“Rift rot,” I cursed, touching my sigil and peering across the killing fields as the bells rang out, three times, and then kept on ringing. Monsters swarmed from the treeline, spreading out and pushing in like a tidal wave, throwing themselves at the stake walls, the water pits, and going for the station’s walls. A glowcap exploded somewhere ahead of me as a fire arrow struck it, killing a bunch of monsters that were passing by. Another detonated right after, and another, and each detonation casting an eerie blue-green light over patches of the battlefield, offering us glimpses of the enemy.

  "Shardfangs? I thought they never left the Ironclad Ravine?”

  “Kind of them to deliver themselves unto us for slaughter! My wishes and dreams have been answered,” Roq said. “Let us do this, Ash. Let us fulfill our destiny!”

  “I’m not so sure this is a good thing, Roq. And no, I’m not going outside. No way. Screw destiny.”

  Around me, guards were pushing onto the walls, and those already present took up their defensive positions, preparing bows and crossbows. There were even a few larger contraptions I’d been told were called ballistae, that shot bolts the size of my leg. They were exclusively reserved for larger monsters, and we only had a few at the front of the fort.

  I focused on the Shardfangs as they hit the first line of pits, impaling themselves on sharpened stakes concealed within. The beasts howled, their momentum driving the wooden spikes into their bodies along with the weight of others that fell on top of them. Some of them thrashed, while others died right away. Even more of the Shardfangs just bounded past and evaded most of the first trap line. I glanced toward the medical tent, wondering if I should go to the others, but they should be safe near the rift. And it wasn’t like they could do much. Eryn couldn’t draw her bow, and Knut was out. Nabeeh? Maybe…

  The watch commander shouted orders, his voice carrying even over the ringing bell and the general ruckus. More guards and adventurers rushed for the walls, and I spotted Richard, the party leader, and Ming, Edwin’s lightning mage rushing to join.

  A runner dashed toward the rift, his feet carrying him with even greater speed than the monsters. He was probably calling for reinforcements and warning Dawnwatch. Good. If any of these got past us, the second line would be ready.

  With the station working as intended, the best thing I could do was stay on the wall and help as needed, maybe even rack up some experience if it came to that. While the carcasses killed in the defense of Sentinel Station would go to the adventuring guild and guards, that didn’t stop me from leveling. Not with Roq’s weird state of being stuck at level 9.

  "This is not a normal attack," Roq suddenly said, his voice serious.

  "Why?"

  I scanned the mass of monsters, looking for what he might have spotted, but I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  "Look at the rift. Hive Mind’s eyes are up in the sky.”

  I turned just in time to see five monsters descend from the dark sky, leathery wings barely visible in the darkness. Riftwings, the sigil informed me, and they were a green threat level. Each was the size of a large eagle, and they plummeted silently at the runner, catching him before he could make it into the rift. The first monster dove into the back of the man’s head and he collapsed with a thud.

  “Commander!” I shouted, pointing at the fallen man. “Monsters inside the walls! Up in the sky!”

  Several guards who had been racing toward the walls pivoted, their boots skidding in the dirt as they looked to the fallen runner. They hesitated, clearly torn between defending the walls and helping their comrade.

  The watch commander ended their indecision with a bellow that cut through the chaos.

  “To the walls, you bastards!" he yelled, drawing his sword and swiping out a shield, running to the downed runner.

  "Portal piss! The hive mind is trying to stop us from calling for reinforcements. This isn’t good, Roq. It has changed tactics."

  "Smart," Roq growled in my mind. "Cut off help before the real slaughter begins. That makes me wonder what the hive mind is going to throw at us. Another lightning kitty? More of those mole monsters? Oh, oh, oh! Maybe the rat?"

  I was about to move for the rift to make sure we could call for reinforcements when the medical tent flap flew open. Nabeeh emerged from inside, her dark hair whipping around her. She spotted the Riftwings and eyed them, her robes billowing in the sudden gust of wind that passed through the station.

