In the snow, Count Tisi's soldiers were a far cry from their earlier bravado. They sprawled haphazardly on the ground, their iron helmets and weapons nowhere to be seen, panting heavily, still shaken from the battle. They were a wretched sight.
For this siege, Tisi had brought just over twenty-two hundred elite soldiers. A rough estimate suggested they had lost thirty percent of their men in Kalia Town. Unable to sustain such casualties, they had been forced to retreat. The losses were undeniably severe.
After all, while his total force numbered over ten thousand, if you excluded the logistics staff, cooks, grooms, and Auxiliary Soldiers, he only had a little over seven thousand combat troops.
Of those seven thousand, only about four thousand were truly elite. To lose six or seven hundred right at the start meant it would be difficult to expect him to regroup and organize an effective force anytime soon.
"Where did they get a Stone Giant?"
