Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Andrew’s POV*

It seemed to take ages to run down the path to the Walls; it was alarming that I saw absolutely no one, not a single Watchman on patrol coming up the way. That wasn’t normal. Watchmen patrolled the entire area within the Walls regularly on their routes.

In a single instant, my fears were confirmed.

At one moment, I heard nothing but the quiet noises of the Forest at mid-Day and my own ragged breathing. At the next, I was awash in the sounds of confusion and the shouts of Watchmen. An aural shielding enchantment! Fuck! But we had planned for that!

I drove myself to run even faster, my legs pumping, the muscles burning with fatigue. There!

Just at the edge of my vision, I could see Watchmen milling everywhere, half of them brandishing arms! After what felt like an eternity, I came within shouting distance of Matt, the Day Watchman, and howled at him, waving my arms to get his attention as I loped forward. “Matt! What’s going on?!?”

He ran to meet me halfway, and once I was close enough, I stopped to catch my breath and listen, resting my hands on my knees. “Second Officer Andrew, where is everyone? We’ve sounded the howlers twice now!”

I looked up at him, wheezing for breath, “Spell! Keep talking; I’ve sent word.”

He looked exasperated. “There’s a massive, mixed force of trolls and ogres coming from the West, headed straight for the Gates. They have a battering ram, Second Officer.”

Matt hesitated. An experienced soldier who was older than I was, his expression alone made me take him seriously. “Strange shit has been happening. Equipment has gone missing; people are getting stumbled by thin air. Some of the Watchmen fear for ghosts-“

I shook my head and stood up straight. “-True ghosts can’t trip you up. That means it’s something that can be hurt and defeated. Where are Jake and Vas?”

Matt looked mildly reassured. “Vas has rounded up a force to guard the Soul’s shrine, and Jake is by the Gates, watching the approaching force.”

I slapped him on the shoulder and took off at fast trot for the Gates, figuring I could make my way back to the shrine afterwards. Immediately, I saw what Matt had meant. Barrels were toppling over with no one having touched them, and I saw three Watchmen go down around me, cursing in confusion, for seemingly no reason. Once I could have sworn I felt the point of my scabbard brush against something, when there hadn’t been anything there.

I made it to the Gates relatively unscathed, and the Watchmen surrounding Jake parted so I could get to him more easily. “Jake!” I shouted to get his attention, and he rolled his eyes the moment he saw me.

Jake was a guy with a generally cool demeanor, but he looked understandably harried. “Where the fuck have you been? Where is everyone? I’ve sent four runners now to the Village, and sounded the howlers twice. They’re getting tired-“

I interrupted him, given the situation, “-It’s aural shielding, something must have taken out the runners. That something is loose in here, it can’t be seen.”

Jake scowled. “We have to get word to the Village, if this force is taking out our runners, we’ll have to send a larger party-“

Again I took a chance and cut him off, in the interest of time. “-I sent my ward to raise the alarm. Reinforcements should arrive shortly.” Seeing Jake’s questioning look, I hurriedly added, “Though, of course, sending another party is an excellent idea.”

Jake physically grabbed Anna from another conversation, told her to assemble a dozen Watchmen, and to make haste to the center of the Village, to sound the howlers. They were to return once they knew all the Officers and the Elder had been alerted of the attack. She gestured to several Watchmen around her and they took off at a fast jog through the fray.

Jake placed a hand on his hip, and I was acutely aware of the fact that everyone was staring at us, looking for leadership. “So what’s going on? You’re the bookworm, Andrew. What are we facing on the inside, here?”

My mind raced. Invisible… not very large or powerful… “Mazikeen, maybe, though they’re demons, seems unlikely…”

I thought rapidly. Polong were too rare and were much more powerful. Besides, I hadn’t seen any Watchmen with blood pouring out of their mouths. “Maybe sigbin, or kobolds. No, wait; I don’t smell anything. Probably kobolds.”

Jake scowled. “Shit. We need to know for sure.” He gestured around him. “Someone capture one of the things that’s plaguing us. They aren’t spirits, they can be cut and they can be killed! Bring it here!”

I added quickly, “They’re the size of toddlers, so aim low.” I turned to Jake. “How long has this been going on?”

He shook his head. “The dryads started howling an hour and a half ago, and we caught sight of the enemy force about fifteen minutes after that. I believe we can count on the diwata and encanto to help, but not unless we’re out in the field, they’d be destroyed alone. The weird incidents inside the Walls started about twenty minutes ago. Already some oil was spilled and lit over by the kitchens!”

Shit. “The fire is out?” Jake nodded. “That does sound like kobolds, though I can’t imagine what-“

“-Here!” Bret came trotting up to us with a grotesque, bloody form held at arm’s length. “Lizzy and I bagged one. What the fuck is it?”

I gestured for him to set it down and went to look. It was about two and a half feet tall, with black skin and a bent back. I kicked it over and saw it had a wispy beard and a slowly fading circle of dull light on its chest. “It’s a kobold; it's kobolds plaguing us. They must be trying to cause disorganization and panic.”

I drew Dennis Westower and hoisted it into the air, willing myself to look as inspirational as possible. “These things are kobolds! They can make themselves invisible, but they can also be hurt, they can be killed! Bring them down!”

Jake drew his sword and held it aloft. “For the Soul!” The cry was echoed and a cheer went up before I saw Watchmen everywhere taking swings seemingly into the thin air around them. Shit, hopefully I hadn’t done more harm than good…

Jake tapped my shoulder. “We have maybe half an hour before the body of the force may try to engage, a little less than that before they’re in range of the ballistae. I’ve got that under control; go to Vas at the shrine and tell her to watch out for these things.”

I took off at a jog without questioning him. Hopefully, Eliza would bring the Conjurers and Papa Emeritus soon. It was my hope that they might be able to render the kobolds vulnerable to our sight.

Notes

what do you think? will the Wild Ones win the Day?