrows found a target, but a good majority of them did, and the vanguard suffered a decimating loss before even reaching the walls.

Satisfied, Wolf bellowed, "Fire at will!"

Everyone took him at his word and started firing as quickly as they could draw and aim. Doing so would eat into their supply of arrows up here on the wall very quickly, but Wolf didn't care about that. They had other plans to play out after their supply of arrows was spent.

For several minutes, that's all anyone did, shoot arrows and watch the enemy fall. Eventually, the back rows of men realized that charging blindly forward might be a bad strategy after all and they stopped before retreating several hundred yards, putting enough distance between them and the walls so that they had little danger of being shot.

Wolf re-sheathed his sword and leaned against the wall, watching patiently as the army below milled about, talking amongst themselves. From what he could see, they didn't really have any designated leaders among them. Or if they had, those leaders had fallen in the first wave of arrows. No one seemed quite sure of what to do or who to take orders from. Really, how had these people managed to destroy three whole cities? Was it just surprise and sheer numbers that let them get this far?

Eventually someone hit upon the bright idea of trying a different section of the wall in hopes that it would be less fortified there. This idea quickly spread like wildfire and people started marching around toward the north-easterly section of Converse. Wolf shook his head in pity. Actually, the southern side was less protected because of the trap they'd laid. Going around to the other side would quickly decimate their ranks if they stayed over there long.

Hyun Woo had been of the opinion that putting the trap near the largest breech in the wall might be a useless gesture on their part. They'd had so much advance notice, and made good enough preparations, that the army might not ever be able to get close enough to the walls to do anything productive. It depended on how many stayed in Goldschmidt and how many chose to march against Converse. Going through all of the trouble (and later expense) of laying the trap might be redundant on their part. Right now, watching the army troop over to the more deadly side of the city, Wolf was inclined to think his mentor might be right.

Turning to his right, he said to the men nearest him, "While they're gone, rest. We'll be ready to reinforce the northern defenders if we need to, but rest while you can." Getting nods of confirmation, he turned to his left and repeated the order, making sure that it traveled down the line.

"Wolf-dog."

Rune? Wolf's head snapped around so quickly that a few bones popped. "Ki! Stop popping out of nowhere. You're like to give a man heart failure."

The kid had the gall to grin at him, as if he'd find that entertaining. "Some men are sneaking along the wall."

What?! Wolf scrambled forward, pushing people aside so that he could put his chest flat against the stone and lean over, angling himself so that he could see the ground right next to the wall's base. Sure enough, Rune was right. There were a good three dozen or so men sticking close to the wall so that they could sneak past.

"How'd you see them?" Wolf asked almost rhetorically. Even Fei, up on his perch, hadn't.

"Didn't," Rune denied with a small shake of the head. "Heard 'em."

"You've got the ears of a cat, ki."

Rune accepted this praise as his due and joined Wolf at the wall, also peering over the edge. "What do we do with 'em?"

Good question. Wolf tilted his head to indicate he'd heard the question, but didn't respond as he thought it over. A few dozen men couldn't do much damage to them either way but he was loath to let them inside the walls without at least trying to stop them.

"Let 'em spring the trap?" Rune asked, tone doubtful.

Wolf immediately shook his head. "No, the trap is meant for a larger force. Shame to waste it on just these few. Run to the archers and tell them to fire at will. Keep them from getting inside."

Pointing a finger at his own nose, Rune asked plaintively, "I can't go play?"

He gave the boy a repressive look. "Even you'd have a hard time fighting off three dozen men on your own, ki."

"Spoilsport." Resigned, the former assassin turned and jogged off, the fastest pace he could manage in these crowded conditions.

Wolf watched him go with a slight frown wrinkling his brow. The kid didn't really think he could handle that many opponents at once, did he? Granted, they weren't properly armed or trained, but still.... Shrugging this off, he went back to staring over the wall. How had they managed to creep in this close without anyone noticing? That really worried him.

"Fei!"

"What?"

He pointed a finger down toward the ground in an exaggerated motion.

