Caroline let out a startled shriek as the stones beneath her feet bucked, then began to fall. She lost her ballance and fell over the edge, clutching the knot in her hand as if it would keep her from falling. She closed her eyes as she knew the ground was about to meet her, but impact never came as a giant blue creature materialized where she was landing, softening the blow. Grall turned and lay down, letting Caroline slide off his back, then shambled over to Elizabeth. Quickly she began to remove the plates from her familiar's body, each one melting into a piece of armor as she took them. Soon she was fully covered in armor that looked like blue leather and sliding a pair of hardened leather gloves on her hands. "I hope they get this far." she sneered, her now awakened blood lust bringing out a whole new side of her, "I'll show them how the Demon of Unarmed Combat earned her name." She shook, using all of her willpower to hold herself back. She couldn't allow herself to get caught up in the battle and leave the queen behind.

----

Caroline recovered quickly, still holding the knot in her hand. "Rear row," she said, commanding the clay soldiers, "Take bows and ascend the wall, split into two groups and each take the wall to either side of the gate. Form three rows and rotate, the first row retreating to the rear after they fire to ready your arrows again, the second row stepping forward and doing the same, then the third. Repeat until you are out of arrows, or there are no more unfriendly targets to shoot at." As they hurried to carry out their duties, she continued. "Of those remaining, one third take up kite shields and position yourselves in front of the gate, using your shields to stop their advance. Overlap the shields three high. The rest of you, stand by for further instructions. If the enemy breaks through the shield column, your standing order is to engage them unless otherwise ordered by myself." As her orders were carried out, Caroline looked around for help. She wished Henry hadn't left her in charge of this, she was afraid she had given the wrong orders and wasted a valuable resource, or even worse messed up with whatever plan the others had devised. She had studied strategy in her lessons, but she wasn't nearly ready to actually command an army, even one made of clay. She reached for her weapon, only to realize she had lost it somewhere during her fall. glancing around, she spotted an extra bow on a rack, with a full quiver of arrows leaning beside it. Strapping the quiver around her shoulder, she picked up the bow and nocked the first arrow, ready to draw it and let fly at the first person she saw break through that shield wall. She slowed down her breathing, clearing her mind and preparing herself for what she planned. [i]It's just like your archery classes. Just breath in, draw back, breath out and release.[/i]