Andross stood on the ramparts of the keep and watched as another wave of enemies exited the cave, an even larger swarm than previously. Feral monsterfolk wearing salvaged armor and weapons of all kinds marched toward them, with various tamed and untamed monsters pacing at their sides.

  The more unique little monster people Andross heard about appeared to be running along their flanks and back. The larger, gross Third Stratum creatures with too many eyes and mouths and spiritual limbs stayed near the very rear of the army.

  A minor war council with many of the leaders of their armed forces was being held on the edge of the ramparts, overlooking the enemy. Lothar, Elyra, Myron, Agatha, and a few of the squad captains like Zarog and Andross himself stood near.

  And a new addition had arrived. The Knights of Keltharis had arrived at the keep, ready to join the fight. The knights were tough, Anja and Henrik both capable of giving the orcs challenging, honorable duels. It seemed they were busying themselves with waiting while the Ordeals of Frosthaven shifted, as Lord Noblefrost was changing two of them and initializing a brand new one altogether.

  Lothar grinned in anticipation of the fight as he looked over the arriving enemies, Myron and Elyra by his side, with Agatha watching with her farsight spell.

  She noted, “The numbers are more once again. This keep will be a challenge to hold soon enough if it gets any worse.”

  Myron stroked his chin. “Yes, it’s a bit concerning. The mist is accelerating its growth in the underworld, too. If we don’t make our move to assault it soon, we may lose the chance to do so at the advantage. You said, If we destroy an objective or weaken special structures, the spawns should slow. Perhaps we must move soon.”

  Agatha nodded. “That’s correct. Though truly, those nasty creatures appear to be leading them. Kill them, and the feral monsterfolk will be nothing but a disorganized mob. Easy for our seasoned warriors to defeat.”

  Elyra was tapping her bat-like mace onto the palm of her hand repeatedly. She whined, “I wanted to kill those gross guys, but Myrbear wouldn’t let me go after them. If we kill them, then they won’t come back. Isn’t this simple?”

  Myron groaned. “Those creatures are beyond just you for the time being. And they fled before we could clear enough of the enemy to cut off their retreat. I know you can probably catch them, but it’s just too dangerous, my love. We were hoping to wait for Lord Noblefrost’s party before we took any undue risks.”

  Lothar turned to the two Knight Captains. “Though, now we do have some strong reinforcements. You just arrived, Anja and Henrik. Do you think your men can cut them off and manage a pincer? No offense, but it seems risky with your people’s current level. The…abominations are in the Third Stratum, after all. I know being outnumbered as elite knights is one thing, but those creatures…”

  Anja nodded. “That’s fair to say, and my partner here agrees.” She tapped the hilt of her odd sword. “It is perhaps a little too risky. But we may not have a choice soon enough if the mist is expanding faster. The enemy could hide reinforcements until the last minute.”

  Henrik added, “Because of that, this might be one of the last chances we get to thin these abominations' numbers. At the same time, that army on its way is sizeable. Are we sure we can face them in the valley below?”

  Lothar sighed. “If we don’t, many will slip by, and who knows what damage they can do to the countryside? Bryndor and some of his men have already headed West, so we’re on our own. Minus a few…reinforcements from the king that are on their way. It’s unknown how long we have before they arrive.”

  The keep was at a distance from the inlet of the cave of the underworld. The geography was aligned so that the monsters would be forced to march down a valley and straight past the front of the keep in order to arrive on the main road. From there, they could easily head toward Frosthaven or to the southwest.

  Arrows and spells would rain down over them, weakening and slaying them from relative safety. Any monsters allowed to pass would then go on to ransack the countryside, often growing to become larger threats and striking nearby kingdoms or peoples.

  This was the normal setup for a frontier fortress meant to face Monster Kingdoms. By making the monsters forced to destroy the keep in order to pass, that is precisely what they would do. And this would be to the significant detriment of the kingdom, a single loss against a horde requiring a complete rebuild of the fortress–something challenging to accomplish when the waves of enemies continued.

  It was much better to allow them to bypass the keep so that they could simply repair and reman it once the threats were defeated, and they were able. Occasionally the monster kingdoms might even take them over anyway. But it was better to give them the easier way out if they had the superior numbers–allowing them to move on rather than suffer even more losses taking a keep.

  And if the monsters took the keep, there weren’t as many ransacking the countryside. More importantly, it also meant they knew exactly where the monsters were. It was a lot of work to track down monsterfolk once they spread out, a lot of ground to cover and track and search.

  Feral monsterfolk were hungry, violent things, and they would be happy to move on if given the chance. They would take the path of least resistance, as long as they weren’t too pissed off.

