When the Nazgûl's momentum was finally checked and the soldiers regained their composure, the orc offensive quickly faltered again. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were completely routed.
Yet the Nazgûl showed no sign of worry, as though they cared not in the slightest how many losses their own forces suffered.
Orcs and trolls kept falling, but the Nazgûl issued no further commands, as if those soldiers were not their own at all.
On the fortress walls, their forms faded and withdrew to the rear.
"He truly is not here."
Once beyond Gandalf's perception, one of the Nazgûl voiced his observation.
"If that Man were present, he would have emerged long ago to sweep the field clean."
"Indeed."
He was not the type to sit back and watch his followers fight to the death.
"The probing ends here. How far have those creatures tunneled?"
"Directly beneath us."
"They fear the light and blessed aura within the walls and will not come closer."
"Even bringing them this far was difficult."
"Then launch the true assault."
The words had barely fallen when a deafening rumble shook the earth below, as though some hidden mechanism had been triggered.
The walls trembled violently, and the ground began to cave inward.
Crash.
Suddenly, a section just outside the wall collapsed, and some enormous monstrosity burst forth from the earth. The moment it emerged, it gaped wide and smashed against the nearby wall, devouring stone blocks and grinding them instantly to rubble.
A shower of dirt and rock fragments exploded outward, spattering the surrounding soldiers. The night sky darkened as its colossal bulk blotted out the stars and moon, plunging the fortress into shadow.
"Were-worms!"
Balin recognized the creatures.
"But why surface outside the wall? Would it not have been better if they had simply tunneled beneath with the orcs from the start for a surprise attack?"
No one answered his question. At that moment, everyone was too stunned by the sudden appearance of the monstrous beast.
"What is that thing!"
A soldier instinctively struck at the immense creature before him. The seemingly endless, writhing worm let out a pained shriek, recoiling instantly underground and returning the starlight and moonlight to the battlefield.
But in doing so, it left behind a gaping breach in the wall, crushed to fragments by its steel-hard mandibles.
"Attack!"
The terrifying roar swept across the battlefield, like a barbed lash driving the army forward in wave after wave toward the breach.
War-trolls led the charge, colliding head-on with the iron golems rushing to meet them.
Unfortunately, the fortress was too newly built, and in the haste there had not been sufficient materials brought in. Before departing, Garrett had only managed to construct about a hundred golems.
They were not enough to withstand tens of thousands of troops and beasts, especially creatures of such size.
Trolls were roughly equal in stature to the golems, making them a fair match. But against those monstrous worms of unknown origin, the golems had to crane their heads skyward just to glimpse their full length.
"Hold the breach!" Gandalf shouted as he rushed forward, brandishing Glamdring.
Hides tough enough to turn ordinary steel were as fragile as parchment beneath this blade. He cleaved deep gashes into the trolls' flesh, inflicting grievous wounds. Even the beasts' legs were pierced, making their huge bodies stagger and fall.
Behind him, the soldiers rallied their courage, forming a wall of steel and holding back the onslaught with grim determination.
They held the line, but others grew anxious.
The hastily assembled wall-repair crew hurried forward, but seeing the situation, they had no idea how to begin.
"Too many hostiles! The wall cannot be repaired under these conditions, we need a solution quickly!"
They called out in the technical jargon of their craft.
"The worms have withdrawn."
"Now we strike."
Outside, the three Nazgûl chose this moment to enter the fray, their sudden pressure making even Gandalf uneasy.
Boom!
Targeted by a Nazgûl, one golem collapsed, leaving behind a few iron ingots and a single poppy. But when the other golems charged forward with thunderous steps, they could only grasp at shadows.
The constructs were immune to fear, but hampered by their own methodical attacks and the hindrance of the surrounding melee.
Once the Nazgûl had torn open the breach, the great beasts gathered and pressed through one after another, forcing their way into the gap.
Seeing that the iron golems would soon be overwhelmed, and that the soldiers would be next, Balin crushed the skull of an orc near his own height while shouting:
"Nazgûl, worms, trolls, orcs... their assault is relentless! Gandalf, what do we do now, just keep holding this position?"
Hold they certainly could. Fierce as the enemy was, the soldiers of Wayfort were elite troops, the kind who were tenacious, very hard to kill.
At least until the Nazgûl finished destroying the golems and turned their attention elsewhere, this breach would not fall.
"Hah!"
Gandalf felled a troll with a mighty blow, then called out his reply between gasps:
"You should be asking the one who knows this territory best. I was not the one entrusted with command here."
"Aaahhh!"
His answer was instantly drowned out by a piercing scream that nearly shattered eardrums.
"We have contingency plans."
Halbarad rushed over, giving a quick answer before turning to direct the squads into coordinated action.
"Fall back! Fall back! Clear the breach!"
Though the soldiers didn't understand the reasoning, a good soldier obeys without question.
So the front line immediately withdrew, as if abandoning the position entirely.
Seeing the defenders apparently give up resistance, the orcs who had just pressed through the gap jeered and mocked their retreating forms.
But they did not yet realize that actions which seem senseless often conceal deeper strategy.
The Nazgûl sensed something amiss, but gave no warning, allowing the orcs to charge forward while they themselves quietly withdrew to observe.
"Repair team, ready positions. Demolition squad, await the signal—"
"Execute!"
Ssshhhht!
Whoosh.
BOOM!
A tremendous blast erupted, accompanied by brilliant white light and showers of sparks, engulfing the entire breach.
In an instant, the orcs pressing through were torn apart by the explosion.
Even trolls and were-worms could not escape, rocked violently by the dense chain of explosions, their flesh split and burst. As they collapsed, volleys of flaming arrows rained down, and if that still wasn't sufficient, an armor-piercing squad stood ready to finish them.
Under the demolition team's bombardment, the breach was briefly cleared. The repair crew seized the opportunity, rushing forward to erect a temporary barricade of wooden planks.
As long as they could delay the next assault, even for a few precious seconds, the engineering teams behind could bring sturdier materials and strengthen the fortification.
With the walls and defenses quickly restored, this wave of attack was repelled.
"Did we hold them?"
"For now."
Halbarad climbed back onto the wall and said:
"What I should point out is that defense has always been... unconventional for Wayfort's soldiers, though the world doesn't usually see it that way."
After all, given the fortress's construction, especially that central keep layered with countless strata of obsidian, not even ten were-worms could gnaw through it.
As for tunneling in from below, impossible. Most of Garrett's key facilities and certain... sensitive installations were built underground. Not even the Dark Lord could dig there; he'd be clutching his head and fleeing before long.
The world believed Wayfort unassailable largely because of its legendary defenses.
As for the soldiers stationed there... what they truly wanted was to charge out and crush the enemy's skulls.
The renewed assault had failed. The enemy had exhausted every stratagem, but the orcs did not retreat. They continued their seemingly futile attacks. For instance, sending their few remaining trolls and beasts to ram siege engines against the walls. Wherever they struck, the repair teams would mend the damage. Even if they paid dearly to shatter the solid stone, they'd only find another wall behind it.
And if they kept ramming the new wall, then it was their misfortune, for a cauldron of molten rock would be poured down upon them, a thorough cleansing of the vermin.
For now, Riverside Fortress had held.
The Nazgûl made no fresh move, only shifting their positions, quietly surveying the battlefield as a whole.
That sense of detachment, that uncanny disinterest surrounding them from beginning to end...
It was deeply troubling.