The horse did not cope particularly well with carrying all three of us. Well... four of us, when you take into account Flynn’s corpse. I mean… it didn’t collapse or anything… but we certainly weren’t travelling as fast as we were before. I could hear the hordes getting closer to us. Fortunately, we managed to make it to the gate before they caught up to us.

  Chloe wasted absolutely no time. She barged straight into the guard house.

  Chloe: “I want every single guard armed and ready to fight at the north gate within two fucking minutes. Understand!”

  She pointed her finger at a rather nimble looking rogue in the corner of the room.

  Chloe: “You. Get up the tower and ring that bell as hard as you can!”

  Rogue: “Ma’am, is this a…”

  Chloe: “No, this is not a practice. We are seriously fucked. Now get a move on!”

  We returned outside to view the oncoming horde. The dust from the road that they were kicking up made it difficult to see most of what was coming. Not to mention the ominous white fog that was steadily growing behind them. But we did know that they were travelling at significant speed. The sky… that was easier to see. It was mostly a sea of imps that blackened the ground with their shadows. But my main concern is the dragon and the wyvern.

  Chloe: “Shit, we aren’t prepared for this kind of assault. We only have one ballista at each entrance.”

  She turned to a rather ostentatious looking knight behind her.

  Chloe: “Get every bastard that can use a bow and get them somewhere high. I want those flying fucks reduced as much as possible. Stick them on people’s roofs if you have to!”

  The knight disappeared off into the guard house… she then turned to a rather young looking and clearly panicked knight who was struggling to put his gauntlets on.

  Chloe: “Fuck’s sake, Gavin. Come here!”

  The young knight rushed over to her. She put his gauntlets on for him and then smiled at him.

  Chloe: “Go to the adventurers’ guild. We need every single adventurer they’ve got. The safe zones need protecting and the people will need help getting to them. Get it done.”

  Gavin nodded his head nervously, gave a salute and ran off into the town. The sound of the bell began to ring out. I looked into the town and saw the people emerging from the buildings… initially looking pissed off by the bell… but then realising it was serious and being overwhelmed with panic.

  Confused Knight: “Ma’am, a second horde has been spotted.”

  Chloe: “Oh, you are fucking kidding me. Right, we need to mobilise a second group to go and stall them. Where is it coming from?”

  Confused Knight: “From the north-west.”

  Chloe: “North-west you say, give me that spyglass.”

  She snatched the spyglass from his hand and looked to the northwest. She laughed.

  Chloe: “I hate that sight, but it’s what we fucking well need right now.”

  She turned to the gathering knights behind her.

  Chloe: “Change of plan…

  She pointed to a group of four knights who had just emerged from the barracks.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Chloe: “You four, stand to the side for a moment. Everyone else, if you can fire a bow or cast a spell then concentrate on the flyers. Everybody else, get back into the city and protect the citizens from anything that slips through.”

  Confused Knight: “But Ma’am, surely we need every available man to defend this entrance. There are two hordes of…

  Chloe: “The second horde is with us… or at least it better be. If it isn’t then we have no fucking chance.”

  Disgusted Knight: “But, that is a horde of undead.”

  Chloe: “Which is the best possible defence against demonic forces. Those fucks can’t cast holy magic, so the undead bastards are really gonna slow them down.”

  Disgusted Knight: “But Ma’am, we cannot ally ourselves with such…”

  Chloe: “You don’t have to. I already have. And when we all survive this, which we will, you can court martial me then. Now piss off and do what I told you to do!”

  The knights disappeared into the town as Tristan and Kin’Ayesha pulled up next to us on horseback. They were followed by a large group of undead. Maybe six hundred full on skeletons. Seventy still decomposing corpses… that smelled absolutely fucking disgusting. And about twenty fresh bodies. About half of which were wielding weapons. I assume this is due to the tradition of burying adventurers with their weapons.

  They both jumped off the horse and Chloe gave Tristan a hug.

  Chloe: “Good job. Now get somewhere out of the firing line. We’re going to need you to slow down some of those big bastards.”

  Tristan nodded and moved towards the watchtower near the gate. She looked down at Kin’Ayesha.

  Chloe: “And what happens to this army of yours if you die?”

  Kin’Ayesha: “If I pass, they return to nothing. If I lose concentration, then they will simply continue to perform the last instruction that they were given until I regain it.”

  Chloe: “Then stick with Tristan. And don’t you dare get hurt. Send the unarmed ones to the armoury, gut the place if you have to. I want as many of them armed as possible. And put those decomposing bastards on the frontline. They fucking stink.”

  Kin’Ayesha: “Understood.”

  He stepped aside and closed his eyes… I assume to communicate his instructions. Chloe turned to the four knights that she had asked to stand aside.

  Chloe: “You four. You’re with Dwynfel. You keep him alive, no matter what. Understand?”

  Knight 1: “With all due respect…”

  Chloe: “Do not finish that sentence. People who say that rarely intend any respect at all. I’m not insane. Dwynfel is part of some weird ass prophecy. According to some noble bullshit he’s gonna save the whole city with that stupid glowing sword or some shit. I may not believe in prophecies, but I’ve seen what that glowing sword can do. Even if it can’t kill everything, it will certainly be a massive help in this fight.”

  Knight 2: “What glowing sword?”

  Chloe: “Fuck’s sake, it doesn’t glow all the time. And some deranged demon wearing granny skin has stolen it. She’s somewhere in this city, doing gods knows what. You four are going to help him find her and get his sword back. You understand?”

  Knight 1: “But, where is she?”

  Chloe: “Fucked if I know. Look for the chaos.”

  One of the knights stepped forward and presented his hand to me.

  Knight 1: “Names Chip Chenowith.”

  Chloe slapped his hand away.

  Chloe: “No time for that shit. Get a fucking move on.”

  Chip: “Okay, okay.”

  I smiled at the knights and nervously waved. I heard the clang of metal behind me as the demonic horde crashed into the undead. Metal clashed against metal and the screams of dying creatures began.

  Chloe: “Fucking go!”

  Dwynfel: “Right.”

  I ran into town through the gate with the four knights. As I did, I heard Chloe one last time.

  Chloe: “Hope you’re ready for this, Bobby.”

  Robert: “Chloe, my dear. Should anything go wrong…”

  Chloe: “Fuck off, we got this.”