The soldiers returned back to the platforms, standing below it as soldiers began descending down to join with them.
While standing by, Foren jumped back down, his face bearing fear.
"Cadin, more soldiers have reinforced them, furthermore it seems the man you fought with at the platform above is leading all of them, and now it looks more heavily protected from the entrances." Cadin looked at him with a curious face.
'If that's the case, I need to start making those weapons we could use. Time is of the essence though, it could wait for now.'
"Can you find any place they may retreat to?"
"None, only the trees. They kept chanting his name, like he's some hero to them. Lorek the unifier, something along those lines. Aside from that, if I may make a suggestion to our plan."
"Go on." Cadin looked to the pathway, seeing nothing but trees and the darkness beyond.
"The new soldiers entered, it seems like they're not willing to leave. That man spoke to all of them about fighting till the end and now they fortified the entrances with more soldiers, it seems the force is more ferocious so I called on more of my men for fighting and to hold the camp, we'll need all the soldiers you have. Your men will have far more issues in fighting. What we could do though is target a few of the entrances and destroy the barriers along with killing anyone guarding it. Once they're broken down we can yell out to you and your men to run upwards."
Cadin nodded at the suggestion, agreeing with it.
"That can work."
"Very well then, make sure your men join up with us when the barriers are broken down. Seems like a hundred or so men are in this place, and none of them seem willing to surrender with all these entrances blocked. Good luck." After talking, Foren climbed back up the wall, disappearing out of sight.
'We need to end this battle quickly. And once I see that kid again I need to kill him off. Suppose he's a leader as well, so his death should cause more issues' He turned around to look at his men and subordinates.
They all still looked ready to fight, Sentis worked with the healers to patch up wounds on a few more soldiers, their faces still filled with an eagerness to fight with no signs of exhaustion.
"Men, we will change our attack now. You will position yourselves near the entrance. When you hear a yell echoing down, ordering you to move up, rush the stairwell and join them at the top. You will await a minute or two with your stairwells, if you hear nothing, then move onto the already breached ones. Understood."
"Yes My Lord!" All shouted in response, their voices filled with a mix of seriousness and joy.
With a single order, the unit began moving again, they marched quicker than normal while keeping their formations, raising shields above and to the sides while moving farther from the base they had taken.
The forest trees only became more and more dense, providing less light to the path.
The sound of boots marching echoed throughout the forest, their pace slowing down after minutes of marching, quieter in their movement while staying vigilant.
Cadin looked around with a shield above his head, slowly taking off the bandages on his head as his eye nearly finished healing, only leaving a dried spot of blood around it. Blood stuck to parts of his armor and soaking his weapon, nearly painting it fully red from the battle before.
He blinked repeatedly after fully removing the bandage, feeling the cold wind hit it almost immediately, feeling no more pain or discomfort.
'Just like new.'
More minutes passed, Cadin ordered his men to come to a halt upon hearing sounds from above in the trees. Cadin signaled his soldiers to begin moving to the entrances they could find, trying their best to cause as little noise as possible while the sounds above only got louder.
Cadin positioned himself with his cavalrymen on one of the floors, soon the rest were in position, all waiting for the signal to be given
Silence consumed everything around, Cadin heard nothing from the trees or bushes next to him, his ears focusing only on the sounds above as the chatter of people continued on.
Suddenly, the joyful and anticipating yells and shouts quickly turned to shock, fear, and rage.
A minute had passed, Cadin could hear objects being thrown around from the stairwell, before a voice pierced down into their location.
"Get up here now!" A desperate voice shouted down, prompting Cadin and his men to rush upwards as fast as they could, Cadin prepared his sword and shield, both uncleaned and still prepared for war.
At the top, small groups of Foren''s men could be seen on different entranceways, all fighting back against the defenders while tearing down the barricades, held together by rope and weights. Cadin's men rapidly formed a line of shields as more continued pouring out of the stairway entrance, reinforcing it and allowing the soldiers to advance. Foren's men looked at the sudden charge of the soldiers and joined them. A crowd of defenders were already assaulting the shield line, trying to break it down with people even jumping over the shields, only to be killed quickly by rear soldiers and Cadin.
The camp was composed of 7 platforms with bridges connecting all of them. Wooden structures stood on each one, from market stalls to storage buildings to homes for people, all quickly turning into close quarter battlegrounds as the line of shields advanced further.
On other sides, barricades were quickly opened, letting more soldiers flood in. After minutes, 4 platforms became warzones, with the clashing of swords and the anger filled shouts of soldiers on both sides deafening out all other noise. Cadin drove his sword into anyone that jumped above the shield line, leaving a line of corpses behind them as they began pushing the enemy back, more men flooded in from the open entrances. A few entrances still stayed blocked, but their presence made retreat impossible.