LITMIR.BIZ

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      «… No,» the high priest shook his head. – Another Jericha. From the fact that you decided to become the king of these monkeys, you dishonor yourself. You will dishonor our great family, and the entire civilization of Nahmau. This fact makes me angry. Both you and I know perfectly well that the situation will not resolve itself. We have no way back. In the end, after all, it was not in vain that I brought here, this, as you allowed yourself to put it, rabble! So let’s see how dear this fake city is to you. – Smiling, Maktum returned to the ranks of his horde. Shouting «Selimu aleikum!!» (translated from the original Nahmaut: Selim with us), gave the command to besiege the fortress.

      Wooden towers, twenty meters high, moved forward on small wheels. They were carried by black, terrible monsters, resembling mammoths from afar, with round bodies and six legs. They did not have a head, only a small stone outgrowth. It seems to have been a muzzle covering the mouth. The infantrymen began to quickly reorganize into columns. Like the ancient Romans, they piled on top of each other and covered themselves with shields in anticipation of something incomprehensible.

      – What are they up to? – General Beleba ran up to the Rift. Together with the general, archers run into the wall, taking up positions for shooting, around the entire perimeter. Meanwhile, on the second wall, a more impressive and numerous defense was being built.

      – I have to admit, I do not know the art of war, – Frowning, Aprod put his hand on the commander’s shoulder, – I trust this battle to you, General.

      «Then what’s the use of you?» You do not know how to negotiate, you do not know how to fight, which means that you will not be a king either.

      – Maybe you are right. I shouldn’t have left Shelber. – With an arrogant smile, a reproachful look, he examined the approaching horde of unprecedented artificially crossed monsters of Rohvem for the last time. There was no fear in Rift’s eyes. On the contrary, he seemed to mock the horde of fantastic creatures, which, the closer they approached, the more terrified ordinary Osirian soldiers. There was a strange certainty about him.

      Seeing all the abomination that appeared on the horizon and not succumbing to even a little fear, you have to be either crazy or immortal. Aprod was neither one nor the other, but he had a trump card in his sleeve, which he was afraid to admit to himself. Having descended from the wall, the governor got into his carriage, heading for a secret, underground exit from the city. The militia commanders decided that he had left the line of defense and focused on an imminent encounter with about five thousand enemies.

      When the sediment towers were almost approaching, they suddenly stopped, between the long columns of infantry soldiers hiding under the shields. Separately, the soldiers accompanying these black mammoths cut off the thick ropes that were harnessed to the miraculous beasts. But before, with the help of spears, they knocked out their huge muzzles. From the place where the head should be, the same black, thick tentacles, like an octopus, escaped. Long and oily, they stuck into the ground and, with their help, the blind monsters recognized everything around them. As soon as the cables were cut from them, they rushed forward on the ram, forcing the Osiris to draw their bows. But, before the monsters had time to reach the wall, suddenly, unexpectedly, from loud explosions, sedimentary towers fell forward. From the impact, their wooden hulls shattered to smithereens. And, as it turned out, these are not sedimentary towers at all. From the wreckage, slowly, like caterpillars, crawled out some mechanical iron pillars, which, crawled to the wall, also between the rows of Fimirel soldiers. These are gigantic machines, propelled by sliding and sliding transverse rings along the entire length of the greasy body. Inside these gizmos, someone sat at the helm and operated them. Powered by fuel oil, they spewed smoke from the wide nostrils of their dragon muzzles.

      – Oh, noble Khalidan, Fatak is the patron saint of fire and water, Siron is the father of earth and sky. Give strength to survive this day, – whispers through tears General Beleba, remembering all the Osirian gods. He dispersed his army half on the walls, half inside the city, scattering detachments among corps from small groups, in ambushes prepared in advance in case of war. Underground, air, underwater and others. Right now, the main thing for the Vayelons is not to sow panic. But the appearance of the enemy inexorably forces you to do it. The fat, elephant-like monsters slammed into the wall as expected. Their tentacles spread out in different directions, like suckers glued to concrete. With some acid pouring from their tongues, they dissolved the stone, the base of the wall, turning it into damp, soft sand. With a wave of his hand, the commander of the left flank of the first wall with a long, curly beard yelled something. From his side, unusual arrows flew with massive balls wrapped in a hard shell, instead of sharp points. The same flew from the right flank and from the center. Falling on wild beasts, these arrows exploded with incredible force. So, in the central part, the archers, who were at the ready, hid from the rising flame. The monsters growled loudly, groaned, gasped, but then they stopped. When the smoke cleared, they lay motionless in the same place where they stood. They were not torn to pieces, but, bless you. Columns of enemies, escaping with shields, moved forward in the same formation. Walking in leg, in a squat, they began to break into the holes that the mutants managed to make. The archers again loaded explosive arrows, and were ready to release them at the columns, hiding with their shields, but their bearded commander raised his crossed arms up, giving the signal to put aside. He was waiting for these iron lizards who were about to get to the wall. What will they do? I was tormented by the question of the commanders of the defense. Once in the immediate vicinity, loud bangs were heard, from the collision of snakes with walls. They easily rammed the crumbly stone blocks exactly where the terrible monsters loosened them with their saliva. At the back of the snakes, doors opened and soldiers rushed into them like a river. Running along the protected iron corridors, they freely ran out to the other side of the wall. And there, they did not run to the sides, joyfully rejoicing that they had broken through. They set up strange mechanisms, like cannons, or small catapults, towards the second wall. From these guns, huge iron spears began to fly out, piercing the very top of the second wall. Iron cables were tied to spears as long as a pillar. Elongated cylindrical boxes were lifted along these cables. Like the cabins of ski lifts, with a fairly high speed. The soldiers of the second wall did not wait for these things to rise to them. Archers launched fire from a hail of explosive arrows, in an attempt to shoot down armored elevators, of unknown purpose.

      Meanwhile, near the first wall, huge gears crunched and bearings creaked. Steel snake heads slowly began to rise upward. The moment came when you can shoot, and explosive arrows, like a river, flew straight into the jaws of mechanical monsters. Numerous explosions crumpled them well, but did not disable them. Some parts of the crawling cars flew off, but this did not stop them at all. Pressing their heads against the wall, the lower part, they crawled upward, slowly, like snails, piercing small spinning disks, like gears, with sharp tips. These things rose to the very top, and, like pillars, froze in place. Most of the enemy troops, remaining for the time being, behind both walls, continued to climb up the serpentine backs, like a ladder, clinging to spikes and protruding rings. General Beleba gave a general command to the troops of the first wall to leave it as quickly as possible, strengthening the defense on the second. When the last Osiris soldiers fled, in the towers, they clamped special levers, and from under the floor, in the wall, numerous pipes and gas nozzles protruded. As soon as the enemy stepped on the wall, it burst out like a torch with a blue, burning flame, over its entire surface, incinerating every enemy alive. A pleasant sight. But, it’s too early to rejoice. Realizing that the top of the wall was on fire, they widened the narrow holes in the bottom made by their own monsters and created large passages with their explosives and cannon catapults. The whole army rushed there, as if through a gate. Only two hours have passed, and the first wall has already been overcome. It becomes more and more difficult to contain the rampage of the enemy. Now they also opened fire. Yes, just what. Throwing back their shields, the soldiers kept «shooting spears» ready. Having created around them, a continuous rumble, like popcorn popping in the microwave, they introduced the enemy, more into bewilderment than horror. The Osiris army encountered firearms for the first time. Their infantrymen fired competently,

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