The barricade exploded inward with a deafening crack.
Wood splintered, men screamed, and the monsters came pouring through like a tsunami.
Iron-hide boars smashed through the openings, trampling soldiers underfoot.
Wolves leapt over fallen bodies, claws flashing in the flickering torchlight.
Above, winged beasts swooped low, snatching defenders from the ground.
Wade met them head-on.
"Toothpick!" he roared, swinging the weapon in a brutal arc.
The axe head bit deep into the neck of a lunging wolf, cleaving through it.
He ripped the weapon free, spun, and slammed the hammer end into another creature's skull.
The impact sent bone fragments flying.
Fireburst.
Flames erupted from his hand, engulfing a cluster of smaller beasts. They shrieked, the smell of burning flesh thick in the air.
But the fire barely slowed the flood. More replaced them, clawing and snapping their way through the wreckage.
Around him, the defense line collapsed.
