Six mercenary cavalrymen regrouped at the eight-foot cart gap, trampling loose gravel as they prepared another assault.
Loccy planted her feet firmly into the churned mud, her knuckles white around the ash shaft of her war mallet.
"Do not break ranks to chase them down the road, even if they turn!" Sergeant Hans bellowed from the upper revetment catwalk.
"A rabbit does not chase wolves, old sergeant—she lets the wolves break their teeth against her burrow!" she yelled back.
"They have two heavy arbalests loaded in the second rank!" Hans warned, leaning over the timber railing.
"Let them bring ten arbalests!" she laughed, her eyes flashing with golden combat frenzy.
With a blinding flare of celestial radiance, a spectral wing of pale gold energy erupted from her shoulder blades, spanning the width of the gap.
The shimmering barrier sealed the choke point completely, perfectly aligned with the masonry revetments without obstructing the interior escape lanes.
