Gleeson The Defender part 5

Over the next few weeks the snow melts away bit by bit until there’s nothing left except thick mud. Gleeson goes from shop to shop. An occasional warehouse but, in this small town, the warehouses are more like stockrooms.

He helps people that just need the extra hand. Most of them are older and their families moved away leaving them here to fend for themselves. Gleeson talks with everyone that he can, gathering as much information as he can about the orcs.

It’s easy to do. That’s all anyone has been talking about since the snow melted away. The snow is too deep to stage any kind of attack, but now that spring is here, it’s only a matter of time before the next attack happens.

“Maybe they moved on.” Someone said to him when he was helping them a few days prior.

“Maybe they did.” He couldn't help but smile at that.

Sometimes during his training sessions with Jake, he would have others come along. This allowed them to train against multiple foes at once. They used practice swords carved from nearby trees.

“Jake, it’s your turn.” Gleeson allows him into the center of the ring of men. Jake steps in and prepares himself. A large man known as Alan attacks first. Jake is able to adjust to the attack from his side, but is unable to block the next attack or the one after that. “Hold!” Gleeson interjects.

“What?”

“You were getting your ass kicked. I had to stop it. What would Mary say if you died because of a tree branch?” The men around them laugh. “You need to call a town meeting.” Gleeson says straight faced.

“Why?”

“Because, you are nowhere near ready to take on these orcs. I had seasoned veterans with me and they were slaughtered. You can’t even defend against attacks you know are coming.”

“So, what does a town meeting have to do with it?”

 “You’ll need to have a plan to submit. If y’all go out there now, everyone will be put to the sword and the town burned to the ground.”

“Our fearless leader wants to submit?” Alan looks at him with disgust.

“If you’re so eager to die, then so be it.” Gleeson pulls a knife from its sheath attached to his belt and throws it at his feet. Alan looks down at the knife. “Pick it up.”

Alan kicks the knife back over to Gleeson. He picks it up and puts it back in the sheath. “Call a town meeting.” Gleeson walks out of the barn.

That night, the town meeting is called. They all meet in the church at the edge of town. As Gleeson walks up to it, He sees the lone lantern hanging next to the doorway. The light that he saw the night he almost died.

He walks into the church behind Jake and Mary. Their daughter is in the middle holding both of their hands. They sit down in one of the pews towards the back. The townspeople fill in around them.

“Thank you all for being here.” Lord Gregory begins. “As you all know we haven’t had an attack in several months. More than likely because of the snow. However, the snow has melted away and spring is upon us. The attacks may continue again, we need to be prepared.”

“We need to fight.” A man calls from the front of the church. A few others grumble along with him. Gleeson makes a note of who it is. He hasn’t seen too much of him around town.

“He’s a hunter.” Jake leans over to Gleeson. He sees the look on his face. “He’s not in town much. Usually selling his kills to the butcher and they sell to us.”

“Why wasn’t he included in all of this before?”

“He can’t be trusted with secrets. If it comes to a fight, he’ll be there though.”

“We can’t fight them.” Lord Gregory calms everyone down.

“Why not?” The hunter stands up. “Why can’t we fight? We have plenty of men that are tired of all the stealing of our hard work, of our families.”

“How many of you know how to fight?” Gleeson stands up in the aisle.

“I can.”

“What’s your name or should I just call you hunter?”

“It’s Erik.”

“So Erik, you can fight. Who else can fight?” A few men stand up. Most of them he knows from training. He laughs, knowing they really can’t fight. “Great, so the eight of you against how many orcs?”

“There have never been more than ten here at one time.” Erik protests.

“Ten at one time. Are they all the same orcs too?”

“I don’t know.” He confesses.

“Well, I can tell you there is more than ten orcs. My men and I were attacked by well over fifty. I had over a hundred men and we were slaughtered.”

“You can train us.” One of his students calls out. He thinks it’s Alan but he’s not sure.

“You’re right I could train you.”

“Now hold-” Lord Gregory tries to interject but is shot down instantly by Gleeson’s fierce gaze.

“How many of you are willing to fight and die for your neighbor? Please stand up if you’re willing to do that.” Nobody stands up at first. He can hear a cough in the back of the church. “That’s what I-”

“I’ll fight.” Mary stands up.

“So will I.” Jake stands next to her. She coughs a couple of times into a rag and pulls her hand down quickly.

“Mary, you-”

“I will father.” She cuts of Lord Gregory. “Somebody has to or we’re all dead for sure.”

“I’ll fight as well.” Another man stands up. More stand up one by one until the entire church is standing.

“Is this what you want?” Gleeson looks around the room. He looks back at Lord Gregory and smiles. “It appears, my lord, that you’re the only one that wants to submit.”

“It appears to be that way.” He sits down on a chair. Mary runs up to her father.

“I’m sorry father, but I can no longer sit idly by and watch these monsters kill us.”

“I understand child. Are you ready to put Adeline’s life on the line when you fight?”

“Are you ready to put her life on the line when you don’t?” She retorts.

“You won’t stand a chance unless you follow everything that I say. Everyone reports to Jake or Mary and they report to me. If they tell you something that means it came from me. Do you understand?” Voices of agreement fill the church.

“What’s first?” Mary stands next to him. She reaches down and grabs his hand. Jake walks up the aisle and joins them, holding her other hand.

“I will create a training schedule. You will report when you are supposed to, if you are not training you will continue doing what you normally would do. Erik, I need you to be my eyes. If you see them coming you need to get here as fast as you can. We cannot attack them head on.”

“What do you suggest?” Lord Gregory stands up.

“At first, we need to submit. If they come sooner rather than later, we need to give them what they came for.”

“What if they want my children?” A woman asks from the back of the church.

“Let me worry about that.”