Cocking his head in puzzlement, Fei leaned further out, his torso nearly horizontal to the ground. When he saw what Wolf was gesturing to, he started swearing long and creatively. Wolf just grinned at him, no longer worried about anyone sneaking past. Fei's pride wouldn't allow him to make the same mistake twice.

Assured that Fei would now keep a proper watch, he turned and went to the other side of the wall, moving closer to their trap so that he could ensure that nothing went wrong over there. People good naturedly shifted so that he could have room to lean up against the wall and look out.

Rune, in spite of what he said, had gone back down to ground level and was fighting anyone stupid enough to climb through the breach. Even as he watched, the boy took down one man with a sharp kick to the face before spinning in the air like a dancer and landing another kick to back of a man's skull. Watching Rune fight, he could honestly believe that the boy didn't have to obey the rules of gravity.

The man on Wolf's right pointed a finger and jutted his chin toward the ground. "He need help?"

"Naw," Wolf assured him...what was the man's name again? Asher? "Boy's fine."

Asher let out a low whistle. "Never seen a man that can fight like that. Where he from?"

"Sateren."

"In Wynngaard?"

"Yup."

Asher nodded sagely, as if that answered everything. "How many trying to get into that breach?"

"About three dozen," Wolf answered, only to pause and recount. "Well, there's probably two dozen left now." Rune and the archers had quite efficiently whittled that number down.

"That's not enough to spring the trap for," Asher said slowly with a frown.

"We won't," Wolf assured him absently. Turning, he looked toward the north-easterly section of the city. "Unless the army turns around and comes back our direction, we won't need to use it."

In a way, Wolf hoped they wouldn't need it. He hoped that instead, the army would wear themselves out trying to get into the walls, and it wouldn't come down to their desperate plan.

Siobhan somehow got drafted into a supply coordinator. She went from one end of the city to the other, talking to the commanders of each section and getting an estimate of how many arrows, spears, and caltrops they needed. Then she would hoof it back to the blacksmiths scattered all over town, relaying the message. Before the end of the day, she was footsore and had quite the sunburn across her nose. She was morosely aware that the main reason she had been volunteered for this by Darrens and Hyun Woo was because it was her enforcers that were commanders and Beirly was the man in charge of the smithies. She was automatically the person that everyone would listen to, so thereby had the job by default.

Ducking through the door of the smithy, she blinked and paused to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting. When she could see properly again, she searched out Beirly, finding him bent over an anvil and hammering something, sparks flying. "Beirly!"

He struck once more before his head come up. "Shi! Got orders for us?"

"I need," she pulled out the scrap of paper with her notes on it from her belt pouch before rattling off, "Five hundred arrows, one hundred spears, and as many caltrops as you can turn out. They said they could easily use a thousand of them but weren't sure how much time it takes to make them."

"Time-wise, we can turn out one every five minutes or so," he answered, pulling off his gloves before approaching her. He held out his hand for the list, which she gave over. "It's material we're lacking. Not sure if I can make that many with the ore we have on hand."

That would be a problem. It was something they hadn't thought to ask Winziane for and now that the army was literally pounding on their walls, they had no way to even get it here. At least, not in time to do any good. "Do what you can."

"Will do," he responded with a sloppy salute. "But what's it like out there? We're only hearing bits and snatches in here."

"Well, they tried attacking the southern wall first, which is Wolf and Fei's section."

Beirly shook his head in pity. "Those poor fools. Didn't get far, I bet."

"You'd win that bet. Anyway, they retreated and went around to the other side and attacked the northern section."

Cocking his head, Beirly said slowly, "Isn't Markl and Ryu Jin Ho in charge there?"

"Sure are. While I was up there on the wall with them, things were getting heated." Markl had been nervous about her being up there, too, but she'd stayed well out of the way to avoid getting hit by all the arrows flying about. "They were retreating from that section when I left. Ryu Jin Ho says that from the way they were reacting, it seems they're dispirited. They're not making the same sort of headway here that they have the previous three cities."

"True," Beirly agreed with a sage nod. "The other times they attacked, it was a quick and easy victory for them. So does he think they'll give up?"

