The trio harvested what useful materials they could from their fallen enemies, then headed back to the Vanguard encampment. After reporting their success to Grant and Emma, they were told to stand by and await further orders.

  They found a relatively quiet spot near the command tent to have a short rest. Sitting down on some crates covered by cloth awnings, the trio settled into their usual habits.

  Davon smiled at his companions. “We’ve come a long way since that griffin, haven’t we?”

  “Yeah… we have,” Kai replied with a proud smile of his own, leaning his weapon against his chest. “But what makes you say that all of a sudden?”

  “The way we handled that patrol. I mean, think back to the last time we fought a captain. Aelius almost killed us. And that one today? He barely got to do anything,” Davon pointed out.

  “Yes, but let’s try to keep the excitement down this time,” Lyla warned, maintaining her poker face. “Overconfidence has gotten us killed twice already. I’d like to avoid repeating that mistake a third time.”

  Davon crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah. We can agree on that.”

  The trio continued their rest in silence. Davon watched the Vanguard members moving past them in the meantime. Several more groups entered the command tent to make their report, then also found spots to wait nearby after exiting.

  The Vanguard is gathering again, Davon observed as yet another group of Revenants, a trio he recognized from Walden’s Hold, took up their position on some boxes a few feet away. We’re getting closer to assaulting the wall.

  Excitement brewed in his heart at the idea of bringing the fight to the enemy in their stolen home. His thoughts turned to his time alone in Heinburg, how he had been forced to avoid any and all conflict. Three weeks of hiding had left him metaphorically starved for revenge. Eliminating the patrol earlier that day had only whetted his appetite.

  Suddenly, that nagging feeling arose in the back of his mind. His enthusiasm for slaughter was slightly dulled as the feeling dredged up the worst memories of the Walden’s Hold siege. It brought with it the fear of incoming siege weapon projectiles, the idea of a slow push while under constant attack, and finally the destructive power of the Crimson Reavers’ conjured firestorm.

  Alright, I get it, you can stop now, Davon thought.

  Gradually, the connection between him and his Reliquary calmed down and went silent.

  He found himself wondering about this link. As the connection grew stronger, would his Reliquary be able to communicate with him more clearly? What would that mean for him in combat? The weapon didn’t seem to like it when Davon took too many risks.

  Davon was grateful for his Reliquary’s incredible abilities. But if it tried to hinder him in his quest for revenge…

  Before his ponderings could continue, the sound of the calling bell snapped Davon back to reality. Sharing a quick glance with his friends, Davon pushed himself up to his feet, straightened his posture, and joined the crowd gathering around the command tent.

  Focusing on the whispers of the Revenants around him, Davon could make out several conversations going on at the same time. To his left, a pair of Green Trackers were excitedly discussing tactics, barely able to contain themselves at the thought of taking the fight to the enemy. To his right, a trio of Heinburg Revenants shared their doubts to each other. They were reflecting gravely on the first siege of Heinburg, when the Crimson Reavers had claimed the city.

  The conversation unfolding behind Davon was even more somber. A large group of Revenants seemed worried about the Vanguard’s numbers. They wondered if they would even have enough forces left to push into the city by the time they reached the walls.

  All conversation ceased the moment Grant and Emma emerged from the command tent.

  Grant swept his gaze over the assembled Revenants, his expression solemn.

  “Brothers and sisters in arms, the moment we have all been waiting for has finally come. Today, we shall bring the fight to the enemy where they think themselves safe. Today, we shall storm their walls and reclaim the streets of Heinburg. Today, the Crimson Reaver scourge in the east of our beautiful empire will be eliminated.”

  “All of you, gather at the camp’s entrance for your orders and assignments,” Emma commanded. “Prepare well, if you haven’t already. Once the siege begins, we likely won’t get a chance to rest until the fighting is done.”

  The gathered crowd slowly dispersed as Revenants filtered out in groups of twos and threes. Davon found himself thinking of the previous Vanguard gathering, when they had pushed their camp forward into the snowfield. Memories of that fight flooded back to him, and he shivered slightly with nerves.

  Then he remembered watching the Red Plume drop the Necromancer off the inner walls. Maybe the Duelists won’t even show up, he considered. This helped his nerves settle, though he recognized quickly that it was a foolish hope.

  Davon took a deep breath, steeling his resolve.

  Enemy infighting or not, we’ll need to be ready, he concluded. Ready for anything.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The trio joined the rest of the Vanguard, making their way to the camp’s entrance. Compared to the usual chatting present at Vanguard gatherings, all Revenants were completely silent. The whispered conversations from outside the command tent were not resumed. Everyone simply stood at attention and awaited orders, anxiety palpable in the air.

  The trio was soon engaged by a few of the Vanguard’s support staff, a group of robed engineers, and taken to help carry siege engine components outside the camp. Davon found some peace in the activity. It reminded him of the simple days back on the Night Runner, carrying crates from ship to dock and vice versa.

  With every box he carried out of the camp, Davon examined the siege equipment, marveling at the technology. The Vanguard’s engineers quickly put together a line of trebuchets and catapults before moving onto battering rams and siege towers. Each machine was made of a wooden framework and reinforced with metal plating on the front, meant to protect against minor attacks.

  After about an hour of carrying components, the trio finally got a moment to sit down, taking advantage of the many empty crates. Davon watched as the final siege weapons were constructed in front of them. He counted five trebuchets, a dozen catapults, eight siege towers, and three battering rams. He wondered why the Vanguard needed three battering rams, considering Heinburg only had one gate.

