The sounds outside the fort couldn't be pinpointed by anyone, it came from everywhere all at once. Skye could see the Flower Boys on top of the wall looking all around trying their best not to blast everything they could see. Screams and howls, loud screeches and chirps mixing together to become almost rhythmic.
The walls shook as something large ran into it, scratching could be heard in the rear of the base. The people not fighting huddled close to their fires holding each other close.
They were strangers this morning but now you would swear they were family by the way they tried to escape into each other's arms. They shivered and cried, some more loudly than others, only to be rocked into silence not to draw the attention away from Nora trying to lead the monsters into the gate.
Skye didn't blame them. If his first night was anything like this he wouldn't have survived let alone not pissed his pants out of fear. He was lucky, the world seemed to increase in difficulty every night, like it was coming to life slowly with their arrival, allowing them to cope and improve with it rather than being instantly overwhelmed.
Skye's thoughts were broken as he heard Nora yell.
"Coming in hot! Lots!"
She sounded out of breath and scared by how quickly those words came out of her. Skye squinted his eyes and even though it was dark out he could see the dust cloud that was giving chase rise over the walls.
Nora quickly appeared in the opening and bounced off the gate like a black blur, using it to stop her momentum and change direction quickly. She pushed off the hard wood behind her and with astonishing speed ran into the fort, leaving her shadow smokescreen behind. She cleared the opening and the ring of protection in what felt like a second. She truly was the fastest at night.
She slid under the legs of one of the warriors standing at the back and stayed down, not wanting to get up and join the fight. Her panting was quick and shallow, with every raspy inhale. She must have been running at full speed the whole time she was out there.
No one really had time to marvel at her speed because on her heels was a stampede. The first of the swarm ran past the opening, unable to stop in time and still giving chase to Nora's shadow, but eventually the light of the fort caught their attention through the opening of the gate.
It was hard to tell how many had followed her, but it had to be more than the combined number of creatures Skye fought during his whole first week here.
There was a mix, some looked like slugs that sprang forward, others like two headed hammer head horses with flailing feet. The spider cats were there, and so were their bigger cousins, some type of tiger with long claws and crab forearms. They all shared one common factor, their skin evaporated like smoke into the air and their faces flat.
"Get ready!"
Elli called from behind, her job was to snipe any stragglers that go past the encampment and tried to attack the people unable to fight. With her bow and ability, the arrows could travel a great distance quickly.
The monsters started to push past each other to get in through the small opening in the gate, no wider than two people standing shoulder to shoulder. Only a few at a time could fit past, just as expected. Some smaller monsters were killed under the feet of the bigger ones, but not enough to make a difference. They pushed and jumped their way in any way they could.
Claire was on the other end using her ability to make the gate as heavy as possible so it wouldn't budge, her Minions stopping the few that tried to instantly lunge to the side rather than entering the kill zone. She stored the force of those impacts inside her body.
Like they expected the monsters were so preoccupied trying to get into the opening that they didn't try and attack the wall, other than a few who got distracted on the way in. By the time that 20 or so were inside the opening Elli gave the command and Claire slammed the gate closed with all her might, using the built up force inside of her.
{BAM}
The gate shut with an explosion, the bodies of the monsters still trying to get in exploded on impact and flattened like rats caught in a trap between the hard wooden walls and gate.
There were plenty still outside the gate, but if they were fast enough, they wouldn't lose their attention and they wouldn't destroy the walls just yet.
"Advance!"
Yelled Zsofia, moving in quickly. The circle of warriors closed around the creatures and started to tighten. Kai cracked his whip and punched the body of any creature he could see, leaving long barbs sticking into its side that seemed to drill into their skin.
Skye poked and prodded as he stepped forward moving them into the middle. The frosty tip of Thorn caused more pain than any other sword could. Warriors with spears, and the few shields they had, did the same, keeping their distance. Unlike the other warriors, Skye had two smaller helpers fighting in front of him.
The changes in Skye were a mixture, his abilities changed and so did the number of Minions he could have. His innate roots could now take on the form of plants he came into contact with and could sprout and grow, much like the tree in the middle of their fort, but that wasn't really usable in combat, unless monsters really hate spicy food.
He gained a new type of Minion he could summon, much like the Flower Boys. They were chest high on Skye, bipedal creatures with thick brown armour covering their bodies, connected with thick vines like tendons. Their heads looked like floating chestnuts and connected to their arms were two halves of a single shield they could connect when put together. Unlike the Flower Boys, these Chestnut Warriors could walk on their own, even if it was at a very slow pace.
