Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Defenseless

Scavengers, cowards, traitors, shame and scum were some of the adjectives used by their neighbors to describe those barbarian tribes. Normally, they were busy stabbing each other, and didn't dare to confront the other tribes.

However, an unusual event had happened. Although they had tried to hide it, most of the warriors of the neighboring tribes had left to fight in distant lands. That left their settlements unguarded, and the members who had been left behind, defenseless.

Only old people, children, and a few who hadn't been able to go for one reason or another remained. They had nothing to fear from them.

So, for once, they had joined together to raid these settlements and plunder them. They didn't trust each other, and would probably try to kill and rob their allies after getting the loot. Only for now, they were allies.

They attacked the wooden walls that defended the nearest settlement by surprise. Each of the tribes of the temporary and precarious alliance attacked from one flank. They were determined not to give them a chance to defend themselves. They were also in a hurry to be the first to reach the loot.

The attackers overcame the defenses with ease, but, when they climbed the stakes that made up the wall, almost everyone stood still, stupefied.

"What're you doing? Move! We have to get in before they raise the alarm!" one of them urged.

"There's nothing..." the barbarian stammered. She couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her.

"What do you mean...? How!?" he exclaimed when he managed to climb up.

As her companion had mentioned, there was nothing. Behind the walls, there weren't even the typical houses of the barbarians. It was all a huge uninhabited lot.

This scene of stupefaction was repeated along the wall. No one understood what had happened there, or how.

They decided to attack the next settlement, and found themselves in the same situation. This happened several times, until they reached the Skullsmash's one.

"There's smoke. They must all have taken refuge there," a scout reported.

"Let's wait for the night. They'll be defenseless," another suggested.

"Sounds good to me. We'll attack from the north," another agreed.

"Giant-scorpionshit! The north is ours!" a third refused.

The discussions only intensified, and would have caused a good fight if they didn't have a succulent loot in sight. The children could be used for ransoms, if they were too old to assimilate them. Perhaps, they could be slaves. Of the rest, if any survived, it would be seen. Nonetheless, what they really coveted were the reserves of food, weapons and leather, in addition to other valuable loot that could be there.

Finally, as night fell, they crept up on all sides. There were a few lookouts, but they seemed rather distracted. They aimed up to ten archers at each, to make sure they didn't miss. If those scouts could be taken out without raising the alarm, everything would be much smoother.

Although they weren't seasoned warriors, they weren't so inept either that they couldn't coordinate. All the groups fired at the same time, at the signal of a raven. It was a barbarian's pet, and it swooped down briefly to mark the start of the attack.

Everyone expected to see the lookouts fall, but that didn't happen. Instead, the projectiles hit invisible barriers, which they hadn't been able to notice until then. The main one rose above the wall, and it was fully activated when the first of the arrows tried to break through it.