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We have just pass the last few farms and are a couple minutes out from the outer village which stands a few feet away from the main gate of the city. There are other families of hamsters running to the city from their farms. The horn of the Eastern border Fort has stopped sounding for a while now. "Right over this hill and we will be able to see the village". For some reason there are a group of hamsters standing on top of the hill. They are not going in the direction of the city but staring off to the south. Halfway up the hill I can hear shouting and yelling over the mound. As I take my first step on top of the slope. I look over and freeze in fear. There is a large army of creatures coming up the main dirt road towards the city. To the right of the road in the distance, I can see a huge trail of smoke coming from Eastern Fort. Along the left side of the road is a large forest that expands as far as I can see. I stand there, catching my breath as I look down at these creatures. They are small like hamsters but have large circular ears, thin fur and long thin tails. They are wearing black leather coat that reach to their knees with silver markings on them. In their hands they hold long wooden and metal spears of some sort. There are thousands of them marching in blocks of at least 2, 000 each.

I look over to the city and with some relief see a small group of around 500 armored dogs march out of the village and head towards the invading army. "We need to get to the city. There's no way those dogs can hold back that entire army let alone the first block in front," my father says with a worried look. "Come on let's go; we don't have much time," my mother says as she starts pushing Sam and me forward towards the village.

As we are running down the hill my sister says "I've never seen so many animals in my entire life".

Once we have made it to the bottom of the valley, there is a slight uphill run to the village. At this time after working 6 hours straight in the morning, I am running out of breath and slowing down. Dad looks over his shoulder and notices my lack of speed. He stops, turns around and runs to me. Before I can say anything dad picks me over his shoulder and once again starts running up the hill. "If I knew you would be doing this much running Marco, I would've let you slack off a bit on work today". He says with a chuckle in his voice.

I look up over my father shoulder and notice the 500 dogs closing the distance between them and the unknown armies. The first block of unknown soldiers spread out into 5 lines and the front row points their spears at the dogs. Suddenly the front row is engulfed in flame and smoke. Suddenly without warning at least 50 of the dogs fall over howling in pain. Then the first row of the enemy soldiers kneeled and the 2nd row pointed their spears over the heads of the first row. Once more the rows of enemy soldiers are filled with fire and smoke. Once more dogs fall to the ground, holding to their bodies and screaming in pain. By now we have reached the top of the hill and are at the front doorsteps of the village. Dad put me down and looks back at the battlefield. By now the 5th and last row is filled with fire and smoke. The 500 dogs that have charged are t littered on the ground. Some are moving in pain but most are laying still. "We need to get behind the city walls now"! Dad says with a look on his face that I have never seen before. Suddenly I feel fear consume me and my body starts to shake!

We run through the village that by now is completely abandoned, except for other hamster families running to the gates. The village itself is much younger than the city. The houses were more spread around and some even have small gardens. It only took us a couple minutes to get through the village and now we are a couple feet away from the main gate. There are 5 guard dogs standing in front of the main gate screaming "the gates will be closing! Everyone get into the city now"! We run pass the guard dogs and through the first and 2nd gate. We move to the side of the street and sit down so we can catch our breath. I look around and notice other hamster families sitting on the side of the road showing fear and exhaustion. "Who are those animals...? What are those animals?" My sister asks as she is trying to catch her breath. "I don't know but, we have to get to the other side of the river" dad says while watching some of the other hamster families run pass them. "Why James, We are already behind the walls, " says mom as she watches more guard dogs running towards the main gate. "Because, you saw the size of that army and I know that Georgos has around 4,000 armed guards. They could hold the gates for a little while, but not for long". I got onto my feet and say "dad's right. The farther we are from the battle the safer will be". With that dad, mom and Sam all nodded their head in agreement and stood up. We began our way into the city towards the docks.

The main road to the docks is the largest road on this side of the river. The cobblestone road has a width that can fit 6 wooden carts side-by-side. This part of the city is pretty new thus the buildings are in good condition. The buildings are side-by-side but every 5 to 7 buildings there is an alley going through to the next street over. Most of these buildings are shops that sold all kinds of goods; from farming equipment to household items. Because of this the road is kept up and in good condition. Most buildings displayed colorful signs with designs and decorations on them. Some of the shops are boarded up, the owners having already gone, or hiding within their walls holding out from the unknown invaders.

