Dawn has come and with it a fresh new batch of hell is approaching.

The war horn of the diamond dog army is being blown and the dogs are responding to its call with howls and barks while the defenders of Talon's End are scrambling over themselves as they move into defensive positions, ready to give their lives to protect their families and home.

From my vantage point in the guardhouse I can see that the diamond dog army that is here is actually smaller than what I had originally thought it was. From the thousands I was expecting that had this village at its absolute mercy, it turns out that it was nothing more than maybe a little less than two thousand dogs that are now closely surrounding the village.

When the bellowing from the horn pitters out and comes to an end, the dogs standing behind the massive shield wall immediately break rank and lose cohesion as several of their new officers give the order to charge at the walls while the few original leaders struggle to bring the rabble to heel.

"And so it begins."

The great fuckening of our time...no wait that's not it, I mean the greatest battle of our lives.

The horde of disorganized dogs rushed toward the walls, many of them moving on all fours and abandoning their weapon to move faster due to forgetting that they had sheaths and belts for their weapons while the rest were running on their hind legs and waving their weapons in the air like they just don't care. The sight of the dogs still not being a completely coherent army gives me a spark of hope that they won't be able to properly coordinate their forces and allow us to pick and pry their squads apart.

'The damage we have done to the dogs last night by killing their officers appears to be more substantial than I was lead to believe, the new top dogs haven't sworn loyalty to their top alpha so these d-dogs are probably considered rogue elements by the larger army and they may just leave these ones out to dry.'

"Here they come! Get ready and hold fast!" I shouted as I drew my longsword and held my ground as those behind and below me by the gates drew their own weapons of spears and swords as they held their ground and waited for the dogs to attack the gates.

Fortunately for this village that its walls are built thick and sturdy with the poles being buried deep to prevent them from being so easily moved and being three poles thick so they can't be easily breached. Watching the wave of dogs collide with the walls and gates with less organized intensity brought a thin smile to my face as they struggled to break down the walls and gates with their bodies alone.

Some of the diamond dogs were apparently smart enough to try and climb over their brethren and jumped onto the walls to try and climb over while two jumped onto the gatehouse I was standing in, but they have made a grave error.

"Griffons! Dogs are trying to climb the walls! Repel the invaders!" I shouted before quickly slashing downward on the diamond dog on my right, the blade biting into the paw that was holding onto the side of the gatehouse, forcing the little bastard off and to fall back into the large gathering of diamond dogs on the ground while the dog on my right received a stab to the stomach as I plunged my blade into its gut, either killing it or condemning it to a painful death.

The griffons of the village that was ready for the dogs to climb the walls flew into the air and thrusting their spears into the faces, chests and shoulders of any dog that managed to make it to the top of the wall as the sound of whimpers and yelps of pain echoed around the village. One of the dogs managed to completely scale the wall far from my gatehouse and leapt at an approaching griffon as the two collided and fell to the ground in a heap, but luckily for the griffon two other griffons were nearby and skewered the dogs before he could even raise a weapon to harm a feather off that bird's head.

As the dogs kept hammering themselves against the walls and gates, I gave the order to open the gates to allow the dogs in, to funnel them inside to more easily kill them and also to prevent them from eventually forming a body ramp to scale the walls. Turning to the gate below me I slid down the ladder and joined the griffons and ponies standing by the gate and raised my sword with the others and waited as a griffon undid the last lock and quickly flew back to our line just at the diamond dog horde swarmed through the new opening.

Watching the doors open within the safety of the guards and villagers, the gates surprised the dogs that were directly at the gates as they were trampled underneath their battle brothers with some of them getting crushed to death while the rest rushed at our line with teeth bared and weapons raised just as our own were ready for them.

Bodies clashed and weapons drew blood for both sides as neither group yielded to the other.

The struggle was real for both ourselves and the diamond dogs but we held the homefield advantage for the previous night as had used a few tables and removed one set of legs and had them pushed into the mud at an angle just for this particular part of the battle. With the guards standing in the front with their shields raised and their spears angled above their heads, the butt end of the spear would rest against the table, never moving backwards while the villagers behind them had their own spears to form a porcupine defensive wall, the end result being dogs getting impaled with those that survived or didn't get skewered thrashing against the shields but being unable to get over due to the threat of death of pointy sticks.

As soon as the fighting at our gate came to a standstill I gave the signal for the reprisal, the griffonian shield wall pushed forward with all of their might and raised their shields as a group of ponies and griffons moved between the wall and thrust their spears into the forward dogs, impaling and skewering several of them before retreating back as the shields reformed the wall as the dogs stepped over their dead and dying as we slowly started to move forward, repeating the process over and over as more died to our spears. The dogs that survived the attack were put down as griffons and ponies finished off any dog that so much as twitched or moved a muscle, making sure that none of them are playing dead to get up behind us as we kept advancing towards the gatehouse.

'To think that a movie would inspire me for this part of the defensive strategy, as long as I can keep as many people alive, I can be happy with the outcome.'

---

POV: Private Tychus
Southern Gatehouse

---

My commanding officer assigned me to the southern gate to protect our flank from the diamond dogs. I thought at first that it was because that there aren't that many dogs down here than there are at the other gates, but when I took a peek over the walls my tune changed immediately as the amount of dogs seemed to be the same amount all around us. While I wanted to be serving alongside our newest knight as I had heard stories from the other guards that this 'diamond dog' goes against the grain of his kind's actions, I have sadly been assigned as far away from him as possible.

I guess I will never find out if he shoots fire from his eyes or lightning from his arse as the rumors say that he can.

But back to the matter at talon, these diamond dogs are pounding on the gates and we just got word from our knight to open the gate and let the dogs come in. I thought the officer must have lost his damn mind but when I remembered what our plan was I kept my beak shut and did as I was told as I gave the poor sap of a griffon standing by the gate to undo the latch to fly like hell back to our line.

I saw the fear in my fellow griffon's eyes and I thought that he was gonna not do his one duty and retreat back to our line and make somegriffon else do it, but in the end the frightened griffon yanked on the latch and bolted back to us just as the dogs gave a particularly hard shove on the door, making said doors bounce off the brickwork that made up the base of the gatehouse and caused quite a few dogs to crash into the doors as they bounced back resulting in a number falling over and being trampled.

Watching the diamond dogs rush us made my feathers puff up and stand on end as fear gripped me as the spear in my talons started to shake and I wanted to do nothing more than to flee and go back to guarding the quiet hallways of the castle. Luckily for me however was that one of my senior guards was standing beside me and with a reassuring nod and pat on the shoulder I steeled my resolve and held my ground as the diamond dogs dashed themselves against the shield wall.

'I can't believe this plan of his is working... I thought that there was no way that these dogs are this stupid, but Boreas above they are this dumb!'

The dogs rammed into our shield walls and when we got the signal we pushed the dogs back and started to impale and cut them down to size.

