The first volley of arrows was not as effective as it could have been. Most glanced off the shields or the armour behind them. In the narrow area, only one enemy was felled with a shot to the arm at just the correct angle, followed by another shot to the neck.

The target of Ahnasha's fear spell immediately froze in place when he was hit. She could see his eyes widen and his knees begin to shake as the line advanced ahead of him and closed the wall in front, but he started to stumble back until he turned around to get to the entrance of the chamber. Without his shield, he was hit in the thigh by an arrow. His struggle to stand made him a threat no longer. Ahnasha's arrow took another mercenary in the leg, disabling him, but he simply fell in behind the shield wall while his comrades advanced.

As if sneaking in behind the shield wall, a pair of crossbow toting hunters suddenly sprang up from behind their allies. They shot up at the defenders for a split second before ducking out of sight again. The bolt aimed at the first target whistled past his ear narrowly, but the other target was not so lucky. A small puff of burning steam rose from the struck bowman's shoulder as he began to scream in pain and buckled to the ground. Another defender took his place after pulling him behind cover, but the screaming lingered while a mage tended to him with healing. The silver bolt would kill him if he was unlucky.

Through the tumult, the disciplined mercenaries continued to rush in. They were coughing loudly, but they were able to hide themselves behind their long shields well enough to survive and recover. It was not just mundane soldiers that came through. Before long, an armoured figure that carried no shield or weapons stepped into the chamber with the smoke curling around her in a bubble of sorts, repelled by some magic of her making. She immediately sought the source of the smoke and began to blast it with a spray of magical frost.

Behind her, a sight that the defenders dreaded came through; a group of six heavily armoured mercenaries came clanking forward in a rushed march. In their arms, they carried a single long log, reinforced with metal bands, and whittled to a blunt point at the front. The shield wall closed them in as they advanced the ram towards the gate. 

"Mages! Open them up!" Vera's voice carried across the walkway. The wind that was blowing the now shrinking smoke through the cavern began to weaken slightly. It was replaced by a more direct form of offensive magic. The shield wall around the ram was pummelled by an avalanche of explosive fire spells. The mercenaries did the best that they could to stay in formation, but the impacts were opening up windows for the defending archers to shoot into. As the best archer present - possibly disputed by Ahnasha - Caldris took the opportunity to fell three more mercenaries as they struggled to keep composure. One her targets was carrying the ram, so the orderly advance was interrupted as it slumped to one side with the falling body.

The crossbows leaped up from behind the shield wall once more. The first took a defender in the chest, causing her to stagger and fall backwards off the walkway. Ahnasha spotted the other trained right at her.