  The keep also overlooked the path heading West on the opposite side, allowing them to also rain down attacks onto enemy armies. The other road heading deeper to the south and southwest was covered by the beetlefolk’s hive, which meant these two fortresses were largely protecting the Noblefrost Kingdom against foreign enemies.

  A feminine voice reached his ears. “Battle should start soon. Have some tea, honey, before it’s too late. It’ll give you plenty of strength.”

  Andross smiled at his new Star Oni wife, Orchid. In her pale, purple hands, she had the teacup on a saucer, which he gladly set down his polearm, leaning it up against the crenellation, and took into his hands. Taking a sip, the essence within his body stirred, and he could somehow feel the woman’s excitement for their pairing in the taste.

  Zarog laughed at Lothar. “Yeah. Have a spot of tea, honey. Just look at you! An orc, ready for war, drinking tea!”

  Andross ignored him for a moment. “Thanks, Orchid, it’s lovely. You’re going to stay and help protect Sharon and Indrid, right?”

  “Um…yes, I’d prefer to fight with you, my Fated, but… I understand that I am not quite ready for joining you in war. Soon, I hope.”

  He smiled at her. “Of course, my dear. Perhaps after this battle we can make it to Frosthaven and take a run through the new Path together, and you’ll get where you need to be to fight alongside me.”

  Then he narrowed his eyes on Zarog, turning to him. “How could you make fun of my wife’s tea? Like you have room to talk. Don’t act like you’re not enjoying your precious wife's pastry right now, too. There are crumbs all over your armor!”

  Zarog snorted, chewing the pastry with his own Star Oni wife next to him, flakes falling onto the ground beneath him. His wife began brushing them off with a cloth. “What! How can you equate Mitsuki’s masterful pastries with Orchid’s mere tea? She made this and brought it all the way from Frosthaven. Of course I’m going to eat this now, on the battlefield or not!”

  Andross’s eyes nearly rolled out of his head. Zarog had fallen hard for this girl, who was his first wife. He became overly defensive and competitive with Andross and his wives, but never once had he given a reason to be. He was happy for Zarog, but this was getting annoying.

  Andross groaned. “I didn’t insult your wife’s pastries–I’m sure they’re fantastic, just like Orchid’s tea, and I’d love to taste some. I only said you’re hardly in a position to tease me! Now shut up and let me enjoy my tea–it looks like Lothar is about to say something. The fighting will begin soon.”

  Zarog whispered, “Sorry, Bro. You see, Mitsuki… she’s really jealous of Orchid, for some reason, I think. So I have to…play it up.”

  Mitsuki grabbed Zarog’s ear. “What did you just say to him?”

  Zarog’s eyes widened, as the woman was now right next to them. “N-Nothing, Babe. Talking about the–”

  She scowled. “Who the fuck is Babe? You’ve got some other girl I don’t know about? I told you to call me Sweetie.”

  “No, it’s only you! Yes, Sweetie. Of course. Haha, it is very fitting with your sweets! I can’t wait to eat the victory cake.”

  Mitsuki had narrowed eyes. “Yes, I did make something special for you. I do hope you can earn it.”

  “Earn it?”

  Andross turned away with a sigh, enjoying his tea as the young love had difficulties, doing his best to put it out of his mind. Zarog was on his own–that was one battle he could not help his brother out with.

  Lothar turned to everyone, standing closer to the inner part of the rampart and looking down on the forces gathered within the courtyard. “Listen up, warriors. The enemy’s numbers are significant. We are outnumbered more than two to one. And there are some big bastards back there, two of the abominations. There is no telling what they might be capable of, so I am not going to mince words. I don’t think we’ll all be walking out of this one alive. Unless you want to hide in the keep?”

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  “No way! Bring them on!”

  “We’re not afraid of ferals!”

  “My axe hungers! Let me at them!”

  A chorus of denials and requests to fight the monsters rang out, causing Lothar to grin as his gaze moved over the crowd of warriors inside the keep.

  Lothar grinned. “That’s what I thought. We’re not going to allow these monsters to run amok in our great kingdom, to hurt those who cannot defend themselves. Warriors–follow me down into the valley. We will square off against our foe and slay them here and now.”

  Of course, many warriors stayed behind to protect the archers and casters in case the enemy ignored the army squaring off with them and went after their more squishy allies. That they were high up and protected by both difficult terrain and the crenelations of the keep meant most monsters would ignore them and go after the enemies in front of them, but some would still try it. The weaker the ramparts looked, the more likely they would try it.

  Andross and Zarog had sent their star oni wives away to join the defense on the ramparts, then headed down the stairs and into the courtyard along with Lothar, Myron, Elyra, and the two knight captains. Only Agatha remained in the keep, prepared to lead her shamans in their ranged elemental attacks.