'I guess I owe that petty officer fifty gold for being right about our new knight...damn it now it will take me even longer to purchase that new food cooler I have been saving up for!'

---

POV: Ian
Northern Gate

---

The sounds of combat continue on for less than hour as the dogs kept throwing themselves at our defenses, refusing to stop and retreat with their leaders being the first ones to die as the led the attack, the end result being the dogs being too dumb to figure out that this plan wasn't working and that they suffered massive casualties as a result of it. When the fighting finally died down I gave the order for the removal the enemy dead by dumping them outside the walls, retrieve any weapons from the dead, and to reclaim any of our fallen and move them to townhall while I returned to the gatehouse to keep watch on the dogs to see what their response is, if any, come our way.

Once the din of battle was no longer present in the air and a relative peace returned to the village, the few griffon leaders in charge of defending their respective gate or river entrance came back and told me how their fight went.

"Sire, your plan worked flawlessly and our group hasn't suffered a single injury! The dogs are retreating from the southern gate and have left behind their dead and wounded."
"Aye, I can say the same thing from the eastern river gate as well. The dogs couldn't breach the shield wall and they suffered heavy casualties but they managed to retreat when one of them suddenly got smart enough to realize that it was a suicide run and barked the retreat order."
"The western river gate had only one casualty and that was cause a pony slipped in the mud and bonked her head on the shields. They are alright but they got a bruise and if they get struck there then they may go down for good with a concussion or worse."

With that status report now tucked away in my mental folder I wiped away the sweat that has accumulated from the morning skirmish and flicked it away.

'Thank the gods that we nobody got seriously injured, if we can keep this up then we can surely win the day!'

"Good, very good, just keep doing this battle plan and the dogs will be forced to think smarter and try to circumvent our homefield advantage but by then they would have lost plenty of soldiers and their morale will have dropped to the point where insubordination and desertion will start happening. We just got to keep this up, don't do anything overtly risky or dangerous and we will let the enemy destroy themselves, hopefully they will soon get the message that we are not to be fucked with and that they should run while they still can." I said this as the officers in charge of their respective gatehouse nodded at my words, seemingly encouraged by the fact that while the dogs of done minimal damage in their attacks and have only truly hurt us last night with their surprise attack, now all that they seem to be able to do is just send wave after wave of sloppy attacks that end in failure.

Thank the gods we took out most of their officers and disciplinary soldiers with that retaliation strike cause otherwise these attacks they have sent our way would probably be far more devastating to us due to having competent leaders directing their men.

After that the actions that happened in the morning repeated itself at an almost hourly interval the dogs would send several large groups at the gates and sending several dogs over the walls to try and attack us from behind, but each attack we thwarted and put down all those that came our way.

'Is this the best that they can put together? It would appear that whoever those minotaurs pissed off when they messed with that bugbear must be very territorial are came here to exact revenge for probably ruining their hunted meal.'

By the end of the first day of the siege the diamond dogs have suffered the most in terms of casualties and loss of manpower while we only had minor damage to both the village and those that were defending it, luckily for us no one has died so far during all of the fighting. It would seem that my plan to kill the officers has truly paid off and that we are reaping the benefits from it.

If only I knew just how much this pissed off the leader of the raiding army, to have his forces thwarted multiple times by a single person that many still considered to be a race traitor to the canine-people race for even helping the griffons. The collection of injuries that I have sustained so far was only going to grow as this conflict waged on, I just hope I don't lose an arm or a leg cause I don't think there are any magic prosthetics in this world so I better watch out.

---

The Next Day

---

When the next dawn came I had thought that the dogs were going to once again send small prodding forces to test and try to find a chink in the defenses, but no, today they went all out.

As the sun rose over the horizon the alarm bells started to be rung, rousing me from my slumber as I was jolted awake from the loud gong sounds ringing throughout the village. With the bells being rung I quickly rolled up from the bedroll I was using as I have given my bed to an injured pony that had received a concussion when he ran head first at galloping speed into a wall, he was lucky that was all he had received as a few inches behind his tail as he laid on the ground was several arrows, some of which were barbed. The pony was this close to meeting his ancestors in the afterlife and we would of had to tell his wife and two foals that their father wasn't coming home.

The bells continued to ring as I raced towards the nearest guard tower to see what was going on as griffons and ponies moved as fast as possible towards their designated positions, myself was busy climbing the town hall to see what was going on and what I saw made me dryly swallow.

Coming from all sides and clumping near the four gates was the diamond dogs, many of whom were carrying long and heavy objects with them as they approached the gates. My only guess as to what those objects could be was the only logical option that one would bring or create when laying siege on a fortified target, a battering ram.

Cupping my hands to my mouth I shouted out my next order to the brave defenders of Talon's End, knowing that this order will make or break their resolve to continue the fight.

"Man the gates and hold fast! Put extra bars on the gates and make sure not a single dog gets through any of you! Watchers of the Sky, drop rocks from above to try to maim or kill the dogs manning the battering ram, anything to slow them down but don't dive bomb them or they may take you out if you get too low! If those mongrels breach those gates then they will take everything you hold precious and the lives of those you love will be lost forever! I have seen the conditions they kept their slaves and the work they put them through, do not let that be their fate! Drive them back and keep them out of Talon's End no matter what!" The order was given and the griffons and ponies all moved towards their gatehouse, the dogs were moving together as one and were using what looked like poorly made tower shields made from stripped tree bark for cover while the dogs heading straight for the gatehouse were carrying between what may be twelve of them, was a chopped down tree-turned-battering ram.

'Looks like they have a smart dog amongst the surviving officers, damn it all, I just hope that this dog isn't smart enough to realize that we are starting to run on fumes and that it will be only a matter of time before we start falling apart.'

As we manned the gates and held our positions we all heard the sound of a multitude of footsteps on the other side of the gates, but when we heard and then saw the get slightly buckle from the impact of the tree we all knew that it was only a matter of time before they breach the gates. We expected the dogs just throw themselves and the ram at the gate until it fell with reckless abandon but no, these dogs are taking their time with the gate, hitting it in six-second intervals and with each impact we held our breath as we waited for our enemy to come to us.

"Hold fast everyone! Keep in your hearts and minds those you wish to keep safe from these dogs and those thoughts will keep you on the path! We fight together and we shall prevail together!"

Thunk

The gates buckled slightly as dust and dirt fell from the roof as the first impact from the impromptu battering ram, the griffons and ponies around me held firm as we all reformed the shield wall and placed the spears into position.

Thunk

Another impact came and the gates held, but we all knew that it wouldn't hold for long.
Thunk
Thunk
Thunk
Thunk
Thunk
This time we heard the sound of wood creaking and cracking, the wooden beam holding the gate closed lurched back a bit before going back to its resting position but this time with a crack running down the middle of it.
Thunk
Thunk
Thunk
It took the dogs eleven minutes to finally breach the wall and when they did they we all watched as the dogs filed in with their bark shields in front of them, slowly moving in instead of their reckless charging that they did last time. This was a different tactic they are using and it is was unusual until I realized what it could be a part of.

