Fendros let Meesei go once it was clear that she could walk on her own, even if it did look like she was still in serious pain. He drew his weapons and stayed near, shouldering to the front of the reluctant soldiers.

While it may not have been the most inspired choice of oratory, Meesei's very presence and confidence in spite of her grievous wounds were all that seemed to be needed. It was the brief push that the soldiers needed to convince them that not only victory was possible, but so was survival. Fendros lead the second wave with his own war cry and clashed with the enemy near his pack again.

If the initial vanguard was a nail into the enemy, the charge of the rest was a mallet striking in behind it. The formations splintered under Kaleeth's brute strength and Meesei's devastating spells kept them on the back foot. All the while, however, Gallus found himself suspicious. He stepped back from the fighting for a quick break, shouting on encouragement and orders to those around him. While he did so, he looked around the battlefield, trying to make sense of it all. Where did this ambushing force come from? They couldn't have expected them to get this far, was this a contingency? Were these enemies made up of the force that was meant to be waiting for them out in the wilderness to wipe them out after a forced march? Were there prisoners underneath the keep that were now trapped? The priority was getting away from the gas for now, but such things plagued his mind as he tried to stay aware of the immediate situation.