The Last Raid (1)

As they're almost at their destination, Greenstone, some of the local guards atop the walls look out with their spyglasses. One of them notes, "Wow. These new enchanted glasses sure are nice. The glass doesn't shake, and I can see pretty clearly."

"Oi! Bosi! Careful with that; they're expensive."

"Sorry captain," the young guard apologizes.

The Captain promptly takes the spyglass from his hands, holds it up to his eyes, and studies the incoming ship. He puts the telescope down and says, "I recognize the captain of that ship. He's a Kareen raider."

Immediately, the Captain of the guard turns around and shouts out, "We got raiders! Sound the alarm now!"

The young recruit reels back in shock and stutters out, "C-captain… would raiders really dare come here? Unlike their usual targets, we have walls and a garrison."

The captain flicks the boy's forehead, "Boy. Look at these walls. Yeah? Our mayor is dirt poor, and we've been poor for generations. These walls are flimsy! Plus, the raiders know there's a war going on, so our garrison is basically empty."

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By the time the Kareen ship comes close, the town is already in a panic. Chief Beyyor gets to the front of the ship and mutters, "The locals probably have no more than 50 men; all the fittest locals were already dragged off to fight another war in the north… small barons like this aren't allowed to have their own personal army anyway, and anything more than 100 men is legally considered an 'army' in Alasta Kingdom.

He looks a little closer. "… The walls are falling apart too… We got about 50 men, except we're well trained… It should be a good fight!"

Unlike his predecessors, Chief Beyyor was clearly less afraid of a head on fight.

The Kareen ship gets closer and closer as they exchange volleys of arrows with the soldiers atop the walls. Both do basically no damage to the other, as the raiders have mounted big round shields around the edges of the ship, and the guards have walls.

The most the rain of arrows really does is discourage fools from sticking their heads out.

The raiders dock their ship relatively unhindered, and they pour out with their shields in front of them in one hand, and their weapons in the other.

Haalfrin is the last raider off the ship; the rest run on ahead, but he more or less shuffles out. Before he joins the battle, he takes in the scenery, the smell of sweat and fear, and he breathes in slowly through his nose with a serene look on his face.

Calmly, Haalfrin clasps his hands, looks up, and prays in his heart, "I grew up in a land that worships the death god of the souls who die peacefully in old age. Everybody treads Death God Das as a revered, benevolent diety…

"You gods are pretty busy, so you probably don't remember a little mortal like me. Before my parents died, I grew up vising Divine Das's temple every week and offering a prayer, asking for him to take our souls when we die…

"So gods…," Haalfrin continues his prayer, "It's probably a little strange for you to hear someone pray for the Death god of slaughtered souls to take me… But goddess… Just take me to where my brothers are. They all died in battle, so that's not too much to ask for, right?"

Haalfrin unclasps his hands, opens his eyes, and reaches for his sword.

Seeing as how his plan is to get killed by the local guards here, he leaves his shield behind on the ship. He would've not had a shield at all, but Chief Beyyor's nagging was too much, and they tried to make him take a shield…

This is why Haalfrin actually waited for the others to rush ahead – timing his prayer to let them know he's occupied. This should work well against his clansmen, since they all know how "superstitious" he is.

Once the troublesome Chief Beyyor is out of view, Haalfrin quickly drops his shield on the ground, then charges (more like hobbles) on ahead after them from a small distance.

By the time Haalfrin makes it down the plank, his clansmen have already beat the flimsy gate down with a few swings of a felled log.

The streets quickly empty as the commoners vacate the area and bar their doors shut – hoping the barbarians pass them by. With the war going on, it's mostly women, children, and old people here – most of whom had only heard stories from travelers of the Kareen.

Of course, the Kareen raiders don't bother with the commoners, who have nothing valuable in their houses anyway. Instead, they go straight for the baron's house, as well as the granary next to it.

Perhaps it's because the local guards aren't very practiced, but most of them are atop the walls with bows in their hands. Instead of coming down, they stayed atop their walls and keep firing.

The Kareen were well equipped with armor, and for good measure, Chief Beyyor ordered his men to sling their shields on their backs after they pass the threshold into Greenstone. With the shields facing the archers, they can effectively ignore the guards.

The raiders pour into the baron's courtyard… but of course Haalfrin is nowhere to be found; he's lagging too far behind.

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As he's shuffling down the main road towards the REAL fighting, Haalfrin looks up and sees a cloud of black aura. "Another death god is appearing, eh?" Haalfrin has always been particularly devout with his praying habits because he's always been able to see the Death gods since he was a child.

After asking a local priest about his ability to see the Death gods, he was told off for speaking childish nonsense. After that, Haalfrin never spoke of his ability ever again…

And since he's always been under the impression that the gods are people he's not supposed to see, he's always pretended they weren't there whenever a death god was close to him.

There were even instances of a Death Reaper being right in front of him, though the gods never seemed to notice that Haalfrin's eyes would sometimes follow their figures.