We hurried down the main road to the market which stood in front of the docks. The market is a complete chaos of animals trying to pack away all their goods and getting them onto the ships. It also didn't help all the animals trying to get through the market to the docks. There are some guard dogs trying to keep peace and organized but, it is a complete disaster. "If this is how the market looks. I can't imagine how the docks compare", Dad says with a worried look. We hold hands as we push our way through the market to the docks. There is screaming, yelling and shouting all around us. Constantly people are shoving us as we try to get closer to the docks. Finally we are able to push ourselves out of the market and on to the road looking down at the docks. The road is cobblestone and has little slippery steps down to the wooden docks. I look over and realize that most of the ships are already full of passengers and on their way to the other side of the river. "Look over there" dad says, pointing off to the left where 3 ships are slowly being filled with passengers.

We follow the street down to the ships and walk down the steps to the docks. It is a large stock expanded out at least 20 feet and has one ship at the end with 1 ships on either side. For some reason most of the animals on the docs are not in line to get on the ship. Instead they are sitting on the sides of the docks. We are confused but determined to get onto the ships, so we slowly made our way to the first ship on the left. There are 2 guard dogs in front of the ship. Once they saw us coming up, one of them points at us and say "you 4 hamsters over here". We made our way over to the guard. "Can I and my family get on the ship?" Asks dad. "Right now we have far too few guard dogs to hold the city walls. Under orders of general Jeval, a militia is to be constructed to hold back the invading army while we get everyone on the other side of the river. Once that is done the militia and the guard dogs that are remaining will be evacuated to the other side of the river. Thus for every 2 animals, one gets on the boat and the other joins the militia"..

We stand there shocked and stunned from what the guard dog said. Dad looks over to me and says "Marco grab your sister and get on the boat". Before I can say anything Sam says "no I can fight let mom get on the boat". Dad turns to her and says in a stern voice "Sam get on the boat now". "No, I'm staying". "Honey your 14 years old. How are you going to hold up a sword or a shield at your age". Mom says as she herself is getting angry at Sam. I look around and notice other families of hamsters discussing the issue. I look over to the other side of the river and see the other half of the city. I've never been on that side of the city. Hell this is the farthest I've been from my house and now a have to take my sister over there and hope that it's safer? What are we going to do without mom and dad? I look over to my family. They've already started screaming at each other. There's no way my sister would be allowed into the militia. But without mom or dad we wouldn't know where to go or what to do. I don't know anything else than farming. Are we just supposed to start a new farm? ...

I know what I have to do But, I'm too scared to say it. I look over to my father who now is holding my sister by her wrist and says "I don't care what you want. You're getting on that ship even if it means that I have to nail you to it". I take a deep breath and I slowly walk up to dad and Sam. I place my hand on dad's arm and he stops pulling my sister while looking over to me. My sister stops trying to get free and looks at me with a questioning look. I take one more deep breath then look at my dad and say "mom will take Sam across the river and I'll stay with you dad".

My family looks at me with surprise looks on their faces. Mom was the first one to speak "Marco just grab your sister and get on the" before mom could finish her sentence she was interrupted. "All animals that are not going on the ship move back to the main road to get your assigned Regiment". I turn around and notice a golden retriever guard dog moving up the docks towards the boats. Followed by at least 30 other guards. His head is Brown except for his muzzle which was white and his eyes are black. Shoulders down he is covered in armor.

He wares a large single metal plate that reached from his neck to his waist decorated with DUNAMAI Mark. He also has two metal shoulder pads that curved up to reach the height of his cheeks. He wore a long red garb that reached almost to his feet, with 2 metal plates on each side of his waist. Red cloth went down from his shoulders to his wrists and finish with the pair of leather gloves. Holding in his hands a two-handed Warhammer also bearing the mark of DUNAMAI. The guard dog who was standing in front of the boat stands at attention and shouts "general Jeval".

The general looks around at all the animals on the dock and says "all Captain to me". 3 guard dogs step forward. The 3 guard dog the step forward look very different from the average guard. They ware metal chess piece that fit the length of their chest. On the left shoulder they are metal shoulder pad that went up to their cheek and all the way down to their elbow. On the right shoulder there is a simple leather pads that reached to their wrist. They ware black leather pants that had metal pads protecting their thighs, knees and shins, with black leather shoes. Each of them is carrying a short sword in the right-hand and a shield in the left. The shield is different from the other guard dogs. Instead of having a white background with a red DUNAMAI Mark, it is a red shield with a black DUNAMAI Mark.

