"Let them come closer," she ordered her soldiers as she walked along the wall, steadying the nervous archers with her solid attitude. "Our first volley must prove devastating."
De Hamman's riders and infantry charged in headlong, moving practically to the base of the wall, launching spears and arrows.
And then the To-gai-ru warriors sprang up, a line so thick that it stood shoulder to shoulder the length of that wall, and the hailstorm of arrows drove hard into the Behrenese ranks, stopping cold the bold assault.
"He did not know so many of our warriors had come into the city," Pagonel remarked.
Even as he finished the statement, however, a surge of lightning bolts reached out from the back of De Hamman's line, smashing in hard against the defenders, splitting stone and sending men flying from the wall.
Dharyan-Dharielle's great ballistae and catapults responded, sending balls of fiery pitch and gigantic spears into the masses, many heading for the general direction of the Abellican gemstone users.
It went on for many minutes right there below the walls, and Brynn assembled a group of strong warriors beside her, and followed Pagonel as he ran about, shoring up defenses wherever they seemed about to fall.
A second volley of lightning bolts flashed in at the city, this time all concentrated on Dharyan-Dharielle's southern gate. Wood splintered and bolts crackled, and the gates buckled inward. And right behind the thunderous blasts came a surge by a group of armored Honce-the-Bear soldiers, driving their equally armored mounts hard against the weakened barrier.
"Hold that gate at all costs!" Brynn cried from the wall a short distance away. She looked at Pagonel for guidance, but he was already engaged in battling a pair of men who had scaled the wall.
"Run on!" the mystic shouted to her. He knew that he had to score a hit quickly here, and so he did, ducking the slash of one man's sword and sweeping his leg out wide to trip the man up. Not even finishing that kick, trusting that he had the man enough off-balance, the mystic sprang up catlike at the second warrior, rushing in before the man could bring his sword to bear. Pagonel's stiffened fingers smashed hard against the man's windpipe, stealing his breath and his balance.
The mystic caught him before he fell to his death, though, wrapping him in a tight embrace and turning him about as a human shield against the first man who was trying to recover and come back in.
The attacker hesitated and Pagonel threw the limp man to the ground between them, and even as the standing attacker's eyes instinctively looked down at his falling comrade, the mystic leaped forward, turning his legs under him and kicking out, launching the attacker over the wall.
Pagonel turned to regard Brynn, but to his relief, she was already moving along.
Brynn leaped down to the courtyard, the rest of her entourage close behind. "Mount up!" she ordered, knowing that foot soldiers would likely be overwhelmed by the riders pressing at the gate.
Men screamed all about her, horrible sounds of battle that Brynn Dharielle had prayed she would never again be forced to endure. She could hardly believe the sudden turn of events, and it pained her greatly to consider that Aydrian, her companion for so many years, was in fact the source of this chaos! With fierce determination, the leader of To-gai climbed up on Runtly and led her force to the courtyard directly before the collapsing gates.
"Fight well," she said.
"Die well," came the appropriate To-gai-ru response.
Out in the distance, horns began to blow, and many cries of "Tanalk Grenk!" came echoing down from the walls.
Brynn nodded grimly, knowing that her loyal and able commander would strike hard at De Hamman's flank and ease some of the pressure on the town.
More hopeful and excited shouts came from the wall, and Brynn followed them to see many men pausing for just a moment, and pointing to the southwestern sky.
"Meet my dragon, Yatol De Hamman," the woman said grimly. She wished she could go and watch that spectacle - she did indeed! - but then the gate creaked and cracked, and one of the great doors tumbled down into the courtyard. Charging over it even as it fell came the rush of Honce-the- Bear cavalry.
"Fight well!" Brynn called again.
"Die well!" came the eager battle cry.
Brynn was first in, her solid pony not shying in the least as she took it right against the flank of one larger horse, and tightly in between that