Chapter 11

– Apparently so. It was identical to a "force shield," but there were no spells or amulets.

– We need to report this to the advisor. And capture one alive.

– I've already sent a report to the capital. As for the live ones... Captain! Send someone to collect the bodies from the square. Let's first look at the dead.

The man who received the order bowed silently and left. I didn't want to leave the citadel, but there was no other option. A city so suddenly attacked by an unknown enemy and so ineptly lost... We needed to understand what we were dealing with, and this order from the mages was absolutely correct. But Almighty, how I didn't want to leave the safe walls of the fortification.

A group of five soldiers jogged across the square. They stopped by the nearest dead enemy; initially, they hesitated, but after inspecting the body, they quickly picked it up and carried it to the gates. The sergeant hesitated for a moment, noticing something happening behind a building. A stone flew directly at his head, and before the soldier's body had even settled on the ground, three people appeared around him, lifted him up, and carried him away.

The mages on the wall only watched as one of the dispatched soldiers was swiftly dragged away, eager to leave the open space. A crossbow bolt pierced one of their shoulders, but the person seemed not to notice it. No one among the mages dared to cast spells for fear of hitting the still-living sergeant. Once the attackers had disappeared with their prize, the mage commander grimaced.

– We should have killed them all, – he said belatedly.

The world before his face turned red. The amulet burned his chest, and right at the mage's eye level, a stone he had stopped was suspended in the air. As soon as the small round stone fell at his feet, the shield flared up again. Another small stone was aimed at his stomach. Everyone on the wall quickly took cover.

– They're using slingshots! – the lieutenant, who was staying near the city's leadership, reported.

The mage commander merely nodded and, clenching the amulet in his fist, filled it with power. It turned out to be a useful item, even though he had previously been upset that for his hundredth birthday, his friends had given him protection against physical impacts rather than magical ones. He had even considered dismantling the trinket to extract the precious moon silver and use it for more useful purposes. And now it turned out that the gift had saved his life.

– Continue to observe. We'll see what the soldiers bring back.

The lieutenant nodded briefly and looked enviously at the departing mages. He had no protective amulets, and the unknown slinger had demonstrated fantastic skill with his weapon. From below came the sounds of running feet and cries for help. Looking out, the officer saw a couple of dozen people running toward the gates, including several women, armed townspeople, and almost a dozen guards in armor.

Other people also emerged onto the square. They wore armor over their peasant clothes, but there was no logic or order to it. One had put on a gambeson and then strapped on a cuirass over it. Another wore a full hauberk and bracers, while his neighbor had a simple sleeveless mail shirt that would have been useful. It seemed as if the attackers didn't quite understand the purpose of the armor they were wearing. The weaponry was equally diverse.

As this ragtag group appeared, they were met with arrows and spells. The gates below creaked open, and whoever was commanding was clearly intent on saving the people, who were presumably the remnants of those who had taken shelter in the administration building. But it wasn't so simple. A coordinated volley of steel and magic did not stop the pursuers. Most of the spells were deflected, and the arrows and bolts caused no harm.

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