"Wh-What is he doing?!"
"What is that?!"
"He's charging… alone?!"
The soldiers on the front line murmured in disbelief. Their voices were quiet, almost like they were afraid to speak too loudly and draw attention from the thing approaching.
General Lander stood on a raised platform behind the vanguard, his arms crossed. Beside him stood Vivek, an elderly illusion mage with silver hair tied in a knot.
"General Lander, am I seeing this correctly?" Vivek asked, his voice calm but strained. "There's a swarm of bugs following him."
Lander narrowed his eyes.
"A mad farmer," he said with a half-laugh. Then, louder, so everyone could hear, he barked, "It seems negotiation isn't the farmer's intention, but suicide."
The soldiers chuckled nervously.
"Archers," Lander called. "Light your arrows!"
The command spread quickly. Flames sparked to life along the walls as archers dipped their arrows in oil and passed them through small torches.
The fire danced. The sky darkened.
