Singing didn’t feel quite the same when things were so grim. The city was in motion, desperate to prepare for the oncoming onslaught that they were so certain was coming, and Madeline did her best to help where she could. Between the wound and her generally unimpressive frame, she couldn’t really do much, but she tried. Everyone did- even the kids seemed to buckle down and focus, which was a miracle in and of itself. Ever since they got to relative safety, they had returned to being ‘normal children’ again, but the recent slaughter had shaken them out of it. When she stopped working and took a break in the evening, the taverns only had a little bit of traffic. Something was to be said for how fucked they were if even ‘drinking their sorrows away’ didn’t seem to be an option. She still had to hope her music was helping, even if it was a sorry few.

James and his crew were among the few regulars that still showed up. She was afraid for them for a few reasons, not in the least including the fatalities. Everyone saw Greg die, but they only learned later that Jedediah and Marquez died with him. They found out when they did a “head-count” and realized that a couple of the corpses sans noggins looked an awful lot like people they knew. Madeline had sat out that task, even if she was getting used to it, it was hard to look at the sort of carnage that the fucking lizards had left behind. Once they started their stupid shiny routine, their spears went from ‘dangerous’ to ‘lethal’, delivering blows that reminded her more of guns than the rudimentary weapons they actually were. Evidently, the Kaenid had no such issue synchronizing their races’ “magic”. She really, really didn’t want to find out what they could do with the entire well of external mana at their disposal.

The performance tonight was nerve-wracking. Not because of her singing- that improved every day- but because of how close the lizards might be to attacking them. It was a nervousness born of an inevitability, that their army was always approaching. They’d made great progress over the past week, which was reassuring, but they’d arrive sooner or later- ideally later, but there was no guarantee. Despite how far away their main city was from locals’ testimony, they made amazing time. She thought Kat had been exaggerating on how fast they were, but after seeing it first hand, it was quite possible the girl had understated it. Which made sense- from everything she had head, Kat would have been the fastest runner in the city. Given her magical aptitude and even the little progress she had made with it, she may have even outstripped the lizards. The near-complete absence of the gomen made her a bit nervous, too. Short of the tavern-keep and servers, they had gone missing. None of the miners bothered to show, and that was rare enough. What could they possibly be doing? They really couldn’t afford a native uprising in the midst of a war.

She closed out the song, emphasizing each word with a slight lilt that gave them a tone that she hoped was “dramatic” and “inspiring”. Any little bit of motivation she could give the poor guys was worth it, in her books. She noticed James staring at her. She returned his gaze, confused, and when he saw her lock eyes, he just smiled. That was even more confusing, but before she could so much as move, let alone find her way over to the table, he shot to his feet. He filed out of the tavern, still smiling. For most people, that sort of thing would have been creepy. For James, she figured it was just foreboding. This was Mister Moses, after all, and he wasn’t feeling quite right. Since the first fight, he’d been acting a bit strange, exuding equal measures of confidence and gravity. She didn’t think it was a good look on him- usually, he was just goofy, but in an endearing sort of way. Even when he led them through the flood-lands, he had never looked quite so serious.

She dismounted the table she had been singing atop, finding her way to the floor, ready to chase after James and the rest. She nodded gracefully at her fans as she went, pacing for the door. Her pace broke into a sprint as she heard the people yelling outside. Gen had taken to stationing goblins at some distance from each-other, just far enough to hear each-other shout. They were like an alarm system, if she were to compare it to Earth. She didn’t know how they stood there so long, although it seemed like they switched out at odd intervals. Madeline had never been a big fan of ‘standing still and doing nothing’, even if she wasn’t hyper. Hell, even doing math would have been better than that. The goblins were used for the very first time now, and she could hear their echo. At first it was gibberish, but as she moved mana to her ears and reached the street, she could hear the message- and it was exactly as she feared: “The enemy are approaching, please proceed to your stations.”

By now, a small crowd was forming on the streets, dispersing in various directions. They had been preparing for this over the past week- really, over the past month, but Gen had overhauled everything only recently. She wasn’t quite sure why, but he had placed her atop a guard tower well within the city. The few gomen still working in the district ran in a completely different direction, while most of the humans were heading for the fort. It wouldn’t do to question it, though, so she just went with the crowd. It was a long run, but she made good time, climbing the tower’s ladder. As her head poked over the main platform, she realized that she had shift with James and Jim, which was awfully coincidental considering she got along with them the best. She filed away accusations of nepotism for later use, instead focusing on the tools within the tower. It had some crossbows and bags of bolts, not unlike the ones used by the goblins in the first defense. The tower itself also had a solid view of the western bridge- and gate.

