just how much of a warrior this frawl was. 'When that light flares up in front of them, they'll be blinded for a long time.
They'll find that more frightening than facing cold steel and close range!'
Flint looked at her quietly for a moment, noticing again the curl of her auburn hair, the smooth softness of her cheek. By Reorx, he wished this battle was done with! She sensed his look and turned, surprising him with a soft blush.
Then they heard derro sergeants barking commands, and saw the derro ranks gather again. The foot soldiers surged forward behind the spellcasting savants, the whole mass of derro approaching the ditch at the foot of the earthwork.
'Torches, now!' Flint shouted.
Dozens of hill dwarves raced to the top of the wall, pitch ing their blazing torches down the other side, onto the bales of hay that had been thoroughly soaked with lamp oil and placed along the edge of the ditch.
With a loud rush of air, each oil-soaked bale erupted into a high column of flame, an explosion of bright yellow light in the darkness.
With howls of agony, the savants clutched their eyes and stumbled backward. They rolled on the ground, shrieking and moaning, their wide, full-pupiled eyes temporarily blinded.
The savants closest to the blaze had been most seriously affected. But the warriors behind them blinked in uncom fortable surprise, forced to turn away from the painful glare. Once again Flint heard the sergeants cursing and growling, and the derro started slowly toward the middle of the hill dwarf line.
'I've got to get back to my post at center!' he called, and
Perian ran back to her own position by Basalt. 'Good luck!'
The towering columns of fire marked the entire periphery of the semicircular redoubt. In the center, the black sludge smoke still obscured the field, preventing any derro ad vance. To Flint's left, the mountain dwarves hesitated in dis array and confusion, but to his right, where the savants had led the way, the Theiwar officers whipped their savage troops forward.
Flint scrutinized the lightly held right flank. Perian and
Basalt had a thin force — barely one hundred hill dwarves, and half that many Aghar. But all they had to do was hold, since the steep river bank beyond the breastwork blocked the derro advance.to that side. The wall of the earthwork it self would then force the Theiwar to attack upward, and give the defenders a significant advantage.
The first rank of black-armored mountain dwarves reached the ditch at the foot of the redoubt. The Theiwar ranks quickly scrambled through the shallow trench. The glowing piles of the haybales, mostly' consumed by now, collapsed into cinders, but even so the derro were forced to march around the hot coals. They were armed with two handed battle-axes, but they held the weapons in one hand, using the other to help them scramble up the steep breast work.
Flint saw Perian leap forward and drive her axe down through the iron helmet of a Theiwar. Basalt, too, swung his blade and sent an attacking mountain dwarf tumbling back ward into the ditch. All along the line, the dwarves stood atop the low wall, hacking and chopping at the derro com ing up beneath them.
The Aghar of the Creeping Wedgie surged along the top of the redoubt, bashing their shields onto the heads of climbing Theiwar, causing more confusion. Weapons struck, and blood flowed. Flint's heart lurched as he saw several defending hill dwarves fall and lie still.
The king of Mudhole held his breath, wondering if the line would hold. He saw a derro scramble over the wall, but then Basalt cut him down with a swift blow to the neck. Per ian led a band of dwarves in a sharp counterattack, batter ing and smashing the Theiwar, knocking them off the wall.
He heard her hoarse battle cry, saw the hill dwarves leap to follow her. She attacked like a banshee, laying about with heavy blows, darting away before a return blow could land.
Flint's heart faltered as a derro struck at her back; she sensed the attack with some kind of prescience and whirled to cut the leering Theiwar down.
Finally Flint exhaled, seeing the hill dwarves not only hold, but continue to drive the mountain dwarves back into the ditch. Disorganized, confused, and dismayed, the
Theiwar crowded together at the foot of the redoubt.
'Smoke's still keeping 'em away from here,' grunted Ru berik, indicating the oily fog in the center of the battlefield.
Flint looked at his brother in surprise, sensing disappoint ment in his voice.
'You want a chance to shoot a few of 'em, don't you?'
Flint asked.
Ruberik cleared his throat, nodding. 'I guess I would like to personally see that a few of 'em don't get back home.'
The brothers turned their attention to the left, where the mountain dwarves had resumed their advance. They were swinging wide of the redoubt through the open field. Be cause of the black cloud that still lay across the center of their line, these mountain dwarves could not see their com patriots who had been halted on the right flank.
'Keep an eye on things here!' Flint barked at Ruberik.
'Wait! What do you mean? What should I — ' Ruberik shouted as Flint darted away.
Privately, the king felt misgivings about leaving his brother in charge of the rambunctious Sludge Bombers. A quick look at the black smoke gave him assurance, how ever, for it seemed like it would linger for some time, block ing access to the middle of the redoubt.
Flint ran along the top of the breastwork until he reached
Tybalt, who stood among a group of hill dwarves on the left wing of the semicircular barrier. They looked down as the charging Theiwar suddenly veered away, turning and run ning past the front of the breastwork instead of trying to climb it. The open end of the wall beckoned out in the field, offering its easy route past the defenders.
Around the hill dwarves crowded Nomscul and the gully dwarves of his Agharpult wing. They hopped and jumped, attempting to observe the enemy over and around the slightly larger hill dwarves.
'Agharpults, get ready!' Flint shouted as soon as he was in earshot.
'For what?' asked Nomscul, turning to his king in puzzle ment.
'To shoot, you numbskull!'
'Me Nomscul!' beamed the Aghar. 'You king!'
Flint restrained his tongue for a moment, and then was pleased to see Nomscul and his crews quickly spring into action; they even remembered which way to aim!
'Good, good!' he encouraged them, slightly out of breath as he reached Tybalt.
'They're sweeping around quickly,' said the constable, with just a touch of alarm.
Flint looked across the field and saw the mountain dwarves advancing at a fast march past the redoubt from right to left. Soon they would be in position to turn and charge into the rear of the fortification, past the end of the wall.
'We can't waste any time!' snapped Flint. He saw that the hill dwarves were ready for the counterattack.
'Agharpults, shoot! Shoot two times!' That command, he hoped, would keep them launching until they ran out of Aghar. Then he turned back to the enemy.
The pyramids of the Agharpult tilted atop the earthen wall as the lone gully dwarves who served as missiles sprinted up the sloping inner side of the barrier. Vaulting onto their comrades, the whole mass of dwarfdom toppled forward, momentum hurling the topmost Aghar into the teeming ranks of the Theiwar. They struck like balls crash ing into tenpins, knocking the derro formations asunder, toppling dozens of mountain dwarves to the ground.
'Hill dwarves, charge!' Flint raised the Tharkan Axe above his head as he shouted, and then stopped in surprise as a cool white light suddenly sprang from the axe, washing over the field. It spilled brightly across the derro ranks, and the mountain dwarves, to a harrn, turned their faces from the painful brightness. Flint stared at the axe for a moment, surprised by the rush of power. Around him the hill dwarves raised a hoarse cheer.
'To victory!' bellowed Tybalt.
