Nathaniel lay on the stretcher watching the tree line, more mercenaries kept appearing through the forest and it was getting ridiculous
First it was Captain Rodrik's company, maybe ninety men with crossbows and mismatched armor
Then another group emerged from the east, different captain but same golden boar sigil, another seventy or eighty mercenaries with supply wagons and what looked like a battering ram being dragged by tired horses
Then more from the south, and more from the west, each group led by a different captain under the Golden Boar banner, all converging on this single castle like they'd been summoned
"How many of dese guys are dere?" Nathaniel tried to ask the healer
Pausing her work to glance, "the Company of the Golden Boar isn't one unit, it's multiple captains who operate under the same banner, when one captain gets a big contract they call in the others for a cut of the pay, spreads the risk and increases the numbers"
Made sense, in the game you could hire different sizes of the Golden Boar depending on how much you paid, Nathaniel had always assumed it was just game mechanics but apparently it was actually how they operated
More practical than trying to keep hundreds of undisciplined mercenaries together all the time, they'd probably kill each other or desert within a week.
By the time the sun was fully up there had to be at least three hundred mercenaries spread through the forest around the castle, maybe more, Nathaniel had lost count after the fifth company arrived
Supply wagons were being positioned, siege equipment being assembled, crossbowmen checking their weapons and arguing about whose bolts were whose
Multiple captains were gathered around Rodrik near the command wagon, arguing about something in low voices, probably the split of whatever loot they'd get from this
One captain, big guy with a belly that suggested he ate well even during campaigns, was gesturing aggressively, "my company takes the main gate, we get first pick of the loot"
"Your company takes what I assign them," Rodrik said, his voice carrying authority despite being the same rank, "you want first pick, you should've gotten here first"
"We were dealing with bandits two days east"
"Not my problem"
The other captains watched the argument with various levels of amusement, clearly used to this kind of squabbling
The woman from the sewers was sitting nearby on a supply crate, still wrapped in the borrowed cloak, another healer had checked her over and given her water and some dried meat but she just sat there staring at nothing
She hadn't said anything since they pulled her out of the drainage tunnel.
Nathaniel didn't blame her, watching your grandfather get his head split open then your friend get hacked to death while you sit there doing nothing would do that to anyone
The image of that girl, Maria, charging with the dagger and getting an axe in the back kept flashing in Nathaniel's mind whenever he closed his eyes
Around them the mercenary companies were organizing into something resembling an assault force despite their rough appearance, officers shouting orders, crossbowmen forming into loose units, infantry gathering by company with shields and whatever melee weapons they'd brought
It was chaos but organized chaos, these guys might be brigands and looters during peacetime but they knew their business when it came to actual fighting
A younger mercenary, couldn't be more than sixteen or seventeen with barely any facial hair, came over with a waterskin slung over his shoulder, "captain says to give the survivors water, you look like you need it"
"Tanks," Nathaniel managed, the word barely understandable through his swollen lips
The kid helped him drink, lifting his head carefully, the water was warm and tasted like leather and probably hadn't been changed in days but it was the best thing Nathaniel had ever experienced
His throat was so swollen he could barely swallow but he forced it down, feeling it spread through his body
The woman took the waterskin after and drank without looking at anyone, mechanical movements like she wasn't really there.
"You really been in there three days?" the young mercenary asked, his voice curious but also nervous, probably his first big fight
Nathaniel nodded, couldn't manage words right now, his throat was too raw.
"That's rough," the kid said, sitting down on the grass beside the stretcher, "heard the Sturgians hit hard this season, lot of border castles getting besieged and raided, some lord up north lost three villages in one week"
He was talking to fill the silence, Nathaniel recognized the pattern, nervous energy before a fight
More mercenaries were moving past, some glancing at Nathaniel and the woman with a mix of pity and disgust, they both still reeked of sewage despite the healer's attempts to clean them
One mercenary, older guy with a broken nose that had healed crooked, made a joke about shit-covered survivors being bad luck
Got smacked by his sergeant who told him to shut up and check his crossbow.
The companies kept arriving, a sixth group appeared from the northwest, smaller, maybe forty men but they looked meaner than the others, moved with the kind of confidence that came from surviving too many fights
Their captain was a woman, rare in Calradia but not unheard of in mercenary companies, she had a scar running from her ear to her chin and carried a two-handed sword across her back
She walked straight to Rodrik and the other captains, didn't wait to be invited into the discussion, "heard you're hitting a Sturgian occupation, I want in"
"Captain Mira," Rodrik greeted her with what looked like actual respect, "didn't know you were in the area"
"Was heading south but this pays better," she looked at the castle in the distance, "how many raiders?"
"Survivor says around hundred fifty, been looting for three days, probably drunk and scattered"
"And you've got what, three hundred of us?" Mira grinned, "easy money"
"If we do this right," Rodrik said, "I'm thinking three-pronged assault, hit them before they can organize a defense"
"I'll take the east wall," Mira said immediately, "my boys can climb"
The other captains muttered but didn't argue, apparently Captain Mira's reputation preceded her
More discussions, more arguing about tactics and loot distribution, Nathaniel tuned it out and focused on just breathing
A shadow fell across him and he looked up to see Captain Rodrik standing there again, the man seemed to be everywhere at once
"We're moving on the castle in thirty minutes," Rodrik said, kneeling beside the stretcher, "hitting them from three sides while they're still drunk and scattered, east, west, and main gate"
"My frensh," Nathaniel tried to say through his ruined mouth
"I know, your information helped us plan this," Rodrik said, his face was all business but not unkind, "we'll try to reach them before the raiders regroup but no promises, sieges are messy and things go wrong"
Nathaniel wanted to say more, wanted to beg him to hurry, but Rodrik was already standing, moving back to coordinate with the other captains
Around them the mercenary companies were forming up properly, crossbowmen in loose formations that could provide covering fire, infantry with shields and spears in rough companies, a few mounted scouts on what looked like half-starved horses
Three hundred mercenaries against maybe a hundred and fifty or less raiders who'd been drinking and looting for three days, who thought they'd already won
The math finally favored the defenders.
