The defenders of Schlucht watched as the Dragon's men appeared to retreat to the edge of the forest.

  Some cheered and roared with joy, others patted themselves on the back, but many just stood there in silence with surprised expressions on their faces, trying to process the events of the last moments.

  Albert and Ivar did not cheer either, but instead looked quietly towards the edge of the forest.

  "They seem to have retreated for now," he said exhaustedly.

  "Do you think its over" Ivar asked doubtfully.

  "No, do you?" he asked the same question, although he already knew the answer.

  "Well, you can always hope for the best, but no, I don't think its over yet," Ivar answered, massaging his right temple lightly with one hand.

  "Yeah it’s not like it was to easy or something, more like it wasn’t bad enough to just end like this now," he agreed with him.

  They were silent for a while and looked over at the assembled dragon's men, who had gathered again at the edge of the forest.

  He knew that there were various ways to eavesdrop on them with magic.

  You could sharpen your hearing, transfer your senses to a nearby animal, or maybe even send your entire consciousness over to them.

  But he had no idea how any of these things worked. How could he? After all, he was just the mayor of some village in the middle of nowhere, and the things he could do in a situation like this were very limited indeed.

  "It seems we get a small break at least I'll go to Theodora and check on the injured," he said and started walking, swaying slightly.

  "Do that, I'd better keep an eye on the edge of the forest and tell a few of our people about their false optimism," Ivar sighed exhaustedly.

  "Oh, and say hello to Theodora from me, tell her she probably gets even more to do in the near future," Albert heard Ivar's voice calling after him as he started to leave the palisade.

  To find Theodora and the infirmary she had improvised during the fight, Albert only had to follow the groans of pain and the occasional scream, which is why he quickly reached his destination.

  A little way from the gate in one of the stables he saw the injured lying on some blankets and sheets in some empty stable rooms, while the horses eyed them curiously and fearfully.

  The horses must have been spinning during the whole thing, he thought as he looked around for the healer.

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  She finally came out of one of the chambers further ahead, greeted him and came towards him, exhausted.

  As she came closer, he could see that she was covered in blood spatters.

  Her hands in particular, but also parts of her arms and a few splashes on her face were visible, which seemed somehow strange to Albert.

  Theodora had only helped out on the palisade for a short time after the first defenders were hit by the bandits; with a few shouted orders she had gotten help to transport the injured from the wall and set up a makeshift infirmary.

  Of course, it made sense that she was covered in blood, especially compared to the defenders on the wall, who had basically only thrown things down, but still, it seemed strange to him that the people on the palisade had all stayed clean while she was drenched in blood.

  " It is worryingly quiet out there, have they retreated?" she asked, sounding more tired than hopeful.

  "Uh, yes, they went to the forest after we poured the, er, water down, but I don't think it's over yet," he answered.

  "The water? What do you mean by water, oh..., she wondered at first, until it dawned on her.

  "That explains the noises from earlier," she finally continued in an dry voice, although Albert thought he could see that she had turned a little paler.

  For a while both of them were silent, listening only to the groans of the injured and the occasional nervous snorting of the horses.

  “So, what's it like here?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.

  “Six injured, wounded from the arrows and a few broken bones because they either fell down the wall or the stairs, but they're all stable, even if they probably don't believe me right now,” she answered soberly.

  When she told him that, he thought he'd misheard at first.

  Only six injured? All that and only six injured on their side, all of whom were stable.

  After the events of the day so far, he found it increasingly difficult to believe something like that.

  Part of him also realized that he hadn't even noticed that people had fallen down from the wall onto their side, but given his tentatively growing sense of relief, that thought seemed secondary.

  “Only six people injured and all in stable condition? That's hard to believe, great work Theodora, I mean, that's hard to believe,” he exclaimed enthusiastically.

  "Well, I only managed to help those who made it here, Albert," she explained hesitantly, looking at him somewhat uncertainly.

  Albert needed another moment before he understood what she had just told him. And when he did, his initial relief gave way to a burning shame that almost seemed to suffocate him.

  Many of those hit fell forward from the palisade and not backwards, and of course they are all dead. How did I not think about that? The first was the gatekeeper, damn it, what was the man's name again, he thought guiltily, but couldn't find an answer.

  "Well, at least those who fell backwards survived," Albert finally said hesitantly.

  "Unfortunately, not, Gregor, our blacksmith, broke his neck on impact, his body is in one of the rooms further back," she told him sadly.

  "Oh... shit," he said out loud, what flashed through his mind, and ran a shaking hand through his gray hair.

  They stood next to each other in silence for a while before he remembered something else.

  "Um, greetings from Ivar, by the way, he thinks you'll have more work to do soon," he said haltingly into the silence.

  Theodora looked at him very confused for a moment, as if she hadn't understood what he had just said.

  "Yes... yes, I think he's right," she finally answered and then looked at the floor in silence.

  Albert didn't notice this; instead, he looked at one of the stable doors and tried feverishly to remember the Gate keeper’s name. He knew it was something with an H, but he couldn't get any further.