The sudden withdrawal of the Enemy was as much a relief as it was ominous. Akaru was well-aware of the goblin archers that would be working their back through their own ranks to face this threat, and he was wary of their skill and range.
He immediately ordered the soldiers to begin digging deep ditches and constructing barriers to protect themselves from the goblin archers. No sooner had they begun than the work of breaking the ground became an arduous task, but the doughty dwarves were as adept at breaking hard ground as they were stone. Soon, short-handled trench-shovels were heaving the impacted soil, creating a deep, wide ditch and earthwork, the latter of which the dwarves set to constructing upon its spine a crenellated stone wall.
Meanwhile, a mirror of this task was begun at the other narrows, while other soldiers sorted through the captured Enemy supplies, and began frantically assembling the Enemy's own catapults.
Despite the old elf soldier's angry protestations, Akaru directed Stanick to lead the defence of the first narrows, to protect their rear in the event of a second wave, while he himself undertook the task of facing the Enemy's renewed wrath at the second narrows. In truth, Akaru was concerned for his old friend. Stanick had received a vicious blow to the head, and though the injury did not appear serious, the old veteran was blood-stained and pale.