Holding lit arrows, the Razaasia soldiers lined up, and as soon as they heard the horn, they released their arrows at Hosha City.
The volley of lit arrows streaked across the sky like a fire dragon, hurtling towards the Magoli and Musian soldiers on the wall of Hosha City, landing on houses, people, and scarecrows.
Leading their advance with three siege towers shielding the infantry, the Razaasia army also brought forward the battering ram towards the Hosha City gate.
"Siege towers!" Shouted a Musian soldier.
"Battering ram!" Shouted another Musian soldier.
Mandla shouted, "Stop their advance! Wait for orders!"
Drawing his bow, Mandla began shooting at the Razaasia soldiers charging towards the Hosha City wall. A grim calculation formed in his mind: at this pace, if their advance wasn't halted, the siege towers would be at the wall within the hour.
Looking at Hibo, Mandla called out, "Captain!"
"No matter what you do, you and your men must prevent those siege towers from breaching the wall until the order is given!" he ordered.
Mandla grabbed onto Kianga's arm. "Take the wounded soldiers to the keep and protect it."
Kianga said firmly, "But I want to be here with you."
"Protecting the keep is just as important as fighting with me here," Mandla said. He smiled at Kianga. "As much as I wish you could be with me, I know that during this time, the people in the keep need you more than I need you here," he added softly.
"If you are going to die, you must promise to take your last breath in my arms," Kianga said. She looked at Mandla, who gave her a brave, bright smile. "Be careful, my love." She stood up and quickly ran down the stairs.
Hibo stood on the far right with her soldiers. She knew they had to prevent the siege towers from reaching the city walls until the order was given, even if it cost them their lives. The price of a breach before that moment was simply too high – she couldn't bear it. She understood clearly: if even one tower reached the walls, the Razaasia soldiers would swarm over, killing them mercilessly, and the plan to save the city would fail. Therefore, she would hold that line, no matter the cost.
"Listen men!" Hibo shouted. "Until the order is given, our job is simple: keep those two siege towers away from the walls!"
"Yes Captain!" The Musian archers shouted in unison.
Hibo shouted, "Stop that those towers!" She aimed her bow at the gap in the panel and fired.
Continuously observing the distance between the advancing Razaasia soldiers and the Hosha City wall, Chinua realized with every glance over her shoulder just how quickly they were closing. At this time, the three siege towers and battering rams were within two hundred yards of Hosha City.
"Two hundred yards!" Chinua shouted, quickly dodging, grabbing another arrow, and nocked it to her bow.
"Naksh! Yellow flag!" Hye shouted.
Standing not far from the wall, Naksh turned and walked towards two yellow-feathered arrows. He grabbed the first and fired it straight at the pile of dead soldiers in the middle of the street, near where four catapults stood. Then he grabbed the second and shot it straight up, letting it fall into the middle of the road in front of Drystan.
Reza and Payam stood three hundred yards away. From their position, they watched the Razaasia soldiers advance in force towards the Hosha City wall, knowing the three siege towers would approach at any time.
Reza grabbed the lead rope and stood beside his horse. Looking at Payam, he smiled. "It seems they have nowhere to escape." He snickered. "We will capture that city today." Swinging onto his horse, ready to ride into the battlefield.
Payam said, "Young lord, we haven't won yet, so approach with caution."
Reza smiled and said, "I know we haven't won yet, but at this rate, we have already won half the battle." Looking up, he saw that the battering ram had already reached the city gate. "The injured city gate can no longer withstand the second attack," he declared. He whipped his horse, led a hundred elite soldiers, faced the strong wind, rushed towards the center, and headed straight for the city gate. He knew that when he reached Hosha City gate, the gates would be wide open, and he and his best soldiers would rush in to attack the city.
When Reza and his hundred elite soldiers were a hundred yards from the Hosha City gate, he saw figures hurled over the city walls. They landed among the Razaasia troops below.
He initially figured the defenders had run out of conventional projectiles and were simply launching scarecrows to scare his men. He even snickered at the thought. But then he saw something that froze his amusement: many soldiers on the battlefield had stopped advancing and were vomiting.
Quickly reining in his horse, he looked down at the fallen shapes, no longer thinking of scarecrows. He saw then they were not scarecrows dressed in Magoli armor, but the bodies of Razaasia soldiers who had died.
Payam watched as the once ferocious Razaasia soldiers on the battlefield slowly came to a halt, becoming sitting targets for the defenders on the walls. When he saw the mangled bodies of Razaasia soldiers among them, he jumped on his horse.
The scene sparked a grim realization: the Magoli and Musian soldiers hadn't attacked them earlier but had waited for this precise moment to shatter their morale. Judging by the sight before him, the enemy had succeeded completely.
He rode after Reza and his soldiers, desperate to convince the Young Lord to order a retreat.
