“Sire.” It was Captain Weser, the bridge leader who had managed to secure the damaged East Bridge that first day. “We dropped the remaining three bridges into the moat as you ordered. Nobody’s leaving now.”

“Good. Were you able to get a casualty report?” Haven asked in a weary voice.

“No sir. It’s impossible to tell how many died on the west side of town, or if anybody is still alive in any of the captured buildings,” he answered his king.

“Well, what can you tell me?” King Haven asked, a bit annoyed, with his lack of sleep making him cranky.

“It’s pretty grim my liege,” Captain Weser responded. “Lord Zobo had been watching the West Bridge throughout the battle while he adjusted fire upon it. He said that he was able to count the goblins by tens as they crossed. It’s a rough estimate, but he believes that around twelve hundred Bone Breakers entered the city.”

“Twelve hundred?” the tall king said in astonishment, and then mused, “Well, I should think some died taking the five barracks.”

“Yes, we fished three hundred and six goblins out of the moat,” Captain Weser answered. “So that’d put their forces at around nine hundred.”

King Haven smiled, pleased that his enemy had unwittingly provided them with useful information. His smile slowly faded, as he grimly remembered that he had lost half of his city in just one day. At least most of the goblins are still on the other side of the moat, he thought.

“Okay, so how many men do we have left?” Haven asked, afraid to hear the answer.

“Let’s see, there’re one hundred and thirty archers and crossbowmen on the north barricade, and still another ninety at the east barricade.” The intelligent Captain Weser began calculating. “We’ve also about thirty archers and crossbowmen on the roofs of the East and West Markets. Another eight archers managed to get on top of the Dining Hall. I think that they’re the men who fled from the archer’s barracks.”

“That leaves the bank and the stables,” King Haven interrupted.

“Lord Zoot defends with thirty warriors in the rubble of what used to be the bank. Most of the building was reduced to ruins by the giant’s boulders.” Captain Weser continued his report, “Captain Borno has thirty warriors on the first floor of the stable. The other two surviving captains from the bridge crews are on the second floor of the stable with another sixty warriors.”

“What about the last tower?” King Haven questioned.

“Captain Fernhower still has about forty warriors, eighty crossbowmen, and thirty archers,” Captain Weser replied, and then added, “It’s one of our strongest positions. He should be able to hold out for some time.”

“Excellent job captain,” King Haven praised the man. “I want you to stay here by my side, in case I need you for anything else.”

“Thank you, my king. I’d consider it a privilege,” Weser said, meaning it.

Haven turned and stared out across the carnage of his once proud city. In the afternoon sun, he could see boulders, blocks, bricks, and splintered wood and beams strewn about everywhere.

His people were gathering up much of the debris in an attempt to create a makeshift barrier across the middle of the city. They were hoping to keep the goblins on the west side out.

I have one undamaged tower left. My few remaining buildings all have heavy damage. Even the palace has several holes through the walls on every side. I’ve more wounded men than not, and we are almost out of the healing water. The situation is bad.

King Haven went over the numbers in his head. Weser hadn’t factored in the roughly two hundred warriors defending the palace under Lord Flint. I also have at least two hundred archers and crossbowmen positioned on the roof with me.

This means that we probably have the goblins inside the city outnumbered. That will change though, after a few more days of bombardment from the giants.

“If we’re going to destroy the Bone Breakers inside of the city then we would have to strike soon, but we’re short on leaders for such a coordinated push on the enemy. We only had a few lords left,” King Haven said to Weser. “I want to attack the majority of the enemy at the same time, and that means hitting all five barracks at once. Lord Flint isn’t too experienced, but he is a good fighter. I myself could lead a second group, which leaves Lords Zoot, Zobo and Qan.”

“Lord Zoot is out as he took an arrow in his knee over at the bank. Lord Qan is pushing seventy and is running the ballista crew. Lord Zobo is on the catapult. The man is great with numbers and trajectories, but no offense, he is fat and out of shape. Besides, he is needed on the catapult. Perhaps you could use Captains Fernhower and I?” Captain Weser counseled, impressing King Haven with his deductions.

The sound of the catapult launching interrupted their conversation. A second shot followed, which surprised the king. Lord Zobo had been occasionally firing single shots into the west side of town whenever too many goblins would gather at any one place. The second shot signaled something bigger was going on.

The rocks were falling near the last tower, which was now under attack. A group of goblin warriors were using a wooden beam to pound on the door at the base of the tower. It was reinforced, but would soon break under the onslaught.