  “Back off!” she shouted to the approaching commander.

  The commander halted as Nabeeh thrust her palms and cast Flame Breath into the air, fire erupting from her outstretched hands, forming into a roaring cone that engulfed three of the Riftwings. Their leathery bodies ignited instantly, their screeches cutting off as they were reduced to charred husks that dropped to the ground like chunks of coal.

  The remaining two Riftwings backed off, screeching, their wings beating frantically as they retreated from the heat. The commander rushed toward him, checking the back of the man’s head, and then he shook him awake, yelling something I couldn’t hear over another glowcap explosion. The runner got to his feet with the commander’s help, and stumbled toward the rift under Nabeeh’s watchful eye. She scanned the sky, but no more flying monsters attacked. The commander nodded grimly to Nabeeh, then called for two guards.

  "You, secure the rift. You, head through and make sure reinforcements are coming!" The guards ran for the portal, following orders. I looked back out onto the walls. Around me, guards and adventurers were firing at the monsters, with bows twanging and crossbows clicking, magic fizzing in and out. Stacks of spare arrows and bolts lined the wall beside piles of heavy rocks ready to be dropped on any monsters that reached the base.

  “Are they attacking every side?” I called out to a guard that was further up ahead and could see the other side of the wall.

  “Yes! And the west gate?” he called back.

  “Yes, sir! I’m on it!” I shot back and made my way over.

  I looked to Nabeeh to see what she was doing, only to find her heading toward me. I waved her back.

  "Don’t! Nabeeh! Get Knut and Eryn to Dawnwatch first!"

  She nodded, holding up a hand in acknowledgment before heading back toward the tents.

  “They even brought out the Steel Scuttlers,” Roq said. “How cute. Like little bite-sized snacks. Too bad I won’t get any experience for them, and neither will you.”

  Light shone off the metallic shells of the dozens of crab-like monsters.

  “Pathetic little tin-cans,” Roq scoffed. “Hardly worth the effort to crush. But, decent forging material, so I will allow it. Store a few for Pa.”

  “How magnanimous of you, oh mighty hammer.”

  “I know, right?”

  Three Scuttlers ran up to a Glowcap and it exploded. They could have easily bypassed it, but they didn’t. Even stranger was how the caps blew up without being set aflame.

  “Are they trying to free them or blow them up? And how are they even doing it?”

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  “Does it matter? They are dead either way.”

  Several shambling forms emerged from the shadows. Ironroot Golems, lumbering in pairs, their bodies a mass of petrified wood and gnarled roots.

  “Oh, I have missed these. I wonder how easily we can kill them now. Hope a few make it here so I can feel them splinter beneath my striking surface!”

  Another explosion rocked the field as an Ironroot Golem stepped on a Glowcap trap and the defenders around me cheered. The blast caught several head-sized Riftcrowns scrambling among the Golem’s legs, ripping them apart, just like Nabeeh and Benedict had done in the Twisted Titan.

  The Ironroot Golem fell sideways, half its upper body torn away and flames eating away at its body. It thrashed wildly, and its partner, too slow to get out of the way, was set on fire.

  “Beautiful,” Roq said. “But they're still coming, and rightly so. I am the grand prize, after all.”

  “Yes, they are.”

  The Glowcaps helped, but they only blew holes in the approaching force. Riftcrowns were following the Shardfangs, more Ironroot Golems plodded into the killing fields, and beetle-like Rotmasks charged headlong for the wall.

  "How thoughtful of the hive mind to deliver my dinner right to our doorstep," Roq commented, but I sensed an unusual tension beneath his bloodthirsty bravado. “Okay, now I am being just dramatic. But I like it!”

  A thought suddenly struck me.

  “Why did you say the Hive Mind’s eyes were in the sky?”

  “Because they are?”

  “You mean hypothetically?”

  Roq hesitated, before saying, “I’m not sure.”

  “How did you know the Riftwings were attacking?”

  “I… heard it?”

  “Their wings?”

