Several projectiles slammed into the lower base of the central tower and rocks and men went flying everywhere. Slowly, as if resisting the inevitable, the central tower started to sink and crumble downward, as most of its base had been shot away leaving it with very little support to remain standing. The upper stonework of the tower cracked hard and went in a fast slide over the city side of the wall in a stone waterfall that rained down on the pavement far below and anybody unlucky enough to have been standing there.Hoarsely, I called out around me, “Get off the wall! Now! Take the wounded and get down!”I ran to where the central tower had once been and started helping those still living get out of the rubble. I saw General Sanjo picking himself out of the rubble several feet away and I rushed to him.He clutched onto my shirt front and I pulled him up the rest of the way, “You were right! Our wall is no match for these new weapons. The wall will fall and so will our cities and cas

Everyone was gone on our side except for the retinue of warriors from Thunder Ridge and my own friends from the arena. We sat astride our mounts on the higher ground at the head of the pass. The flood waters would pass to either side of us into the city beyond. The enemy’s advancement into the city had stopped as the field commanders had finally realized that something was amiss with their bulrush-and-pick-up-the-pieces-later strategy.The many thousands of troops still on our side of the wall that hadn’t been consumed in the fire of the city were pressed into the deeper channeled sides of the pass to either side of the city. There was no fire there and it was still possible to breathe as they were on a lower level than the rest of the city. They could not retreat back over the wall because the heat from the fire was too intense for them to pass by, so they remained huddled in the corners of the city, desperately emptying the gate tunnels of the debris that had been stacked tight into

By his calculations, he was already several hours behind that schedule. He had lost time, having to divert and travel out of the way of the Attorgron forces coming down from the north. The hastily put together misfit caravan groaned and creaked its way out of the valley in a flurry of its own dust as it was escorted by the cavalry northward towards the Shrine of Remembrance. Two days later, the Shrine of Remembrance on the shores of the northern sea.I watched the banners grow closer over the plain of rich green grass. They had done just as Sebastian had theorized that they would, if first met with a significant reduction in force. They had bypassed our cities, towns and castles to come straight here to the Shrine.Thank God! Little did the approaching army know that every city and castle would have fallen easily before them, because every available warrior capable of fighting had been gathered upon this plain for the engagement to come. If General Nadero had been successful in his a

I half pivoted on one knee to see the source of the attack as air began to leak back into my starved lungs. The enemy soldiers had actually drawn back from me and Rolf slightly and then I saw why. One of the dark hooded figures had come up behind me and slammed me across the back with a broadsword. I was surprised that my armor had withstood such a strike.The big sword drew back for a killing downward strike. I dropped one sword into my open left hand and I barely had enough time to cross them into an x above my head before the massive sword came crashing down. I caught the strike in the crossing of my swords that would have otherwise cut me in half and I tumbled backward. Breathing heavy, I half stumbled to my feet.The black hood came back and I recognized Marfoul. “Stand back, you sniveling cowards! He’s all mine!” Marfoul screamed out, before he came at me with a vengeance.I did my best to step out of the way of his wild sword swings. “So we meet again, but this time will be the

In horror, Captain Jansa looked at what lay ahead of the Tasa’Anna. The narrow channel took a sharp turn that no ship under full sail could ever have made. To make matters worse, the cliff overhung the channel at that point. The overhanging cliff would rip every main mast clear off the ship! The fleet watched in horrified fascination as the flagship neared the sharp curve and the low overhang. Water began to boil up near an upthrust of one of the bay’s rocky teeth. A great rubbery bulk rose out of the sea and hauled itself up the rocky breaker opposite of the sharp curve. It was a giant squid! It was easily over half the size of the flagship itself. Some of its tentacles encircled the rocky pier it clung to. As the Tasa’Anna entered the beginning of the curve the remaining tentacles and whips of the great sea monster shot out, fastened to the upper masts of the ship and began to pull the Tasa’Anna over onto its side. The ship, under the strain of the pulling tentacles, tacked over