Ralph and the Pixie

As the Thane explained to Doc, it was a fair choice. Mirrindale would only fall at a horrible cost to the Goblin invaders. The Merchants had not yet been told of this, and the planned exodus was still days away.

There was an element of the Thane’s plan that Doc found very disturbing. This concerned the Merchant’s families, many of whom would undoubtedly elect to stay if the Merchants did, and most of them had children and grand-children.

Another disturbing matter was the fact that the Thane planned to leave the mercenaries’ wounded behind as well. Four out of every five wounded soldiers was a mercenary.

In the meantime, Doc did not tell the Thane that he planned to remain in Mirrindale. It disturbed him greatly that the innocent families and children of the mercenaries might die at the hands of the Goblin army. Their only hope lay in the effectiveness of the mercenaries to keep the enemy at bay.

With proper care, many soldiers would live to fight again. It was avowed that Mirrindale could hold out for a long time; Doc intended that such an avowal would be more than just so many brave words.

An unanswered question during this time was: what was the fate of Nith? From The City of Scholars, as it was popularly known, and from its surrounding lands, there had been no word since the onset of war. Not a single soldier or refugee or trader or traveller had shown up in Mirrindale bearing welcome news. Instead, there was only lingering silence and doubt.