Every step they had to reconnect to the system of roots under their feet to gain stability and energy. They were sturdy and hard to move, meeting the claws of a Spider Cat head on and not being pushed back an inch. Their armour was harder than the wooden walls of the Fort and the shallow scratches from claws and teeth filled in and healed over time.
They stood in front of Skye and used their bodies to protect him while moving forward inch by inch. He felt more confident and stabbed and thrusted from behind them in a frenzy. They were his very own invincible wall.
A strom of dirt was tossed into the air as the monsters, now confused by what was happening, flung their bodies around. They crashed into each other trying to escape the spears of the warriors.
When a large creature would lunge for one of the warriors they would hit an invisible force in the air, then Claire's weapon would be seen moving with inhuman speed. Her minions also doubled, meaning she could be in more places at once. She also kept one near her at all times as she learned a new trick.
One of the crab tigers disengaged from the warrior on her side and lunged for her while she was already pushing back another creature. Rather than turning to block and losing the momentum she had, a compressed burst of air shot out like a cannon from next to her and blew the monster back. The force was so strong that it tore right through the creature's head and it died on the spot.
This wasn't a fight that any one person could win on their own though, no matter how strong their new abilities were, there was a system.
A warrior would cry out for help and someone would come from behind and push with him, another would fall down with a wound and would be dragged out and replaced, but the circle got tighter and tighter. Eventually they had nowhere to go but the closing centre.
The runes lit up as soon as the first hammerheaded horses stepped into it, toppling over after being pushed by another monster trying to dodge a jab. It hit the floor and instantly started to convulse in pain, flopping around trying to stand back up, only to have another creature fall on top of it and pin it down.
"Push them in!" Yelled an unknown voice from the crowd.
"We almost got them! Keep it up!" Someone joined in.
If they placed the ring of protection at the start of the gate, the monsters would have felt it and fled into the open, returning to attack the walls elsewhere. They had to make sure they had nowhere else to go but inside of it.
They roared in pain as soon as they entered the circle and lost their minds completely, unable to think of anything other than escaping. Some of the smaller monsters had better luck, slipping between and under the warriors, only to get sniped by the Flower Boys from up high or hit instantly by an arrow.
Once they were in the circle the warriors held their ground, half shocked that this even worked. They put all of their might into their spears and shields to hold them down, throwing their bodies on top of the pile to add more weight. Warriors were being thrown off or catching a stray kick and toppling over, only to be replaced by two more taking their place.
They didn't have the equipment to kill these monsters in a one on one fight, but together, humans had a chance with their pointy sticks and dirty tricks.
After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, but in reality was less than 10 seconds inside the ring, the last of the monsters stopped moving and silently the life left its eyes. The warriors were breathing hard, one falling backwards on his ass out of shock.
"Is it… over? Ha! That was nothing!"
Skye gave him a hand and helped him back up, patting him on the shoulder as his Chestnut Warriors used their shield-like hands to mimic the patting behaviour over his body. He looked down with a frightened expression, this morning he was a maintenance worker on the waterways and now he's a warrior with a spear being surrounded by nuts.
"I'm so glad to hear that, we only have to do it for another….12 hours? Clean up! Let's go! Next squad, move in!"
The circle broke and workers ran in and started dragging the monsters away, the warriors stepped back and new ones took their places, hands shaking due to fear but hearts full of hope that they could do it too. Everyone thought they were going to die, but no one did. There were a few injuries, large cuts and a few broken bones, but nothing that couldn't be solved by Kai suffering a little bit.
"Get those bodies to Cookie and have them cleaned, keep the silver shiny crystals you find to the side and don't break them!"
The platoon of warriors that just fought went to the resting area, the platoon who were just resting were now staging to help if needed, and the platoon that was helping moved in to fight.
Kai moved over to the resting Area and set his Minions to work. They could now slightly heal and help recover lost stamina, nothing like he could personally do, but they did it without hurting him or his direct attention. Thanks to them, 10 minutes of rest could feel like an hour long break.
Elli started pointing and moving people in the direction they needed to go, raising her bow and shooting off into the distance, an arrow disappearing through one of her Minions.
"And open the gate soon, they're starting to go for the wall!"
Everyone got in place, and repeated the dance again. With a huff Claire reopened the gate and monsters started to push in again. This was going to be a long night for the 5 of them, who were too critical to be replaced.
Claire didn't have time to think about how tired she was, or how long the night was going to be. She pushed shut the gate again with a loud slam, pulled her sword from the ground, and charged at the biggest monster she could see.
