The Pilgrim's Revenge - Will Bowman Series 01 (2025) by Mariani Scott

Author:Mariani, Scott [Mariani, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

When it came, it was like the long, oppressive gathering of storm clouds that suddenly gives vent to the irrepressible violence of the heavens. To the resounding clash of weapons on shields, the sounding of trumpets, the rolling of drums and the unified shriek of their war cry that echoed up to the top of the battlements, the large Moorish army all at once unleashed the full force of its hellish fury upon the city.

Will had never even heard of the fearsome devices of war that the enemy had brought to the attack, still less seen them in action until this moment. Now he was about to witness the terrifying power of the infernal giant machines that were arrayed in a line at the rear of the massed infantry. At a shouted command and with a terrible groaning of timbers and twanging of ropes under massive tension the first of the great trebuchets released its throwing arm and the flaming missile it carried was launched high and far, a fireball streaking through the air towards the walls. Will watched its trajectory with cold dread, and saw that it was going to fall short; moments later the missile crashed to the ground a spear-throw shy of the foot of the walls, smashing a crater in the earth and shooting flames and debris harmlessly against the city’s fortifications.

But Will understood that this first attempt had been only a ranging shot –and sure enough, when after a breathless lull during which the enemy rolled the machines a little closer to their target the second missile was launched, its curving flight carried it straight and true and struck the city walls with a force that made the battlements quake under his feet. Then another, and another; and another again, raining destruction on the defenders. The teams of Moorish soldiers operating the trebuchets worked with frenzied speed to crank the monstrous machines into readiness for the next shot, while others ran back and forth collecting the incendiary projectiles piled high in ox-drawn wagons. What fiendish kind of combustible substance the missiles had been steeped in to make them burn so powerfully, Will could only guess. Those that had landed short or bounced off the walls lay still blazing, setting fire to the desiccated, sun-parched grass and shrubbery and creating a wide blackened circle where each had fallen.

How could anyone withstand such a bombardment, he wondered, staring in awe from the battlements as yet another flaming missile came streaking towards them. Yet withstand it they must. This time the shot struck high against the walls, smashing away stone blocks and rubble. Splinters of flying masonry stung Will’s cheek and he flinched, put his fingers to his face and saw they were red.

The sight of his own blood was what tore him from the almost dreamlike state in which he had watched the opening of the attack unfold. His hands were no longer shaking and he felt strangely calm, yet intensely alive, as though his senses were suddenly twice as acute.

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