“Yes, not to worry though. Your situation should be rectified long before then.” said Caldura. “You’ll be back in your body and eating, what did you call them, cheesy nachos?” she asked.

“Yea….” muttered Ozzy, “back in my body.” He looked over his arms, he had forgotten in the months since his arrival here that the body he was occupying wasn’t his own, having become comfortable in it.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a young child yelling outside his tent. “Message for the [Patrician], permission to enter, urgent sir!!!”

“Is that Timmy?” questioned Ozzy. “Come in!” he shouted out.

“Sir, Lt.Harkonen is requesting your presence immediately. Something has happened, he says it’s urgent.” said Timmy in his characteristic high pitched voice.

The two rushed to the Command Tent where Lt. Harkonen was looking over the local area maps drawn by the cartographers, his face furrowed as he barked orders at some of the assembled soldiers.

“Sir, we have a serious situation. Fireteams Antigua and Dreckell report that a horde of howlers are heading for our location.” reported Lt. Harkonen.

“Howlers?” asked Ozzy. “A horde?”

“Howlers are something like monkeys sir. They’re common in Monravia, about 3 feet tall, sharp claws and teeth, prehensile tail, and ornery as all hell.” replied Lt. Harkonen.

“A horde means that they’ve gathered into a group in excess of one hundred and are likely being led by a manaborn monster.” supplied Caldura before addressing Lt. Harkonen. “How quickly will they be here?”

“At our current estimate, some point tonight. We are pulling back all patrols and I’m preparing a battle plan.” replied Lt. Harkonen.

“Good work Lieutenant.” said Ozzy before shouting into the air. “Pick, we need you here now!”

“Yes Master Ozymandias?” asked Pick, forming outside the tent.

“Get in here.” said Ozzy, allowing Pick to enter the tent. “We are being attacked by a beast horde. We’ll need the combat capable Aon Dar to help with the defense, coordinate with Lt. Harkonen about deployment.”

“Yes Master Ozymandias.” said Pick with a slight bow. “A horde, of course, drawn by either the mana or the [Beacon Call], naturally.”

“Wait, Lieutenant. We don’t know how long we’ll be cut off from the outside. Send a runner for Sheila and Tomar. We’ll need some of your soldiers to go with available people to gather whatever food is in the surrounding vicinity right now. We need to deny them food and keep our supplies up. Coordinate with Sheila to prepare some defences, wooden walls to funnel them, maybe spikes, I don’t know what is effective against these creatures. Maybe grab one of the [Hunters] if you think they’ll have better expertise.” ordered Ozzy.

“Yes sir! Remy, go get Tomar. Timmy, go get Sheila.” yelled Lt. Harkonen to his runners, as the group gathered around the laid out maps to plan their defence.

The next few hours were frantic as the settlement buzzed into action. Impromptu palisade sections were constructed along the exterior of the settlement. While they wouldn’t be able to cover the settlement entirely, they would be able to funnel the howlers into manageable regions, regions which could be defended.

River water was gathered in barrels and tailors began weaving long strips of cloth which could be used as bandages. The town’s only [Alchemist] began brewing a large batch of coagulant potion and as much healing draught as he could produce.

Caldura was dispatched to create as much of a trench as possible around the settlement and [Soldiers] began moving weapon racks, shields and extra armour to the exterior of the wall so that they would be easily accessible when the time came to fight.

Throughout the day there was a steady stream of people flowing in and out of the Command Tent as Ozzy and Lt. Harkonen gave out orders to prepare the settlement as best as it could.

“Ok, so not tonight but tomorrow morning probably. That’s good.” said Ozzy, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Yes sir, the swamp slowed them down some but they’re still coming.” reported Marco. He had been sent back out to evaluate how quickly the horde was coming and as one of the few [Scouts] in the settlement above level 10 he was uniquely suited to estimate arrival time.

“Good work Marco, go get some food and rest.” said Ozzy.

Marco nodded and left the Command Tent. “Looks like we caught a break sir.” said Lt. Harkonen.

“Yeah. It’ll give us time to make some extra preparations. But I want everything done by night fall.” said Ozzy.

“Sir?” questioned Lt. Harkonen.

“Haven’t you noticed? Your soldiers are fine but the civilians are getting tense. I want to hold a communal meal around the mess tent area and I want you to speak to them.” said Ozzy.

“Me? Sir, this really seems like something you should be doing.” said Lt. Harkonen.

“No, it has to be you Roderick. You are the military commander of this settlement. If I tell people that everything is going to be fine they’re going to be as comforted as ducks. If you speak to them about the defences we have prepared and assure them of their survival, they’ll sleep easier. Maybe specifically tell them that having a well rested populace is integral to our survival or something.” said Ozzy.

“I can talk to them, but I really think that you should assure the town sir. They will appreciate words from the settlement leader.” said Lt. Harkonen.

“No they won’t. It’s kind of you to say so Lieutenant, but I’m well aware of how I’m perceived by the people.” said Ozzy, his mind flashing to his interactions with Tomar.

“Sir, I-”

“It’s ok Lieutenant. So, what’s the final deployment plan?” asked Ozzy, looking at the map on the table.

“Well sir, with the palisades and trench, Pick assures me that the Aon Dar can cover here, here, here and here.” said Lt. Harkonen, pointing out several spots. “That means that we can concentrate our [Soldiers], here by the main accessway into the settlement. We’ll deploy in a curved arc to limit their ability to flank us, with shields at the front and the rest of the [soldiers] behind them with spears. Areas where we don’t have enough shields we’ll have the rest armed with swords. Two rotations will allow us to switch out groups as they get tired and hopefully the horde breaks by afternoon.”