The gate had been fully reconstructed, and although it wasn’t so decorative as the last, it was at least as functional. It stuck out with the discolored stone of its surroundings, but it was a significant improvement over the last rendition. More importantly, the huge stone doors that formed its ‘lock’ were swung wide open. When Madeline looked to the far side of the city, she spotted the other gate in a similar state. She could see over a hundred of the lizards charging up the hill through the gap of the west gate, and no doubt an equal number of soldiers at the east gate, if not more. This was their worst nightmare- had they been betrayed, after all? She clambered up hurriedly, snagging at a crossbow. James put a hand on her shoulder, which would have typically been reassuring, but this was a warzone, damnit. Why was he getting handsy? She whirled around- to see him with both hands held high over his head.

“Don’t shoot!” He gasped, jokingly. Madeline realized she was gripping the crossbow uncomfortably tightly, with her finger hovering over the trigger, so she lowered it. James wiped the grin off of his face, suddenly serious. “Calm down, Madeline. We’ve got an army to fight and angry soldiers don’t win wars.” She spluttered at that. “It’s just… what’s happened? Why are the lizards being let in?” She asked. He shook his head. “Hell, if I know- did you hear about this from Gen?” James asked, looking at Jim. Jim had become increasingly important to the General after his incredible performance in the last skirmish, so maybe he had more info than they did, she figured. The man shook his head, though, so apparently not. He looked impressively stoic for someone who was about to fight a massive army with no wall and no back-up from the natives, and if Madeline didn’t know the guy so well, she would have thought he was hiding something. In the end, they had all been left in the dark. She groaned. “Either we’ve been betrayed, or we need to find a chance to have words with Gen later. This just doesn’t add up.” She said, suddenly more nervous than before. James shared her concerns, grunting in agreement, and they all tried to focus back on the matter at hand- survival.

Things looked grim. The fastest of the Kaenid had already reached the gates, stepping foot into the city. They seemed visibly confused, but when they spotted the hairless apes atop the guard-tower, they relaxed. Their adversary had decided to hide further in the city, abandoning the walls- so it was safe to attack. Still, they tread carefully, wary of ambushes. Rather than an all-out sprint, they had entered a stable march, a line of reds and blues and yellows shimmering in the sunlight. The sight was breathtaking- for all the wrong reasons. Madeline figured it would have been beautiful if it wasn’t a giant army coming to murder them all. They marched through the city, two groups making their way to the bridges. Some even fanned out, falling into the residential districts, out of their view. It was like the tide washing over a beach, seemingly endless, but as they walked un-intruded through the city and got to the bridge, they had finally all entered. At least, as far as she knew, it was all of them. Now that they were closer, she was certain she could make out nearly five hundred of them. The lizards crowded the bridges, not taking a step on. They stared down the group opposite them, squaring off.

At some point, the troops had mustered below them. Most of the remainder of the humans, men and women and children alike, were armed and ready for the reptile menace, standing resolute on the green grass. With them were no less than fifty gomen, and Madeline was relieved to see at least that many were standing up for the city. The rest were missing, even the non-combatants. Nothing about the situation added up, literally or metaphorically. The Kaenid roared, a terrible racket that probably constituted a challenge. She nearly fell over under the vibration, no doubt magically enhanced. She felt like that would have made her flee or surrender in any other situation, but as cornered as they were, that simply wasn’t an option. By the time she got her bearings, Gen had walked a quarter of the way down the bridge, mirroring a massive Kaenid that dwarfed him totally. It was only wearing an armored skirt, and the milky-white underbelly most lizards had was more like a toughened grey hide in this case. It had scars, but clearly no injury to its weakest point had been fatal. She knew the General was crazy, but was he actually going to duel that thing?

The two combatants stood there facing each-other, both audiences hardly moving a muscle in anticipation. The Kaenid behemoth was the first to move, hunkering down. Even at a distance, he seemed to loom over Gen, and his scales started to shine. These weren’t weak glimmers like the little troopers they had fought before, no, this was something else entirely. Its entire back was lit up, and with the light, the red scales had turned into dancing flames. The massive beast charged, and Gen began to laugh. She wasn’t so sure that a giant fucking monster running at you was funny, especially when it had covered most of the gap before he had got out the first chuckle, but Gen seemed to find the situation hilarious. Maniacal laughter stirred the crowds, and they began to shift uncomfortably. Gen continued to laugh as he dropped to his knees, sliding under the behemoth. The terrible spear it tried to pierce him with seemed to rip the air, and as the surprised lizard tried to stop, a blast of wind shot from the massive stone head mounted upon it. Gen was behind it now, and Madeline couldn’t even see him behind the bulk of the creature- and then she could. Only instants later, she spotted his head poking out from above the behemoths’ shoulders, as though it had grown a new head. It roared, spinning about. Gen had stabbed it with a dagger which sunk deep into its latissimus, and he must have used it as a springboard to shove his hook deep into the behemoth’s trapezius. Now he hung from his hook, even holding onto the prosthesis with his right arm to try to keep it from detaching. The creature writhed, and spun for a while before it figured out that strategy wasn’t working.