Nathaniel watched officers moving through the companies doing final equipment checks, making sure everyone knew their assignments and wasn't too drunk themselves to fight
One sergeant was berating a mercenary for having a rusty sword, "you think rust kills raiders? Get that oiled before we move or I'm docking your pay"
Another officer was reminding his men about the rules of engagement, "anyone in Sturgian colors dies, castle militia and servants are off limits unless they attack first, loot comes after we secure the keep, anyone caught looting early gets left behind"
The young mercenary who'd given them water was still hanging around, checking his crossbow for the third time, his hands were shaking slightly
"Dis your firs real fight?" Nathaniel tried to ask
The kid seemed to get it anyway, maybe from context, "nah, been with the company six months, fought bandits twice and some Aserai raiders down south, this is the biggest though"
He looked scared but trying to hide it, reminded Nathaniel of himself three days ago before everything went to hell, back when he thought he could be some kind of hero
Felt like a lifetime ago, like a different person entirely.
Nathaniel wanted to say but he couldn't get the words out right, just nodded at the kid instead
The kid smiled nervously and nodded back, then jogged off to join his unit when his sergeant called.
More officers were moving through the assembled companies, Captain Mira was addressing her forty fighters in a voice that carried, "alright you lot, we're taking the east wall, it's lower there so we can get ladders up, first ten over get double shares, anyone who hesitates gets nothing, clear?"
Her fighters cheered, banging weapons against shields with enthusiasm.
Another captain, the big guy with the belly who'd argued with Rodrik, was taking a different approach with his company, "standard breach and clear, we go through the main gate after the ram breaks it, shield wall advances, crossbows cover, anyone runs and I'll kill you myself before the raiders get a chance"
His men looked less enthusiastic but nodded.
Different leadership styles but same goal, get in, kill the raiders, secure the castle, collect payment and loot
Nathaniel lay there watching it all from his stretcher,
Jade and the others were in there, they had been holding for a day against impossible odds with no food and no water
If they were still alive they'd be on their last legs, probably down to a handful of survivors, maybe barricaded in some final room waiting to die
The Golden Boar had to move fast or there'd be nobody left to rescue.
Supply wagons were being positioned behind the assault companies, healer stations set up with stretchers and medical supplies, this was going to get bloody and everyone knew it
The woman from the sewers suddenly spoke, her first words since the drainage tunnel, "th-they're going to... to k-kill them all"
Nathaniel didn't know if she meant the mercenaries would kill the raiders or the raiders would kill the remaining defenders before rescue came
Maybe both.
"Dey'll make it," he tried to say through his broken face, though he didn't know if he believed it, "jus hold on a liddl longer"
The woman didn't respond, went back to staring at nothing.
A horn sounded from the command position, three short blasts that echoed through the forest
The signal to advance.
The mercenary companies started moving immediately, no fancy formations or parade ground precision, just practical advance in loose groups that could respond to threats
Crossbowmen moved ahead as skirmishers, spreading out to provide covering fire, infantry following behind with shields ready and weapons drawn
Captain Mira's company split off toward the east, moving fast through the trees, her fighters were lighter armored and moved like they were used to this
The main force under Rodrik advanced on the gate, the battering ram being pushed forward by a dozen men, shields held above it to protect from arrows
Another company circled west, would hit that side of the castle once the main assault began
The young mercenary who'd given them water was with the main force, Nathaniel could see him in the loose formation, crossbow at the ready, looking terrified but moving forward anyway
The first mercenaries reached the edge of the tree line maybe two hundred yards from the castle walls.
That's when the raiders finally noticed.
Shouts of alarm from the walls, figures running along the battlements, someone blowing a horn inside the castle, off-key and panicked
The raiders had been caught completely off guard, drunk and scattered after three days of looting, never expected a relief force this large
Crossbow bolts started flying from the mercenary skirmishers toward the walls where raiders were scrambling to organize a defense, most of the bolts missed but a few found targets, men falling from the battlements
Then the Golden Boar hit the open ground at a run and the real assault began.
The battering ram reached the gates, raiders on the walls were shooting arrows down but the shields protected most of the ram crew, one man went down with an arrow in his leg but was immediately replaced
The ram swung back and hit the gates with a crack that echoed across the field.
And again.
And again.
Captain Mira's company had reached the east wall and ladders were going up, raiders were trying to push them back but the mercenary crossbows were providing covering fire, keeping the defenders' heads down
The west assault was hitting their side, more ladders, more chaos.
The gates shuddered under another ram impact, wood splintering.
Inside the castle Nathaniel could hear horns blowing, raiders trying to rally, organize some kind of defense, but it was too late, they were scattered and drunk and facing three hundred professional mercenaries
One more ram impact and the gates burst inward with a crash.
The Golden Boar poured through like a flood.