"Captain Vixel take all the ferrets and cats to the armory. Get them all the bows and arrows you can grab and send them on the walls". Captain Vixel who is a Labrador retriever nods and starts shouting orders to some of the guard dogs while running back to the city. "Captain Hannah grab all the rabbits who are medicine doctors and herbal remedies. Take them to the main market where we are constructing medical tents". Captain Hannah who is a beagle turns around and runs back towards the market also shouting orders. "Captain Palvet take all the remaining animals to the main armory for weapons and armor. Have them separate into 3 groups and put on the 3 main roads coming from the Eastern gate". Captain Palvet who is a Husky shouts "all remaining animals follow me to the main armory". He starts running back with all the hamsters following him and a couple rabbits following behind. The general once finished his commands turns around to get on the boat and finding me and my family in the way. "Well you heard the general. To the main armory go".

Mom is about to say something but dad stops her by putting his hand on her shoulder. He gives her a hug and whispers something in her ear. She looks at dad and nods then she turns to me. She hugs me tightly and whispers into my ear "I'll see on the other side Marco". She pulls herself back and smiles at me but I can see a faint tear fall down her eye. Then she turns around and grabs Sam by the wrist then drags her up the plank to the ship. Sam is shouting something about her staying back instead, but at the time I am too busy realizing the choice I made. I jump when dad put his hand on my shoulder and says "son we need to go to the armory. After all you don't want no armor and a rusty sword, do you?" Dad jokingly laughs. But I can see the fear in his eyes. So I simply look back at him with a smile and say "I'm right behind you dad". He pats me on the head and we start running to catch up to the group heading to the main armory. We run up the docks to the street and start running down south along the main road. I look over to my right and see 3 ships leave the docks and heading across the river. I can't stop wondering if I made the right choice. Did I make the right choice? But it's pointless now to think that because there's no turning back.

After running for 10 minutes we finally reach the main armory. It was one of the few buildings on this side of the river made completely out of stone. It is 3 stores tall and has a main door in the front guarded by 2 guard dogs. On the left side of the door there is a barred window. Too small for a dog to fit through but large enough for a hamster. It was also one of the original buildings that were built when the city was constructed over 900 years ago and its age is showing. Vines have grown over the left side and on the right of the building there are long cracks.

The commander runs in front and demanded the door to be opened. The two Guard dogs obliged and let everyone in. The lack of sunlight made the armory very dark and looking around it appears that a lot of dust has been collected over time. The commander turns around and says "everyone listen up. The main floor is all metal and leather armor. The 2nd floor is for weapons such as Spears, swords, axes and hammers. The 3rd floor used to have bows and arrows but they were moved to the new armories along the wall. Hamsters the metal armor is too large and heavy for you to lift but we have leather pads, greaves and guard bracers that you can put together. I also suggest that you at least grab a spear with a sword or axe". After the speech hamsters look at each other and slowly start grabbing leather armor and tying them together. "Rabbits grab the chain mail on the left side of the wall and shield with short swords". The rabbits look a bit more nervous than the hamsters but they slowly made it to the left where all the metal and chain armor is.

Dad guided me to the right side and we slowly push through the other hamsters who are tying leather armor together. I look at the wall covered in heavy leather armor probably thick enough to slow down a narrow but not a sword. Dad instead of doing like the other hamsters, Grabbing small pieces of leather armor. He went straight to the wall and grabbed to full Brown leather garbs. "Dad what are you doing".

"Remember your grandfather was a tailor". "Yeah" I say remembering my grandfather. He was one of the few hamsters that didn't have a job that included nature. The whole reason he got into it was because he fell in love with a cat that was a tailor as well. The priests say it was a miracle that my father didn't bear any physical attributes from his mother. The only thing he got from her was his height.

"Well I learned a couple tricks from him. One of those tricks is how to quickly shorten leather coats". dad pulls out the little knife he has in his pocket which he used to cut out weeds. He slowly starts cutting out the bottom half of the garbs. He also cut the sleeves short and grabbed 2 belts off the wall. It took him a little time but once he was done he threw one in my direction and starts putting the other on. I threw the leather garb on, it reaches all the way down to my knees and the sleeves almost to my wrists. The leather is heavy and it is hard to move around in it.

