bowmen had the walls above them, and it was like
spearing fish in a barrel.
9 "Call back your people!" begged The War Leader, "Let us talk terms. "
10 "No terms," answered The Hawk, "lay down your arms and we will give
all those deserving, mercy. Do not ask anything
else."
11 "Damn!" The War Leader snapped. "Call off your people."
12 "Bugler," ordered The Hawk, "sound the stand in place."
13 The bugler responded, and The Hawk's people stopped pressing their
attack. The Frn War Leader climbed up on an ox cart and ordered his men
to throw down their arms. The battle was over, and The Frns had taken
the worst of it. They had thirteen dead,
and over one-hundred wounded. The Frns were beginning to have a healthy
respect for his name!
14 "We have to work fast," ordered The Hawk. "Gather all the gold that
has already been smelted, any other treasure you can find, search all
their houses. Get our people into some decent clothes, then send them
into the mines, starting at the lowest levels. Pull out all
the timbers. Pile them in the barracks and quarters. When those are
full, stack them up against the walls. I want everything ready by
nightfall, and everyone ready to travel!"
15 "That's impossible!" argued one of the men, "What you're asking is
many day's work!"
16 "If everybody works together," answered The Hawk, "it can be done on
time. But the longer we stand discussing it, the longer it's going to
take. If an unexpected patrol comes up that road, we're in big trouble."
17 The people sat to work. What had taken months to build was about to
be destroyed in a few short hours. Soon, the smeltery and all the
buildings were