Benton crouched in the hidden cave exit near the gates of Stonefist. As he waited for the signal to attack, he thought back a few days...
He had been sitting with his back to the stone wall of the lava tube the Virgos had made their base camp. It was about a mile from Stonefist. He sat quietly, watching Richard Wallace, Johnny Chee and Jonathan Lataro planning their offensive.
He remembered thinking that it would be a difficult assault, since there was no easy access to Stonefist, but then something small hit him in the head from above. Benton leaped up. He noticed there was a small opening in the tunnel wall where none had been before, and something was in it. He made a grab for the vague shadow and hauled it out into the main lava tube.
The creature struggled valiantly, but was finally wrenched out of his hiding place with a gravely "Yaaaaarrrrr!!!" It landed heavily on the cave floor as several dozen security men, attracted by the commotion, converged on it with weapons drawn.
The creature picked itself up off the ground, but when it noticed the ring of armed soldiers, it cowered in fear and said in a raspy voice, "Away put your weapons! I mean you no harm! For to help you I am here."
Then Benton recognized the gnomish creature. "Gori!" he said. "How pleasant to see you again." He waved his men back. The Aody spy, Gori, looked relieved. He made a hand signal toward his secret little opening and to Benton's surprise, five more Aody hopped out.
Gori and the Aody explained to the Virgo tacticians that there was a network of tunnels that ran underground in this area for miles in every direction. Not these lava tubes, but secret tunnels cut by the Aody spy network. Some of them led to the plateau under the city of Stonefist.
...It was in one of these hidden tunnels that Benton and his men huddled now, waiting.
The wait was over! The first ballista attack against the main gate was the signal for Benton's men. Quickly and efficiently, they swarmed out of the cave mouth and began running toward the city walls and the base of one of the largest towers. The tower had a commanding view of the field immediately around the gate, and any assault would be exposed to enemy fire from within. Benton's assignment was to take out the tower before the Virgo assault began.
Ten of the largest security men carried fifty-pound kegs of black powder on their shoulders as they jogged toward the tower. The rest of the team surrounded them for protection. Benton and Thudd were among those lugging powder, while Sitto commanded the guards. The ever-present Francesca came up close behind Thudd, carrying the torch that would light the fuse.
Suddenly, an arrow stuck in the ground right in front of Benton, and a hundred croaking battle cries sounded from above! They had been spotted! Arrows started raining down on them from innumerable arrow slits. One of the keg-carriers went down. "Cover!" shouted Benton. A group of Borials came running carrying what looked like a huge shield over their heads. The shield was at least thirty feet square. Quickly, the Borials maneuvered until the shield protected the Virgos carrying the kegs. The dropped keg was picked up by Thudd, who was now carrying two, and the entire troop continued on toward the tower wall. Arrows could be heard thumping uselessly against the top of the shield.
Then suddenly, they stopped. Benton was instantly wary. "Watch for Horde troops!" he shouted. But the warning was unnecessary. All around the base of the tower, trap doors on the ground sprang open and Horde warriors jumped out.
"Looks like the Aody aren't the only ones with secret tunnels!" shouted Sitto. "Prepare for hand-to hand!" The Virgos guarding the kegs readied their weapons for the Horde assault and the shield carriers moved off. More arrows from above were unlikely since there were now Horde on the battlefield. The keg carriers continued their inexorable march to the tower. They were almost there.
With a clash of metal on metal, the battle was joined! The hideous Horde fought to protect their city, the Borials fought to free the Aody and the Virgos fought a fight that was not their own, but which they had been forced into by the mysterious gods of this planet. However the battle has some virtue to it, and that's what kept them going.
As Sitto led the defense against the attackers, Benton's keg men finally reached the tower wall. He set down his burden and Thudd placed his next to Benton's. The other kegs were lined up around the curved face of the tower, so that when they blew, the entire outer base of the tower would vanish. Deprived of its support, the tower should topple and take a large portion of the city wall with it in the bargain.
