"Damn it! It's the Amani Trollss!" Kovak roared, no longer hesitating. "Kael, gather your men! Everyone who can move, grab a weapon and follow me!"
Kael's heart began to pound, his adrenaline surging.
He instinctively grabbed his lute and a short sword, then followed Kovak out of the wooden house.
By the time they reached the port area, it was already a sea of flames.
Several docked ships had been set ablaze. The raging fires reflected on the dark, somber sea, appearing distorted by the heat haze and water ripples.
Thick smoke, mixed with a pungent smell of charring, assailed them.
More Amani canoes and small boats, like sharks smelling blood, continuously emerged from the sea mist, rushing towards the shore.
Although these boats were simple in design, their speed was astonishing.
Roughly estimated, at least fifty Amani Trollss had successfully landed.
Their skin was emerald green, painted with red and blue battle markings that glowed eerily under the firelight and moonlight.
The Trolls let out low, hoarse war cries, using the stacked cargo crates on the dock as cover, and attacked any dock sentries attempting to organize resistance with blowdarts and thrown spears.
"Loa bless us! Tear these scaly invaders to shreds!" A Troll leader, wearing a feather crown, directed the raiders, brandishing a blood-stained machete.
There were only about twenty sentries responsible for night patrol in the port, and they were now suppressed, unable to raise their heads, with comrades constantly falling from arrows.
Kovak's eyes were bloodshot, but he suppressed his rage, curbing the impulse to charge directly, and sharply ordered:
"Sentries, fall back! Archers, fire arrows to cover the dock! Set their boats on fire, don't let any more of them land!"
The well-trained sentries immediately followed orders, fighting as they retreated.
Several archers in the squad ignited specially made arrows and shot them at the dock jetties and the Amani boats.
A small boat attempting to dock was hit by several fire arrows and burst into flames. The Trolls on board screamed as they fell into the cold sea, temporarily halting further landings.
Just then, Kael's squad finally arrived and quickly joined the battle.
Without much command, the warriors and Paladins spontaneously moved to the front line, forming a bulwark with their shields and bodies, blocking incoming blowdarts and spear shafts;
The rogues and hunters, utilizing shadows and the chaos, picked off isolated Trolls with crossbow bolts and throwing knives;
The accompanying Druids let out a low growl, their forms twisting and rapidly expanding in a green glow, transforming into fierce bears or agile leopards.
They lunged from the flanks into the Troll raiders, their claws and fangs instantly tearing apart several Troll headhunters who were focused on throwing.
Kael stood in a relatively safe position slightly behind, watching the bloody and chaotic scene, his palms slick with cold sweat.
He tried to play a battle song, but his fingers were stiff, and the few notes from his lute were pitifully weak amidst the shouts of killing.
Just then, an injured sentry, clutching his shoulder which had been hit by a blowdart, knelt beside him, his face purple, clearly poisoned.
Kael instinctively reached out, concentrating, and a faint golden glow appeared in his palm—it was the only priest spell he had mastered, Sustain Life.
As the name suggested, this divine spell could barely keep a dying person alive.
The light seeped into the sentry's wound. Although it couldn't immediately detoxify, it barely stopped the bleeding and slowed the spread of the poison.
The sentry gave him a grateful look and then fainted.
However, the Amani's offensive did not weaken.
A Troll witch doctor, hidden in the shadows, began to perform an eerie dance.
As he brandished his bone staff, a dark green dense mist spewed forth, rapidly expanding and enveloping a large area.
"It's Voodoo Mist! Be careful!" Kovak roared a warning, but it was already too late.
The thick mist not only severely obstructed visibility, making it difficult for the sentries' arrows to aim, but also caused dizziness, nausea, and weakness in those who inhaled it.
Chaos instantly descended upon the battle line. The warriors could barely see the enemy, and the Druids, transformed into beasts, growled uneasily in the fog.
"I can't see!"
"My head... so dizzy—"
Just at this critical moment, Kael suddenly remembered something.
He slung his lute behind his back, took a deep breath, raised both hands high, and strained with all his might to harness the minuscule power of divine magic.
"Light!"
A stable and soft white orb of light suddenly illuminated between his hands, like a small moon, dispelling the thick mist in a small area around him!
Although its range was limited, in this extremely low visibility mist, it was nothing short of a lighthouse!
"Gather around me! Those who can see, protect the caster!" Kael shouted with all his might, his voice slightly strained from tension, but clearly reaching the ears of all nearby defenders.
The nearby warriors and Paladins, seeing the light, instinctively converged towards Kael's position, stabilizing their formation once more.
While the light couldn't completely dispel the widespread mist, it at least provided stable visibility for a localized area, preventing complete chaos.
However, the number of Amani Trollss was still increasing.
More and more Troll canoes successfully broke through the burning sea and landed on the beach.
They roared and began to charge the makeshift defensive line.
Kovak looked at his side's constant casualties and the enemy's surging momentum, and made a decisive decision.
"Retreat! Fall back behind the walls! Defend using the fortifications!" he loudly ordered, his battle-axe abruptly felling a Troll berserker who had charged close. "Don't get bogged down in combat! Cover each other, retreat in an orderly fashion!"
The defending force began to fight and retreat, using their familiarity with the terrain to continuously impede the pursuers with arrows and sporadic spells, slowly falling back towards the settlement's wooden walls.
The first engagement was brief and bloody.
When the last defender retreated behind the walls and struggled to close the gate, a count showed that the defenders had lost over ten warriors.
On the Amani side, nearly twenty bodies were left on the path between the port and the walls, and several burning boats still crackled on the sea.
The Trolls did not immediately assault the walls but reassembled a hundred meters away, continuously letting out challenging roars.
After a brief respite, the sound of war drums heralded the start of the next battle.
After regrouping, a rough estimate put the number of forest Trolls at over one hundred and fifty.
They quickly split into three groups: one, wielding great axes and long spears, roared as it charged the wooden wall head-on;
The other two groups attempted to flank to the left and right, their targets clearly the two smaller entrances.
About ten Troll witch doctors remained in the rear, forming a circle, dancing while chanting indistinct incantations.
Voodoo energy circulated among them, transforming into streaks of eerie light that entered the bodies of the front-line Troll warriors, making their muscles tense, their eyes glow red, and turning them even more bloodthirsty and ferocious.
Occasionally, distorted tiny spirits were also summoned, shrieking as they lunged towards the walls.
"Hold the line! For New Voljin! For my Lord Obsidian! Protect his spark! It must not be extinguished here!"
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