Chapter Five
As the enemy leader was reatreating back over the rooftops, he had his people gather up the few fighting people of Spirit they had killed, and take them back to their camp. What they found astonished them.
2 One, who had cut down three of their finest warriors was an old woman. Another was a cripple that wore one boot with a wooden sole three inches thick, and had one hand that was withered and useless. Yet he had killed six of their soldiers. And all the rest were the same. When The Prince of Fr saw them, he was angrier than ever.
3 "This is what stops you?" he screamed, "This is what has kept my army at bay for two days? Take them, do you understand? Take them TOMORROW!"
4 His leaders assured him they would.
5 The following day The Frns again massed and attacked The Temple. The defenders met them at the outer wall, and as they took that one, retreated to the inner one, then, as that one fell, to The Temple itself. But here The Frns withdrew.
6 "Two can play with fire," said The Frn commander. "Hold them here, The rest of you go outside the city and gather grass and brush. Dig through the rubble and find every piece of unburned wood you can."
7 Half the day they worked. The sun was setting when they moved into position. The blazing bundles of grass were thrown into The Temple, then wood, until The Temple became an inferno. But Red Crow and his people were not trapped!
8 Going through secret passages they came out behind the enemy, and many fell before they even knew they were there.
9 The battle raged long into the darkness, but by midnight it was over. The defenders were dead. But The Frns did not cheer with victory. It had cost them too much.
10 Five of their own were dead for every one of The Children Of Spirit killed, and three times that were wounded.
11 And what had they won? A burned out city, no food, no water, only their dead and the enemy to eat. It was a bitter victory!
12 The Prince of Fr wanted to push on, but his army was in no condition and he knew it. The second element would be there in three or four days. He would heal his wounds, gather his strength before he marched on, and they needed to gather up their fallen arrows and any of the enemy's they could find.
13 "Curse these insane people!" screamed The Prince of Fr. "Curse them!"
14 Their reinforcements did not arrive in five days, but eight. When those Frns already there saw the ox carts piled high with supplies they gave a cheer, and rushed to meet their brothers.
15 That night they had wine, trail cakes and cheese, smoked meat, and fish. Though The Prince ordered rationing, he allowed his men to have one good meal. They had earned it!
16 The leader of the reinforcements told how he had been attacked in the same manner as The Prince, but after the first attack he feared for the satefy of the supply carts, so had put them into the midst of the column to better protect them.
17 They had been attacked day after day, night after night, but they had only managed to kill five of the enemy. The rest eluded them like shadows.
18 "We have made," ordered The Prince, "some rough quarters and storage places in the ruins of the city. We will leave the more seriously wounded here, with the ox carts. We will kill the oxen for food. From now on we carry our supplies."
19 That night cries of alarm came from the outskirts of the camp. Tents were on fire. Men ran about in panic, but the attackers had come and gone.
20 It was Swift Deer's last strike. He moved north, harrassed the enemy patrols until the boats came to pick him up. He and his fighting people received a hero's welcome at Eastern. He wanted to go south again with fresh men, and harass the enemy again, but The Dove said no.
21 "The enemy will move at a snail's pace now," he said, "terrified that you will be there, even if you aren't! Let him worry! I need you and your men here.
22 I have decided on a plan of defense. We are building earthworks here between the city and the cliffs. The cliff will be on one side, the river at our backs, the city on the other side. We have destroyed the bridges. The enemy can't go around us. We block the only ford across the river within fourteen day's travel.
23 He will fight us. He will have to deal with the troops in the field before he dares attack the city.
24 We have built the earthworks in three sections. Our first line of defense will be the lower one, with our archers in the second. If the enemy pushes us out of the lower works, the archers will retreat to the upper ones.
25 Then, we will fall back to the second. If he takes the second, we will all gather on the third. If he takes that, it will not matter, we will be finished."
26 "By The Lords!" cried Swift Deer, "He will NOT take the second! We will hold!"
27 "Well in a few days we will know," answered The Dove. "He marches. There is still much work to do. The earthworks need to be finished, pits dug, concealed before it, and there are never enough arrows."
28 Day by day The Dove waited. His leg was healing, but he was still being carried around. By the time of the battle he wanted to be able to stand.
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