"Get back! Get back!"

Just as I shouted the order to fall back the dogs behind the shield wall turned around and used their shields as a ramp as the dogs behind them ran on the shield ramp and leapt over our shield wall. The dogs caught us by surprise with this maneuver and although a few of the dogs got skewered on the spears that were pointed at them a few managed to break through it from there hell broke loose.

For those of us in the back of the shield wall we managed to react the fastest as we all tried to kill the first dogs that leapt over the wall but when the next wave came we couldn't retrieve our spears from the wounded or dead dogs, so I gave the judgment call.

"Forget the spears! Swords and axes now! We can use the spears later after we deal with those that came over!"

While the dogs already had their weapons drawn and were ready for battle, they had to deal with landing in slick mud and unlike their quadruped targets, their bipedal configuration caused many of them to slip and fall in the mud with many of them dropping their weapons in the process as they tried to catch themselves. The few dogs that managed to land alright and not eat shit weren't even bothering to help their comrades, instead they set their eyes on the ponies and griffons that surrounded them and started to attack with reckless abandon, hacking and slashing at anything that wasn't one of them.

The cries of ponies, griffons and diamond dogs rang out throughout the village as battles waged from the gatehouses, and among those battle cries was one from myself as I raised my longsword high before bringing it down upon the head of a diamond dog. Cleaving through a skull to reveal what lies within it would have normally made me spew all over the floor and possibly on those nearby, but I guess with this being a 'Us or them' situation, me having already killed other sentient beings before and that as a human my brain can just switch 'off' the part that makes me care about them being another living being.

My comrades on the other hand, quite a few villagers aren't so used to the idea of killing people, especially the ponies as I have noticed that quite a number of them after each little skirmish go somewhere to throw up or cry to themselves. Even though it seems that the ponies are peace-loving creatures they are still willing to defend their home, but I guess they are only expected to fight them off till the thing threatening them either runs away or is incapacitated and is dragged off, but killing is apparently a little too much for them, how the hell do their guards on their mainland deal with threats?

The moment I cleaved that skull in two I yanked my sword back before thrusting the blade forward, impaling the already dead dog on it as I forced the blade deeper to the hilt to get to the dog standing behind him. Stabbing a creature through another would normally be hard with a sword due to the lack of velocity for impalement, but I am using griffonian steel and that metal was known to pierce through armor made from weaker materials with ease, so cutting through multiple people in a row if they were properly lined up isn't outside the realm of possibility for this weapon.

I watched as my fellow griffons and ponies dropped or tossed their spears to the side as they drew their swords and axes from their sheaths and beltloops and all joined in the chaotic melee.

Shouts and cries rang out from the northern gatehouse as dogs kept on pouring through the ruined entryway although it has slowed down considerably as they had trouble climbing over their own brethren due to the shields being not the most stable of footing nor were those holding them up trying to keep them balanced so they don't fall over. I saw this happen before me as the rabble of dogs had trouble climbing up and over their comrades that an idea came into my head, and I thought it was a bloody good one.

Hacking and slashing my way through the dogs that made it over and into the waiting blades of the griffons and ponies behind me I got to our shield wall and told them the plan.

"I need you two to make a gap for me to move into so that I can break through their line and destroy their shield wall and their ramp, once both are gone we can repeat what we have done and slowly push them back out and kill any that stand in our way."

The griffons gave me a nod and on the count of three they parted ways, but as they did so the diamond dog with the tree bark shield saw this as an opportune moment to press forward but he has failed to realize that none of his brothers have moved with him and as a result was all alone with an angry human in front of him and two pissed off griffons on both sides of him. As soon as the diamond dog realized what he had done it was already too late, the griffons at his sides pressed in on him with their shields squeezing down on his arms and in a moment of clumsy mistake he dropped his shield in front of me, rendering himself defenseless as I simply thrust my right arm forward, impaling the poor bastard and killing him.

'What a spot of bad luck for that guy.'

Once the dog was confirmed to be dead the two griffons backed up and let the body hit the bloody mud and with that I moved past them and was now in the dog half of the battlefield.

The first thing to hit me when I entered their lines was just how god damn awful it smelled, its like they took the smell of unwashed dogs, dialed it to eleven, and then multiplied it by the factor of sun, bodies and shit. After that it was just how many dogs that are here attacking this gate and although I don't know the situation at the other gates it feels like that there are way more of them here then at the other three.

'Well obviously they would have more dogs at the area that is from the direction they arrived in, but I thought that they would have the southern gate more heavily populated to prevent a breakthrough from happening unless they firmly believe that they can hold the town and not let any of us leave.'

With longsword in hand I ran my sword through the ribcage of the diamond dog on my left before twirling around, blade extended outward as I sliced through the dogs around me with their backsides exposed to me. As the dogs fell to the ground with their spines severed and parts of their torso being split open with the most unfortunate of dogs being the one in the middle of the group being cleaved in half. The gap that formed as the dogs fell to the ground dead was immediately seized by both sides as the battle became a maelstrom of confusion and carnage as blood splashes the ground and walls.

I was in the middle of that confined battlefield as the reforged minotaurian steel armor I was wearing for the most part did its job in turning away hostile blades from my vital organs and squishy body, the dull and chipped blades snapping and breaking against the hardened metal plates that covered my torso, upper legs and shins, shoulders and forearms, while a few glancing blows from a few bladed weapons that hit the exposed areas drew blood and created a new scar for me to show off. The few times I got injured in that melee I returned the favor in kind to the perpetrator by either cutting them down or by slicing off the appendage that held the weapon but in the end it was all the same to me as the dead started to litter the ground around me as I had the blood from several people covering me and my god I must look horrifying to anyone that is looking at me. With me now standing among the diamond dogs and cutting down all of those that drew close to me, our line started to creep forward as the dogs started to lose ground and momentum from their sudden new tactic and we didn't have to wait long before we were back at the gatehouse and soon enough we pushed them out.

"Hold the line! Hold the line! We have them routed and now they are desperate to get back in or else they will feel their master's fury!" I shouted over the discord of battle as the griffons and ponies behind and beside me all gave their own confirmation that they heard me.

Soon enough we all heard the loud angry barking of a diamond dog in the back, I don’t know what he said but it clearly wasn’t enough to whip the dogs back into fighting order so there was only one thing he could do to force us dogs to fight harder.

Pushing through his own people to get to the front I watched a fairly large dog in what amounts to leather armor with some metal plates riveted to it, a skullcap and a broadsword that looks like it has seen better days what with all the knicks and chips in it. This diamond dog was easily a head taller than the average dog and was thicker in either terms of muscle, fat, fur or some combination of the three, and from the way he is barking commands and belting out orders that he is the commanding officer for this little cadre of scamps.

