Arad looked at the man and smiled, “Where is the nest exactly?” he stepped forward, “Can you lead me there?”

“Hee!” The man gasped, falling on his butt and crawling back.

“Arad, I don’t think we should send him back to the goblins. Especially before he gets any treatment.” Isdis looked at Arad, “We can’t send the elve’s people into danger.”

Arad looked at the man, getting a weird itching in his stomach. It was a faint tingling, and the man looked delicious to him for a second.

^Mom, I do have a feeling that I should bite this man in half.^

A gut feeling? I can’t sense those from you, so I can’t tell. But if your draconic senses are tingling, it could mean that your unconscious mind is picking something from that man that you can’t consciously recognize.

^What could it be?^

Eaither you have a taste for elves, the man is releasing a faint bloodlust, or has magic hidden inside of him.

^It can’t be magic. The man has none in him. Even if it was bloodlust, he won’t do any damage while being monitored. And he could be releasing it since I wanted to drag him with me to the nest.^ Arad scratched his head. ^I might also have a taste for elves. They live long, after all.^

Arad turned around, “You said they are in the east, right?” Arad rushed forward. .𝘯𝘵

The elvish man sighed in relief.

“Everyone, take your positions and start preparations to defend the walls,” Isdis shouted, looking back at the guards. “It will be an easy fight from behind the walls, but don’t underestimate the goblins, and make sure to aim well,”

Everyone started running around, checking the wall’s integrity and bringing buckets of arrows and oil jars.

“I will help myself to the village’s smithy for tools. You don’t mind, right?” Jack smiled, looking at Isdis and the village chief standing behind her.

“For what purpose?” the village chief growled.

“Do you need some men to help you?” Isdis replied.

Isdis and the village chief stared at each other, and she glared at him.

“Sorry, please use whatever you want,” The village chief giggled, sweating.

“If that’s the case, can I have four of your knights helping me?” Jack looked back at the knights digging trenches, “Hoi! Who wants to set bear traps all around the plains?”

Knights looked at their shovels and pickaxes. ^setting traps look more fun than digging.^ They gasped, glaring at Jack.

“I would help!”

“No, I will. I built rabbit traps in the past!”

They started arguing, and Jack smiled, picking four of them and dragging them to the smithy.

“We need nails, wooden plates and poles, iron pikes, and steel wires. Pick all that you find, put them in a crate, and help me carry them to the plains.” Jack smiled, rubbing his hands as he ran in front of the knights.

Jack always had to keep in mind how much supplies he has for traps, trying to use them efficiently. But this was the first time in his life that he had an almost unlimited budget.

He stopped, “Ah! I almost forgot, can someone drag the grinding stone?”

“No way! It’s too heavy, and we’re already carrying too much,” One of the knights gasped.

“I will do it,” Lydia said, approaching from the back.

“Ah, you’re here,” Jack smiled. “Shouldn’t you be at the gate?”

“I will go there when the attack starts. For the time being, I don’t have anything to do.” Lydia smiled, grabbing the grinding stone with two hands.

“GAH!” She lifted it and took a deep breath, “Oh! It’s heavy, but I can move it without a problem,” She started walking behind them, and the knights stared at her, terrified.

“That’s a paladin for you.”

“The crusader rushing at the front of the holy battlefield.” One of the knights looked at Lydia, “I remember the holy army charging in the dead of the night to slay the undead flooding from the necrotic dungeon outbreak,”

“I wasn’t a paladin at that time, but I heard of it. A great battle with over five hundred paladins,” Lydia smiled.

***

Aella walked to the top of the walls with the archers. ^A normal arrow can kill goblins.^ She strapped her steel bow to her back and took a regular warbow.

“Good,” she pulled the string and aimed at the forest, “Let’s try a shot,” she took an arrow and fired it, testing the range and control.

“Lady Aella, am I right?” One of the guards approached her.

“Yes, do you need anything?” She looked back at him.

“By Isdis and chief’s order, you’re the leader of the archery unit for this battle. I came to inform you of that,” He bowed slightly.

“What? Me, no way,” She gasped, stepping back.

“Our lives are in your hands. Please guide them well,”

Aella could remember the elves dying in front of her as flames consumed the forest. A sudden attack came in the dead of the night. She looked at the dark sky.

She could remember flashes of it, a purple beam falling from the stars. She shouted at the other elves to run outside the burning city, but a second beam burned them to ash.

She lifted her hands to create a wind barrier and block the third beam, but the next thing she remember was her standing in the middle of a war between the human and elves. The wind of the shield she made to protect has shifted the elves’ arrows volley, killing hundreds of them.

Aella gulped down and stared at the bowing guard, “Don’t trust me with anything. Fire and kill the goblins as you have trained.”

She looked at the forest, seeing large hordes of goblins rushing out of the trees after Jack finished putting the traps.

“Goblins! Goblins! Hold fire till they reach our range!” One of the guards screamed, lifting his bow but not pulling the string.

“Aim!” He screamed again…pulling the string and taking a deep breath.

“Fire!” He screamed after waiting about three seconds.

A large volley of arrows rained down on the goblins, killing the first wave before they could even get close to the city, and the guards cheered.

Aella looked at the goblins, worried, “Arad went to their nest. I didn’t expect more than a few to show up,” She mumbled.