Rhun noticed that the figures on the wall seemed small, even for a human. “Are those youths too? You let them into a fight like this?”

Sela nodded, “Most of them are orphans like me. The wall is much safer than the ground. Refuge hasn’t been attacked like this, ever! We needed everyone.”

"Well, I would hope the town wouldn’t normally send its youth to a fight,” said Bron. “Employing them as watchmen is bad enough.”

“Just the orphaned ones usually,” she replied.

"Really? Is this town so cruel?” his eyes opened wide.

"We have to earn our keep somehow, don’t we? We don’t want to take our chances on the streets of Greihold.”

"The street presence in Greihold is much less unruly lately,” Bron argued.

“Because they don’t let us in anymore. They might just be street thugs and petty thieves to you city folk, but I bet I would recognize most of them. It’s not much of a life, but it’s a living ya know?”

”They aren’t allowing people into the city? Where do they go?” Rhun asked.

The girl gestured out at the wilderness outside the walls, currently peppered with spent arrows and javelins. “Anywhere else. Bandits don’t come from nowhere after all. That’s why those kids aren’t just willing to engage in this battle. They are desperate to earn a permanent place in this town.”

The blacksmith stepped forward, “I’d employ them all if I could you know. But ours is a small industry. It is cruel what happens, but Joveta isn’t heartless. We just don’t have room for everyone, not anymore. We wouldn’t normally send them into a battle like this, but it was a close thing. It’s true we do use some of the orphaned youth as sentries, but they aren’t usually supposed to fight. After their sixteen birthday is when they must find a job in town, so most start early to ensure a spot. It wasn’t always like this. We used to patrol the land around the town and everyone who wanted could build homesteads. Over the last five years, they were all destroyed.”

Bron scowled in response, but with the state of the town, what could he say? “I can not judge you or your town Guluss. You have clearly been hung out to dry by Greihold.”

Guluss nodded and gestured to the unmoving Blemmyae being prodded by spears. “It seems we won this fight. If you want, I’ll introduce you to the mayor. If this is how things are, she’ll probably love to have you join our lovely little town.”

”Can’t wait!” said Rhun, with complete sincerity.

”Yes, uh, what she said,” Bron added, though he was still conflicted by what he’d just heard.

They started down the steps towards the blood-soaked center of the battle. ”You might even be able to cut a deal with the mayor to let your friend stay in town for a while,” Guluss added.

”Greihold didn’t let orcs spend the night in town either, but I thought it might be because cityfolk were stuck up like that.” Rhun said.

”I hope you won’t get angry if I say this.” Guluss scratched the side of his jaw nervously. “It’s not an unfair rule. And it’s partly a human problem that the rule exists.”

”What problem is that?” Rhun asked.

”Humans occasionally try to cheat people.” Guluss admitted.

“Occasionally,” snickered Chione.

He glanced at her sideways with narrowed eyes. “When this happens to one of us, we either go to the authorities or create a plot to sabotage them. But what would your people do?”

”Well, we wouldn’t let it go!” Rhun insisted.

The blacksmith laughed, “I’ve never met an orc with a gift for understatement. Trying to cheat an orc is a way to get your head ripped off. We manage our trade with the orcs very carefully, with a party of armed guards present. They are there to ensure any trade is fair for both parties.”

”Rhun has dealt with a lot of humans, she’s aware of how crafty we can be,” Bron explained.

The blacksmith nodded. “I can tell by her speech. She’s an odd one for sure.”

A couple of dead blemmyae were sprawled at the base of the stairs, pierced through with many arrows and javelins.

“Seems quite a few of them broke through the main battle line.” Bron observed.

Chione nodded. “Yes, they pushed through our lines early on, before all the townsfolk were roused.” She pointed out the mass of arrows and javelins in their flesh. “It was the youth who saved us. They harried them from the walls. Many were severely wounded before they reached the checkpoint. Sela’s crew did the rest. She might seem skittish, but the fact the girl is still manning her post should reveal her courage. All the others were killed. We thought her dead too, but it seems it was only a glancing blow to her helmet. As if glancing is the right description of a blow from a thousand pound monster. In the end, only one of the beasts was able to push through.”

”So she moved all the dead herself?” Bron asked.

”Yes. It must have been Sela. Poor girl.” The blacksmith turned to look at his wife, giving her a knowing look.

Chione frowned in response, “I better see how she is doing. She’s held it together, but won’t for long.”

”Keep an eye out. I don’t think there are any more, but…”

”I’ll run like the wind if I see anything.” Chione laughed as she turned to go back to the checkpoint. “I’ve never pretended to be some skilled fighter.”

None of the downed Blemmyae so much as twitched anymore, so the defenders ceased stabbing at their still bodies. But there was no cheer of victory. They leaned on their pikes, taking in deep breaths. Several dropped their pikes and fell to their knees, limbs visibly shaking, with some throwing up. Despite their fearsome resistance, many had been physically on the brink of collapse. Hours of holding twenty foot pikes, hours of stabbing over and over into enemies that refused to fall.

Once some of the townspeople recovered, they sought each other out and spoke in low tones about the experience. Many stayed on the ground or leaned on their pikes like it was a lifeline. Friends eventually sought them out, took their weapons, and led them away to recover.

Rhunal pointed these people out. “See how they take care of each other? I wouldn’t mind that. I wouldn’t mind finding a home.”

”You are still set on not returning to your people?” Bron asked. “There must be good people among them.”

”I can’t shake the feeling that a fight awaits me when I go there. Good or bad, they won’t be much like me. I’ll have to fight for my place among them, and I’m not ready. My magical training isn’t far enough yet.”

”Okay. We stick to the original plan then. We speak with the mayor and get a job under our belts.”

Rhun nodded earnestly. “Gonna do my best.”