Damond of Brand, Gart of Darkhun, and Prince Wilkin of Brand stood surveying the lines of deep trenches and raised earthworks to the north of Alin, that were being prepared for the coming of the Enemy. The north side of each earthwork bristled from top to bottom with sharpened poles that, when battle was enjoined, would be well-greased, initially to thwart the purchase of Enemy hands, and later, when the defenders were forced to fall back, to feed the fires that would consume them.
Each fifty-foot-wide trench was being lined with sharpened stakes, and for added measure was being riddled by hand-auger with deep holes to thwart footing and slow the progress of the Enemy soldiers. Watching them work, they felt a surge of sympathy for the soldiers who alternated in pairs as they screwed the augers into the semi-frozen earth. To a man, their hands were bandaged to protect the raw skin of broken blisters.
This was the "kill-zone," the area that was to be saturated with a hail of arrows and other projectiles, flung at the enemy from behind the fortifications that topped each successive earthworks. Each fortification was afforded a clear, unobstructed view of each trench from above, while providing as much cover for the defenders as was possible.
And yet this was but the final defence that was planned for Alin. Long before then, Gart and Damond were to lead forces to meet the Enemy head-on on the open plain, to halt the Enemy's progress in order to afford those fighting in the north the opportunity to escape and join with them.