As I watched this intimidating brute push his way through his men to get to the frontlines and when he arrived his first action was to try and cleave me in half with an overhead chop. I was expecting this attack and blocked accordingly to keep myself from being sloppily bisected, what I was not expecting was just how much strength there was behind such a swing as I was immediately brought to my knee as I had to use both swords to catch the blade to slow it down enough as the thoroughly-used blade came within an inch of splitting my face open.

Putting some strength into my movement I slowly stood back up before pushing the menacingly close blade from my face, making the bulky dog take a few steps back before taking another swing at me again but this time I deflect it off to the right as I recovered from the first attack. I had expected that for the diamond dogs either to try to charge in and put me off balance so their leader can try and finish the job, but they didn't as they backed away from the officer as they are scared to take his kill and in turn get cut down for it. When the dog officer came back at me with another swing with just as much weight as the other two attacks I noticed that the dogs that were attacking our shield wall have backed off and have formed a semi-circle at the entrance of the gatehouse while those behind me locked their shields together effectively trapping me in the fight circle.

Seeing that I am now trapped in the arena with him, the bulky dog let out a rumbling chuckle at the sight of the lone, smaller human fight a larger foe as he raised his sword and charged at me. Now in the past something like this would instill fear in me and I would be shaking in my shoes, but now though it doesn't because of one griffon who since becoming my instructor, has taught me everything she knew about close quarters combat, and one of those lessons was how to deal with a much larger opponent.

'Ian, someday out there you will find yourself an opponent much larger than yourself be it a minotaur, a teenage dragon, certain subtypes of diamond dogs, and whatever else is out there in the desert sands of Zebrica. When you are facing such a foe you need to always remember to keep an ever watchful eye on how they move as you can use their body weight to your advantage to trip them or tire them out to bring a swift end to the fight. Now then, you see that minotaur over there? He was hired to kick your ass from here to kingdom come, now show me what you learned and don't disappoint me cause I swear to Boreas that if he bests you then you can surely expect to be cleaning the barracks with a tiny scrub brush for the next year!'

Seeing the large dog-man charge at me I deftly sidestepped his attacked and deflected the blade off to the side with ease which only served to infuriate the dog.

"Hold still!"

I didn't bother to say anything to the dog as I was avoiding unnecessary battle banter as it serves as nothing more than a distraction and can result in ones own death if they are not paying attention to the battlefield.

Bobbing and weaving between too-wide slashes and punches I did everything within my power to prolong this little fight of ours and with each evasive maneuver I take against my opponent the more I hear growling and snarling rising up from my rival. With each dodge I take I further add insult to injury by smacking him with the flat edge of my swords against his backside and each yelp he made only served to add further humiliation to his name.

I didn't have to wait long for the diamond dog officer to reach his limit as he finally began to gasp and wheeze for air as he struggled to move in a coordinate himself. As soon as he began to struggle I decided that I had more than enough fun with him and that it was time to end this little fight of ours as I waited for him to make another move against me.

The wait wasn't that long as soon as he collected himself long enough to get some air into his lungs before charging at me one final time, his moves was so telegraphed that I easily deflected his sword off to the side with my sword before spinning myself around in a flurry of movement and impaling him through the chest with my sword as the blade pierces through his armor, through his heart and out the other side.

"Sloppy, you left yourself open countless times and in the end you have failed to kill one person with all of that strength at your command. Sadly you lack the wits and wisdom to use that brawn properly so now you are dead." I whispered this to the dying dog as he let out a few weakened whimpers of pain as I then placed my left hand on his chest and pushed him backwards as it released my sword from its fleshy sheath as the body hits the ground with an armored meaty thud.

The diamond dogs that had surrounded the gate entrance took a few steps back when they saw their commanding officer fall over dead, a few even turned tail and ran back towards the safety of the trees. Turning to look at the surrounding dogs I slowly walked towards the middle of their line, sword in hand, and walked at a slow pace from one side to the other, a silent challenge to them before finally speaking up.

"Your battle group leader lies dead, just like so many of your battle brothers lie dead inside our walls and outside of them, and for what? A cause that none of you truly know about? You will die here and they will not take your bodies back to be buried alongside your ancestors and your family, they will leave you behind to rot under the sun to become food for the crows and beasts of the forest. You have two choices to make right now, you can either continue to fight us and you will die and become compost for the trees, or you can flee and live to see another day. What is your choice going to be?"

The choice was easy for so many of the diamond dogs as quite a few of them dropped their weapons, turned tail and fled, smart move for a bunch of dogs that lack the brain power for more 'complex' thinking but they are smart enough to know that they can't be with their families (if they have any) if they are dead, and as for the rest of those that remained, they fought to the bitter end as the griffons and ponies surged out from the gatehouse the moment the dogs tried to resume their attack.

With shattered morale, depleted numbers and exhaustion taking its toll on the dogs they fell to our attack with the survivors retreating back to their lines, leaving their dead and dying behind.

Cleaning up after the skirmish was an arduous task as many of the griffons and ponies were sporting injuries and that I myself was starting to feel the stinging claws of fatigue and my own injuries burning from sweat getting into them, I am going to have to disinfect them the first chance I get else I wish to risk infection.

---

POV: Ferra, Talon's End Infirmary Nurse

---

'Another stitch here and the wound shall be sealed, Boreas willing that it stays closed this time.'
With practiced ease I thread the needle through a griffons right shoulder, a lucky sword swing managed to give the poor bastard a deep enough cut to draw blood but not deep enough to permanently damage the limb nor sever it. One last tug on the thread and tying it off I clean up the injured area before dabbing it with a rag that has been dipped in a bowl of boiling wine, we have ran out of the local antiseptics when the diamond dogs first attacked us during our feast.

'Another bandage wrap for pony in the second to last bedroll near the back of the building, that laceration injury has done a number on his back, he may never fully regain the use of his rear legs.'
I can still hear that pony groaning and moaning in pain, even from the other side of town hall. To think that a diamond dog would go for such an injury when we know that they need healthy slaves to last a long enough time to do their dirty work.

'Boreas guide my talons and grant me the strength to make it through the night without having to tell another family that their young has passed, I don't think I have it in me to tell them anymore.'
To think that from day to day I usually patch up scratches, broken bones, cuts, burns and typical illnesses and now here I am in the middle of a warzone doing the best that I can to make sure as many of these injured griffons and ponies survive their injuries. I had thought that I had left behind that life when I retired from the legion, but I guess what I was hoping for was a little too much.

'Maal take these thrice damned heathens to the pits of the seven hells! How dare they lay a paw on my precious Tychus! He is mine and I will not let them take him away from me!'

---

Two Hours Later
POV Ian

---

It was midday when the dogs pulled back, the northern gate has been breached but we managed to hold the line and slowly pushed them back but that gate is damaged and we can't repair it in time for the next wave, it was a complete loss and now I will have to have bodies at that entrance to make sure that nobody tries to sneak in. We have been fighting since the sun rose at what I could only estimate as seven in the morning and up until now it has been nothing but bloodshed and casualties for both sides of this conflict, but what is happening now is making me wonder if this particular moment is a trap.

