Watching them leave Chronos wondered how many of them would live to see morning.
"Alright, I have a long night of work ahead of me. I need to meet the tribes' strongest individuals and organize defense and also..." He mumbled to himself as he walked back inside the walls.
Passing through the village he made his way back to the main square. Along the way he acquired a list of recipes from one of the alchemists.
The list was composed of the usual potions bogbreath elixir, hag's resilience, and fenmist philter. All great potions for healing, support, or defense, most of which were already prepared or were being prepared after running out but not that useful in the current situation. However, at the very end of the list was a potion that was marked as forbidden, it was called the Bog King's Breath but there was no description of what it could do.
Approaching the Elder Matriarch He asked, "What is this Bog King's Breath potion? Why is it forbidden?"
She hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to tell him, "It is a potion that grants one the abilities of the swamp king, the abilities of a basalisk. Other swamp beasts will naturally submit to them, and they will be able to breath poisonous fog for a time. However, from the moment they drink it they will be unable to look other people in the eye, and their own body will slowly turn to stone over months, a year if they are lucky. The only way to stop the petrification is to gouge out their eyes."
"Hm, our bodies can't withstand a basilisk's power and would slowly turn to stone?" He paused, weighing his options.
If they made it the potion would only be stable for a few months and couldn't be sold as it was a forbidden potion. He would also hesitate to use it, on the other hand, if they didn't make it and met something too strong for them to defeat the village would be doomed.
Given how more powerful creatures had appeared as the day went on, Chronos decided it was better to have it even if it meant wasting some precious resources in the end.
"Make one. I would rather have it but not need it, then find out we needed it when it's too late."
The Elder Matriarch responded with a nod. "It will take me most of the night to brew it."
"Alright." Chronos turned to the three lizardfolk warriors and Captain to begin giving orders, "With the paladins out there I doubt we'll face another tide of beasts like this evening's tide but we still need to be on guard. We'll take turns on watch and switch at 3 am."
"I can take the first watch." Captain stated.
"I will join him." Said one of the lizardfolk who was fluent in common.
Gregory stepped forward too, "I'll be on first watch. My skills can give us advanced warning."
Nodding Chronos said, "That leaves myself and two lizardfolk for the morning watch. You two go get some rest, Captain if something happens send a runner to me. I'll be meditating on standby just in case."
With their orders received everyone left to fulfil them. Chronos strolled over to where Sariah and the other mages were gathered.
"Sariah, I need you to cast a barrier spell over the whole village with the other mages. We are hoping that Commander Stan can keep the dark beasts at bay for most of the night so you can sleep after that."
Gesturing for the others to follow her she said, "Alright, I will also have some of the shamans cast a thorn spell on the barrier. That way it can deal with injured or weak beasts on its own."
Chronos then turned to the priests nearby, "I need anyone that's not on healing duty to bless the will-o-wisp potions light that is surrounding the village. I'm hoping it will weaken any dark beasts that approach."
Looking at each other for a moment an elderly red priest responded, "Makes as much sense as anything else we have tried on these beasts. Half our spells either don't affect them or cause great effects, even when they shouldn't."
Standing up a group of red priests left to cast the Blessed Light spell just to check if it worked.
Chronos sat beneath a large tree on the edge of the square to meditate. The square was in the center of the village and would be the best location to reach any of the walls if something happened.
Closing his eyes he could hear the sounds of grunting beasts and the clashing of weapons from the woods. For some reason the sound of combat had always helped him relax, the older maids back home even swore that as an infant he wouldn't fall asleep unless he could hear the soldiers training. He was starting to believe them.
Sitting in the middle of a battlefield he felt more relaxed than he had in months. Was that a sign that he was insane?
Three hours passed swiftly and it was his turn to stand guard.
"Chronos, it's your turn." Gregory had come to get him at 3 am sharp.
Standing up he shook his limbs to wake them while asking, "How is the village holding up?"
"Good so far, the beasts have tried to charge the walls twice, but the blessed will-o-wisps greatly weakened their shadowy forms, and the thorn barrier deals good damage. I'm worried that whoever is guiding them will find a way to deal with the light soon but at the moment nothing has broken through the walls. The paladins came back to rest before heading out again too. Now I'm going to rest with Sariah." Not realizing what he just said he wearily stumbled off.
The march through the swamp followed by a big battle had worn him out more than he thought.
Smiling Chronos walked toward the eastern wall. He would be in charge of that wall until morning, and he hoped the second order that was clearing the east was doing a good job.
On the way he passed the Elder Matriarch's alchemy room to check in on her.
"Is it going well Matriarch?"
"Yes, the potion will be ready by dawn. Who should we entrust it with?"
"Not sure. Right now, you hold onto it and choose someone when an emergency happens."
Waving goodbye, he made his way to the east wall. Upon arriving he found several beasts attempting to rush the wall but none of them could withstand more than a few arrows from the defenders.
"How has it been tonight?" He asked upon arriving.
"Not bad, there are sporadic attacks from the beasts but nothing strong enough to break through yet. A number of paladins were too injured to fight and are resting inside the wall now, the knights took their place and are fighting now." The gate captain reported.
"That's good, if we can stall them long enough, the lizardfolk warriors can recover then push into the swamp to find more tears. Once those are sealed it will be much easier to clear the swamp."
The hours passed slowly with random attacks from time to time. Most of the attacks weren't strong enough to warrant Chronos' attention until two beasts in the third rank appeared; he dealt with them swiftly.
Unfortunately, with the constant attacks everyone's stress was building up, the lizardfolk weren't trained for battles like this. Even if they held them off today, the situation wouldn't improve until they could scout the swamps and seal the tears. That knowledge weighed heavily on everyone.
An hour before dawn the second order returned to rest, the village guards were doubled during their rest time. The beasts seemed to recognize their weakness and ferociously attacked the walls, but the wall guards were ready, and the battle didn't last long before the beasts were forced back again.
As dawn approached the second order went out once more but nearly half their numbers were replaced by knights this time. They weren't gone for long when news from the first order reached the village.
The reinforcements would arrive within the hour, and the battle priests had come with them.
Hearing this encouraged the village's warriors, now they would be able to take back their homes and swamp gardens.
"Don't get sloppy, the enemy will take advantage of our weakness to break the walls." Chronos shouted despite his own grin.
Half an hour after dawn Chronos saw the flags of the battle priests entering the west walls gate. In the early light of dawn, he could see the symbol for the Goddess of order upon their flags, behind that were the Goddesses of soul and wisdom. Together they made up the Tri-Goddess religion and had supported this world for more than 4000 years of recorded history.
With all three of them this war wouldn't last long, Chronos expected it to end within a few months. Behind the Tri-Goddess banners were 1500 paladins and 500 monks from their church. That was a comforting sight to see but Chronos wondered what was really going on for this many troops to be needed.
He was preparing to hand over command of the eastern wall and greet the new guests when everything went wrong.
SQUEEEEAAAL!!!