Anyone who wanted to fight could fight, alchemist or not, adult or not, man or not. There was no time to train anyone. They didn’t even have weapons for them. There were boys and girls practising with sticks, trying to make themselves slingshots. No armour because there was none in their sizes. The sight made Helena sick. They were battle fodder. They’d be slaughtered in minutes. But they would do that rather than allow necromancy.
