Ariadne and the others emerged from the carriage as the convoy pulled into the village, drawing a large crowd of onlookers, including an elderly Shafran woman with two companions.

  ‘What can we do for you, Your Highness?’ An older Shafran approached, attempting to bow to Ariadne.

  ‘You don’t need to do this; we are here to assist your village and help with the monsters in the area.’ She covers her mouth with her fan.

  ‘Ah, that is great; the monsters are getting more persistent; half the village needs to be prepared for an attack.’ The village chief had a sad expression as she gazed downward.

  ‘The lights we brought will be helpful at night; the monsters fear them, so if my soldiers could use some help, we could start setting them up right now.’ Ariadne gave a nod to Alon.

  ‘You will receive all the help.’ The chief waved the A-Dam companions to her side.

  Alon and the soldiers removed the posts from the wagons with the aid of the villages. One soldier then walked like he was counting his steps on the periphery of the village's center, leaving marks as he walked. He got Edmund’s attention, and he could ?see who it was.

  ‘See that? Ethan's doing a good job.’ He whispered to Eliza and pointed at the soldier.

  ‘Ho, I didn’t notice; wearing a soldier uniform sure makes one look older, but don’t point at people.’ Eliza answered, slapping Edmund's hand.

  ‘He was not skilled as a carpenter and was terrible with Runes; perhaps this is his calling.’ Edmund crossed his arms.

  ‘I wonder Leah's opinion on this.’ Eliza returned her gaze to Ariadne's back.

  A Chatzi child was looking around from the top of a tower at the center of the village when he noticed a large group of figures approaching the village and assumed they were monsters. He began to scream and strike a bell.

  ‘Monsters to the north, monsters to the north.’ The child screamed.

  The sound of the bell caused Ariadne to look up at the tower and at the village chief right after, who gave her a startled look before she noticed that all the men of the village headed north with a variety of weapons that the women who had just emerged from their homes had given to them. All the soldiers who accompanied the duchess turned to face Alon, who pointed north with a wave of his hand. He then turned to face one of the wagon's drivers.

  ‘Follow us!’ he yelled as he ran.

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  ‘Duchess, I’m going over there to see what is happening.’ Edmund took off running and jumped on the wagon.

  ‘Edmund didn’t get his sword; will he be alright?’ Eliza looked worried.

  ‘The peasant wants to see the soldiers in action; don’t worry.’ Ariadne looked at the soldiers running.

  ‘I understand.’ Eliza gave a shy smile.

  ‘You need not worry, Chief; I care forre of everything.’ The duchess put her hand on the chief's shoulder.

  ‘Hum?’ The chief replied, confused.

  ‘Where can we find a quiet place to talk? Perhaps your home?’ Ariadne smiled at the village chief.

  ‘Ho, follow me; let us over to my home; we will be safe there.’ She turned around and moved toward a house nearby.

  Ariadne rapidly walked to the back of her carriage, opened a sizeable rectangular chest, and took out one of the two swords. She walked back, close to the village chief and Eliza, dragging the sword's point on the ground.

  ‘Wait, did the soldiers abandon us? Where is our protection?’ Eliza looked around.

  ‘I’m here; there is no need for protection.’ Ariadne responded, smiling at Eliza.

  A large group of monsters was running toward the people gathered on the north side of the village with their makeshift weapons. Alon thought it odd that the village had just a tiny wall around his waist. He quickly signaled the soldiers to move through the people, get in front of them, and use the small wall as cover. The villagers were perplexed when they saw the soldiers pointing strange sticks at the approaching monsters.

  ‘Fire at will.’ Alon yelled.

  The loud sounds coming from the soldiers' weapons made the villages start panicking and run for protection. One man looked at the soldiers and the monsters coming in their direction. To his shock, many monsters were falling, one after another.

  In her panic, a Shafran woman used the small wall as her hiding spot. Right next to Ethan, she saw him stop, reach for one of his pockets, and get a block. However, it slid from his hand because he was shaking. She quickly grabbed it and gave it to him.

  ‘Ethan, go back to the wagon and get a box of batteries.’ Alon yelled.

  ‘No need, captain; I’m here." Edmund replied.

  Edmund came running, carrying two boxes. He looked enthusiastic as he placed one box of batteries by Alon's side and dashed to the last soldier in the wall, carrying another box, making the Shafran woman, covering her ears, startle.

  ‘Hello, Etha. How are things with Leah? You all have a fan here.’ Edmund yelled, tossing the box to the ground.

  ‘What are you talking about? We're in the middle of a battle.’ Ethan looked perplexed at the young man.

  Alon noticed that the monsters stopped running towards them as Edmund began distributing the batteries to the soldiers. The monsters built a wall out of other monsters' bodies, but it was useless; the packed nature of their formation caused them to fall even faster as the shoots passed through the bodies like nothing.

  ‘Cease fire.’ Alon yelled.

  Everyone witnessed the devastation of what appeared to be dozens of bodies on the plain. The villagers started to cheer, jumping and giving each other hugs. Alon called out on the radio.

  ‘Move forward; finish the ones that are still alive.’ He spoke.

  As they began to advance, the monsters were not moving at all; most were just paralyzed by the pain of having their bodies mutilated by the holes, and the soldiers only used their knives to finish the job. Edmund was curious about how these were different from the others that attacked them before.

  ‘They mount these massive wolves; this is insane, but these are more familiar to me.’ Edmund talked to himself while looking at a body lying full of holes with a wooden spear.

  ‘This is an ork; it is an adult goblin; it changes so much that we give it another name.’ Alon explained as he approached Edmund's side.

  ‘Hum, interesting. These monsters resemble demon-lord soldiers but with fewer arms.’ Edmund said as he turned the creature's body so that its back was visible.

  ‘I have no idea what you are talking about, but this would be a bloodbath without us.’ Alon muttered as he looked around and noticed the villagers were still celebrating.

  ‘The soldiers need to carry more batteries with them; carrying these heavy boxes around will kill them. It's better to have the tailors make a belt for seven batteries.’ Edmund got to his feet and turned to face the joyful villagers.