B4C10 Ursa

There was a wooden wall around the front and sides, and to the back I could see a slightly taller one, likely to keep out any Grimm who tried to descent from the mountain itself.

More importantly, the gates were open and people were visibly coming to and fro, the smoke that we'd seen over the horizon lazily emanating from chimneys and charcoal pits. Armed soldiers patrolled the top of the walls, and it was clear the village hadn't been struck by the Greycloaks.

[...]

Cinder's words were cut off by a harsh crack in the distance, like a broken bone and yet one we all heard. The Elementalist's head turned in the direction of it, as did mine and just about everyone else's nearby. It came from high up the mountain behind the village, and was revealed as a large black overhang that crashed down towards the city. Fear raced through me initially, but it only took a second to see it wouldn't hit, and it instead bounced and cracked into smaller pieces against the rock face, before it tumbled down to slam into the wooden walls with an audible thunk.

Only dust and the sound of drifting pebbles followed it, all of Stoneskeep seeming to stay silent.

"That was odd…" Cinder said, breaking the solemn silence.

"It was just a loose rock." I stood up beside her. "It didn't break through the walls, though I guess the village was made to make sure nothing did." There were no rocks overhanging the city, of course. No one would have been that foolish.

[...]

It was just the two of us and Stoneskeep's ailing militia, which even now took to the walls but seemed to shake in their boots.

[...]

They'd hit the walls soon and then try to clamber over them, at which point the battle would turn into a swirling melee.

[...]

Whatever the case, as the first Grimm hit the walls and started to climb, they found my hard-set face atop the walls – and were promptly greeted with the tip of my blade.

[...]

As the Grimm struck and the killing began, the wooden walls soon became slick with blood and death.

[...]

"Everyone get off the walls and fall back to the mines!" No one heard me on the first cry, or if they did they didn't respond. I had to repeat it three times before the message stuck and it was soon being passed down the line.

Saying it was easy, however. Actually managing to fall back was not. The Grimm were already on the walls in many cases, and with the fighting now in melee, it was all but impossible for people to break off. If they turned their backs, they were as good as dead. If they tried to back up, they'd be forced off the walls to crash to the floor down below.

[...]

An Ursa – an actual Ancient Grimm itself – barrelled into the wall beneath me, shattering it with ease.