Night of Day 3
The news of the sighting instantly shattered the tentative peace Kael had engineered through logistics. It was the moment of truth: the first confrontation that would test whether geometry and discipline could truly overcome brute force and desperation.
Sergeant Rylen stood before Kael in the manor hall, his face etched with professional concern. "They are moving low, my lord. A scout saw flickering torchlight in the south ravine, perhaps seven or eight men. They are likely bandits drawn by the smoke from our fires and the sight of the carts returning with the tubers."
Kael's mind was already running a combat simulation. The enemy was small, opportunistic, and likely reliant on traditional hit-and-run tactics against an undefended noble settlement.
"They will assume the defense is the useless palisade and that the men inside are demoralized farmhands," Kael stated. "They will try to breach the perimeter where the ground is lowest, or wait for the defenders to fall asleep."
Kael issued rapid, precise orders, cutting through Rylen's conventional expectations.
"We will not send a patrol. We will not engage outside the fortifications. The objective is not to kill them, but to deter them permanently by proving the cost of attack is unacceptable. We must demonstrate the superiority of the new defense."
Kael ordered the disposition of forces:
The Firing Solution: Rylen and two of his most skilled archers were assigned to the southwest bastion—the most likely point of attack from the ravine. Their objective was to hold their fire until the bandits were fully committed to the attack.
The Reserve: The other two knights were placed on the adjacent bastions, tasked with holding the flanking fire position. Their arrows would be aimed not at the approaching bandits, but at the base of the southwest bastion, ensuring that anyone attempting to breach the walls would be exposed to crossfire.
The Alarm: Kael instructed the laborers—the Contingent and Core workers—who were on night shift dismantling the old palisade, to remain inside the manor and be ready to sound the alarm, but strictly ordered them not to engage.
"Rylen, your men must understand the geometry," Kael instructed, sketching the angles one last time on the cold stone floor with a piece of charcoal. "The bandits will rush the face of your bastion. You must wait until they are exposed and attempting to scale the forty-degree slope. Your men on the flanking bastions will fire down the wall face, catching the enemy in the open. The angled walls are designed to funnel the enemy directly into the most lethal position."
Rylen's eyes gleamed with professional excitement. It was a strategy of disciplined execution, minimizing risk while maximizing the efficiency of force—classic field defense doctrine.
"My lord, it will be executed precisely," Rylen confirmed, saluting with a confidence Kael had fought hard to earn.
Kael did not follow them to the wall. His role was commander and logician, not frontline fighter. He took a position near the manor, listening to the silence of the night.
The next hour passed in tense, frozen silence. The only sounds were the persistent moan of the wind and the faint crackle of the furnace fires, which, ironically, were the beacon that had drawn the danger.
The attack came with a sudden, unprofessional rush. Seven men, clad in rags and armed with crude axes and spears, emerged from the ravine. They moved toward the village perimeter, expecting to find a crumbling wall and sleeping guards.
They chose the southwest corner—precisely as Kael had predicted, due to its low elevation. The moment they reached the shadow of the hastily constructed stone bastion, they began to yell, believing the element of surprise was theirs.
Sergeant Rylen, hidden entirely from view by the low, angled wall of the bastion, held his position. The bandits rushed the forty-degree slope, scrambling for purchase.
The moment the bandits were fully exposed and committed to scaling the angle, Rylen barked the command: "Fire!"
It was not a single, wild volley. It was a controlled, brutal discharge. Rylen and his archers aimed high and true at the two lead bandits, dropping them instantly.
But the true genius of Kael's design was the flanking fire.
The two knights on the adjacent bastions, who had maintained their disciplined positioning, fired their arrows not at the attackers' backs, but directly at the face of Rylen's bastion. The arrows sailed low and parallel to the angled stone, catching the remaining five bandits who were attempting to climb or find cover at the base of the wall.
The bandits were caught in a brutal crossfire. The angled wall provided no cover, instead forcing them into the path of the incoming arrows. Two more bandits fell, pierced by the unexpected barrage.
The remaining three men, terrified by the disciplined, overwhelming accuracy and the realization that their traditional ambush was completely countered, broke immediately. They dropped their weapons and vanished back into the ravine shadows, dragging one injured comrade with them.
Rylen immediately ordered the cease-fire. The fight had lasted less than twenty seconds. Total losses: four bandits down, none on the side of Ashfall.
Rylen ran back to the manor, his face alight with excitement and awe.
"My Lord Baron! The geometry! They were cut down before they could touch the stone! They believed there were twenty archers inside! Your design—it is a devil's trap!"
Kael nodded, his expression remaining cold and calculating. "We do not celebrate the kill, Sergeant. We celebrate the efficiency of the deterrent. The geometry worked. They will tell their peers that Ashfall is defended by invisible, precise, overwhelming force. They will not return."
Kael then issued the final, grim order of the night: "Do not touch the bodies. Leave them. They are now an object lesson. They are a sign to the next group of desperate men that the law of this frontier is discipline and the cost of breaking that law is death."
The immediate threat was averted. The discipline of the command structure, the technical knowledge of the commander, and the terrifying efficiency of the geometric defense had passed its first major test. The system was holding.