Standing in the open between the village and the tree line was a small entourage of diamond dogs, two of them are holding up banners, one is the banner of the clan that the dog belongs to while the other is a white banner, a banner of peace.

I highly doubt that this will end peacefully, but if this leader is smart enough to realize that this battle is unwinnable and desires to retreat, I will allow it. Otherwise I will simply hold out as long as possible until help arrives.

"You know that it is probably a trap, right?"

"Yep."

"Yet you still plan on going down there to talk to them?"

"Mhm."

"But they could kill you and cut off your head to show it to the village! Do you think that we really wanna see our friend get beheaded and shown off like some sort of perverse trophy?"

"If they do murder me in such a fashion then the empire will never let them have a moment of peace or rest. The death of a knight by dishonorable means on top of the destruction of an imperial village will draw the hatred and ire from the empire, an imperial legion will scour the area to find the ones responsible and bring divine retribution upon their heads. For in the end if we die in the village or out there during a peace talks, the empire will avenge our deaths when they arrive."

"But-"

"There is nothing left to discuss about this Tychus. I am going down there with the village elder and his guards and I will hear what they have to say but in no circumstances will we surrender to the diamond dogs."

And with that said I gave Tychus one last pat on the shoulder before leaving him behind at the northern gate as I joined the elder and his four militia guards as the six of us slowly walked to the meeting point.

The walk between us was quiet with the exception of my boots crunching through the dirt and sounds of soft pads and clinking armor from the griffons, than the village elder in a hushed tone started to talk to me.

"I know how these talks go with the mutts. They will demand our surrender and a portion of our people to go and work in their mines...along with whatever pricey possessions we may have. I can care less for whatever pitiful possessions they take from us for we have always endured and survived with less during the harsh months, but I will never sacrifice my people to slave away in the bowels of the land. We will fight on till the very end for this is our land and I will be damned if these disgusting beasts dare to take from us!"

I didn't even need to say anything because I agreed with him on the matter for the most part. From my brief stay with Clan Fel Brass, even if I didn't have access to most areas, from the small talks I had with the alpha dog the clan didn't employ slaves to work the mines as the answer was a simple one. They were lacking the numbers to properly hold slaves and feed them, so they did everything themselves and as a result they are more dependable and reliable when it comes getting things done in a timely manner. That dog clan along with however many out there that don't employ slaves are few and far between those that do use slaves which unfortunately paints their race in a bad light.

Eventually we got to the destined meeting point and from here I can see several diamond dogs all clustered together and I can see just how armored these ones are compared to the ones I've been fighting all morning.

Standing in a line was nine armored diamond dogs of various canine races, their armor mainly composed of a breastplate, arm guards, greaves, and a helmet, while their weapons was that of a long spear and a short sword. The banner holders were wearing less armor then their more intimidating brethren as they were only wearing leathern jerkins and a skullcap to keep their heads safe, and they were holding no weapons aside from using the pointy tip of the banner as a makeshift spear.

And then we got the leader of the diamond dog group standing in the middle of them all, a diamond dog that is slightly larger than the others in the group steps forward, my guess the leader for either this clan or just the one the actual leader sent up to talk with us.

Before either myself or the elder have a chance to start this off, the dog leader spoke first.

"Huh, we being kept out of our new home by a dog from a different clan? Why you keeping us out?" The bigger dog said and to my disappointment this one isn't as smart as the alpha I have once spoke to before.

"If you had proper eyes to see, you would clearly know that we are not of kin nor born of the same mother so don't even try to use that weak excuse with me. You would have been allowed to enter to trade or resupply if you lot was peaceful and didn't rain arrows upon this entire village and followed up by laying siege! Anyone can come to Talon's End if they do not hold any hostilities to it, but your actions here proved otherwise. So tell me now, what is the point of this raid if there is any at all?" I asked the large dog as I took a few steps forward as well, leaving behind the militia guards and the elder as I soon came face to face with the alpha.

The bulldog glared down at me as he was just a head taller than me before taking a few sniffs at me and after a while recoiled a bit as if shocked by finding a lack of dog scent on me.

"Strange, you walk and move like us but you are not...and you are no minotaur. You are no pony nor griffon... you a freak." The dog said as he slowly to walk around me as I did the same, the two of us going in circles as we studied the other.

While this diamond dog may be larger than me by just a whole head and looked naturally stronger and faster, but he is also dumber and can more than likely be easily fooled. While he may be a well-armored, giant of a diamond dog, a dangerous opponent for sure and I don't know just how good he is at fighting but from what I have seen with the tactics his dogs used on this village then I can easily turn this into a victory for me.

'If the fighting starts between us I just have to keep bobbing and weaving, tire him out first and strike him down when he finally drops his guard from exhaustion, I just have to make sure I don't tired myself out first.

"It doesn't matter what I am to you, for I am only going to be telling you this once only. What I want to know is why are you attacking Talon's End?" I growled out as I moved a hand to the pommel of my sword, I know that I couldn't show any weakness to the dogs now as they would see it that I am a weakling and that anything I say will have no weight to them. Showing weakness in diamond dog culture was a big no-no, submissiveness is okay because each the hierarchy is about who is submissive to who and at this moment I am trying not to show any kind of weakness as this may signal the dogs that now is the most opportune time to strike.

The diamond dog alpha snorted at my demand for an answer as well as the dogs behind him started to laugh and chuckle.

"Why, we are here to take your stuff, your shinnies, maybe ask some of the griffons and ponies here to work for us, and maybe take those minotaurs that you took in last night." the bulldog said as several of the dogs behind him nodded their heads, a few even said some things mainly how they will treat their new 'workers' nicely.

It was with those words that came bumbling out from those flappy lips did my blood begin to boil.

To think that they would have the gall to demand that we surrender ourselves and everything we have when they think that they have the upper hand. The sheer balls on this diamond dog, to simply ask me to tell the elder their demands and to let them in, as if the griffons living here will just roll over and give up without a fight.

"I have a counter-offer for you. Take your clan and stay away from Talon's End and leave Griffonia." The dogs stopped their little revelry as they thought that I was just going to bend over backwards for them and give in immediately was just thrown right back in their face.

"And what if we don't leave? What are you going to do if we decide to just no leave? You think you have the strength to move us from your lands? Ha! Fat chance!" spittle flew through the air as the bulldog barked out a laugh, throwing his head back as the dogs behind him all nodded their heads in agreement with their alpha as they too also started to laugh at my request.

And like that the challenge has been issued, he thinks that I can simply be pushed aside and that our defense will not hold even though we have easily repelled their first attack and held back their second attack, but I fear that their third and quite possibly final assault will break through our defenses, but I must hold out as long as possible.