Dad looks me over and says "well that's the best we can do. Sadly the helmets and boots are too large for us. So let's go to the 2ndfloor and grab some weapons". Before we can head up one of the hamsters stops dad and asks "hey could you make me one of those garbs"? Dad smiled and says "of course anything to help out another hamster". Dad turns to me and says "Marco it seems I'll be busy making some leather armor. So can you go upstairs and grab me a spear and a sword". I nod my head and start my way up the stairs to the 2nd floor.

The 2nd floor had no windows and only a couple torches lighting up the room. The room is a lot messier with weapons lying all over the ground because of everyone trying out different weapons. I went over to the left side of the room and grab to Spears. The Spears are as tall as me. They are nothing special, a long wooden rod and a diamond shape metal point. I cross to the other side of the room and look at the swords. Sadly unlike the Spears most of them has rusted from not being kept in good condition. I look through the shelves and the racks to find some decent swords. I find a big pile of swords and carefully dig through them to find one good sword,the sword is so large that I would need both hands to swing it. I am about to go look through another rack of swords when I see a big chest filled with axes. I run up to the chest and look through to find most of them are still in good condition. So I grab the best looking one-sided axe I could find. I turn around and start heading downstairs trying my best to carry the 2 Spears in one hand and the sword and axe in the other.

I slowly made my way back down the stairs to find dad in the corner making leather garbs. I run up to him and say "I got you a spear and the best sword I could find". Dad looks up and smiles. He lays down the leather garb he is working on and looks over the spear and sword. "Good job Marco these will do just fine" he says with a smile on his face. Dad is about to return to his work when he notices the axe in my hand. Dad smiles and jokingly says "if you want to become a woodcutter you should just have said so". I was about to tell him that I couldn't find another decent sword but I realizing this might make him feel guilty, I instead say "what can I say. I like a longer handle". Dad gives a small chuckle and returns back to his work.

I sit beside dad and look around. Most of the hamsters have gone upstairs to grab weapons but most of the rabbits are still putting on their armor. They don't seem that bothered with the leather garbs but when they put on the chain mail, you can see them struggle with the weight. I look over at dad and notice that he has already made 7 more hamster sized leather garbs. I look down at the axe in my hand and slowly hold it up. Even though the axe is short it is quite heavy. I look at the sharpness of the blade and notice that is gotten quite dull. I take the axe and place the handle between my garb and the belt around my waist. I place my back against the wall and take a deep breath. Dad returning to his work notices and asks "something bothering you Marco"?

I look up to dad and say "what are we doing"? Dad looks over at me and says "what do you mean". "Do you know how to fight because I sure as hell don't"? I say with frustration in my voice looking up at the dark ceiling hoping to find some sort of answer. "Look at me" says dad with the stern voice. I look over at dad. "I'm not here because I know how to fight. I'm here because all these other hamsters are here. Because there are rabbits, ferrets, and dogs that need us to be here, If we don't stand together then will just fall apart". Dad slowly returns back to his work. "But above all else I'm here to make sure that your mom and sister get across that river safely. Besides I couldn't see them getting through the walls before the ships will come back for us" dad says with a smile on his face while finishing another leather garb. Always thinking positive I say to myself as I turn my attention back to the barracks.

I hadn't realized how annexes I become but thanks to dad I start to feel a bit more relaxed. I look over to the rabbits and notice that there is only one of them left. He is sitting against the wall by himself wearing his leather armor and chain mail which covered almost his entire body except for his head and feet. I can only see the fur on his head which is white with his left ear being a dark shade of red. He is his small round wooden shield laying on his side and in both hands held the sword in front of him staring deeply into the blade with his green eyes. I wonder what he is thinking. Maybe he feels the same as I do. Maybe he's is as scared as me. He looks up from the sword and stares directly at me. I don't look away just stare back. he takes a deep breath and nods his head towards me. I don't know what he is trying to say or what he means by that but without missing a beat I look at him and nods my head back.

