did Lo. But its defenders escaped. Bandit was besieged, Little Blossom Crow made the enemy pay bitterly for every
village, but then in the final battle below Mi, she was shot three
times and forced to withdraw. The enemy seemed unstoppable.
78 Their march towards Hawk was stopped by Red Serpent, but only
because they did not seem to be determined to move in this direction.
And the news from the south was terrible. In Mu, Mk was in ruins, but
somehow its defenders were still holding. Ne had fallen, its defenders too, escaping. Now the enemy was pushing
steadily toward Nso.
79 In Fr the enemy had landed troops from their ships on both sides of
the city, but the city still held and its harbor was secure.
80 Brave little Misery still kept the enemy at bay though the greater
part of his forces had bypassed them.
81 Fo had fallen, Ftr was gone, Wood was putting up such a battle that
it would go down in legend, and Fm was being battered day and night,
by artillery.
82 Bold Fox felt like a man in a nightmare who couldn't wake up. He
could do nothing about the desperate calls for help in the south, or
for those of his own people for assistance.
83 He had already committed all the reserves he had. The women and
children were preparing to defend their cities. The enemy had caught
them weak, and now they were paying the price.
84 Every casualty report brought tears to The First Speaker's eyes. He
walked about aimlessly saying to himself again and again, "What have I
done? What have I done to my people?"
85 "What you'd better do," suggested Bold Fox, "is pray for some
miracles. Because if we don't get them, if The Lords don't help us
soon, we're finished. We don't have a chance!"