“An excellent plan Lieutenant. Where will I be deployed?” asked Ozzy.

“Sir?” said Lt. Harkonen.

“Did I just hear you ask where you’ll be deployed?” asked Caldura, stepping into the tent, returning from widening and deepening the trench. Her form covered in dirt and dust.

“Of course. We need every available body on the line. I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.” said Ozzy.

“You’re not, have you forgotten that little thing called staying alive. You’re not fighting the howlers.” said Caldura, scowling.

“Why not? I’m fighting the howlers, it’s my duty as [Patrician]. That’s final.” said Ozzy. The rest of the people within the Command Tent were watching the back and forth confused. It wasn’t uncommon for settlement leaders to fight threats to their domain, and while they weren’t familiar with the [Patrician] class, any skills it brought to the fight would be welcome.

Caldura opened her mouth to reprimand him, but seeing the number of [Soldiers] present within the Command Tent she closed it with a tsk. “Fine, but you’re fighting next to me and the moment things get dangerous I’m pulling you out.” said Caldura.

“Deal.” said Ozzy with a grin.

That night the meal at the mess tent was uneasy. Especially for the recently arrived civilians from the caravan. There was plenty of muttering about what they had gotten into, and if it would have been better to stay as a tribe out in the plains.

Lt. Harkonen was sitting next to Ozzy who was pushing him to make the speech. The gathered people were all speaking in hushed tones, their heads bowed, and shoulders tense even as they ate a rich meal of Dik Dik steaks, roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables.

“I’m not used to making speeches to groups this large sir. I really thin-”

“Shut it Harkonen, give the speech. That’s an order.” said Ozzy.

Lt. Harkonen steeled himself with a shot of liquor that he had received from Carnegie and stood up on the bench.

“Excuse me, excuse me everyone. On the eve of what will surely be a trying battle for our settlement, I wanted to say a few words. I know many of you are scared. I also know many of you have been gossiping and perhaps over emphasizing the facts. So let me clear a few things up. Yes, a beast horde is coming. Yes, it is made of howlers. Yes, they will arrive tomorrow. Yes, there are approximately five hundred of them headed this way. Yes, we think they are led by a manaborn or horde leader of some kind.” said Lt. Harkonen, the people who had fallen to silence after his first few words started murmuring in a louder volume.

“BUT, it is also true that we have prepared the settlement for defence. Yes, we have built a palisade to slow them down. Yes, the Aon Dar are going to smash their miserable skulls in. Yes, our soldiers are going to slice their miserable hides to pieces. AND YES, TOMORROW WE WILL DRINK DEEP FROM THE CUP OF VICTORY!!” he yelled.

The crowd sat in silence, their eyes shining with hope as they saw Lt. Harkonen stand on the bench with his fist in the air, even as he began to sweat that no one was saying anything.

Ozzy noticing the silence quickly motion to those around him before also raising his fist in the air and yelling “YEAH!!!” which prompted the rest of the table to start yelling, the infection cheer quickly spread to the rest of the group and soon the entirety of the settlement was roaring in approval.

Lt. Harkonen sat back down as the people around him slapped him on the back and shoulder, or tried to voice their own encouragement.

The mood for the rest of the meal took an upswing as everyone relaxed. Perhaps they were just faking their confidence, trying to match everyone else, but whatever happened tomorrow, they knew that Lt. Harkonen had confidence in winning, and tonight, that was enough.

--

“Sir, I have no confidence in winning.” said Lt. Harkonen the next morning as he poured over the deployment map. Small wood circles acted as representatives of the relevant forces and the howler side had increased.

“Well Lieutenant, if you wanted to leave the time is long gone.” said Ozzy.

The two of them were alone in the Command tent. The rest of the [Soldiers] had been sent to go put their armor on and begin preparations once the howlers had shown up on the horizon. They had already put their armour on earlier and were going over final preparations.

“Sir, there’s two hundred more howlers than at last count. Who knows how many there actually are.” said Lt. Harkonen.

“Well, that’s just an extra three howlers per person. That’s not too bad.” said Ozzy.

“Sir, there’s going to be casualties. I hope you’re prepared for that. There’s no way we all come out of this alive. Not with these numbers.” said Lt. Harkonen.

“I know. But life is never guaranteed to us Lieutenant, hell, we could all be killed by a freak plaque tomorrow. Our only option is to do the best we can with the time given to us, and try to have some laughs along the way.” said Ozzy, offering a comforting grin.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a yell. “Sir, you have to get out here!”

Ozzy and Lt. Harkonen rushed out to see [Private] Chappie outside the tent, pointing towards the clearing the center of the military tents where the [Soldiers] were supposed to gather.

All three ran to the clearing and slowed to a halt next to a weapons rack, to find an odd state of affairs.

[Corporal] Blackwell was holding a sword to Caldura’s neck with Tomar standing next to him.

A smug look grew on Tomar’s face as he saw Ozzy arrive. “And here he is, the source of everything that has gone wrong with this expedition. Your secrets and lies are all going to be revealed here today you monster! Men, I have spoken to you at length about this but today you finally have proof! There is no mana field to block the approaching danger. There are only strange manaborn monsters to defend us! He doesn’t sleep, he speaks of things that only manaborn monsters know and his very presence has drawn these crazed beasts to us! He won’t kill carugars and keeps them as pets, because only a beast can lead a beast. HE IS A MONSTER! THIS SETTLEMENT FAILS BECAUSE A MONSTER CANNOT LEAD A SETTLEMENT!”