"Alright everyone, Get out of the armory now we have to get set up" says Captain Palvet standing in the doorway. all the animals start heading out of the barracks. I stand up and help dad pass the 8 leather drapes to the hamsters who are very grateful for what he'd done. That done we both head out of the main door and onto the street. we got out of the door and the guard dog standing right in front pointes at me "you're in group 3"he says then points to the far right of the street. I run over there immediately but then I realize that I might have been split up from dad. I immediately turn and see dad coming right behind me. "Well looks like you're stuck with me Marco" dad says while he pats me on the back.

Captain Palvet stands on top of the wooden cart and looks over the 3 separate groups. "Alright listen up. Each group has 10 guard dogs, 23 rabbits and about 320 hamsters. Each group will be put on one of the 3 streets coming from the Eastern gate. Group 1 will be put on the main West Road going to the docks. You will be meeting up with 500 guard dogs. You will hold your position till told to retreat to the docks. Group 2 will go to the northern Street heading along the wall towards the granaries. There will be 50 guard dogs there to help you guard the street. Group 3 you will be placed down the South Road heading towards old town and the Southgate. You will meet up with 120 guard dogs. We know that the enemy are not trying to get through the Southgate so don't worry about being attacked from behind. But you will be the last group to be called back because if they get control of the Southgate that will give them 2 openings into the city. This spot is very important so I will also come with you. Now that everybody has their orders follow your guard dogs to the appropriate area".Capt. Palvet stepped down from the wooden cart and starts heading east towards the Southgate. Our group starts following him towards the gate.

By now the city is quiet. There's nobody walking around other than us. I ran past what looks like a tool store that has been broken in and ransacked. Some cards filled with an assortment of material left behind. It is not long until we reach the Southgate. The gate is much taller than the wall, at least by 7 to 8 feet. It has a large tower on each side and is twice as thick as the walls. The doors itself is wooden with a metal frame. Captain Palvet stops and turns around while saying "I want one guard dog and 2 hamsters to get on top of the Southgate and keep an eye out in case of any surprises". One of the guard dogs in the front nods and turns. The guard dog points at 2 hamsters "you 2 with me" and start heading to the stairs beside the Southgate. The 2 hamsters obliged and follows him up the stairs. With that Captain Palvet turns around and starts continuing his journey up the street towards the East gate.

We finally reach a large group of guard dogs pushing carts and barrels creating a barricade in the middle of the road. Captain Palvet ran up to them and says "we're the militia here to reinforce the barricade. How close are you at finishing"? One of the guard dog steps forward and says "we just started captain and there is a lot of work to do". The captain turns and says "alright look around and find whatever you can to build up the barricade". Everyone starts to go their separate way looking for anything to put on the barricade. The street itself is not that large. You can only squeeze around 10 animals shoulder to shoulder. This side of town is one of the oldest parts of the city. The buildings are made out of wood but you can see some of the walls starting to rot. For every 3 houses there was an alley that could be used to pass through to the next street. Most of these alleys you cant fit a cart through. Small cracks has formed on the road allowing weeds and other plants to come through.

I look over at dad who is heading towards an alley. I follow him into the alley and find 7 barrels thrown into a pile. Dad walks over and picks one up. "They must be empty" dad says as he picks up two with one in each hand. I walk up and pick one up myself but stager for a minute. They weren't that heavy and quite easy to pick up, except they reeked like beer which made me feel nauseous. Dad watches me as I try to regain balance saying while laughingly "don't worry, it won't be long before you fall in love with that smell". I regain my balance and quickly start walking back through the alley while dad stands there laughing at me while I walk past him.

We start heading back when I ask "how long do you think we have before they break down the gate". Dad looks over at me and says "well from what I looked at their army as we were running in to the city. They didn't seem to have any sort of Ram or ladders. So for them to construct siege equipment it probably takes a long time. Plenty of time for us to create a good barricade".

We walk up the alley and head towards the barricade. I plac mine between 2 other bells and dad places his behind them. I start heading back to the alley and ask "so do you think will be over to the other side of the river before they be able to break through the front gate"?

"Depends on how fast they can get the ships cross the river. But I'm pretty certain we won't have to use the barricade, but there's nothing wrong with being cautious". We got back into the alley and I am about to pick up a barrel when suddenly out of nowhere an explosion. I look at dad and we immediately start running back to the barricade. We got out of the alley and reach the barricade when suddenly a horn sounds coming from the Eastern gate. Captain Palvet runs in front of the barricade and when hearing the horn sounding a second time, He turns to us and says with a quiver in his voice "they have broken through the Eastern gate".