  “No. I think… I think I heard the command.”

  “Is the Hive Mind speaking to you like it did in the dungeon?”

  My hands were suddenly sweaty.

  “Hey! You sack of plant crap! We sent your rat running, cleaned out your cave, and now we’re about to bash the face in of your entire army! And I bet you don’t have the guts to show yourself!”

  I held my breath, eyes going wide at the possibility of the hive mind being somewhere close by.

  “Well. It’s either ignoring me or it can’t hear,” Roq said after a while, and I exhaled in relief.

  “But you can hear it?”

  “More like I can sense some of its… it’s not speech but more like commands?” Roq said. “And not clear. It’s weak. Soft. Like a whisper on the wind.”

  “How poetic.”

  I swallowed, trying to gauge the size of the attacking force. How many monsters were out there? What types were we facing? The darkness between Glowcap explosions made it impossible to tell.

  "There are so many of them," I said, more to myself than to Roq.

  "Like ants spilling from a shattered hill. But this is not an assault they can win. The walls are too sturdy, the defenders too many.”

  The twangs of arrows being loosed, almost startled me as I was lost in thought and conversation with Roq. Guards and adventurers all around me

  "Haven't seen this many since before the Twisted Titan run," a guard next to me said with a hint of worry in his voice. "Reckon they've been saving them up." He smiled as yet another Glowcap explosion took out a cluster of charging Shardfangs. “It’ll be good for the economy, though. Fresh gems and materials coming our way. If we survive the night."

  I stared at him.

  "Aren't you nervous?"

  He shrugged, nocking another arrow.

  "Course I am. But this is the job." He loosed the projectile and I saw a monster drop. "You adventurers go out and face the darkness, but we? We do this day in and day out, holding the monsters back from the walls. Not glamorous, but by the rift am I glad we’ve got the walls between us and those monsters. And just listen to those mushroom blasts! There might not even be any left for us!” He chuckled. “Heard it was some adventurer who came up with the trick. If I ever find out who, I'm buying them an ale!"

  “Yeah, clever,” I said as he continued firing. "Are they usually this suicidal?" I asked as creatures threw themselves at Glowcaps, triggering fiery explosions. Others sprinted headlong at us, only to be peppered with arrows and bolts, while others crashed into spikes with such force they impaled themselves.

  "Pretty common, yeah," the guard replied, selecting another arrow. "Monsters are dumb as rocks."

  "The man is right," Roq said, "But he's also dangerously wrong."

  “What do you mean?”

  I frowned, watching how quickly the defenders were expending ammunition and mana. Further down the wall, a rotund man I’d seen in the guild a few times held his staff outward.

  “Inferno Sphere!”

  A ball of flame the size of a wagon wheel streaked across the killing field, leaving a trail of fire on the ground in its wake. It crashed into an Ironroot Golem, detonating to engulf over a dozen more monsters.

  To my left, Ming held her staff to the sky.

  "Lightning bolt!"

  A jagged spear of electricity split the night with blinding white light, stabbing down at yet another Ironroot Golem hitting it square in the chest, blasting a smoking hole through its wooden body. The creature collapsed like a felled log.

  “These monsters seem to share a single brain cell,” Roq said. “To kill us. But that’s not dumb. It’s pretty smart.”

  "Field discharge!" Ming yelled, and a circle of crackling energy appeared on the ground around a dozen Scuttlers. Their metallic shells conducted the electricity perfectly, sparks flying as they cooked from the inside out to collapse in twitching heaps.

  “Smart to die?”

  Ming raised her hands once more.

  "Chain lightning!"

  A bolt of electricity shot from her fingertips, striking a Shardfang at the front of an advancing pack. The lightning jumped from the first monster to the next, then the next, forming a deadly web that connected seven beasts in rapid succession. Each one convulsed violently before dropping dead.

  "Cooldown!" Ming called, her voice hoarse, stepping back. "Need to recharge!"

