Chapter 104: The Fall

Chapter 104: The Fall

The final assault began before sunrise, while the sky above Northwatch was still dark enough for torches to burn along the battlements.

Viridian catapults opened fire across several sectors almost at once, sending stones toward the eastern gatehouse, the southern wall, and the northern defenses where General Vorak Thenn had quietly concentrated additional siege equipment during the night.

Ballistas followed with heavy bolts aimed at towers, exposed firing positions, and defensive engines, while fresh infantry assembled behind mantlets and siege towers. From inside the city, the attack appeared to be forming everywhere at once, exactly as Vorak intended.

Governor Edric Vaelor had almost no untouched reserve left to answer it.

Professional companies that had begun the siege at full strength were now reduced by casualties and exhaustion, militia had already been shifted between multiple walls, and the dismounted cavalry remained committed to the southern defenses. Edric kept only a small number of soldiers near the government district and central roads because completely emptying the center would leave him with nothing capable of responding if Viridian broke through.

The eastern gate immediately demanded their attention. The battering ram returned beneath its covering of wet hides, and fresh crews drove it against the already damaged timbers while Viridian ballistas fired toward the battlements above.

Each impact widened old cracks and shook dust from the gatehouse walls. Edric refused to reduce the experienced soldiers stationed there because the gate looked close to failure that even a brief weakening of the position could become disastrous.

The northern bombardment intensified before Edric could receive a complete report from the east. Viridian ballistas concentrated on the damaged defensive tower that had survived the previous day, striking its upper structures and firing platforms until part of the wooden roof collapsed inward.

Catapult stones hammered the surrounding battlement, forcing crossbowmen to abandon several exposed positions while engineers struggled to keep the tower usable.

Then the siege towers began moving.

Northwatch had faced one or two at a time during the previous attacks, but several now advanced toward separate sections of the northern wall. Defensive ballistas turned toward the closest structures and managed to damage one wheel assembly badly enough to slow a tower, yet the others continued forward. Ladder teams moved between them beneath shield cover, forcing the defenders to split their attention across a much broader section of wall.

A messenger reached Edric near the eastern command station. "Three towers are still advancing in the north, my lord. More ladders are coming behind them, and their ballistas have forced several of our crossbow teams off the battlement."

Edric looked toward the eastern gate as another ram strike echoed through the district. "Hold with what you have for now. The east cannot be relieved while this gate is still taking blows. Send another report the moment one of those towers reaches the wall."

The next report came sooner than he wanted.

Two siege towers reached the northern battlement within minutes of each other and dropped their bridges onto separate sections of the wall. Fresh Viridian infantry surged across both approaches while ladder teams climbed between them. Northwatch professionals fought fiercely at the bridges, using spears, shields, hooks, and short swords to keep the goblins from spreading out, but many of those defenders had already fought through two days of siege.

The first foothold formed near the damaged defensive tower. A second appeared farther along the wall, where Viridian troops forced a group of exhausted defenders backward and immediately widened the space for more soldiers to cross.

Northwatch commanders understood the danger and ordered nearby companies to keep the two positions separated, because if the footholds joined, the goblins would control a large continuous section of the battlement.

Edric received the warning and committed almost everything remaining in the central reserve. Government guards, surviving professionals from the shattered field army, and militia who had not yet been assigned that morning were ordered north. The decision left only a thin force protecting the government district, but Edric could not preserve troops for a later battle if the wall collapsed now.

Vorak watched the defenders shifting north and immediately sent another fresh formation toward the assault. He did not crowd more troops onto the siege bridges because doing so would only create congestion.

Instead, additional ladders were sent against nearby wall sections, forcing Northwatch to defend more points while the existing footholds expanded.

The gap between the two Viridian positions narrowed steadily. Northwatch soldiers trapped between them fought around overturned equipment and broken sections of parapet, using the confined space to prevent the goblins from surrounding them completely.

Several Viridian troops were killed during repeated attempts to push through, and one group was forced back toward a siege bridge after a disciplined Northwatch counterattack.

The pressure continued without pause. Fresh goblins replaced the soldiers who fell, and another ladder reached the wall behind the shrinking human position.

The defenders suddenly found themselves threatened from the front and both sides, and their formation finally lost cohesion. Some tried to withdraw toward the nearest tower, while others remained long enough to cover them.

Within minutes, the two footholds connected.

Viridian now controlled a substantial section of the northern battlement, and the damaged defensive tower became the next target. Goblin infantry entered from the captured wall and fought through the cramped interior while another formation blocked reinforcements trying to reach the structure from below.

The remaining Northwatch soldiers inside were killed, captured, or forced down the internal stairs, allowing Viridian crossbowmen to occupy the surviving firing platforms.

Vorak immediately shifted his attention toward the northern gatehouse. "Move along the wall and take the gate mechanism. I want the army entering through a road, not climbing over ladders for the rest of the day."

Northwatch understood the threat just as quickly. Professional soldiers rushed toward the gatehouse and formed defensive lines along the battlement approaches, while surviving crossbowmen fired into the Viridian troops advancing from the captured wall.

The fighting around the gatehouse became the hardest of the morning because both sides knew that whoever controlled it would decide whether thousands of goblins waiting outside could enter the city in formation.

Viridian attacked from both directions along the battlement while reinforcements continued arriving through the siege towers and ladders. The human defenders still held an advantage in reach and physical strength, and they inflicted heavy casualties whenever the goblins were forced into narrow passages. Even so, Northwatch could no longer replace the soldiers falling at the front.

After repeated clashes, Viridian infantry forced its way into the gatehouse itself. The defenders withdrew toward the inner stairs, but another goblin formation descending from the opposite side trapped part of them between two attacks. Once that resistance collapsed, engineers and infantry reached the mechanisms controlling the gate.

