Chapter 342. Bridge Assault.

  The Chixtani controlled ogre went on a rampage, its club sweeping away several of the gnomish attackers with each blow. Elida and the other goblins also reached the fight, alongside a rather well-organized group of naga warriors armed with spears and shields. With Glurk and the old man providing ranged fire support, I helped out by casting Command Lesser Foe on one of the gnomes, turning it on its companions.

  I then opened Rodney’s Bag of Beasts pulling a creature from it to assist in the battle. A furry mole-rat animal emerged; something called a Zokor. It wasn’t exactly a formidable foe, though it trotted dutifully toward the growing battle. Maybe a gnome would trip over it or something, but I doubted the random animal would do me any good.

  My other items, like the Fangs of the Hydra and the Portal of the Cackle weren’t going to be needed here, as it looked like the fight was turning in our favor. I’d save the more powerful summoning items for a more dire need. The old man to my left stopped shooting, changing out the partially empty magazine for a fully loaded one with a smoothness that told me he had done this many times before.

  “Nebram, send in the reserves to secure this end of the bridge and pull any wounded back for the healers to work on,” the old man ordered to a naga that stood nearby. The naga was dressed in a tactical vest and carried a long spear engraved with runes. Nodding, the naga named Nebram slithered off to follow the old man’s orders.

  “One of my minions is a healer if you need any help for serious cases. I’d like to preserve as many of her healing spells as we can if we’re facing something other than a few unarmed gnomes and their ogre buddies,” I said as our forces wiped out the last of the bridge defenders on this end.

  Instead of continuing the assault to the other side of the bridge, the naga seem content to occupy the tower on this end, and a few protected positions on the bridge itself. I seemed like the gnomes had a bunch of half-finished barricades in place, which our troops were putting to good use. I had my team return to my side while the naga took over the defense of the bridge.

  “I think we’re fine for now. With your troops helping, my boys took a lot less damage than I’d expected,” the old man said.

  “Silas, don’t be an old grump, at least introduce yourself now that we’re not in imminent danger. Hi, I’m Misty,” a young woman in modern body armor said as she held out her hand.

  She was young, probably college age, and had one of those smiles that seemed to ignite something in her eyes. Her grip was strong, and though she wasn’t trying to crush my hand, I could feel the power behind it. Her strength score must have been substantial, which was surprising for someone from Earth that wasn’t a summoned being.

  “Thanks, Misty, I’m Rico,” I replied a bit awkwardly as the old man glared at me.

  “I’m Silas Ward, your creatures seemed to be up to the challenge, just like Lopez promised,” Silas said, pointing toward my minions as they approached. I noticed that a small group of naga shadowed them like they still weren’t quite sure if we were friends or foes.

  “They’re a solid team, but what exactly are we facing here?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s mostly these rabid gnomes and a few ogres out here on the bridge. Once inside the keep, it’s anyone’s guess what Bhalkur has waiting to defend the keep controlling this level of the pit,” Silas said. The name, Bhalkur, triggered many unpleasant memories for me. That was who the cultists on Earth had worshipped, and it seemed this Bhalkur was operating a much bigger operation than a few misguided human servants.

  “I’ve dealt with Bhalkur cultists when I was back on Earth, I assume this is the same guy?” I asked.

  “Creepy formless horror that corrupts everything around him? Bends others to his will in a fanatical devotion? Lives in a pit that we're trying to keep him sealed inside of? If you answered yes to any of those questions, we’re probably talking about the same guy,” Misty joked.

  “That’s the one, and I’m glad to help. I have some payback I need to dish out on him,” I said, thinking about all those that his cultists had killed, and that young woman trapped with me when I was their prisoner.

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  “If we clear the tower and place it under our control, that’ll be another step toward ending Bhalkur’s threat,” Silas said.

  “So, what’s our next move?” I asked.

  “We need to secure the other side of the bridge. First, we’ll let our shamans heal everyone up and reapply buffs, then we’ll begin the assault under the cover of some more artillery,” Silas said.

  “More of the mortars?” I asked, curious if he had more of the modern weapons.

  “No, those are toast, and we knew they were only going to be useful in the initial assault. For our next artillery barrage, I’ve hired some mercenaries to do the job,” Silas said, pointing toward where a portal had opened under the cover of the tower we controlled.

