Ploy
The richer snorc tribes with their own elks and aurochs immediately disassembled their tents. They rushed towards the beast tide, fearing the gates might close by the time they reached the beast tower.
Education existed among Snorks just like it did among winterland. Similar to winterland denizens, the higher a tribe's strength, the better educated it's leaders.
They knew Beast tower is the place where the Barrier is thinnest and it's gate largest. Only, the path under the beast tower has long since been filled with ice. The Barrier's history is the most well learned story other than their own tribe's hierarchy.
The meaning of the beast tower gates being open is not lost among these people.
Namely, two tribes were knowledgeable among the Snorcs. The first is Thors, who's tribe had leather and bronze armor, bronze weapons and well trained dog sleds. They packed the fastest.
More importantly, thor's are neighbours of giant clans, who needed no packing at all. Thus, they all followed in the wake of Thors.
The other clan is Slimes. They lived on the eastern coast of the frontier, which has mild weather compared to the rest of the frontier, and an abundance of seals. They had boats and water proof armor and fastest moving sleds among the tribes. They were also able to pack fast, and follow thors.
Though a little late, most of the fighting tribes followed Thors and Slimes, if nothing else, the giants were quite capable of breaking the gate with brute force.
The gate had just started lowering when the first giant reached Beast tower.
The Mammoths were slow, but giants were not.
The biggest giant of them all jumped down his mammoth to land running, in the same motion, retrieved a longbow made with bronze, shot an arrow made with a log.
The arrow passed straight through the opening in the gate, and struck the ice wall behind. The arrow was so long and sturdy, the iron gate the size of ten meters by twenty meters was leveraged on the wooden arrow for more than ten minutes.
It is more than sufficient time for the giants to arrive there, and try to hold up the gate.
Sasha smiled looking at the fools trying to save the lost battle underneath the barrier.
The giants held the gate up, while the remaining snorcs and giants poured into the gate.
The only sight that greeted them was ice.
In anger, one of the giants smashed his club into the ice sheet.
The ice sheet barely cracked, and it repaired itself of all the damage, then grew some more towards the frontier.
The Signor Thor, Urman Thor, Cobble Slime stared at the self repairing ice wall. They have never seen such a sight in the frontier.
Some men spoke of icy rocks near evernight repairing themselves, but evernight is north of the north, and sun never touches here.
Ice healing by itself ?
As the men backed off, the ice formed forwards, filling out the tunnel.
The giant who caught the door let it go angrily. They rushed here with all of their strength, and it turned out to be a futile effort in the end. Any one would be frustrated.
The giant really couldn't contain his anger. He gathered the beaten up snow to make a giant snow boulder, within a few steps, threw the boulder to strike the person standing atop the parapet.
Beast tower's one of the locations where the Barrier is at its lowest height. However, it's also a place where it's impossible to cross through, for the barrier formed over hanging icicles atop the cliff here.
This time around, due to Sasha reshaping the icy wall, it's a beautifully smooth wall with sharp ice spears blooming on it.
The giant's strength increased with his anger. The boulder was almost made to smash Sasha. At the last minute, a blazing white fire hit the icicle, almost blinding the entire snorc army standing underneath the barrier.
The light of the Moon's snow's flash fire, it's all too easy to make out the smirk on Sasha's face.
The leaders of Snorcs felt something wrong the moment they saw that smirk.
Only, they were too late to do anything.
Sasha manipulated the ice to create a stairway right in front of thousands of Snorcs. Moon snow stuck it's head underneath the stairway, Sasha stepped gently from the snow platform to Moon snow's head. Moon snow opened its wings, flew back to the first stop.
"Kill them! Kill them.! We need to stop her. " Urman Thor screeched atop the top of his lungs, but the giant spent all his energy throwing that boulder.
Now, he could not pull the brass bow any more. On top of that, the giant's have run quite a distance. Rest of the arrows are still on Mammoth's back.
Sasha reached the first stop within fifteen minutes. She is not worried the giants and fighting clans will make it back here soon. With Moon's snow's breath, and how cold the night has been, a small-scale blizzard will occur at Beast tower.
She sent Moon Snow to hunt in the eastern sea.
"Your grace, we are waiting for you." Edgar, the guard captain, was ready for her orders atop the wall.
The moment the last of the fighting members left the Snorc clan, Valerie Starlight was sent out to negotiate with remaining women and elderly.
Valerie Starlight was a leader in her own right !
With her beauty, there wasn't a man among Snorcs who hadn't desired her. However, she never touched any save the lover of her choice.
That is how strong a fighter she has been.
She was an icon in her own right.
When Valerie came out, the offer made to Snorcs was clear. They will be given refuge in the Barrier, but not in winterland.
Simply put, the snorcs are divided into two parts. Warriors and labor force.
The force at Frontier guard could by no means subdue a fighting force of forty thousand snorcs.
However, it is an entirely different matter when it comes to the remaining ten thousand of snorcs.
The camp is made entirely of women, children and elderly. Frontier guard is more than sufficient to suppress them.
From atop the gate, the crier of Frontier guard shouted.
" Any willing to seek refuge within the Barrier will be allowed in. Anyone wanting to enter winterland must swear an oath of loyalty and service at the Elder tree. You go where the path takes, no questions will be answered till the final destination. Gates close at sunset. Gates close at sunset. Gates close at sunset." he screamed once and again.
Dan looked at Sasha with complex eyes.
He knows what Sasha is doing.
These are all women and children. Wives and children of many of the men who left just now. Sure, the men could leave them here and run away, for they thought they could secure a passage through the Barrier.
However, now, they are offering all their wives and children as hostages.
The first clan, one headed by a woman named Anne, came up eagerly. They agreed to stay within the barrier. They were sent off to the most fertile seventh stop, which is severely short on harvesting labor.
In the days to come, these people will probably be worked to death like slaves, but Sasha did not care. Her first priority is saving people of her land.
These people who are far too used to freedom and being willful could not be allowed to enter her land, and reap the lives of honest citizens. So, let their spirits get tamed if not broken, then, she will make another offer to integrate them into winterland proper.
However, Dan couldn't come up with this ruthless idea, much less implement something that requires him to be so harsh on women and children.
When all the volunteers entered the tunnels of the barrier for their destination, Sasha smiled at the remaining women and children.
"Arrest them all." She gave her command to the frontier guard.
The remaining women and children mostly belong to two of the greater fighting clans. They knew in time their men would return with success. They will be directly able to enter winterland, why must they kneel and scrape for this unknown soft girl ?
The frontier guard soldiers rushed atop their black steeds in their black armor, corralling all the remaining men, women, children, and supplies into the ready-made courtyard Sasha prepared.
Then they were thrown into the specified ice tunnels.
The guards rushed towards them, once the guards reached a certain point, they pulled out giant ice blocks and closed off the tunnels.
The ice tunnels started closing behind the stubborn women.
The moment it started, it started a stampede.
Sasha took care not to misdirect people, and sent them all to the extremely austere eleventh stop.
Eleventh stop has a simple yet sturdy design. It's impossible for a man or woman to break out from eleventh stop unless Sasha wills for it.
It's easy to feed them, and spy on them.
They have more than enough space, but only barely enough food and water.
Now, finally, with hours to spare before the fighting forces of snorcs return, the gates of first stop closed. On top of closing them, Sasha fortified the main gate and side gate with ice.
From now on, negotiations with Snorcs will be done from a position of power.