"He gives it fifty-fifty odds." Siobhan personally hoped they did. As soon as they had Converse secure, they could go and reclaim Goldschmidt. "But whether they leave or not, we'll need everything I just ordered. It'll come in handy when we march for Goldschmidt if nothing else."

"Roger that." Clapping his hands loudly, he called back toward the other smiths working, "We have orders to fill!"

She waved him on and retreated back outside, heading for the opposite end of the city, which was the southern wall. Siobhan wanted to know if the army really had given up or had simply retreated for now. While she was heading that direction, though, she had every intention of stopping in at the clinic and checking on Conli, Sylvie, and Denney. Last she'd seen, Conli had drafted both of them to help. Even though the walls hadn't been breached, he was still getting a steady stream of patients coming in.

When Conli had been tasked with creating a clinic, he had wisely chosen a location toward the center of the city so that everyone could reach him fairly quickly. There were two inns designated as hospitals, Conli in charge of one, and a physician named Landgrave in charge of the other. As Siobhan stepped onto the porch, she saw that both inns had the front doors wide open and people were sitting on the cots scattered around inside, waiting to be treated.

They had a line already?

Disturbed, she went inside, looking for her people. In this sea of brunettes, Conli and Denney stood out and Siobhan spotted them easily. They were in the far back of the main room, gathering up supplies in a basket, Conli giving out instructions to his niece in a calm tone. Sylvie was a little harder to find, at least she was until she stood up. Catching her eye, Siobhan waved her over, not wanting to try to navigate this labyrinth of cots and injured people. With the way she felt right now, her balance was questionable, and she'd surely trip over something.

Sylvie, of course, had no problem weaving her way through all of the mess. She even looked graceful doing it. (Siobhan was going to figure out how she pulled that trick off one of these days.) "Siobhan," she greeted in relief. "Finally, someone that can give us an idea of what's truly going on. We're getting pieces of it here. What's happening?"

Repeating what she had told Beirly, Siobhan told her everything she knew, ending with, "I'm heading to Wolf and Fei's section next. My news is about a half hour out of date right now and I'm not sure what's happened since I left the northern section."

"So, Markl...?" Sylvie asked in concern.

"Fine," she assured her. "Just fine. He's staying properly behind a shield while giving orders."

Sylvie's eyes fluttered shut in a gesture of relief. "Thank mercy."

"But I'm surprised by how many wounded are in here." Siobhan looked around in dismay. If it was like this already, what happened if that army really did manage to breach the walls? Granted, that didn't look likely at this point, but the possibility was still there.

"Most of them have been shot, a few burns from the smithies where they pushed themselves too hard, and a few from heatstroke."

Heatstroke? Well, granted, it was a warm day and if someone was working in front of a roaring fire all day, it would be easy to overheat. "Nothing serious, I hope?"

"Nothing critical, anyway. We've been able to treat and bandage all of it. Conli's only had to do surgery twice, to get a barbed arrow out."

Siobhan winced at the thought. Barbed arrows were nasty. "Well, pace yourselves. Make sure to take a break and eat. The army might have retreated for good, or maybe just for tonight, but either way, you should be able to rest for at least a few hours."

"I'll pass it along," Sylvie promised.

Satisfied that things were going well enough here, she waved at the other two in the back, who returned the gesture, before she went back out. Siobhan knew that she wouldn't rest well until she knew for certain what was happening outside the walls. Despite the fact that she was beyond tired and footsore, she picked up her pace a little.

When she reached the southern wall's main stairs, it was relatively quiet up top. Oh, people were talking, and there was runners going back and forth, but it wasn't nearly the bedlam of activity that she associated with fighting. Had the army not come this direction, then? Hope rising in her chest, she put more strength into her legs, climbing up with as much speed as she could muster. When she reached the top, she pushed through and leaned her torso against the stone, looking out.

The army had indeed retreated away from the walls, but only as far as they needed to in order to stay out of range of the archers. They were milling about, talking with each other, although of course she couldn't hear a word from this distance. Siobhan waited for several minutes, breath caught in her throat, waiting to see what they would do.