The Tigers of The North - Part 13

The people turned their faces away uncomfortably.

Nila didn't have words, she knew that, so she dove straight to the heart of the matter.

"Why do you not fight?" She asked, her voice harsher than she expected. She sounded angry, she realized. That short girl, with her red hair, sounded as though there was fury in her voice. As though she was a voice on their shoulder, criticising them for their cowardice.

"Leave it, girl," a man complained tiredly. "We're done. There's no sense in fighting the Yarmdon. Ain't no village ever managed to fight off one of their raids. And this here force? They're the Elites. If even the soldiers don't stand a chance, then we don't either."

There weren't any murmurs of agreement. It wasn't as though the villagers wanted to argue with her. They were not strongly on any side of the fence. They'd merely given up. The energy had left their hearts. They didn't have the strength or will left to resist anything.