  Leaving out the front gate, they headed down the winding ramp. There were over two hundred warriors in the Second Stratum in total. Orc, Wolfen, Star Oni, humans and beastfolk that joined the guard, and a smattering of various monsterfolk: scalefolk, naga, and beetlefolk. Those that remained behind in the keep were about a hundred of the same, the archers and casters and the few meant to defend them.

  The valley, or canyon, in front of the keep was largely flat and narrow, only a slight incline as it headed toward the cave after they passed the rocky areas. Their two hundred-strong force formed a line nearly fifty abreast, with very little area around the sides for the enemy to proceed. Shield and spear users were largely in the front row.

  The second and third rows were also polearm or two-handed weapon users, ready to aid the front line or their flanks or face the larger monsters that just might leap through. The last line was the shamans and other casters or pack-fighting archers, like the Star Oni males who needed to fight more near to their Fated to achieve anything significant, and the Wolfen mates.

  The beasts and monsterfolk continued their march as the warriors formed their lines. Above them and to their right was the keep, the crenellations lined with archers and shamans.

  As the monsters neared, they actually stopped and lined up, just out of their archers effective ranges. It was as if they were sizing them up, just like a normal army.

  Zarog said to Andross, “What do you think, battle brother? Are these monsters trying to pull one over on us? The idea that the leaders flee after watching us is concerning, is it not?”

  Andross snorted. “I think it doesn’t matter what I think. I need only swing my glaive at the enemy in front of me.”

  Zarog shook his head. “Father always says you should be thinking about your next axe swing before you make your current one. And more importantly–your enemy’s.”

  Andross shrugged. “Of course the mist is a trap. Monsters don’t do things for nothing. They can now reinforce with an even larger army without us being able to see them until it is too late for us to reinforce. And for all we know, they might be seeking or making another path out of the mountain. But I’ll leave worrying about that to our leaders.”

  The Star Oni were watching the western underworld path, and up to now, their enemy took very little interest in it, only scouting it. But once the mist had covered it, it would be a challenge to watch it any longer, and they might just make their move at that time.

  Eventually, the enemy did surge forward. The larger beasts ran alongside the feral monsterfolk, variations of giant wolves, bears, panthers, tigers, boars, and more. They kept pace and shielded the smaller monsterfolk from the rain of essence-infused arrows, the archers firing rapidly from the keep above.

  And then there were the spells. Bolts of fire, lightning, ice, earth, and starlight struck the enemies, sending explosions and striking the monsters hard. Many beasts were knocked to the ground from the force of the blasts, sending them crashing into their allies.

  There was a little bit of order to the chaos, but it was still a largely unorganized mob that crashed into the Frosthaven army’s well-ordered shield and polearm line. The larger beasts had arrows and wounds from spells on them, but they still attempted to leap over and go after their allies. Andross roared as he stabbed outward, piercing into a tiger’s chest mid-air.

  The spike-and-fur-covered monster was heavy, but it yowled as his powerful, essence-filled thrust combined with its own body weight and momentum ran it through. His glaive was nearly ripped out of his arms from the monster’s weight, but he held on before he switched to a one-handed grip as it landed on the ground short of its destination. Then he kicked the monster in the face, sending it tumbling away for an ally to stab it in the skull, putting it down.

  Zarog met the feral warriors with his shield, blocking their frenzied attacks. Bloodlust ran through them, wild essence empowering their blows. But they were lacking technique, and Zarog managed to wound and disarm the monsters with his own polearm, finding time to counter.

  With the enemy disabled, it was only a matter of time before Andross or one of their allies found a path through the shield line, stabbing them and finishing them off.

  And the Knights of Keltharis held their own just as well. Blades of frost and blood congealed from the wounds of enemies, and their strength was obvious as they held the line. Nearly each swing of their swords of frostblood weakened the enemies significantly or culled them altogether.

  The enemies ended up bunched up, unable to move forward through their line, but the larger beasts kept attempting to leap over and were met by a wall of polearms. In a sense, each warrior only needed to slay two or three enemies. And Andross’s kill count quickly reached well above that in less than a minute or two of fighting. Watching Lothar, that man surely had reached the double digits rather quickly.

  The fighting was going well, but suddenly, there was a shift in the enemy forces. The wild…furry people in the back began chanting, and mist that deeply resembled the mist from the underworld was released, covering the valley rapidly. From what Andross could see, the mist even rose high up into the air, reaching up the mountain toward the keep.

  Andross couldn’t see very far in front of him, but he could tell this was no good.

  As he was covered in the mist, he could feel something press against his mind–but it merely washed over him. Not only did he have his Soldier’s Mind Trait, but he had Lord Noblefrost’s protection. Somehow, he knew that his brethren nearby also weren’t influenced heavily by this mist, but there was still an odd…feeling.