  Probably spares, in case the first gets destroyed, he reasoned.

  An engineer approached the party a few minutes later and told them to take a position by one of the siege towers. They had been chosen to push the tower to the walls, alongside another trio of Vanguard Revenants.

  Up close to their assigned tower, Davon was even more impressed by the craftsmanship. He particularly appreciated the heavy armor plating on the tower’s front. Looks like it could soak up some ballista bolts, he noted. The towers had four handle bars on its side, with simple wooden barricades in front of them. The barricades were covered with steel plating and contained only one small slit to look through.

  Davon inspected the plating on the barricades, satisfied that they would protect against a ballista bolt or two as well, before taking his spot by one of the handle bars.

  Lucky we’re all Revenants here, he mused. It would take twenty normal humans to get this thing moving.

  The sound of a war horn echoed from behind the Vanguard’s battle lines, sending the gathered forces scrambling into positions. A group of Revenants took a spot behind each of the siege towers and one of the battering rams, while smaller teams assembled by the trebuchets and catapults. Finally, a massive group of three hundred or so Revenants formed layered ranks at the front of the formation, carrying barricades in front of them.

  Grant’s voice rose over the battle lines. “Now, push forward, brothers and sisters in arms! May glory ever be on our side!”

  With a heave, Davon put his full weight against the handle bar. He felt a shift as the massive war machine lurched and began to roll slowly forward through the snow. Peeking through the slit in the barricade in front of him, Davon watched as the gates of Heinburg slowly opened. A wave of Crimson Reavers rushed outside, forming line after line of soldiers.

  “Enemy is sallying out! Stay on guard!” Grant’s voiced echoed in Davon’s ears as he continued pushing.

  The two battle lines crawled towards each other as the gates shut again, leaving the mass of soldiers locked outside. Looking closer, Davon observed that only regular Crimson Reaver soldiers had been sent to meet the Vanguard’s approach.

  Cannon fodder. They’re trying to weaken us,

  Suddenly, his Reliquary sent a nagging feeling into the back of his mind, a warning Davon didn’t dare to ignore.

  No… a diversion, he realized, looking around frantically.

  Then he heard the sound of a finger snap.

  For a moment, Davon relived his first death. He was back in that Crimson Reaver encampment, watching enemy soldiers materialize out of thin air on every side at a snap of the two-horned captain’s fingers…

  Davon’s Reliquary hummed in his mind, pulling him back into the present. He had fractions of a second to react as Crimson Reavers appeared all around the siege tower, seemingly out of nowhere. Out of the corner of his eye, Davon spotted more enemies around the other siege engines. The air was full of the noise of combat.

  What grabbed Davon’s full attention, however, was the Crimson Reaver captain standing directly behind him. Two horns, the visage of a screaming face, sword raised and ready to strike at Davon.

  Reflexively, Davon dropped to his knees, just barely avoiding the blow aimed at his torso. The captain’s sword pierced the wood of the siege tower with a dull thud, sinking a few inches into the war machine.

  Time seemed to slow as Davon reached for his weapon and detached the two blades, rage filling his heart.

  “PROTECT THE ENGINES!” Grant shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.

  Davon’s brain finally caught up to the full situation at hand. He noted at least a dozen Crimson Reaver sergeants in his periphery. Trusting his friends to deal with the sergeants, Davon Shadow-stepped to the captain’s side and swung his blades in a low arc.

  The two-horned captain sidestepped Davon’s attack, forcing Davon to turn on his heel with the momentum. While Davon was still mid-turn, the captain brought his blade up, aiming to stab it into Davon’s gut.

  Only able to catch the incoming attack thanks to the mental warning of his Reliquary, Davon reflexively swung a blade to his side, parrying the captain’s sword at the final moment.

  The two combatants locked eyes. Sparks flew as their blades slid against each other.

  Sudden movement in his periphery caught Davon’s attention. Kai and a Revenant Davon didn’t recognize were working together to eviscerate several sergeants.

  Using this moment of distraction, the captain kicked Davon in the chest, sending the Revenant into a stagger.

  Davon dug one foot into the snow-covered dirt to catch himself, then swung back at the captain with an attack he knew was too obvious to land. The captain raised his own blade to parry the blow.

  With a wicked grin, Davon invoked his Sharpness rune just as their blades were about to meet. The gambit paid off in full. Davon’s blade cut cleanly through the captain’s weapon.

  Pushing on with the momentum, Davon cleaved through the Captain’s torso in one swift motion, his blade passing through armor and flesh with no resistance.

  As the top half of the Captain’s body fell to the ground, followed swiftly by the lower half, Davon straightened his posture and flicked the blood off of his blades with a flourish. He took a moment to savor his victory over the trio’s nemesis. Finally, the one who had delivered death upon them for the first time lay dead at his feet.

  Snapping himself back to reality, Davon turned his attention to the rest of the battlefield just in time to see Lyla impale a Crimson Reaver on her spear. Both the spear and the body that was stuck on it erupted into a fiery blaze.

  A glance around showed Davon that the fighting had mostly subsided. Several of the Vanguard’s war machines were destroyed, but all of them were surrounded by Crimson Reaver bodies.

  Davon allowed himself a grim smile. The ambush had been repelled almost as quickly as it was launched. Even though they had lost some of their siege engines, Davon could tell the Vanguard was emboldened by the swift victory.

  Now they had to carry that momentum forward into the rest of the siege.