Eventually the swarm outside dwindled and the last few stragglers were taken care of by the Flower Boys. Nora got back onto her feet and went out again while the newest bodies were being dragged away.
Each of the 5 Marked gave each other a longing look, desperate for food and sleep, but unable to leave these jobs to anyone else. A young man ran up to Nora right before she left.
"Wait! Miss, take this before you go!"
He handed her a slab of meat, seasoned lightly with some of the herbs Claire gathered and freshly cooked.
"They just finished cooking the first batch of monsters and you guys deserve some first. We'll handle the rest, you just have to keep fighting!"
Others ran up to Claire and Elli, Skye and Kai as well. Nora looked at the food in her hands and felt tears build up in her eyes. Not knowing how to communicate how she felt, she just looked up and said;
"Fuck yeah!"
Skye screamed out before she could say anything. Nora and the young man looked over to him and then back to each other.
"Yeah. What he said."
She replied with a smile, patting the young man on the arm. He was either her age or slightly older, yet she felt a strong protective emotion over him like a little brother. She finished her food in a couple of bites, and took off running again.
A few minutes later some people in the fort heard
"CRAMP CRAMP OH GOD I HAVE A CRAMP"
Being yelled out from the forest. The young man that gave her the food just looked around like he had no idea what could be causing it.
—--
The night faded into beautiful yellows and oranges, the smoke rising from the pile of corpses in the middle of them mixed with the scenery and looked like far off fires. Eventually it evaporated and left only the dead behind, floating into the air one last time and catching in the breeze.
"I guess they stop smoking when they die. Huh, ain't that weird…"
Skye remarked to himself, using the back of his dirty sleeve to clean off his dirty face and letting his thoughts wonder. His armour and weapon were covered in blood and mud with no hope of ever having a shower again. He lay there collapsed on the ground, just like every other member of his team, and every warrior that fought that night.
It was long, and brutal, and almost everyone had some type of injury or another. A few warriors were limping away, giving support to others who didn't have the energy to walk at all. The pain was shared between them all, not equally, but everyone carried a bit of it. You'd expect to hear cries and complaints all around, but nothing but laughter and cheers rang out in that fort.
As the night went on the fighting got easier. Everyone became more confident and the monsters became less frequent. A platoon could rest longer and didn't need to be switched out as often, getting some actual sleep in the resting area before taking up their shift. The workers, crafters, and cooks also started to take turns sleeping after the first few swarms Nora brought in.
The workers hauled the bodies of monsters and warriors alike, laughing and sharing what they saw from behind. How one warrior got kicked and did a cartwheel through the air, or how the Flower Boys looked like they were dancing between blasts. The Chestnut Warriors were a huge hit with the workers as well, as they could be seen slowly dragging away bodies of smaller monsters.
"Look how cute they are! They just want to help!" One woman yelled out.
"That one there saved my life!" A warrior joined in.
The warriors started to spread rumors about Claire among themselves as well. Telling stories about how she cleaved 4 monsters in half with a single strike, or took a kick from a strong looking backleg directly to the head and didn't even budge. As they spread from one person to the next the number of monsters killed with a single strike increased, and one kick turned into 10 in a row.
She was quickly gaining admiration from those who fought next to her. Claire wasn't the only one, all of the 5 Marked were getting praised one way or another.
The older members were praising Elli on her quick decision making and level headedness throughout the whole night, keeping everyone together. Nora was a hit with the younger people who thought she was really bad ass covered in the shadows. Those who were badly injured were healed by Kai directly but everyone knew how his Minions were offering support, even if they couldn't see it.
Skye made sure to tell everyone.
"Make sure you thank Kai and his fairies for keeping you strong and healthy. Remember, Kai and his fairies. Kai, fairies. Fairies. Kai. They go hand in hand. Never forget!"
He was getting the jump on Kai before he had the chance to convince everyone his roots were worms. If he was playing the defensive and fighting everyone who mentioned his fairies he wouldn't have time for anything else.
The first night was over and with the rising of the sun their spirits followed. No one wanted to face the fact that this would be their nightly routine until they figured out how to stop it. They only had the daytime to rest and prepare for it all over again.
No one died tonight. This was a victory in itself, one that no one thought they would be able to do again.
Skye reached out his hands and his Chestnut Warriors helped pull him up with some teamwork, dusting him off in a clumsy manner with their shield arms. He patted them on their bobble heads and looked over the fort, bustling with life. His whole body hurt, he was bleeding from odd places, but he was alive and more than anything, he was hopeful.