8 They did not believe that their task would be
easy. The Mus had had two whole seasons to prepare defenses.
There was little doubt they had already figured out the plan
of attack.
9 As soon as they came out of the desert The Mus began to harass them.
This would be no easy war. It was a terrible struggle for them to fight
their way down the road. Every passage was blocked, every route to the
cities patrolled. They had to scout in force because any small party
was attacked immediately.
10 Resistance was so great that The Hawk modified his plan. The entire
army marched on the nearest city, Nso. And luck was not with them this
time. The city was surrounded by earthworks. Every possible type of
trap was set, even foot boxes, step rakes and
crossbows with trip lines...sometimes, that fired one-hundred weapons
at once!
11 It took them nearly a month to fight through the ring of defenses,
and reach the walls, themselves. The enemy's catapults pelted
them. Finally, The Hawk fell back. They had many dead and far more
wounded. Some of the men were beginning to get sick. There
were fevers here they weren't used to.
12 The Hawk sent the wounded back to their homelands and ordered their
leaders to send them replacements. They tried the kites, set many fires
in the city, but nothing that did any real damage. They brought up The
Worm, and began to use it, but The Mus had found a defense! There were
huge logs hidden in their walls, with steel spikes on their ends. As
The Worm started to work these were driven out, piercing it. The logs
were hollow. Hot oil was poured through them and ignited. After having
the forward part of The Worm burned away three times, The Hawk gave up.