  After a Fire Trap blew beneath a group of Rotfangs, the crimson-robed fire mage called out the same and both mages backed away from the wall.

  "Heading to the rift!" Ming called to everyone. "Back in a few!"

  "Make it quick!” Richard called back. “We need your spells!”

  There were a few other mages doing the same further up, but they were stretched thin along the walls.

  One the greatest advantages of fighting at Sentinel Station was its proximity to the rift, allowing mages to step through to Dawnwatch, physically removing themselves from combat to start their mana regeneration.

  I frowned, taking in how quickly we were using up all our ammo and mana.What was the Hive Mind trying? Overwhelm us with monsters? But they were all ordinary and something we found out in the wild or in dungeons. There’s no way that--Suddenly it clicked.

  "These are all expendable monsters," I muttered. "Ones that can't do any real damage against the walls. Fodder that could be picked off at leisure." I turned, trying to catch the watch commander's attention.

  "Commander! This is a—"

  “Flier!” Roq shouted.

  I set my legs and raised my shield just as a flock of Riftwings dive-bombed the defenders. One smacked into my shield, breaking its neck and dying , but the others raked at archers’ faces and even knocked several guards off the wall.

  The aerial attack momentarily stopped the guards from loosing arrows at the flying creatures, but. I rushed to help, hammering a monster in the face, and then another. A few other adventurers were doing the same. Shriekers like those we’d faced climbing to the mesa swooped down after the Riftwings, unleashing their sonic attacks along the wall.

  "Help!" a guard cried nearby as three Riftwings descended on him. He was well-armored, but also a sitting duck as he just flailed his arms.

  “Platemaw move!”

  I thought back to the first time I’d fought the armorer beast, and how we’d blinded it, and grabbed a stone from the pile by the wall and tossed it up before hitting it with Roq like a bat. The rock shattered, sending deadly shards spraying at the flying attackers.

  I repeated the move again, beating some of the flying monsters away and killing others, until they were either all gone or dead. My arms ached as hitting rock even with a tempered body like mine wasn’t nothing.“Thanks!” one of the nearby guards shouted. “We got it!”

  “Alright! I’ll stay here for a bit longer!” I shot back and kept an eye to the sky.

  “So, that was why.”

  “What?”

  “Look. Up ahead.”

  I looked back out across the killing fields, and suddenly felt a chill running down my body. The first wave of monsters was nearly at the walls, but they weren't what worried me. Behind them came a second wave, larger and more dangerous than the first, with several types of monsters I didn’t even recognise.

  I touched my sigil. There were plenty of green, yellow, and—my heart sank further—even some orange creatures lumbering forward.

  “What the hell are Saprotic Lurkers,” I muttered, squinting at the orange-rated slug-like monsters oozing their way forward. Yellow-rated Bonepickers and Shimmerscales darted across the field, while green-rated Ruptureborn seemed to be forming the bulk of the second wave.

  Most of the Glowcaps were already detonated, the spikes blunted by the carcasses of the first wave, and I didn’t see a single mage firing off spells. That only left the ranged defenders and some melee fighters spread out along the wall to protect them.

  "Ignore the closer monsters!" the commander shouted from atop of the wall. “Mann the ballistae and target the bigger monsters!”A loud crack resounded from the steelhusk treeline and it was followed by a loud, mushy thud, one loud enough to draw our attention away from the more immediate danger.

  “Rift-rotten, breech born, monster balls,” I muttered.

  The monster was just…big. No, colossal. Like a walking siege engine of twisted bark and root-vein muscle, easily twenty feet tall, maybe more. It looked as if the Hive Mind had taken ten Ironroot Golems and squashed them together to make one giant monster. It was outlined in red and something called a Rootwrought Juggernaut.

  "Deserter's balls," I whispered, the curse barely audible even to myself.

  "Ahh… now that is a monster. It doesn’t just hate, doesn’t just rage, but it obeys. I almost admire that. Almost."

  “Not now, Roq. Leave your admiration for when we survive this portal piss.”