Athanass stood in his blue robes on the high vantage point, looking out into the distance. A bronze telescope clearly revealed the goblins, warg riders, and ogres madly surging toward them from a hundred meters away, the most striking of all being the female Drow firmly riding atop a gigantic spider.
Flames ignited as all the jars of pitch were hoisted up to the scaffolding. Sharp arrow shafts wrapped in hemp cloth were thoroughly soaked in oil, and every man and woman capable of fighting gripped their weapons, staring fixedly at the enemy's approach.
Zevlor stood at the very front. This veteran, who had led the Tieflings all the way in desperate flight from Avernus, once again displayed his leadership qualities at this moment. "My brothers and sisters! This is the decisive moment of our fate! I know you are terrified... but I also know that we have fought for this all our lives! No one has ever handed us an easy choice or a warm path, and this time is no different. If we let those wretches out there break into The Grove, they will take our lives, our children, our future. We must resist to the death!..."
Chapter 42