[h3]At the failing walls...[/h3] ------------------------------------------- "Thalius... I REALLY hate it when you're right!" Brachen said once again as he notched another arrow and let it loose. The soldiers of First Reach were losing ground, and the army of dark creatures were constantly advancing. They had already breached the streets and their allies were being slaughtered. The lady who had appeared before them moments ago, had abruptly leapt off the walls and began taking the fight to the ground. Thalius was trying to focus on taking shots, but at the same time gauging whether or not they should retreat to a fallback position. Then what he was fearing had begun happening... Their enemy had started placing down ladders in the further sections of the walls, and the stairs to the ramparts were being assaulted. The Mages and Archers were now under direct attack. "Our position has been compromised! Regroup and defend yourselves!" Thalius commanded as he put away his longbow and drew the smaller crossbow. He took aim at one of the stairs the Dark Creatures were advancing from and saw one of them climbing the stone wall next to the stairs. It seemed like it was trying to sneak up on the defenders desperately holding the top of the stairs. [i]"Trying to flank them... Better take him out"[/i] He pulled the trigger and put the bolt into the target's cranium. The corpse fell to the ground as Thalius loaded another bolt. The rest of the rangers had stopped using their longbows and were now trying to defend the ramparts with their crossbows. "Thalius, Brachen, should we head to our fallback position?" Leonhard asked as he watched the Dark Creatures push forward on another distant set of stairs. Suddenly however, a swordsman in plate armor came up to the position, limping wearily up the stairs. He was cut badly, and his armor was dented. "Ryndall?!" Brachen exclaimed. "Help him up!" He ordered his men as a couple of them took the wounded warriors by the arms and held him up. "Sirs, I'm sorry... My squad is dead. We... couldn't stop them. More of the creatures are on the way here..." Ryndall said through pained breaths. Brachen's eyes widened under his helmet before he shook his head in disbelief. "Damn... DAMN!" He exclaimed. He then turned to Thalius and the others. "Ryndall and his squad were guarding our exit path to the fallback positions. This means the enemy has overrun that route and we're trapped here..." Brachen announced. "Trapped?! By the Gods... That's it then. We're dead... We're all going to die just like everyone else!" One of the younger rangers said as he put his hands on his head. A female ranger grabbed the man and shook him. "Pull yourself together! You are a Soldier of Veradan and you will not falter no matter what happens!" She shouted at the panicked man, who simply put his hands down and held his crossbow tightly with a hesitant nod. Meanwhile, Thalius assessed their situation. The other sections of the wall were stating to be overrun as enemies climbed up both stairs and ladders to assault them. The Mages and Archers were not really meant for close-combat, so the enemy already had an advantage there. Not to mention that they were severely outnumbered. The defenders were trying to push the ladders off the wall, but it was only doing so much against the never-ending horde. He looked over to one of the wall sections to their left. It led to the gatehouse of the wall. As far as he could see, it was the only neaby structure they could reach. And if they could regroup with the other defenders, it would be more defensible than the ramparts. "Stick close to each other. We're going to fight our way to the gatehouse. If we can fortify that position, we have a better chance of holding them off than standing out here. We also need to regroup with the other squads and Mages." Thalius ordered. As if on cue, a few ladders slammed onto the wall section that they were one and planted themselves firmly on the ramparts. The growls of unholy creatures could be heard right below them, as well as the shaking of the ladders as the enemy scrambled up to them. Wasting no time, Brachen ran to one of them and knocked it to the ground below with his hands. Thalius ran for one of the ladders as some monster with a bent back started creeping over the rampart. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his sword and drove it through the creature's head from above before it had the chance to defend itself. Sending blood spurting out of the wound as Thalius kicked the ladder down as the falling monsters screamed. [b]"Move... MOVE OUT NOW!"[/b] Thalius shouted at the soldiers as he put away his stained blade and prepared his crossbow. Acknowledging the order with a nod, they all started running for the gatehouse. They were dashing across the wall at full speed as battles below them were erupting and ladders were being planted across the area. Thalius was keeping his eyes ahead of them. Up ahead a small fight was taking place between a small group of Rangers trying to stop the ladders from staying planted within their vicinity. However, some creatures managed to get on top and began engaging them, stopping them from keeping the ladders down. "Targets up ahead. Garret, Glynas, Larcon, prepare to fire. We have 4 enemies, pick your targets and wait for my signal. I have the one with the scimitar in its hand." Thalius ordered and announced to his squad. "I got the hammer wielder!" Garret replied. "Leave the one with the two daggers to me!" Glynas said. "The one with the golden helmet is mine then." Larcon. "Keep going and wait for my orders. Brachen, Leonhard, I'm counting on you two to have your men take out any more that come up and knock the ladders down as soon as they area's clear." Thalius continued. The group kept heading forward until they were around 10 meters away from the combat. At this point, one of the rangers engaging them with his short sword was wounded and struck down as he shouted in agony. More of the creatures were climbing up and Thalius could hear Leo and Brachen shouting orders at their men. "Halt and aim!" Thalius ordered as they stopped and his squad prepared their crossbows. [b]"Fire!"[/b] With that, they let loose their shots and each one nailed their target. A couple shots even hit those that were just peering over the ramparts. And if a shot was not enough to kill them, the nearby Rangers quickly finished them off as they staggered. The Veradan soldiers then started knocking over the ladders as Thalius spoke to the other Rangers. "We're retreating to the gatehouse up ahead. The walls are being overrun and we need a better position to defend from. Come with us and give us a few extra shots to work with. Unless you'd rather take your chances out here." He quickly explained. The leader of the Rangers there, wearing some kind of hard leather armor, along with a green bandana on his head (just like the rest of the rangers). "Strength in numbers as I always say... Lead the way then!" He said. "Good. Stay close, and dont fall behind." Thalius said. "Boys we got trouble!" They all turned around as one of the Veradan Rangers pointed behind them. One of the stairs in the distance had been overrun and undead warriors along with the spear men were climbing up. Plus a majority of the wall now had ladders placed on it as the weaker but numerous creatures started flinging themselves onto the ramparts. "If those spear-wielders reach us we stand no chance of surviving... Keep going! Move move!" Thalius commanded as he ran while loading another shot into his crossbow, and the group started their sprint once again.