  Like something was watching him. That he was being hunted. There was a pair of eyes in the distance, red eyes that watched him with ferocity, looming toward him. The size of them was large, like red, bright beams of light. Then…another set opened, gazing upon him, and then a third set. If these were those abominations, then it was very worrying. Because there should only be two.

  Lothar’s voice carried through the mist. “Something hides in the mist, but focus on the enemy in front of you for now. Agatha will do something about it. Fight on, warriors! Crush these curs!” The orc chief then gave his battle cry, a shout that stirred the blood of the orcs–and he saw that even some of the Wolfen were influenced.

  Their feral monsterfolk enemies became frenzied as well, their beady eyes looking outright murderous as they pushed against the line as if empowered by the mist or some dark magic. A goblin tried to slink under Zarog’s shield with a pair of daggers as a drakan pushed upward, only to be met by Andross’s stabbing glaive. But other warriors on the line were not so lucky.

  Beasts launched out of the mists at full speed, leaping over the shield lines and grappling with the defenders. Andross activated his blood rage, his orcish blood pumping faster, his breaths coming in heavier. His mind became hazy as he felt the anger at his allies being harmed, his body trembling with lightly restrained fury.

  He dashed to the side where a large wolf had torn into one of the wolfen, and swung his glaive downward in a powerful arc full of essence. The blade carved through the monster’s shoulder, removing its arm before it could latch into the smaller woman’s flesh. Then he spun and brought the polearm down again, cutting deep into its spine.

  His mind was addled with rage as he went on a rampage of cutting and stabbing whatever monster appeared in front of him for a time. Until Zarog shouted, calling for his aid. And it was only thanks to his Soldier’s Mind that he was able to follow his command, turning back and facing the other direction.

  “Forward, Brother! Cut these monsters down while I hold them off!”

  The enemies eventually thinned, but that was when a large monster crashed into their front line, sending Zarog and several others tumbling in different directions. A spectral limb with a claw at the end swung toward Andross, and he roared as he swung in counter.

  The limb nearly sent him flying even as he blocked, his feet digging furrows into the ground as he was shoved back from the weight. The monster’s true limb rounded on him, forcing him to use his skill to dash backwards, retreating just barely within the nick of time. Shards of ice crashed into the monster from the side, the Knights of Keltharis attacking with their stored bloodfrost.

  The abomination roared in pain, a piercing wail that shook Andross’s mind. This only angered him further, and his essence surged as he struck out in a series of attacks, roaring in response. The feeling of his strikes landing was odd and dulled, not piercing through as it should. The monster’s flesh was roiling as if alive, like a physical smoke rather than a hide at all.

  Zarog joined him, his shield smashing into the creature and knocking its bulk off-kilter. Bolts of frost and lightning crashed into it, the nearby Noblefrost monsterfolk shamans casting spells at the larger target. They washed over its odd, murky flesh, diminishing its essence as it defended against them.

  Henrik and Anja joined in the fight, their Sageblades cutting deep into the monster from the other side, blades of frost and blood slicing into it in a storm of attacks. It spun and swiped at them, sending Henrik flying despite blocking with his shield, and its mouth bit out at Anja–but she flittered away as she diverted it with her blade, likely reducing her weight as the wraiths could do.

  In the distance, Andross could hear Lothar’s shouts–no doubt he was facing one of the abominations with Myron and Elyra. But that left a third one to run amok, and that worried him. The mists started being pushed away, revealing the battlefield. And what Andross saw up at the keep made him go deeper into a rage.

  The third abomination had climbed the keep, along with the little furry gray people. In large nets, they carried the shamans and archer defenders down the cliff face and toward the caves. Agatha raged against the abomination, doing her best to hold it off with a flurry of ice and lightning, but it was clear the monster’s presence was only a distraction or shield for their true cause, and it actually began to flee down the cliff.

  And so did the abomination they were facing. With a powerful roar, it sent out a wave of essence, brushing off Andross, Zarog, Anja, and Henrik, and sending them flying. Before turning around and heading toward the cave. It was clearly wounded from their battle, but the speed from its larger body and its six legs was fast enough that it would be tough for them to keep up. And more feral monsterfolk were still arriving, a second group held in reserve for this moment, it seemed.

  Zarog growled. “Those pricks! Shit! I think I saw Sharon get caught, Brother.”

  Andross’s blood ran cold as he looked at the many women and the few star oni men being dragged away. On some level, he knew their women weren’t weak–they could handle themselves, and they would accept death just as an orc warrior might. And protected by their lord, this was only an inconvenience.

  But these abominations might do more than just kill or eat them. The little furry buggers were doing all sorts of rituals. They had to be stopped before it was too late.