part0039

T he armies behind the tanks would let out a rousing cry every time the tanks fired.

“Those cheers are beginning to annoy me,” Horace said.

Dawn broke. Blurry-eyed soldiers of Kingsland patrolled the Wall and kept at their daily preparation duties.

Abraham leaned against the battlement wall with the rest of the Henchmen. They’d been ordered to stop the tanks, but a restless night didn’t blossom any new ideas.

Pratt marched up to Abraham, kicked him in the boot, and said, “What are you waiting for?”

“An A-10 tank killer? You haven’t seen one flying around here, have you?” he replied.

“Don’t jest with me. You need to take action immediately. By sitting here, you accomplish nothing,” Pratt said. “The longer you wait, the sooner you will be charged with treason. You are under orders of the king.”

“I know that!” Abraham stood up. “And what are you going to do, Pratt? Huh? I’m gone, and all of a sudden, you’re going to figure out how to stop ten tanks?”

“I didn’t think so,” he said.

We have to act, Captain,” Horace said while leaning on his spear. “I’ll ride out there and stick it with my spear. We can kill them.”

Bearclaw came to his feet. “I’m with Horace. We must fight. It’s what we do. The longer we wait, the less fortune will favor us.”

“I’m not going to stage a charge if we don’t have some sort of edge,” Abraham said. “We have to be patient.”

“The Wall crumbles,” Pratt said as he cast his hand outward. “Have you not looked for yourself? Those dragon snouts are chewing holes through the exterior.”

“Captain,” Shades said. He was sitting between the battlements. “You might want to have a look. The iron chariots’ heads are swiveling.”

The tanks’ turrets started to turn. All the tanks’ gun barrels pointed directly at the Shield of Steel.

“Sticks, how long has it been since the tank guns last fired?” he asked.

“It’s coming up on that time. Any second now,” Sticks said.

All as one, the tank guns blasted out their thunder.

Metal smote metal like a great gong falling to the earth.

The Shield of Steel rang like a gargantuan tower bell.

Soldiers fell to their knees, clutching their ears.

Abraham covered his ears with his hands. The ear-shattering sound was deafening.

The tank guns fired again and again.

The armies of Kingsland trembled underneath the blast of that limb-shaking sound.

With his hands pressed tight over his ears, Pratt yelled at Abraham. “You will end this now! Do you hear me? End it now!”

The tank gunfire stopped.

With his ears ringing with a thousand buzzing bells, Abraham leaned over the Wall. The Shield of Steel stood intact. The huge outer doors had huge divots and scorch marks all over, but they remained fully intact.

“That’s the King’s Steel for you! No power can tear down this wall!” Horace shook his spear in the air. He let out a roar.

Horace’s bellowing created a chain reaction and caught on. The King’s Army came to life. They belted out wild yells from one end of the Wall to the other. They jabbed their weapons toward the sky.

The tank guns turned. The noses of the barrels started to rise. The tanks fired one right after the other. A steady ka-poom ka-poom ka-poom ka-poom followed.

The tanks’ missiles ripped through the battlement and tore men from the seats of the giant ballistae.

The King’s Army dropped on their bellies, covering their heads and faces.

Pratt stormed down the walk. “Get up! Get up! Grin in the face of death, you hounds!”

The soldiers climbed back again and started shouting back over the Wall.

“That’s more like it! The Shield of Steel is invincible!” Pratt yelled.

The tank turrets turned again. The barrels lowered toward the same spot on the Wall, to the left of the gate below where Abraham stood.

Like a woodchuck, Big Apple popped his head out of his tank’s hatch. He still had an impish grin on his face.

“Let loose the arrows on that little hedgehog!” Pratt ordered.

The king’s archers stretched their bowstrings. Crossbows and ballistae were pointed at the horned halfling.

“Fire!” Pratt shouted.

A volley of arrows and bolts whistled through the sky.

Big Apple waved just before he slammed the tank lid over his head.

Arrows and bolts ricocheted off the tank’s metal.

The tank guns came to life and fired.

One missile blast after another blasted away at the outer wall. The tank shells pounded the same spot over and over.

“They’re turning the Wall into a tunnel!” Abraham shouted. Ten feet of stone or not, those tanks would be able to drive right through the Wall in less than an hour.

The Wall shook underneath his feet. He watched in horror as bigger sections of the Wall started to crumble.

Pratt grabbed him by the shoulder and said, “Get out there and fight those things, you coward!”

Abraham knocked Pratt’s hand aside. “The next time you do that, I’ll take your hand from your wrist, and that won’t be all.” He pushed by the bigger Pratt. “Come on, Henchmen. Our time has come!”

Without a word of complaint or the slightest grumble, the Henchmen, one and all, followed Abraham Jenkins down the ramp to the bottom of the Wall. They stood as one and watched the Wall shake until one missile finally burst through. The barrage didn’t stop until the Wall crumbled, leaving a tunnel large enough to drive a tank through.