That task done, Benton signaled Francesca. She uncoiled the length of fuse from her belt and inserted one end into one of the kegs. Benton turned away and drew his sword, running to join Sitto's men in keeping the area secure long enough for Francesca to do her job.
But then, from behind him, Benton heard a scream. He spun to see that Francesca had been knocked to the ground by a Horde warrior who had somehow slipped through their defenses. The torch she had been carrying lay on the ground a few paces from her. The Horde yanked the fuse line from the keg and hurled it as far as he could. A few other Horde picked it up and quickly cut it to useless little pieces.
The Horde who had attacked Francesca advanced menacingly on her, while she tried to scramble backward on the ground. The Horde raised his idej, point down, for the final blow. Benton ran to Francesca's aid, but he knew he'd be too late. "Nooooo!!!!!!" he shouted in frustration.
Just then, the point of a blade blossomed from his chest. The Horde grunted and tried to turn, but instead its legs gave way and it toppled forward to land face first in the dirt. A bronze idej sprouted from his back. Thudd stood above the fallen Horde and yanked his weapon free. He wiped the blood from the blade on the leg of the motionless Horde.
"My hero!" shouted Francesca. She got to her feet and looked around for where the Horde had thrown the fuse line. When she spotted the shredded pieces, her beaming smile turned quickly into a frown. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Now how are we going to set off the explosives?!?"
Thudd stepped over and picked up the fallen torch. "Fear not. All will be well," he told Francesca.
By this time Benton had run up. He could tell something was transpiring between Francesca and Thudd, but he couldn't tell what. They were staring at each other.
Thudd said to Francesca, "Go! I will take care of the explosives." With that, Thudd ran toward the row of black powder kegs.
Francesca shouted after him, "No! You can't! You'll be killed!"
She would have run after him, but Benton held fast to her arm. It had become obvious what was going on. He tried to use a sympathetic yet urgent voice, "Francesca! We have to go. Thudd knows what he's doing. Trust him!" He started pulling Francesca in a direction away from the tower.
Benton sought out Sitto. He found him, still in the thick of the fighting. Sitto was handling himself extremely well; there were more than a dozen slain Horde warriors around him. Benton gave him the hand signal to retreat. Sitto looked over to where the kegs were and guessed what Thudd was planning to do. "Retreat! Retreat!" he shouted to the men around him. "She's gonna blow!" He and his men ran for their lives, leaving the confused Horde alone on the battlefield wondering why their enemy had fled in so cowardly a manner.
Then they noticed Thudd, all alone on the field with nothing more than a torch for protection. A hundred Horde charged as one toward him.
Thudd faced the onrushing Horde mass with unflinching gaze. For centuries, the Horde had killed his people and ruined his planet. Now he, Thuddius, would get his just revenge.
From far off, safe near the hidden Aody cave, Francesca watched with teary eyes. She saw Thudd turn his head in her direction and raise his torch as if in salute. Then, just before the black mass of murderous Horde reached him, the torch swung down and touched off the explosives.
A huge orange fireball mushroomed out from the base of the tower wall and clouds of billowing black smoke obscured the scene. A moment later, the echoing boom and rumble reached them. A powerful shockwave blasted past the onlookers, forcing them to lean into it or be knocked over. So slowly that it seemed to happening in slow motion, the tower began to lean and buckle. It came crashing down, and as it did it tore away half the city wall on this side of the city. Pillars of dust and smoke rose and billowed outward for thousands of yards, obscuring everything from sight.
All the Horde that had been beneath the tower walls, as well as all the Horde in the tower and on the wall and nearby inside the city were crushed by the thousands of tons of falling stonework. Nothing living had survived.
Benton was standing behind Francesca. He tried to comfort her. He quietly said, "Don't be too sad, Francesca. His sacrifice was a very noble one, and it's what he felt he had to do."
Francesca turned away from the gruesome scene. She walked over to Benton without a word and just buried her face in his chest.
Benton put his arms around her and gently patted her back. This is just the beginning. There's still a long fight ahead of us.