"Young lord! Retreat!" Payam shouted, riding his horse as fast as possible towards Reza, who was heading straight for the gate of Hosha City. "Retreat!"
Inside Hosha City, Drystan stared intently at the front gate. Behind him, the Magoli archers were lined up and ready.
Drystan himself stood at the arrow machine, his eyes fixed on the gate, his hand on the trigger. The heavy weapon was aimed directly at the entrance.
Behind the archers waited Khunbish, Khenbish, Zhi, and Khawn, mounted on their horses and ready to attack. Behind them, the Magoli and Musian infantry patiently waited.
The gate of Hosha City suddenly swung open. The Razaasia soldiers rushed in through the gap, believing they had breached the city's defenses.
But they were wrong. They weren't pouring through a broken gate; they were rushing headlong into a trap.
The moment the Razaasia soldiers rushed in, Drystan grabbed the trigger handle. The arrow machine roared, unleashing a storm of arrows into the charging troops.
When the weapon fell silent, empty, four soldiers beside Drystan scrambled to reload it.
Then the Magoli archers fired. Hundreds of arrows screamed into the mass of oncoming soldiers, adding to the slaughter.
Khunbish, Khenbish, Zhi, and Khawn rode forward through the bodies of slain Razaasia soldiers. They reached the battering ram, each grabbing a corner.
A group of ten Magoli and Musian soldiers surged forward to heave the heavy weapon away from the gate.
With the ram cleared, the rest of the infantry poured out of the city gate, charging straight into the battlefield.
Drystan pushed the arrow machine forward, following after the Magoli and Musian soldiers. Once out of the gate, he turned the machine to his right and headed straight towards the first siege tower.
When Reza and his soldiers were less than fifty yards from the Hosha City gate, they saw them: the Magoli and Musian infantry pouring out of the broken gate, charging straight at them.
His earlier certainty of capturing Hosha City before dusk vanished. Seeing the counter-charge, he knew taking the city would be far more difficult now.
But his resolve hardened. He wouldn't back down. It was too soon to say who would triumph or fall.
Despite the grim scene before him, despite his drastically reduced odds of winning, his determination remained absolute. He did not retreat. Instead, he spurred his soldiers forward for the final showdown.
Jeet ran forward with his archers and soldiers. A shout went up among them:
"The gate has been breached!"
The cry was repeated, spreading through their ranks:
"The gate has been breached! The gate has been breached!"
Outside Hosha City gate, Jeet and his unit—the remaining Magoli archers and a small group of soldiers—took their stand. Jeet drew his katars.
"No Razaasia will walk through this gate!" he roared.
"Yes, captain!" the Magoli archers and the small group of soldiers shouted as one.
They quickly formed a line, blocking the city gate with a bristling array of bows and arrows, a true human fortress.
From atop the city wall, Chinua heard the signal from Jeet's team—the shouted cry: "The gate has been breached!"
Looking out, she saw that Khunbish had led the others into battle as planned. She saw the Razaasia soldiers recoiling, disturbed by the sight of the bodies of slain rotten Razaasia soldiers from the previous battle, their fighting spirit clearly shaken.
As the three siege towers edged closer, she knew it was time. The third phase of their plan was now.
Chinua knew Drystan, operating the mobile arrow machine, would soon destroy the siege tower closest to her. With urgency, she grabbed two full quivers of arrows. She ran to join Mandla and the Musian soldiers on the middle section of the city wall.
"Don't let them hook!" Chinua shouted.
"Burn them!"
Running past Mandla, she headed for Hibo's soldiers, firing arrows at the first tower.
On the city wall, the Musian soldiers grabbed jars of oil. They waited for the second and third siege towers to lumber close enough.
Once the towers were within range, the Musian soldiers began hurling the oil. Simultaneously, Magoli archers, arriving with lit arrows, rushed to their positions and began firing at the now oil-slicked towers.
The Razaasia soldiers pushing the siege tower felt the oil flowing down its sides. They began to stop advancing. When an inferno erupted, spreading quickly and wildly towards them, they broke ranks and fled.
Inside the tower, the soldiers preparing for the attack had a delayed realization. By the time they knew they were under fire, the flames had already climbed from outside into the stairs, trapping them.
Unable to get down, they scrambled up the stairs in a panic. They pushed the bridge down, only to be cut down by a hail of arrows.
A roar went up as the second siege tower, burning in the middle, began to give way. It didn't fall straight, but toppled onto the first siege tower, the one Drystan hadn't disabled.
Mandla's head whipped up at the sound. He saw burning debris raining down, striking the Magoli and Musian soldiers on the wall.
His eyes darted right. He saw Chinua among the Magoli archers and sprinted to her side, pulling her into his arms to protect her from the deadly hail.
With a groaning crash, the two massive towers—the first and the second—slammed into the city wall. The impact was cataclysmic, splitting the wall in two and leaving a swathe of burning ruins.