Chapter 17 Two days. Two days of constant harassment by the rats before we finally made it to the road and bridges leading over the crags and canyons. The road was made of white marble, as were the bridges. they were also heavily enchanted. No dust or water would settle on them and no wear and tear were seen. There were four smaller bridges to cross, and then the bridge we nicknamed the long span. It bridged over the last and largest canyon and was about two kilometres long in a single span. Beneath it about 500 meters down was a raging river. Once we got to that we would be in the clear. None of the wererat tunnels reached beyond that canyon, and we could hold the bridge to stop being pursued. After a night of constant small skirmishes that were stopped by those who had darkvision, we made plans for the next day. We could already see that the rats were taking up positions on the plateaus and the bridges to try and stop us. The plan would be to have the veterans in the vanguard, their higher level would be crucial in clearing the way fast. The wind leaves were put on top of the bigger wagons to use as a shooting platform. On our wagon, the skeletons had fastened the wooden shields up top for extra protection. We would be the rear guard and would be responsible for holding the span for as long as possible once we made it across. The rest of the caravan would then rush to Maiden's rest and get reinforcements. Grim was pissed at me for sending him onwards. “You can't just stay behind and expect me to run away do you?” “You know as well as I do, our only chance it to bust through, our scouting parties back the way we came have already seen the movement of hundreds of rats coming out of their hidey-hole's behind us. And you could see the numbers on the plateaus.” “That doesn't mean that you should stay behind does it?” Aura chimed in. “Yes, it does. The rats are faster than the caravan. If we let them get past the span they will quickly overtake us and take us down with their numbers. The span itself is only about 5 meters wide at the far end. The skeletons, Moira and I can hold the line for a long time there. The only other ones staying are Queenie and her sprites to help heal, but that's because they can easily outrun the rats.” I smiled looking at the sprite who was sitting on Grim's shoulder. “Yeah we fast, and the rats don't eat sprites so we will be fine.” It was funny seeing Queenie stroke Grim's head as if comforting a child. I outlined the rest of my plan. “We will move over the trunk and anything else that we cant lose over to Aura's wagon. Then we will use our wagon to mostly block the way on the halfway point and set it on fire. Maybe even keep one of the casks of mead in there to help with that. It should give Moira's unit enough time to form up in a bone wall at the far end.” The next morning we started moving at the crack of dawn. The rats didn't think we would just simply try to smash through. the veterans that we had with us had a few shield bash like skills to push the roadblocks out of the way. With the wind leaves keeping the flanks clear and us keeping up the rear we smashed through the first two roadblocks and bridges with ease. The third one took longer than expected and we took our first couple of casualties there. The rats were easy to kill but there were just so many of them. We had a couple hundred before us one the last small bridge and the plateau behind them. At this point, Bob stepped up and showed us why he was an ogre mage. He cast a spell that sent a long line of fire out of each hand and he was able to set fire to the roadblock and clear the way to the span before us. It seemed to have used up all his mana to push that spell that far and he had to be put in one of the wagons to rest. I shouted, “Nice one Buttercup.” And winked when he looked at me with surprise. I heard him mutter “I'll kill those twins one of these days.” before being led off and we started our way across. As per the plan, we unhitched the horses and the wind leaves that were on top of our wagon led them off. Grim set 3 casks of mead on the road about 50 meters apart, starting at the wagon. By now I was enough of an ok shot with a bow to fire a flaming arrow at them when the rats got close. Maybe the explosion would take some of them out. In practice, It seems casks of mead don't explode when you fire a flaming arrow at them. But they do burst open and the mead itself burns for a good while. So we had more than enough time to form the shield wall. I found out that 6 skeletons by themselves could make a wall wide enough to block the bridge. The other 5 were able to help extend the wall higher. All 11 would have their spears poking out through small gaps. The bannerman/lizard could stand at the side and use the long banner pole to bash rats as well. Moira, luna and I would take care of anything that made it over the wall. Queenie and the sprites would heal me and Moira and tried to help by dropping small stones and pebbles from up high. A direct hit in the wrong place would be enough to kill or disable a rat. We could see the caravan slowly moving down the road. The horses and other pack animals needed to slow down after that mad dash. The last thing I heard before they got out of earshot was Grim shouting “You better be alive when we get back with reinforcements or ill find your body and add your hide to my skin collection” It took about an hour for the fires on the bridge to die down far enough that the rats started coming. I addressed the troops. “You are Moira's chosen. In your previous lives, you were cowards and ran. This time I know you will stand. You want to enter Valhalla and join the feast of heroes, here is your chance.” Standing to the side of the wall so I could see the enemy coming. “If they make it past us they won't just kill our friends they will be eaten, or worse. So we cannot fail. For Grim. For Aura. For Missy, Sissy and Bob. For everyone else in the caravan. For the Death Stormers.” The skeletons took up the battle cry “DEATH STORMERS” And with that, the first major battle engagement of the Death Stormers began.