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the street a sudden wsssh of disturbed air sounded overhead, growing rapidly
louder. It ended abruptly in a tearing crash, as something large plunged out
of the sky and through the roof of a nearby house. The crackle of breaking
timbers and the crash and rattle of falling masonry went on for quite a while.
Before it stopped, another stone struck farther off, nearer to the walls, and
then a third.
Serana started to run, but Blade held her back. "They've started the
stone-throwers, but I think they're just trying to soften us up. Smash houses,
kill people, block the streets, start a panic." He called to the officer.
"Message for Lord Zemun. Turn out all the soldiers and have them get everybody
out of the houses near the east wall. Also, have our own stone-throwers hold
their fire and pull back out of range.
"It's going to be grim," he said to Serana. "But I don't think there's any
danger until they start on the walls, trying to open breaches for their
storming parties. If we don't panic, they can't do us much harm by knocking
down houses."
Serana did not reply. Her lips were moving too busily, in silent prayers to
the governing Fates and whatever other gods or powers she worshipped.
The stones crashed down into Morina all the rest of the night. Blindly and
impartially, they smashed houses, shops, and people in the streets. If the
soldiers hadn't taken charge of the situation, the panic the
Wolves hoped for might have started.
Blade, Zemun Bossir, and Serana put their men to work. Within half an hour no
one in Morina was asleep. In another hour all the houses within range of the
enemy's stone-throwers were empty. In all the streets along the east wall of
Morina, there were only soldiers, building barricades from the rubble and
standing ready to put out any fires.
Shortly after dawn there was a lull in the bombardment. From the walls, Blade
could see all the
Wolves' siege machines lined up across the moat, just out of bowshot. The two
towers and the three battering rams were in position, ready to be pushed
through the gaps in the enemy's trenches and up to the moat. Around them stood
the wagons of piled brush and planks for crossing the moat.
Zemun peered through a knothole in the arrow-scarred battlements, then turned
to Blade. "Lord
Blade, what about bringing up our throwers and trying to hit those machines? A
tar barrel or two would be the end of those towers."
Blade shook his head. "Not yet. Wait until they're up so close to the walls
that the Wolves won't be able to use their own throwers. Then we can shoot
without being shot at."
"But they have only a few machines. If "
"So do we," put in Blade. "And we can't replace them as easily as the Wolves
can."
Zemun frowned and seemed ready to go on arguing, when suddenly the crunk of a
stone-thrower at work floated across from the enemy's camp. Right behind the
sound came a large rock, to crash into the wall fifty yards to Blade's right.
Dust rose in a cloud and he could feel the ancient stones shudder under his
feet.
Here we go, thought Blade. Aloud, he said, "Get some of the archers up into
the houses just behind the wall. Have them keep out of sight. The Wolves will
be coming at us in four or five places at once, so we can't hope to keep them
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all out. With archers in the houses and the barricades in the streets, the
ones who get in still won't get far."
The young nobleman nodded. As he did, another stone crashed into the wall, a
hundred yards to the left. This one cleaned off several yards of the wooden
battlements, and Blade heard screams from the streets below as men were struck
down by the falling wreckage.
All morning and into the afternoon, the stone-throwers of the Wizard's army
hammered at the walls of Morina. Those walls were massive, but they were also
old. They hadn't been maintained very well, either the Wizard didn't encourage
his subjects to keep their walls strong. Under the steady pounding, the walls
began to give. In one place an open breach gaped, half-choked with fallen
stones but still passable for men on foot. Blade had cartloads of stone and
tar barrels pulled into position all around the breach, but there was nothing
else to do.
The day was at its hottest when the bombardment finally stopped. The dust
cloud hanging over the walls slowly drifted away on the faint breeze.
Behind the walls the Morinans finished oiling and sharpening their
weapons, tightened their helmet straps, and drank some water. Everyone was
hungry, but no one could force himself to swallow a single bite.
Then the creak and squeal of ungreased wheels rose and the siege towers and
battering rams lurched forward. The towers swayed like the masts of a ship in
a storm, while the battering rams came on steadily, looking like centipedes as
the hundred Wolves under each wooden cover tramped along.
At least two thousand Wolves were advancing on the walls of Morina, but only
about half of them would be actually fighting. The others were pushing the
towers, the rams, and the wagonloads of material for crossing the moat. A
thousand Wolves might not be too many to handle.
Now there were creakings and squealings from behind Blade, to echo the ones in
front. The Morinan stone-throwers were coming forward, getting into striking
range, Blade lay flat on his stomach on top of the wall, estimating distances.
Another few yards and the siege towers would be good targets.
Trumpets blared and drums rattled and thundered all along the line-of the
advancing Wolves. On top of the towers men frantically waved the wolf's-head
banners. The next moment everyone was surging toward the wall like an incoming
tide, and the moment after that they were in range of the Morinan
stone-throwers.
Blade sprang to his feet, waving his ax, signaling frantically to the lookouts
for the stone-throwers. He saw them reply, then started signalling to the men
who'd been waiting out the bombardment of the wall.
They scrambled up the inner face of the wall on ladders and dashed out of the
battered houses. Most carried bows, all carried axes or spears.
A stone came arching up out of the city, flew over the wall, and dropped into
the moat. Muddy water spouted high, drenching a dozen Wolves and making them
dance and swear. Blade laughed. A second stone fell more accurately, missing
one of the advancing rams by feet. Then Blade could no longer keep track of
the fall of each stone, as the attack reached the walls of Morina.
The wagons of brush and planks came up to the moat, and the archers on the
walls opened fire on them. Dozens of Wolves fell as they tried to manhandle
long planks and huge bundles of brushwood into place. The archers supporting
them fired back, and men fell from the top of the wall. The planks slammed
down, and shouting Wolves ran across the rickety bridges, some carrying
scaling ladders. Behind these men the brushwood slowly piled up, filling the
moat.
Now the rams came on at a run. The man guiding one didn't keep his mind on the
job. The ram dashed up to the moat and kept right on going, plunging the
leading bearers into the filthy water. They floundered, screaming and choking
as they tried to get free of the ram. Slowly and with a horrible
inevitability, it tilted forward, pushing them under like a giant hand. The
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screams and the choking died away, and only a few bubbles came up from under
the submerged end of the ram. The bearers at the
other end, luckier than their comrades, scrambled out from under the wooden
cover and joined the men crossing on the planks.
The other two rams came up to the moat where the brushwood offered them a safe
crossing. This did one of them no good. The first bearers were just stepping
on to the brushwood when a heavy stone crashed down on the wooden cover.
Splinters and planks flew, men screamed, and the ram stopped.
Then the bearers began scrambling out from underneath. Blade saw the lucky hit
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