  Out of the portal a small team of goblins hauled out a pair of wooden carts loaded to the gills with lumber and crates. With a bunch of shouting and yelling, the goblins began to assemble a siege engine of some sort. Having dealt with goblins during several summonings, I was a bit worried about the functionality of whatever they were building. Catastrophic failures weren’t entirely uncommon with most goblin contraptions.

  “What defenders are we going to face on the other side of the bridge? Are we looking at more of the same?” I asked.

  “No, other than a few ogres to stiffen their defenses, this side of the bridge pretty much had just the rabid gnomes as fodder. The other half of the bridge will have some of Bhalkur’s better forces on this level. Those that have been corrupted by Bhalkur for a longer period of time begin to regain some of their skill and cunning. Mix that with bodily mutations to make them dangerous, and you have an idea of what we’ll be up against,” Silas explained.

  “What will you need my team to do?” I asked.

  “This time, I’d like your minions to lead the assault. All my troops are real people and if we’re going to have casualties, I’d rather it be among summoned creatures, not live ones,” Silas said, his face morphing into a grim expression as several of the fallen naga were dragged away from the bridge.

  Our casualties had been surprisingly light, and it seemed that Elida’s ability to heal those around her when she was in melee had paid dividends among the naga forces we were fighting alongside. My own troops were fully healed and ready to go, but even so, crossing the bridge on their own could be problematic depending on the enemy’s weapons. I needed more intel to make this work.

  “What about ranged attacks? Do the enemy have archers or mages? Who was casting that fireball barrage earlier?” I asked.

  “As far as ranged attacks, some of the corrupted will have crossbows or javelins. A few might have simple magic, think magic missiles or flame blasts, that sort of thing. As for the barrage earlier, that came from the keep, but I doubt whoever commands there has enough mana to keep that up,” Silas said.

  I looked over at the keep in the distance. It was made from slabs of dark rock that seemed out of place considering the terrain around us. Other than the bridge and the cleared killing ground around the keep, we were surrounded by a thick jungle. I couldn’t see the far side of the keep but had to assume that Silas had scouted all avenues of approach and found this to be the most viable.

  “My team’s ready to go as soon as your barrage starts up,” I said, noticing that the goblins were making quick work on assembling the pair of siege engines.

  The siege engines looked like a portable trebuchet was being assembled on top of the cart itself, making it sort of a mobile artillery platform. The pieces of the siege engines had been pre-cut and the goblin crews knew what they were doing as they worked at a feverish pace to finish up quickly. One of the goblins, a shady-looking fellow missing half of one ear and wearing dirty coveralls, jogged over to Silas.

  “Hey boss, we’re just about done, where do you want us to drop the hate” the goblin asked.

  “I need you to suppress the tower at the other end of the bridge, then keep up a barrage to tear up any reinforcements from the keep,” Silas said, pointing toward his targets.

  “Woah, hold your hellhounds there, boss. Gritvart only paid us for a single barrage, and that means three rounds from each siege engine. You want more than that, you need to sign a new contract, and before you ask, no, we can’t stay longer, we have other obligations after this job,” the goblin replied. Silas looked like he was going to explode, and his dog, which resembled a Cocker Spaniel that was super-sized, growled menacingly, but the old man managed to keep himself under control.

  “Fine, focus everything on the tower, and for what I’m paying, you better hit what you’re aiming at,” Silas growled.

  “Hey, you get what you pay for, and we’re no amateurs, buddy,” I’ll be ready to fire in two minutes, and once I’m ready, I’m firing whether you’re ready or not,” the goblin warned.

  “Fine, we’ll be ready,” Silas said. The goblin jogged back over to the machines which looked like they were fully assembled, and the workers were only doing some last-minute adjustments.

  “Can you get your team ready to go, Rico? My naga will be right behind you to support the attack. I’ll be providing overwatch protection,” Silas said, pointing toward the top of the tower where he planned to cover us from.

  “My minions are ready to go, and I’ll use some toys to support the attack,” I said, pulling the Portal of the Cackle from my pack. The gnolls that the portal summoned would make good fodder for my troops to hide behind as they attacked. If the goblin siege engines did their job, my minions would have some of the work done for them before they even got into the fight.

  With a loud crack, one of the support beams on a trebuchet gave way and the whole siege engine crashed to the ground. Goblins began arguing amongst themselves as they checked over the surviving engine.

  I guess I should plan on my minions doing this without much in the way of fire support.