It stopped twirling, back left facing Madeline and company, and she could see its muscles tense. The General reacted quickly, sliding out the hook and falling away, rolling. The Kaenid slammed down on its back, trying to squash him, only to realize he had dislodged himself. It howled, stabbing out at him with its mighty spear in the midst of a lightning fast roll that took the monster all the way back to its feet. Gen was barely clear of the thing, but the force of it was enough to launch him back. He was still laughing, which was starting to scare Madeline as much as it seemed to have terrified the Kaenid army on the other side of the bridge, but he sputtered with the ‘impact’. He ragdolled, rolling away towards their side, and she gasped in surprise. Gen struggled to stand, and the behemoth charged him, intent on finishing the job. At some point- Madeline hadn't even seen it happen- Gen had removed a second dagger from his belt-sheath, and he chucked it fiercely with his right arm. It shot like a bullet, and she could see his arm tearing itself apart, muscles writhing, blood splattering the bridge. She hadn't known he could do that. Even if the consequences were immense, it was quite impressive. The dagger landed cleanly in the behemoth’s side, and the two daggers lodged in its body were nearly touching eachother through its viscera. The creature’s frenzied charge faltered, staggering dramatically to the side. It was bleeding profusely now, and she could even see some discoloration in its grey underbelly. The huge Kaenid seemed to be regretting not wearing armor, clutching at the wound with its free hand.

Gen finally pulled himself together, and the laughter stopped. She wasn’t sure why, but the behemoth seemed terrified of the little guy, reeling back. The Kaenid army seemed to react the same way, and she had to wonder what exactly he was doing to scare them so much. The bleeding lizard reeled back, finally looking serious for the first time. The arrogance had drained from its face. Gen just strode forward, freeing his last dagger. He threw it up into the air, and it levitated. The over-sized knife swooped about gently like a bird in the breeze, and suddenly it righted, the blade lining up cleanly with the behemoth's head. It flew, swooping at incredible speed for the monster’s exposed neck. It hit with such impact that it shot clearly through, jetting off into the distance, and the great and terrible leader of the Kaenid army teetered and tottered, finally tipping to the side- and off the edge of the bridge. It was lost to the abyss below, and both crowds went still once more. Madeline was pretty sure Gen hadn’t been able to do that before either, and sure enough, she spotted Kat hunched over in deep concentration, mingling in with the crowd. Those crowds were both frozen in place, now shocked at the unceremonious outcome. That stillness was only broken when the Kaenid began to shout and point into the crowd. She wasn’t sure what they were saying until she filtered it with her mana, and their ragged, reptilian voices were apparently calling out about “Blood and Taboo”. She didn’t quite get what that meant, either, so she tried pumping more mana to her ears, but the message never changed, although she started to get a headache from the exertion. What could it mean, then? She realized suddenly that they had spotted Kat, and they were pointing straight at her. She felt a twinge of fear for the girl’s safety, but Kat wasn’t the only one in danger, now.

The armies charged the bridge, and as they clambered across, Gen began to laugh again. With all that had happened, it was even worse. The sound was distorted in her ears, growing more and more sinister by the moment. If he was so powerful, and if had such great tricks at his disposal, why hadn’t they used it before? Did all those soldiers have to die in that skirmish? Why hadn’t he even seemed phased by the fact the city gates were open? They were left so far out of the loop, and it scared her. Gen had presented pretty well, an astute general who was concerned with humanity’s future, but this? This was something else. He was no General of hers- suddenly, the shadow cast by his small frame was a monster that dwarfed even the Kaenid behemoth he had murdered moments before. James was staring out at the bridge, every bit as terrified and dumb-founded as she was. Madeline had been about to voice her worries to the others when the explosions started.

The bridges collapsed, both sides and supports crumbling to dust under blast after blast. Gen never stopped laughing as he fell, and both he and the army tumbled into the abyss below. The humans who had finally began to mobilize and remember what situation they were in had been denied their fight once more, and they fell silent once more. The Kaenid who hadn’t made it on the bridge yet weren’t quite so stoic, panicking as they tried to find a way down to their fallen comrades. As terrible reptilian screams ushered up from the impenetrable darkness, though, they stopped. The Kaenid were not used to fear. They had conquered many peoples, eliminating competition or forcing those not allegiant to them to flee. They were the objects of terror, not cowards. Now, though, the stricken looks on the lizards’ faces were that of abject fear. This was not a siege, or a war- this was a slaughter, and they were on the receiving end. The screams died down as quickly as they came, and the army stopped looking for a way down. Officers of their various squads, those few who had survived, rallied the troops. They were intent on retreating, and they hoped to re-organize. Even as they began to retreat, the gates slammed shut. Platoons of little green creatures dragged corpses out of every alley, the Kaenid who had been hunting through the residential districts. The goblins had killed them all in the midst of the city, and none had lived to return and warn the army of the imminent danger. The walls had long since stopped protecting the citizens of the City of Man, transforming into something far more malicious- a cage of stone, a killing field.

The remainder of the Kaenid army was trapped.