Chapter 068: Atop the Watchtower

Jess steadied his sword and took two steps forward. The gnoll suddenly lunged at him with both axes whirling.

He thrust straight between them. His blade was longer than either weapon, and the point drove into the gnoll's mouth before its short arms could reach him. Its axes swung uselessly twice in the air before it convulsed and fell to its knees.

Jess had barely pulled his blade free when another gnoll's paw appeared over the parapet beside him. He immediately swung to chop it off, but the gnoll struck his sword aside with an iron bar in its other hand, almost knocking the weapon from his grip.

The creature sprang onto the wall and jabbed at Jess with the bar. He stepped back quickly, avoiding it, only to hear more crazed laughter behind him.

Damn it. More and more of them.

Worse, he was beginning to tire.

"Fuaiket."

Jess pointed at the gnoll in front of him and cast Fear. By now he was quite practiced with the spell.

The gnoll had been poised to charge, grinning and giggling. Its expression changed in an instant. With a terrified howl, it jumped straight off the wall, crashing down through the treetops below.

This Fear spell hadn't cost Jess much energy.

The gnoll behind him stared, stunned to see its companion leap off the battlements. While it stood confused, Jess rushed forward and drove his sword accurately into its chest. The force of his step shoved the creature over the wall. Jess nearly followed it.

Fear. Should he use the spell that frightened groups of enemies now?

Jess reached back and gripped the long staff on his back, then hesitated.

Based on his earlier experience, the stronger Fear spell didn't just frighten enemies. It could frighten allies too. Would the humans here resist it as well as Gred? Probably not.

And these gnolls were like lunatics. Some were huge, savage fighters whose resistance to Fear might be no worse than a human's.

After casting a spell that drained so much mental strength, Jess would no longer be able to fight the way he just had.

He could easily end up terrifying his own allies, helping the gnolls, exhausting himself, and getting beaten to death.

He released the staff.

"Saeno... can you hear me? If you can, get out here..."

He whispered the words without much hope.

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Then a flash of arcane light burst right in front of him. Saeno grabbed his collar and demanded in a hushed voice, "What are these horrible things, Master?!"

"How did you get here?" Jess asked, astonished.

"Imps can turn invisible! Imps can move between planes!" Saeno laughed. "Those fools couldn't see me! I climbed up the outside of the window, Master!"

Jess seized the imp with both hands and shook him.

"Forget all that! Shoot fireballs into the sky! Hurry!"

"I don't know why, but if Master commands it, I'll obey! Just put me down first!"

Jess dropped him onto the stone. Saeno got up, shook his head, and began chanting incomprehensible words. Fire gathered in his hands and burned brighter and brighter.

In the courtyard below, soldiers who had been forced to defend themselves had neither armor nor proper weapons. They were fighting the gnolls with whatever they could grab.

The walls and two watchtowers were already occupied by gnolls. The remaining contested watchtower was the site of a desperate struggle. Its two sentries looked about to be overwhelmed.

If the gnolls took the walls completely, they could use the soldiers' crossbows to fire down into the courtyard, where the defenders were barely holding out. Stonewatch would fall in no time.

A fireball burst behind Jess. He looked back to see Saeno's shot climb high into the night sky, explode, and become a cloud of gray smoke.

Would that work? Could the colonel see it?

"Again! Keep firing!"

"I heard you, Master!"

Suddenly, gnolls on a captured watchtower in the distance began barking and shrieking in confusion. Jess looked over. Every pair of yellow eyes was fixed on him.

They'd noticed.

That wasn't surprising. If the cavalry in the forest could see the signal, he couldn't expect the gnolls in the fortress to ignore it.

"Stop! No more!" Jess grabbed Saeno and interrupted his spell. "Save your strength. When the gnolls get up here, kill them. Use everything you've got."

Saeno hopped from foot to foot.

"Understood, Master! Would you like me to give you all the magical assistance I can?"

"Yes! Of course!" Jess said. "That Blood Pact Seal—use it if you can. If I die, you're not living either."

"Master, that's not true! If you die, I'll be free!" Saeno corrected him.

Damn this little bastard.

Jess wanted to kick him to death, but a gnoll suddenly climbed up behind him, cutting his anger short.

Jess turned and slashed. The gnoll ducked. He kicked it square in the face instead, knocking it off the wall.

Just keep doing that, Jess told himself. Over and over. All night if he had to.

Another gnoll poked its head above the battlements on the far side. Saeno chanted a quick spell. Flames suddenly erupted over the creature, and it fell screaming off the wall.

The imp burst into laughter. In the darkness, that demonic cackle was disturbing even to hear.

"Burn! Burn to death! Ha ha!"

Immolate.

Whenever one of the gnolls caught fire and ran about writhing in pain, Saeno would leap onto its head, celebrating and dancing among the flames.

"I'll devour your soul! I'll devour your filthy souls, you inferior creatures!" he shrieked with almost hysterical excitement.

More gnolls were massing along the walls and moving toward the tower. Jess's throat felt drier by the moment. He had never imagined facing an entire army of gnolls like this.

He glanced toward the forest. The dark presence he'd felt earlier was gone, and he couldn't sense the cavalry anywhere either.

How much longer would this night last?

As he stared, a gnoll in strange-looking chest armor suddenly filled his view.

The creature had leaped straight up from below the wall. Carrying a studded club and drooling, it came at him with an ugly howl.

Jess ducked desperately. The club smashed into the wall and knocked several studs from its head.

The gnoll swung sideways. Jess threw himself aside and barely avoided it. The blow passed so close to the back of his head that he felt the wind sting his ear.

Jess scrambled up against the parapet as the gnoll steadied itself and turned toward him.

He pointed to the imp.

"Saeno! Burn this one!"

"I was going to do that without you telling me!"