Before he had even finished speaking, monsters emerged from the trees—nolls, creatures with hyena-like heads that walked on two legs like humans. Intelligent enough to steal and use human tools, and known to travel in massive packs, they were highly dangerous. Large villages had been reduced to ruins under noll raids more than once.
"Damn it! Are they insane?"
"They're attacking even after seeing this many of us? What in the…" A soldier who had risen to his feet stopped mid-sentence, his face turning pale. The number of nolls emerging from the woods was staggering, likely over three hundred. Every face in both camps turned ashen.
"Emergency! Form ranks immediately!"
"Defensive formation! If we're late, we're all dead!"
"Grab your weapons! Shields up! Spears ready!"
Ki ki ki ki.
They scrambled to form ranks, and the nolls cackled, seemingly amused by the chaos.