The Pawns Panic

It was early in the morning, and the city prepared for the assault coming from the east. Five of the twenty-eight pawns were on top of the eastern wall along with their army of archers. Another pawn was standing on top of a tall watchtower with a binocular. He watched a group of goblins setting up white flags outside the city to be used as markers for the archers, and most importantly, their cannons and ballistics. The white flag marked the farthest their attacks can get to, and they'll have to wait till the invading armies pass the marker to begin their attack.

Then a fog began to rise by the river and it slowly floated towards the city. Then it stopped. The pawn on the tower leaned over the railings and told the other pawn on the wall what he saw. "Fog?" One of them asked, "Who cares about some fog. And keep your eyes on the glass, Gates!"

"Alright!" Gates looked through his binoculars, watching the fog for any sudden changes.

"Cooke." An extremely tall pawn walked over to the pawn that yelled at Gates. "You think they'll use the fog to sneak to the wall?"

Cooke sat down on a barrel. A large scar covered the left part of his face. "I don't know about that."

"Stop bothering Lil Rook, Clark." The other pawn yelled.

"Shut up, Drew!" He yelled back.

"It's alright." Cooke yawned. He was one of the original eight pawns, and the new pawn looked up to him. Unlike the other pawns, he was kind and gentle despite his scary appearance. He always wore a wool sweater over his chainmail and had his rifle strapped on him whenever he leaves his home. Rook trained him personally, and his traits and daily routine rubbed on Cooke, giving him the nickname Lil Rook.

And his training with Rook also made him one of the most formidable pawns. Cooke was given the task to guard the most important wall because of his experience. But no one ever has ever experienced an invasion before making it an alien experience even to a veteran goblin.

Suddenly, Gates saw large shadows appearing behind the fag. And these shadows grew larger as they come closer until their true appearance escaped the fog's blanket. Large longships sailed the river with paddles on the sides propelling the ships forward. Gates raised his hand, "Targets sighted! They're traveling on boats."

Cooke jumped up from his seat and looked over the river, "Prepare the hot oil! Drew go down the floor and make sure they locked the gates. Clark, Crocker, get to you archers, and don't forget your guns."

"Yes, Crooke!" They yelled before running to their archers. Clark's height towered over the archers and looked as if toddlers surrounded him. Meanwhile, Crocker was the shortest among the pawns, but he makes up for it with tenacity. He barked at his goblins to ready their bows.

And a burning arrow flew from the ships and exploding in the sky. Another arrow exploded on the southside of the city, signaling the invader's allies that the time has come. At the very least, that was what Cooke believed and he prayed the new bloods defending that side of the city can hold their ground. "Woah!" Gates shouted in amusement, "There's another goblin running alongside the boats and he's huge. I would even say he's as big as Rook! Wait, he stopped running!"

"Can you please focus on the ships!" Crocker snapped.

"Holy moly, he's uprooting a tree! And he did it, he's carrying the tree, and he's running towards us. And he just threw like a javelin! And it's coming straight for us."

"What?" Crocker ran to the front of his archers and watched as a giant pine tree falls from the sky like an arrow. Cooke took out his rifle began to fire at the tree. His bullets were reinforced with mana, and they managed to slow the trees descend. The tree lost elevation faster, making it nosedive to the river, barely missing the gate blocking the river entrance.

"Hold up. He's doing it again! He just got another tree and its leaves are starting to glow blue!"

"Blue?" Cooke grabbed a set of binoculars from the barrel he sat on and looked at the goblin, "On no. Everyone get to cover!"

"Tree incoming!" The tree flew fast and it landed on one of the towers with a catapult attached. And another tree followed, slamming against the cement walls, but it did not penetrate its sturdy skin. Cooke ran to the tower and saw the catapult hanging on by the ledge, battered and broken. The leaves from the pine tree fell like rain on the goblins, and its thin needles had a blue aura. "He got another tree. Some greenies jumped off the ship carrying torches, and they're lighting the tree on fire!"

"Fire, which means they're," Cooke looked over the wall. On top of the gates was the large barrel of hot oil that they planned to pour on the ship. A group of goblin hid behind the barrel from the incoming trees. "Get out of there now!" Cooke yelled at them.

"He threw the tree that was on fire! It's coming closer!" Cooke ran to the goblins and threw them away from the barrel. Then he aimed his rifle at the burning tree and forced as much mana out from his body and onto the rifle. He pulled the trigger and shot an onslaught of bullets at the tree, but none of his attacks managed to slow down the tree.

Cooke gathered the mana he had remaining and formed an oval barrier in front of him. The tree crashed on the wall, igniting the oil and spreading the flame throughout the wall like a wildfire. "Cooke, are you ok?" Clark ran into the flame and carried him out. Meanwhile, the fire spread down the gate and reached the goblins on the second floor. The wild fire baked them like they were in the oven.

"They just passed the marker! We have to fire now!" Gates yelled.

"Everyone get in position now!" Crocker slammed his fist against the wall. "Fire!" The archers aimed their arrows to the sky and rained their arrows at the ship. "Catapults, hurry up the fuck up!"

"Another burning tree incoming!" Gates shouted, "And this one is getting bigger and bigger. Wait a minute. This one is aimed at me!" Gates dropped his binoculars and jumped out of the tower. The tree slammed against the tower, shaking its foundation.

Finally, the goblins in charge of the catapults were ready, and they began their counterattack against the invaders. Dozens of boulders were sent flying towards the longships. Excited to see the rocks sink the ships to the bottom of the river, Gates ran back to the edge of the railings and grabbed a new set of binoculars. "Let's see you panic. Wait, what?" Gates could not believe his eyes. The goblins standing on the ship did not move an inch, and an even odder sight was the goblin standing on the ship's head. She looked like the one throwing the trees, but slimmer and with a long black hair dancing in the wind.

And on her was a bronze war club with a cog as its blunt head. "Don't tell me she's thinking of hitting those boulders back to us." Gates said, "What's that? Is that lightning coming out from her body. She's about to swing her club."

Unbeknownst to Gates, the one standing on the longship was not a woman, but a man. He was about to show the city goblins a storm. He swung his warclub like a bat and shot out lightning that struck the boulders and arrows flying towards them, destroying them in the air.

"She destroyed our attacks by summoning lightning! She's just like our queen, she can control the elements!" Gates yelled.

The goblins guarding the walls began to panic as more trees fly towards. None of their attacks are working, and soon the ships will reach the walls and break through the burning gate entrance. Cooke could only pray that the invaders from the southernside were much kinder to their forces. But unfortunately, they lost before the ships even reached the second flag.

On the southern gate, Cossack and his cavalry broke through the defensive line without any problems. Five pawns tried desperately to stop the stampede. They stood in a line just as Rook taught them and fired their weapons. They managed to stop two of the horsemen but riding with the cavalry were archers from the Maston tribe. And their arrows pierced through the pawns' defenses and killed them with one shot to the head before they could empty their clip.

Meanwhile, Shuja led her forces through the underground pathways. Using the map Root drafted, they followed the route that will lead them to Everflow City's source of power. Everything was going according to plan, and there was nothing the city goblins could do but wait for their King to return.