'As long as possible...I hope they get here in time cause at this rate we are taking casualties we will definitely not be able to hold the gates for long let alone stop any intrusions that come over the walls. I fear I may have to give the order to abandon the gates as soon as it looks like we cannot hold them and fall back to town hall and make a final stand there.'

"Then none of you will be leaving this place alive!" I shouted my threat at the diamond dogs and with it they stopped laughing as they all stared at me with a credulous look, as if I am mad.

I threw my own challenge at the alpha dog, the response I was waiting for was a typical one from a brute like him.

"Ha! Some spine in this one, I accept your threat of death for tonight I will drink from your skull!" the large dog said this as a grin starts to form on its muzzle as it thumps a fist onto his chest.

"This village will be your grave, win or lose all of you will fall and our pyres will burn brightly for days." I said with finality as I waited for the final response from the dog, knowing that after this the battle will resume.

"We shall see little beastie, I will kill you last so see burning remains of pathetic village before I put you down and claim your skull." And with that our group parted ways but I hurried over to the elder and his guards before quickly telling him that we need to move now and prepare ourselves for a battle of our lives.

At first the griffons weren't sure as to what was going on but when word got around as to what the diamond dogs wanted from the village and what they were going to do to those living here caused quite a commotion. Many of the families went back to their home and tried to barricade themselves within the safety of their homes while the rest of the civilians went straight to the townhall and were trying to nail shut the windows.

The elder hobbled over to me as we arrived back at the townhall, concern on his beak as he waved me over as he tried to speak quietly to me but with how worried he is it ended up turning into almost a shout.

"Knight, those dogs never have the intentions to leave us alone, did they?"

"No, they came here with a raiding mentality, and even if we put up a fight they will take whatever isn't nailed down, enslave those that are still alive and burn the village to the ground before leaving." I said as I noticed that several griffons and ponies stopped what they were doing and were standing there, listening to what I had to say.

"We either drive them off here and now and wait for reinforcements to relieve us or we all die. There is no two ways around this one, we either fight and hold our ground and pray to the gods that Pippin made it to the fort, or we get overrun and the diamond dogs take everything you hold dear and burn it to ashes."

From there the griffons and ponies got back to working on trying to fortify as much of the village as they can with most of them setting up tables with one side's leg removed as to provide angled covered while others were simply retreating back to their home to protect themselves and their family. While I don't blame those particular ponies and griffons for making that particular choice, I am disappointed in them that they are only thinking about themselves but hey, they do them and when the gates fall they can only rely on themselves cause I will be too busy trying to direct the militia and volunteers to try and save the masses instead of the individuals.

So many of them are going to die today, and yet they are not afraid. In fact they have welcomed it...you mortals sure are a strange lot. Normally I watch and see you mortals doing everything within your power to avoid things that can cause death and here it seems that you are doing everything in your power to cause it for those that wish you harm.

Hearing the voice of my benefactor startled me as I was too deep into my own thoughts at the moment, but when I heard the words I found it odd that they were puzzled by the things we do.

'Well we want to die on our own terms, not on the terms of those that try to force it on us.'

Well, just know that while I can't stop death from happening for that is not in my domain to interfere with without pissing off Death something fierce, (which I did but that old bag of bones doesn't need to know about that), I can at least delay it a bit for you by making the dogs have a bit of bad luck when they try to attack you. A clumsy strike here, a lucky deflection there, but don't you dare try to rely on that cause there is only so much I can do to interact with the physical world while I am still in my weakened condition!

That little tidbit of information caught me off-guard as I wasn't prepared to hear that. I knew that there had to be gods out there cause one doesn't simply go from one world to another overnight for no reason, but to think that my benefactor may very well be a god as well is startling to say the least. Now if only I can figure out what gender they are cause I really need to know so I can properly thank them for saving my ass who knows how many times now.

Don't worry little knight, I'll tell you who and what I am later, for now just do your best to survive cause I am not done with you just yet!

When our conversation ended I failed to realize that I was standing in the middle of the street with my head down and my eyes closed talking to myself, the griffons and ponies were both wondering if I was planning something and worried that I may be starting to crack under the pressure of command. As a few ponies and griffons came over to see what was wrong with me I mentally came too and waved them off, telling them that I was mentally checking things over to ensure our continued survival.

The sound of clanking glass and ceramic caught my attention as I turned around and saw a griffon flying overhead carrying a small wooden crate with what looked like bottles and that they were filled with some sort of sloshing liquid. It took me a second to realize that the bottles all had rag clothes shoved in them and it clicked for me, these griffons had firebombs and it looked like they were placing them in strategic locations.

The flurry of movement that surrounded the townhall came to an end when the bell rang, the dogs have resumed their attack and barely any of us were in position to adequately defend this village.

'To think they would attack so soon...ah to have vast reserves to throw into the meat grinder, it must be a nice thing to have when one doesn't give two shits about the lives of their soldiers. The gates will fall soon but maybe we can keep them out long enough if we set fire to them and have them fall in on themselves? But wait, they are diamond dogs, they can just dig a tunnel under the rubble and still get in, what I am wondering is why haven't they done that yet?'

A question I had on my mind since this raid started but for the time being it will go unanswered as the militia and volunteers all rushed to their designated positions but as quickly as I had hoped. With battle fatigue and exhaustion started to take its toil on everyone they all started to slowly react and move slower, myself included as a few of my injuries from fighting at the gates and getting nicked by arrows starting to make themselves apparent with how much they burn and sting like hell.

'How much longer can I go on before my body finally decides that it can't handle anymore punishment.'

With aches and pains running all over my body I made my way to the re-barricaded northern gate noticing that the battering ram that was once used to break it down was now keeping them shut.

I didn't have to wait long for those still able to fight unimpeded to join me at the gates with a few of them carrying what looks like the unlit firebombs I saw earlier with one of the griffons holding a torch to ignite them. Giving the ponies and griffons one last inspection and nod before returning my attention to the gates I readied myself for what will be yet another siege with a battering ram and perhaps a shield wall and ramp maneuver.

Soon enough the sound of a mass congregation of bodies was outside the walls that was then followed by something large and heavy hitting the gates, a second battering ram to replace the one that was lost, was now ramming the gates to try and get it open to let in the horde of dogs. What I have been expecting was a battering ram and a host of dogs attending it to be the thing to attack our gate to break it down, what I was not expecting was for the diamond dogs to actually use their brains and their natural talent for digging to get around an obstacle that has been a pain in their ass.

One moment me and several others were standing in front of the gate, weapons at the ready, the next we all felt the ground rumble for a second before watching it cave in beneath our very feet as those with wings managed to take flight just as the dirt beneath us all suddenly became a gaping maw.

For a moment I thought that the dogs had dug a true pitfall trap with sharpened stakes or spears lining the bottom of it and that I was gonna find myself turned into a pincushion and then a corpse but luck would have it that it wasn't the case this time, instead it was a tunnel that led directly under the gates and right underneath our position.