The northern gates opened outward.

Thousands of goblins waiting beyond the walls began moving forward in organized formations. Officers stood along the entrance shouting commands as the first units crossed into the city, making sure the breakthrough did not dissolve into uncontrolled pursuit.

"Main roads first. Intersections next. No looting, no entering houses, and no chasing civilians. Stay with your officers and keep the columns moving."

A messenger reached Edric shortly afterward and reported that the northern gate had been opened. Edric stared at the city map for several seconds before ordering troops from the eastern and southern walls to withdraw toward the center where possible. He knew the order meant abandoning parts of the perimeter, but there was no longer any point keeping thousands of soldiers on walls while Viridian formations were already entering through a full gate.

Vorak reacted before Northwatch could reorganize. The eastern ram increased its tempo, while southern ladder teams returned to the walls and western formations advanced again.

The renewed pressure prevented the defenders from withdrawing cleanly because any sector that retreated too quickly risked immediate disorganization and being overrun.

The eastern gate finally gave way after another series of heavy strikes. The outer timbers split inward, revealing the secondary barricade Edric had ordered constructed behind them.

Northwatch soldiers held that obstruction long enough to slow the first Viridian push, but too many experienced defenders had already been ordered toward the city center.

Viridian infantry broke through the barricade after hard fighting and opened a second major entrance into the capital. With the northern and eastern sectors both breached, the defenders lost the ability to maintain a coherent perimeter.

Orders began arriving late or not at all. Some militia abandoned positions after hearing that goblins were already inside the city, while other soldiers continued defending walls without realizing that Viridian formations were moving through streets behind them.

Officers attempted to create new lines at major intersections, but retreating units clogged the roads and mixed with civilians trying to move away from the fighting.

Vorak entered through the northern gate only after the immediate district had been secured.

He established a command position just inside the wall and divided the advancing army into controlled objectives rather than allowing units to spread freely through the city. One formation was sent toward the armories, another toward the main granaries, and several more were ordered to seize major intersections, military buildings, and roads leading toward the provincial government district.

The same orders were repeated through the ranks. Civilians were not to be attacked unless they took up weapons, homes and workshops were not to be looted, and soldiers were forbidden from leaving formation without permission.

Vorak wanted Northwatch captured intact enough to become a functioning Viridian base rather than a ruined city requiring months of rebuilding.

The government district became the final center of organized resistance. Edric gathered surviving provincial guards, wounded professionals still capable of standing, and whatever militia formations remained under command.

He no longer believed the walls could be retaken, but the government buildings still represented the last place where Northwatch’s administration and military leadership remained together.

Viridian forces reached the district from more than one direction. Troops entering through the northern gate blocked the broad avenue leading toward Redhaven, while formations advancing from the east occupied another major road.

Smaller units spread through nearby intersections and gradually closed the remaining routes out of the district.

Edric studied the narrowing perimeter and understood that no organized withdrawal remained possible.

Vorak did not immediately order an assault against the final defenders. A goblin translator with limited knowledge of the Caldris language was brought forward under guard and instructed to deliver a simple demand.

"City lost. Soldiers stop. Governor surrender. People live. Fight stop."

The grammar was crude, but everyone around Edric understood the meaning.

Several officers wanted to continue fighting, while others remained silent and looked toward the wounded gathered behind the defensive line. Edric had watched the field army collapse, seen the northern wall taken, heard the northern gate open, and received confirmation that the eastern entrance had also fallen. Continuing the battle could no longer change control of the city.

He slowly removed his sword and looked at the remaining soldiers around him. "Northwatch has already lost its capital. I will not turn this district into a grave simply so we can claim that we resisted for another hour."

Edric placed the weapon on the ground and ordered his men to do the same. Provincial guards lowered their weapons first, followed by exhausted professionals and militia. Officers carried the surrender order toward nearby positions, while isolated groups elsewhere in the city were surrounded and disarmed as the message reached them.

By late afternoon, organized resistance inside Northwatch’s provincial capital had ended.

Viridian occupied the government buildings, armories, granaries, and major gates, while prisoners were gathered into guarded courtyards and wounded soldiers were separated for treatment.

Governor Edric Vaelor was taken alive and placed under guard as Viridian officers began recording captured supplies and assigning troops to important districts.

Vorak issued occupation orders before allowing any celebration. Firefighting crews were sent toward structures damaged during the bombardment, food stores were placed under military guard, and patrols were established along the main streets.

Civilians were ordered to remain inside designated districts until the situation stabilized, while soldiers who continued armed resistance were surrounded and given opportunities to surrender before force was used.

Several fortified towns still resisted elsewhere in Northwatch, but Vorak did not order the entire army to turn back toward them. Existing siege detachments would continue containing those positions while fresh troops secured the provincial capital, repaired damaged gates, reopened roads, and prepared the city to serve as the center of Viridian control in the province.

Far away in Eastwatch, Rakhar received confirmation before the day ended.

Northwatch’s provincial capital had fallen, Governor Edric Vaelor had been captured alive, and the province had lost both its principal field army and its political center.

Rakhar placed a Viridian marker over Northwatch’s capital and studied the road beyond it toward Redhaven. He did not order Vorak to advance farther yet because Northwatch still required consolidation, and more reinforcements were continuing to arrive through the Gate Beyond Heaven.

His attention shifted toward the southern half of the campaign map. Redhaven had already moved forces north, the shared eastern reserve had followed, and Valemar had released soldiers and supplies toward the crisis. The reactions Rakhar had expected were now visible across the entire eastern region, and the quiet along Valemar’s frontier had nearly served its purpose.

Above Northwatch’s government district, the Viridian banner rose while the last organized prisoners were led away from their positions.

The northern capital had fallen, and far to the south another Viridian army was approaching the day when it would finally leave its camps.