"Aye. We'll do that," Hoist grunted. "For if yer right, and if we fail, then we might not have any children left to hear the tale."
The Daergar came first, their boats appearing in a vast wave at the very fringe of Hybardin's ring of lights. Immediately the shouts of alarm came down from Levels Three and Four where people could see farther out over the water.
The Hylar on the waterfront made a well-ordered retreat to the four stairways. Only Belicia and the few of her troops skilled with the heavy crossbow waited, concealed among the debris near the edge of the water. The Hylar captain noted with surprise that Hoist Backwrench bore one of the shiny steel weapons and had a quiver of lethal looking darts slung on his back.
"Glad to see you," she said quietly, as the two of them crouched beside a crate that had just been emptied of its cargo of steel.
"Looks like you were right," the shipper said grimly, squinting at the line of hulls that edged forward out of the darkness of the Urkhan Sea. "Can't say I'm glad, but I'd like to think I'm big enough to admit when I've been a fool."
Belicia smiled grimly. "Not a fool. And I'm grateful for your crossbow."
"You've got my strong right arm, too," Hoist said, closing his fist around the hilt of a broad-bladed shortsword. "Don't fergit, this is my dock those bastards are trying to take away from us!"
She looked closely and was surprised to see tears in the corner of the burly Hylar's eyes.
The white wakes curling ahead of the Daergar prows were now visible. These were long-hulled lake boats, each of them with a sharp prow, and propelled by a dozen or more oars. Beyond the leering figureheads Belicia could make out fully armored dark dwarves, tightly packed in the hulls and staring grimly toward the land.
A rank of archers hid behind the rampart above and behind Belicia. The veteran crews at the ballistae were waiting for her sign. She took out her flint and used her dagger to scrape a spark into the small, oil-soaked torch she had prepared for this moment. Instantly the wick flared into yellow flame, a bright flash shining all across the waterfront. In less than a second she heard the loud crack and thrum of the two nearest ballistae as they cast their missiles.
The first arrow clanged off the prow of a Daergar boat, knocking the vessel sideways so that it collided with a neighboring craft in a tangle of curses and splintering oars. For a moment the advance was delayed by confusion, but Belicia grimaced when she saw the two prows quickly swing shoreward again. The great shaft from the second ballista had flown over the bow of a long, narrow-hulled craft, directly into the tightly packed crew. A chorus of screams vanished under the cheer that rose from the shore as that boat veered to the side and slowed to a halt, oars akimbo.
By the time the great weapons were loaded again, at least a hundred assault boats were visible, pulling up to the docks and to the broken rock of the shore. Two more ballista missiles rocketed out and downward at a steep angle. Each pierced the hull of a boat, sinking the metal-hulled vessels immediately. Shrieking Daergar splashed and floundered in the black water.
Belicia knew these dwarves were doomed. Although the boat sank but a stone's throw from shore, not one of the dwarves would be able to swim that distance. The dark dwarves hated the water every bit as much as the Hylar and their heavy armor drug them thrashing and burbling to the bottom of the sea. This time there was no cheering. Even for an enemy, death by drowning was a fate as cruel as any known to Thorbardin's dwarvenkind.
More boats swept closer, and now Belicia stood up. "Shoot!" she cried. "Give them a full volley!"
Arrows and darts hissed through the air, a deadly barrage that found targets in many of the crowded hulls. But the missiles couldn't stop the relentless onslaught, and in moments dozens of the longboats were pulling alongside the stone fingers of Hybardin's docks. Reloading once, Belicia took another shot, dropping the captain of one of the lead boats. Despite the barrage of arrows, the Daergar were swarming ashore in great numbers.
"Fall back!" she shouted, the command echoing among the dwarf archers still on the docks of Level One.
More arrows, light but lethal missiles which arced outward and down from the ramparts above, began to shower the gathering phalanxes of invaders. Belicia and her advance guard fell back in orderly fashion. The line of the shield wall at the base of the stairs parted to allow their captain through.
"You were right about this, too," Hoist said, indicating the Daergar that were swarming across the dock. "We'd have been surrounded before half of us could have made it back to the stairs."
She nodded curtly. It had been obvious to her all along, but she was glad that he had finally seen the truth.
"Are you ready here, Farran?" she asked the young dwarf responsible for commanding this detachment.
"Aye, captain," replied the warrior. Just a short time earlier, Farran had been learning the rudiments of a shield wall while Belicia had banged his shins with a stout staff. "Bring 'em on!"
"That's the spirit!" She clapped him on the shoulder and offered a silent prayer to Reorx. She wanted to stay here on the front line, but with her company dispersed into five detachments she had to maintain her own freedom so that she could move around and observe.
"Reckon I'll stay here, too," Hoist said, with a casual salute to the female captain. She saw that he had picked up a shield from somewhere. It relieved her somewhat to have the capable old Hylar standing in the shield wall. "At least I can keep an eye on my shipyard," he added with a growl, as the dark dwarves began to spread across the waterfront.
The Daergar wore black armor adorned with spikes, blades, and images of bestial faces. Full helmets protected their heads, each with faceplate down and locked. The dark dwarves swarmed across the dockyard by the hundreds, scattering among the barrels and bales of what had once been a prosperous waterfront. Now they howled in outrage as they saw that virtually everything of value had been cleared away. From their positions on the stairways and ramparts the Hylar hooted jeers and derision, and a small group of infuriated Daergar rushed impetuously at the shield wall which blocked their passage up the stairs.
"Steady there, wait!" roared Farran, in the voice of a natural sergeant. The Hylar line had formed across the sixth stair so that the enemy would have to climb to reach them. The rank was three dwarves thick and now Belicia could only hope that it would hold. It had to hold.
The first of the dark dwarves scrambled up the steps, many of the attackers stumbling before they even reached their enemy. The others were quickly cut down, their bodies left to bleed on the stairs and create an additional obstacle for the much larger number following.
On the docks, the bulk of the Daergar were now forming into companies. Still harassed by the arrows showering them, they cursed and howled at the defenders, promising slow deaths and worse when they had won the fight. Bristling with axe and spear and sword, the teeming mass charged the stairway, scrambling over the corpses of their comrades. Scores of fanatical dark dwarves smashed with full force into the desperate Hylar's thin line.
"You archers, shoot double time," bellowed Belicia. "Let them have it!"
The young dwarves along the parapet showered their missiles down from the ramparts. Nearly every arrow found a target in the tight-packed army of dark dwarves, though many of the well-armored attackers were protected from serious wounds by their shoulder plates and steel helms. Still, the darts caused many wounds and added to the general confusion of the infuriated, battle-crazed Daergar.