Clever puppies.

The fall down wasn't as painful as I was expecting it to be but it was still painful nonetheless as I and several others that fell all let out collective groans of pain and as we tried to pick ourselves back up we barely had the time to see what was going on let alone get ourselves in order as the sound of numerous paws immediately came our way. Barely having the time to look up I saw an armored diamond dog with a mace in hand and tried to swing at me but as I watched the mace rise up above his head it scrapped against the tunnel roof, slowing it down enough for me to get my bearings and quickly stand up to avoid being made into mashed potatoes.

Once I was back on my feet and no longer in danger of becoming a bloody pounded meatstain on the floor, I stepped on the head of the mace the dog was holding before running him through as the rest of the diamond dogs started to rush forward after letting the dust settle just in time for the griffons and ponies who fell with me to also get their bearings and stand up.

As those of us who fell fought down below, the many that are still up top held themselves together at the gates as the ram began to batter at the damaged gates.

Turning my head to the side I saw that the others were already helping each other to get out of the hole that we have found ourselves in.

"Everyone help each other get out of this tunnel now, the gatehouse is now considered lost as they now have a means of getting through! Tell any that is topside to bring wood and to prepare the firebombs for use!" I shouted the order just as a second diamond dog approached me, spear in hand.

I was lucky to have even seen this dog as the dust was still somewhat settling down here and that the light from the opening was the only real reason as to why I could have even seen it coming with enough time for myself to get into a defensive stance. Deflecting the spear off to the side I grabbed the haft of it with my left hand as I kicked him in the gut, sending him backwards into the rest of his pack before twirling the spear around to face its previous owner and rammed it into his right shoulder, the dog letting out a yelp of pain before a gurgle of blood and drool as I forced my longsword through its throat and out the back.

With the pike dog dead I was given a second to prepare myself so I decided to shorten the spear I was so graciously given by the diamond dog on the floor by swinging my sword at the spear's shaft, cutting through the shoddy wood rendering it into nothing more than a knife on a stick but its more than enough for me at the moment. As soon as I ran my sword through the spear the two diamond dogs that was pushed back by the corpse of their fallen ally ran towards me with shortswords in paw, perfect weapons for this enclosed environment but they forgot one critical detail as the blade of one dog collided with my chest and shattered as the brittle and rusty metal gave up the ghost while the other was brushed off to the side.

These dogs forgot what actual armor looked like and now they are paying the price for it with their lives.

Ramming the broken spear into the shoulder of the diamond dog on the left I then pushed them back into the dogs behind him before delivering a horizontal slash to the dog on my right, slicing him across the chest as he recoils back in pain, not a fatal injury but a painful one nonetheless. With two dogs injured and in front of the pack behind them, I kept them back as the rest of the people behind me helped each other climb out of the pit.

Hearing the sounds of hooves and talons scraping against dirt and rocks I chanced a peek behind myself to see that the griffons and ponies were helping each other to get out of the pit while I dealt with the slowly approaching wave of dogs, I just hope they move their asses faster cause I don't know what is happening up top aside from the battering ram arriving.

Returning my attention to the dogs I watched as the two I have injured were pushed back by those behind them and these dogs had on some leather vestments and wooden round shields with rusted shortswords and they were bidding their time in approaching me as they know that they are clearly outmatched by both my fighting prowess and that my armor can easily damage or destroy their inferior weapons. Watching the pair slowly step towards me I tried faking them out, tricking them into thinking that I was about to approach and attack them so that they would try to attack first to catch me off-guard but they didn't take the bait, instead they buckled down and clumped together to better defend one another.

Seeing this little defensive formation I simply kept them back by occasionally stabbing at their shields to keep them buttoned up but for the most part they kept creeping closer until finally the pair and those behind them were almost right on top of us until finally our skirmish finally kicked off.

One of the shield bearers moved to shove me with their shield and as they did so I rammed the spear into the shield and rotated a bit to get the diamond dog off-balance before stabbing downward at them with their chest exposed before drawing the blade back. The dog on the other side saw his brother fall dead and as he tried to swing at me I ducked under the blade before rearing up with an impaling strike as I actually lifted the dog off the ground before dropping him to the ground as the large group behind him started to move forward, hoping to strike me down.

Shoulder ramming the closest dog back into the others I spun in place before cutting them down, the blade cleaving cleanly through them from right shoulder to their left side of the pelvis as their insides falls everywhere as they collapse on themselves. The next dog that stepped forward slipped on the spilled guts and fell forward before meeting his unfortunate demise by the end of my blade as he fell right on it, the most inglorious of deaths. Rushing towards me with a saw-toothed sword I felt the teeth grind against my torso with all of them breaking and luckily nothing breaching the armor but the blunt impact from getting hit with a hunk of iron to the stomach.

As I got bluntly cleaved from one dog across the chest, another came up to me and punched me in the face, putting me off-balance and took a step back before I raised an arm to block another strike from the blunt blade before another sword thrust at my chest, the chipped edge barely scratching the surface of my armor before being deflected upwards to my face forcing me to start falling backwards but the blade found its mark.

I let out a shout of pain as I felt the chipped sword cut across my face from my chin to my right eyebrow, leaving a straight line of flesh to be sundered as I felt warmth blossom forth and sting like all hell but I held back my scream as I fell backwards and hit the rocky floor for a second time but this time with two diamond dogs on top of me.

"Get the fuck off of me you mangy mutts!" I shouted as I struggled to push them back, the pair

With two dogs on top of me, snapping and snarling while trying to punch and stab me, I am holding them both back with my left arm while trying to swing at them with my right arm but before I could get a swing in I felt something step on my sword hand and as I looked up I saw a third diamond dog, spear in hand and raised high ready to impale me and all I could think of at that moment was 'Well, this sucks ass...'.

Just as I was about to meet my maker I watched as the dog above me was mere moments about to stab me in the face before he stopped when an axe suddenly found itself buried in its chest. Looking down at the axe before looking towards the source of the mysterious axe, both myself and the diamond dogs saw that it was a pony who did the tossing, said pony in question was a unicorn who was holding several weapons in their magical aura surrounding their horn as the dog then fell over dead, finally realizing that having an axe buried in ones chest and splitting their heard can give someone a serious case of dead. As the dog falls over dead the pony then tossed the broken hilt of the shortsword that broke against me earlier as it flew and smacked the dog pressing on my left shoulder in the head the broken part of the blade sinking a good inch into the dogs head forcing it off of me as it yelps in pain.

