"Commanders of the wall-to your posts. The Argzoon come." He then relayed specific orders based on what we had discussed a short time before.
As the commanders marched away to take charge of their men and position them, we watched in awful fascination as the horde approached.
Rapidly-too rapidly for us-they began to near the walls. We saw movement from within the city, saw warriors taking up their posts. They stood still, awaiting the first attack.
There were too few of them, I thought-far too few!
Chapter Five
A DESPERATE PLAN
AT LEAST we held the wall against the first wave.
The whole city seemed to shake at their onslaught. The air was ripped by their great, roaring shouts, polluted by the stink of their incendiary bombs launched from catapults, and by the odor of their very bodies. Flame licked here, crackled there-and the women and children of Varnal struggled valiantly to extinguish it. The sounds of clashing steel, of dying or victorious war-cries, the swish of missiles-blazing balls of some pitch-like substance-as they hurtled overhead and dropped in streets and on roofs.
Shizala and I still watched from the balcony but I felt impatient, anxious to join the brave warriors defending the city. Darnad had already gone to rally his men.
I turned to Shizala, feeling moved, in spite of myself, at her closeness. "What of your remaining aircraft? Where are they?"
"We are keeping them in reserve," she told me.
They will be of better use as a surprise later."
"I understand," I told her. "But what can I do?
How can I help?"
"Help? It is not for you-a guest-to concern yourself with our problems. I was thoughtless-I should have sent you away with Telem Fas Ogdai."
"I am not a coward," I reminded her. "I am a skilled swordsman and have been shown great kindness and hospitality by you and your folk. I would regard it as an honor to fight for you!"
She smiled then. "You are a noble stranger, Michael Kane. I know not how you came to Vashu-but I feel it is good that you should be here now. Go then-find Darnad and he will tell you how you can help."
I bowed briefly and left, running down the stairs of the tower until I had reached the main hall, now in confusion, with men and women rushing this way and that.
I made my way through them, asking a warrior if he knew where I might find the Bradhinak Darnad.
"I heard that the east wall is weakest. You will probably find him there."
I thanked the warrior and left the palace, heading for the east wall. The main buildings of the city, sturdily built of stone as they were, were not damaged by the fire-bombs hurled by the Argzoon catapults, but here and there bundles of fabric and dry sticks had caught, and single pumps were being operated by women in an effort to put them out.
Thick smoke burnt my lungs and made my eyes water. My ears were assailed by cries and shouts from all sides.
And outside-outside the mighty hordes of Blue Giants battered against the city walls. An invincible force?
I did not let my thoughts dwell on that idea!
At last I saw Darnad through the smoke near the wall. He was in consultation with two of his officers who were pointing up at the walls, evidently showing him the weakest points. He was frowning thoughtfully, his mouth set in a grim line.
"How can I assist you?" I asked, clapping him on the shoulder.
He looked up wearily.
"I do not know, Michael Kane. Could you magically bring half a million men to our aid?"
"No," I said, "but I can use a sword."
He deliberated. Plainly he was unsure of me and I could not blame him for wondering about one who was, after all, untried.
Just then there came an exultant shout from the wall-a shout that did not issue from a Karnala throat.
It was one of those roaring, triumphant shouts I had heard earlier.
All eyes turned upward.
"Zar! The devils have breached a section of our defense!"
We could see them. Only a few of the blue warriors had gained the top of the wall but, unless they were halted, I knew that soon hundreds would be stepping over.
Scarcely stopping to think, I drew my blade from my belt and leapt for the nearest ramp leading to the wall-top. I ran up it faster than I had ever thought possible.
A blue Argzoon warrior, towering above me, turned as I shouted a challenge from behind.
Again he voiced that deep, maniacal laugh. I lunged with my blade and he parried the thrust with a swift movement of his own thick sword. I danced and saw a slight chance as his arm came round. I darted my sword at the exposed upper arm and was fortunate enough to draw blood. He yelled an oath and swung at me with his other weapon, a short-hafted battle-axe. Again my faster speed saved me and I ducked in under his clumsy guard to take him high in the belly. The sword flashed into his flesh and came out again.
His eyes seemed to widen and then, with a dying growl, he toppled from the wall.
Another came at me, more cautiously than his comrade. Again I took the attack to the towering monster.
Twice I lunged, twice he parried, then he lunged at me. I blocked his thrust and saw that my blade was only an inch from his face. I pressed the blade forward and took him in the eye.
I had now got the feel of my sword-a marvellous weapon, better even than the best I had used on Earth.
Now reinforcements had come to my aid. I glanced down on the other side of the wall at what seemed to be a great tide of turbulent blue flesh, leathern armor and flashing steel. A scaling ladder had been raised. More of the Argzoon were scaling it.
That ladder had to be destroyed. I made it my objective.
Although the scene was so confused and I could hardly tell what the general situation was, I felt a peculiar calmness sweep over me.
I knew the feeling. I had experienced it before in the jungles of Vietnam-had even experienced something like it in a particularly difficult engagement while fencing for sport.
Now that I had a few comrades at least, I felt even better. I stumbled on something and looked down. One of my assailants had lost his battle-axe.
I picked it up in my left hand, testing its weighty and found it was not too badly balanced for me if I held it fairly close to the blade.
Both weapons ready, I moved forward in a halfcrouched position towards the next blue invader.
He was leading his fellows along the wall towards the ramp. The wall was wide enough to take three of us, and two warriors ranged themselves on either side of me.
I felt rather like Horatius holding the bridge at that moment, but the Blue Giants were unlike Lars Porsena's men in that none of them was crying 'back.' They all seemed to have the same obsession-to press forward at all costs.
Their huge bodies came towards us, lumbering, powerful. Their slitted eyes stared black hatred at us and I shuddered as, for an instant, I stared directly into one face. There was something less than human, something primeval about that gazesomething so primitive that I felt I had a vision of Hell!
Then they were upon us!
I remember only a fury of fighting. The rapid cut and thrust of the duel; the desperate sense of having to hang on, having to win, having to bring out every ounce of energy and skill if we were to drive them back to the ladder-and destroy it.
Yet it seemed at first as if the most we could do was hold the wall against these huge beast-men, looming above us with their great, corded muscles rolling under blue skins, their hate-filled, slitted eyes, their teeth-filled gashes of mouths, and their heavy weapons, the weight of which alone could sweep us from the wall to our doom!
I remember that my wrists, my arms, my back, my legs-my whole body-were aching. Then the aching seemed to stop and I felt only a strange numbness as we fought on.