Fifty to sixty Bone Breaker archers had taken up positions on the nearby Barracks Four roof and were firing up at the men on the tower. They were trying to distract the men from shooting at the door bashers below.

The men on top of the tower began shooting at the goblin archers, which enticed more goblins to join in. Soon, enemy archers joined in the fight from the ground below, attacking from both sides of the moat, until over a hundred goblins were shooting at the men above.

For the next thirty minutes the air became thick with arrows, causing casualties to mount on each side. Only a handful of goblins managed to retreat from the melee, at the cost of over eighty men, mostly Fernhower’s crossbow warriors.

The difference in the missile fire battle was made by the twenty or so remaining longbow archers, who had the height advantage and had far superior accuracy compared to the goblin archers. Although they were driven off, the enemy had accomplished their mission.

The goblins at the tower door managed to break through during the archery battle and two large yorgs led a hundred Bone Breaker warriors into the dimly lit bottom floor.

One of the yorgs rippled with muscles, looking like he was built for war. He carried a long gruesome black spear with a foot long razor-sharp metal head that was oddly enough, red. The second yorg was only slightly smaller, and carried a large axe.

Captain Fernhower and his forty warriors met the goblins at the bottom of the wide stairwell and fought a retreating battle up the fifty feet of staircase, leaving a trail of dead men and goblins along the way.

Captain Fernhower reached the roof, just as his last two warriors fell at the hands of the two large yorgs, who rushed onto the roof behind him. Several underlings followed their leaders out onto the roof and charged at the remaining archers.

The two powerful yorgs circled the petite Fernhower, until the smaller one got behind him and charged with his axe raised. The captain had expected the move and swung about slicing the yorg deep across his throat, sending his green blood spraying out.

The man quickly swung around to face the second, bigger yorg, only to be speared through his mid-section with the razor sharp black and red spear. The small man swung his sword hard, twice, slicing across the muscular yorg’s massive green chest, leaving a deep bloody red X on the beast. Then Captain Fernhower fell over dead, landing on top of the axe yorg he had just slain.

Fernhower’s archers dropped the first row of goblins with arrows and then engaged the second row with their short swords. They were holding their own, until the red X yorg rushed forward and knocked two of the archers off the roof.

The muscle-bound red X yorg went from man to man, grabbing them and tossing them off the tower to their deaths. After throwing the last defender off the roof, several goblin archers took up positions on the rooftop and began firing arrows down at the men positioned on the lower palace roof.

A crossbowman standing next to King Haven took a goblin arrow through the throat, killing him. Haven now knew why the giants had spared the tallest tower.

The enemy could use the higher position to clear the palace roof with overwhelming fire power. Several men scampered for cover while Haven’s archers and crossbowmen returned fire.

“Lord Zobo bring that tower down now!” the king shouted at the obese man.

The catapult crew swung the wooden machine about, and after a few calculations and adjustments, launched their first shot. Amazingly, it scored a direct hit on the center of the tower roof, crushing both stone and goblin flesh. The men on the palace roof let out a loud cheer.

Zobo’s crew continued pounding the tower, which took hours to smash into rubble. Only the red X yorg, along with a handful of goblins escaped out the bottom door, just in time. King Haven’s catapult had saved them again, at the very capable hands of Lord Zobo.

With the loss of Captain Fernhower, King Haven mused, There’s no way to launch an all-out attack.

“Captain Weser!” he called out. “Have Lord Flint and a captain pick eighty men to lead on a raid against Barracks Two.” The king had picked that target because there had been reports that the goblins were holding some civilian prisoners there.

Just before the sun went down, Lord Zobo began a catapult barrage on the Barracks Two. They were no longer concerned about disguising their target, because Lord Flint and his men were already halfway to the building. The first rock went long, but the second one scored a hit.

Lord Zobo pounded the visible fires around the building, sending wood and dust into the air. The moment the bombardment stopped, King Haven saw Lord Flint and his men enter Barracks Two. Seconds later, darkness fell on the city.

It didn’t take long for the sounds of combat to erupt, which lasted deep into the night. Metal against metal, followed by the screams of goblins or men. Sometimes both could be heard at various times, until silence finally fell on Trader Town.

A long restless night passed, and the king’s hopes fell with the rising sun. He came to the grim realization that none of his night raiders would be returning, not to mention that he had lost another lord. Everything I’ve tried has failed, and soon, the rocks will begin to fall.