With two dogs dead and the third one still snapping and snarling at me but with less weight and pressure on my left arm I rotated my arm till my hand then was within reach to grab their leather vestments and with a yank I brought their head to mine, my forehead smacking into their muzzle as it was closed and blooded their nose with a headbutt before rolling over with the dog with me now on top. Looking down at the dog beneath me I made it quick as I angled my sword and slowly began to impale the dog as I watched the blade pull a vanishing act and the dog himself slowing down and whimpering before going still. Once the diamond dog was no longer a problem to me I stood back up and looked down the tunnel to see as best that I can now that my right eye is now dealing with a blood issue and from what I can tell that there weren't that we are now alone for the most part as I don't hear anything coming in the tunnel.

"Guess this was just a digging group with some guards in case the tunnel they were digging collapsed early or as a means of distracting us while they ram the gate." I said as I slowly retreated back towards the open pit and looked up to see the pony being hauled upwards by a griffon holding them from behind, the pair happy to no longer to be underground, the griffon especially as they naturally hate being underground due to having wings and loving the open sky.

With the pair now back on the surface I made my way back to where we all fell in and saw that it wasn't deep of a fall that we took as I simply ran towards the wall, jumped up and grabbed the ledge before hoisting myself up and just in time too as I heard something get tossed over me followed by several more things being tossed before finally a sudden wall of heat.

Looking to the pit I had just climbed out of I saw that the griffons and ponies that were already up top and from those that just climbed out they had found spare wood and threw it into the open pit and as soon as I got up and out, the unicorn that was lifted out of the pit by griffon used their magic to grab a firebomb, lit it on fire with a nearby torch before throwing it fairly hard back down and ignited the wood to keep it from being used against us. Peering past the steadily rising flames I saw what looked like another group of diamond dogs but all they could do was glare at me and those around me as they simply stood there and are waiting for the fire to go out.

"A slight reprieve from those below, but no such rest from those above. Keep a watchful eye on the pit for any dogs thinking that they are brave enough to go through the fire. Two of you who can carry firebombs, bring three of them up top to the gatehouse, we got a pyre to make." I said as I marched towards the gatehouse and following behind me was a pair of griffons, one of them holding two firebombs while the other only just one.

Glancing to the pair I made a motion for one of the firebombs and the griffon that had two handed me one and with a nod to him I turned back to the ladder but I stopped myself as I instead knelt down to the water bucket placed there in the event a fire breaks out nearby and with my left hand I dipped it into the bucket and cupped a small handful of water before splashing myself in the face with it to try and clean up the blood and dirt on my face before shaking my head and turned back to the ladder and climbed up with the pair flying behind me. Climbing to the top of the gatehouse the three of us went to the edge and peered over it and saw a fairly large amount of diamond dogs down below but what truly caught my attention though was the battering ram being used this time.

No longer were these dogs using a chopped down thick-barreled tree as an improvised battering ram, now these dogs are using an actual battering ram that has been placed on wheels and that there are ten dogs manning the siege weapon.

Seeing the exposed dogs and their battering ram in such a perfection position I gave a nod to the griffons as we all lit our bombs and then we leaned over the side and threw them down on top of those below us and watched as the bottles crashed on top of the heads of the diamond dogs and the resulting mixture of oil on matted fur with fire blossomed into an inferno of cooking flesh and burning hair.

Backing away from the edge of the platform I turn to the griffons and gave them a thumbs up before addressing them.

"Go tell the other garrisons at the other gates to use their firebombs on any battering rams that appear at their gates, it should slow them down enough for us to get a bit of a reprieve from their assaults." and with that I watched the two give me a nod before taking off towards the other gates, flapping their wings with all that they have for maximum speed to alert the other groups of what has transpired here.

After the three of us had dropped our payload on top of the dogs manning the ram, the dogs made several attempts to try and retrieve the ram but with it on fire from end to end, their attempts ended in failure until they finally gave up on it and let it simply burn till it was nothing more than charcoal with metal bits on it. Once that battering ram has been destroyed and the dogs pulled back to what we thought was an end to their attacks for the moment, they soon enough came back with yet another battering ram very much like the one we just destroyed with the firebombs but it was missing the metal-tipped head that the old one had. As the group of dogs got close to the gates they grabbed the burnt ram and threw it aside along with dragging the burnt corpses of their fallen and moved them back for retrieval before finally they all backed off for the time being.

The fighting continued to rage on in ever changing intervals throughout the village as the dogs tried to breach the gatehouses with their improved battering rams but those attempts all going up in flames when the other groups used their firebombs on them and with each destroyed ram the dogs returned to move the ram aside and to retrieve their fallen.

When the fighting died down enough for me to finally retreat back to townhall to get patched up I was given quick reports of what has occurred at the other gates and what was odd about them was that none of them had a digging team breach the walls, only at the northern gate where I was at. Putting the reports mentally aside I entered townhall after giving a nod to the four guards standing outside and with a salute back I walked through the crowded entryway towards the makeshift infirmary and waited for my turn to be tended to. Luckily for me the wait wasn't too long as one of the assistants noticed my condition and who I am they alerted one of the two true infirmary workers and the youngest of the two came over to me, a griffon hen who looks just about as tired as I do if not more so what with the bags under her eyes and the stare she is giving me while tending to my injured face.

Getting my face stitched up by the careful talons of the infirmary worker I sucked in my breath through my teeth and clenched my fists as they plied their trade and after a few minutes of getting stabbed and sewn together my face for the most part was good as new, or as good as it was going to get out here.

I was hoping that they would finally get the message that they are dealing with someone with some brains on siege warfare and that they would turn around and leave, but instead they decided to double down and go all in with their final push.

It was at around the time that the sun was setting with the sun just barely on the horizon now with the sky giving off an orangish glow when we all felt the ground shudder and rumble. At first I thought it was just an earthquake and that a lot of windows are about to crack and shatter but it all came to a sudden stop when I felt the ground beneath me began to shake with such sudden ferocity and strength that I grabbed the rope for the bell and began to ring it as loud and as fast as I could as to alert everyone that we are under attack once more but my ringing was cut short when the ground past the gatehouse ruptured and exploded outward sending rock and dirt everywhere. The force of the explosion knocked me off my feet as I scrambled to get back up and as I looked over the edge I saw what has happened and to see what happened to the people that I was leading.

What I saw made me grimace as I saw several bodies thrown all over the place, many of them injured from being hit by rocks from below, I suspect broken ribs and damaged organs for those who were directly hit while those that were further away simply got thrown backwards like I was. The diamond dogs had continued to dig in the tunnel we had firebombed and they have drastically widened the tunnel to the point where they then dug up and collapsed the roof above them to form a ramp.

They no longer needed the battering rams as they have finally given up on making it look like a typical raiding party, they have made their true presence known now and that they are going all in to take whatever they desire.

As the dust settled and the ground was no longer rumbling I knew what was coming and I immediately cupped my hands close to my mouth and shouted with all that I had in me to try my best to send a warning to those that can still make a true effort to slow them down.

"The northern gate has been breached! Anyone and everyone that can fight, grab a weapon and keep them from getting inside townhall!

Next Chapter: The Fall of Talon's End Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 48 Minutes