It was difficult to go against the natural order like that. Difficult to overturn the norms of society. Soldiers fought, and villagers farmed. That was the way it was. But in times without soldiers in the village, when the goblins came, or the mountain beasts wandered too close, it was the men that fought, for there was no one else.
They needed to be reminded of that. They needed something to startle them out of their fear, their acceptance of death. They needed the slightest bit of momentum to push them in the right direction. The honest words of a young girl managed that, to some degree.
"...But if they're so strong, why are we losing?" One man asked. It was only natural. Not all men were fighters. Not all of them could summon up the aggression needed to slay a man.
His question was a valid one. It hung in the air like a foul smell. The others that had begun to speak up eagerly and boastfully suddenly went quiet, as the magnitude of the threat in front of them was once again reinstated. The possibility of victory was their primary concern.
"They haven't lost yet," Nila said. "Did you not hear them shout? Just because there's smoke doesn't mean it's over. And since you all were saying that you could take a Yarmdon down with you, how about I take down five? Actually, ten, since I'm that much stronger than you."
She grinned ruefully, sticking her tongue out at them. Their anger exploded all at once. It was the hunters especially, those that had already been building up a resentment towards Nila for her recent antics over the past weeks.
"You're too full of yourself, girl! You can barely draw that bow of yours!" Came one shout.
Half of the other men were on their feet at that, shouting at each other and shouting at her. She watched them all, unable to keep the smile off her face. She was hit by a sudden realization: humans really were simple creatures.
Even in their darkest moments, drowned out by impossible despair, and the crushing weight of an impossible fear, they could still find it in themselves to give way to rage, or even laughter.
'So that's what a good leader does...' She realized. He guided the emotions of his men, so that they could display their truest strength. That was where morale came from. She realized too that she didn't have it in her to perform such a task. She couldn't lead a party of people. The most she could do was talk to individuals.
Doubt it if you like, I'm going to fight these Yarmdon whores, even as you cower in fear."
Nila raised her eyebrows in shock. Every word that Greeves uttered was dripping with venom. There was pure malevolence steaming from his tongue. His eyes were haunted by darkness. The more he spoke, the more a dark rage projected out from him. When he said to the villagers that they meant nothing to him, she truly believed it.
"You'll fight?" Judas' man from earlier spoke up. He'd worked with Greeves for a long time now. He was more surprised than the rest of them. He would have thought that Greeves was the last person to fight on the frontlines. "Why bother?"
It was a question echoed in the eyes of the rest of the villagers, even as they looked at Greeves with hatred, pure loathing. The prostitutes behind him cowered under their glares. Only Loriel stood tall. Nila didn't understand those people, and their darkness.
"Why? Because I'm a damned good merchant, that's why. I know shit all about warfare, but I feel the flow of value. That boy, his worth is only going to increase. I'm not letting an investment of that size die so early. I'll fight, because I don't believe we'll lose."
The man paused a moment. "...You payin'?"
"Aye," Greeves said, without pause.
"Then I'll fight with ya," he said. The cruel and the criminal, they had their own kind of respect. Greeves was the darkest of them, who'd risen up high enough, that he could walk freely in the light of the normal world. They admired that. They trusted his competence. The man was crueller and more cunning than any of them.
They believed in that cruelty more than they believed in pretty words and nice-sounding sentiments.
The man rose up, and with him, six other men followed. Six dangerous men. They'd been waiting in the wings, as chaos descended upon the village, and they'd delighted in it. They'd sat in wait for a fitting opportunity, a juicy amount of meat to dig their teeth into. It was not what they'd expected, but they'd been thrown meat anyway, and they dove on it happily.