under the edge of The Worm. The sound of
screaming men could be heard as the burning hot oil hit their feet.
84 Swift Sword grabbed a blazing torch and threw it down the wall into
the hot oil. In an instant, the oil blazed to flame, and the head of
The Worm became a blazing inferno. The screams of those inside were
horrible, but to Swift Sword's sorrow The Trns thought fast. Halfway
down The Worm's second section they blocked the oil, brought in their
wheels and carrying bars, and pulled The Worm back before it was
totally
destroyed.
85 Swift Sword was disappointed. He had hoped to destroy far more of
the
cursed thing than two sections. But they had killed some of
the enemy and bought some precious time. That was worth something.
86 It was a week before The Worm returned again. They were two sections
short, and now the defender's bow people could harass their workers but
the enemy pressed on with their work. The new lead sections had an
addition, too. Around its forward edge were leather flaps. Any oil
poured down the wall now would merely run off the sides. And from the
smell of wet leather a fire outside The Worm would do little good.
87 Swift Sword continued his own construction. The head of The Worm was
now almost level to the top of their walls. One day The Worm was level
with them, first on one side and then the other, then the middle was
filled in. That evening The Trns withdrew it.
88 "They're done," announced Swift Sword. "They'll come in the morning.
I'd say from the width of the ramp they'll push up three towers, drop
their gates, and pour onto the wall. Let us hope what we have done will
be enough. If we can hold the rest of the walls and keep them bottled
up in the city we've got a good chance.