In all but one particular the battle was a large-scale edition of thetype of assault that the Scaly Ones had often tried against variousbarrier forts in the past. The difference was that they now possessedthe supode ray, which Lansa had been able to prepare for his forces.Long beams of the familiar murky, reddish light were continuallyplaying upon the walls of Larr.
The effect of the supode rays seemed to be less serious than Gerry wouldhave expected. Perhaps Lansa's ray-guns were lacking in power becauseinefficiently made. Perhaps the yellow stones that formed the walls ofLarr contained some radioactive substance that partially neutralized therays. The walls were crumbling into powder in dozens of small spots asthe searching beams of the rays found a weak point or flaw in the stone,but there was none of the wholesale collapse that Lansa had probablyhoped to achieve.
The whole scene below was like a macabre nightmare. The fires flashedand crackled, and the explosive bullets of the Scaly Ones twinkled likefire-flies through the drifting smoke. Red light glinted on the pointsof flying arrows. Savissan trumpets blared defiance to the thunder ofreptilian drums. Most dramatic of all, silent but terribly deadly, wasthe duel of the ray-casters as the red beams of the attackers and theblue rays of the defenders darted back and forth through the night likethe rapiers of fencing giants.
* * * * *
The flotilla of flying cars darted down to the plaza in front of theTower of the Arrow. The pilots kept them invisible until they hadlanded, lest the nervous crew of a defending ray-machine blast thembefore their identity was known. As soon as the dimensional-control wasswitched off there were cries of alarm, and a few hasty arrows glancedharmlessly off the Earthmen's armor. Then Closana shouted reassuringlyand they were recognized.
A little later Gerry and a few of his officers stood with Rupin-Sang onone of the balconies of the Great Tower. The aged king of Savissa worefull armor though in the shadows of his gilded helmet his face lookedold and gray and tired. Beside them, a squad of the Golden Amazonsworked a long-range ray-tube that was firing at the rear areas of theReptilian position. The muscles of the feminine warriors rippled beneaththeir tawny skins as they swung the heavy controls of the bigray-machine.
"They came against one of our barrier forts from the rear, in greatnumbers," Rupin-Sang said wearily. "I cannot imagine how they hadmanaged to get so many men in behind our lines...."
"Probably brought them under water in that submarine they used when theytook me captive," Gerry said. "Brought them through in relays. I shouldhave sent you warning to block the river channel against that craft, butI never thought Lansa would strike so quickly."
"At least we had enough warning to prepare for the defense of the cityafter they broke through the frontier," Rupin-Sang said. "We called inall the surrounding troops. We sent the very young and the very old, theill and the crippled back to comparative safety in the hills by way ofsecret trails through the swamps. If the walls will stand against thenew rays the Scaly Ones are using, we should be able to hold out for along time."
"The armor of my men is proof against either rays or explosive bullets,"Gerry told him, "and our ray-guns are superior to those that Lansa hasbeen able to make. We'll use my men as shock troops to beat back anyparticularly pressing attack. Between us, we can hang on until Lansagets tired of the siege."
"I hope you're right," Rupin-Sang said gloomily, "but I recall the oldprophecy. It is in my mind that the end of the Golden City of Larr is athand, and that the sands of my nation run very low. However--we willfight to the end."
"No bunch of half-lizards led by a white renegade is going to lick me!"Gerry rasped.
* * * * *
A week later Gerry Norton was less confident. Haggard and unshaven, hestalked into an inner room and tossed his helmet clattering on thetable. His armor was badly dented by the impact of many explosivebullets, and one forearm was burned where a supode ray had momentarilypierced between the chinks of the armor.
"All right, Steve," Gerry said wearily, "it's your watch. Go up on thewalls and take over."
"Anything new?" Steve Brent asked, sitting up on the cot where he hadbeen sleeping and running both hands through his tousled crop of sandyhair. His freckled face was as lined and drawn as Gerry's own.
"Another of the bastions on the west wall came down under the rays, butwe're holding the breach all right with archers and a portableray-caster. Hurry and get up there, like a good fellow! I left Portok incharge, and he's dead on his feet."
"I am not so damn much alive myself!" Steve muttered, but he put on hishelmet and went clanking off up the corridor.
Gerry sat down heavily on a bench, at the moment too tired even to takeoff his armor. The city of Larr still held out--but that was all thatcould be said. The Scaly Ones still pressed the assault day and nightwithout ceasing. The once mighty walls of yellow stone were crumblingunder the constant attack of the walls while the defense of the steadilywidening breaches put an added strain on the dwindling numbers of thegarrison.
If only the _Viking_ would come! Her duralite hull would withstandeither rays or explosives, and her own powerful ray-tubes should be ableto blast the attacking artillery out of existence and thereby raise thesiege. But he could not raise the space-ship on the radio! That was thething that worried Gerry most of all. Tanda had been trying at hourlyintervals for days, but he could not get any answer from McTavish.
At last Gerry stretched out on the cot that Steve had quitted, andalmost instantly went to sleep. It seemed only a moment later that heawoke to find Portok the Martian shaking him by the shoulder. Gerrylaboriously raised himself up on one elbow shaking his head to clear hisbrain. So strong were the bonds of sleep that several seconds passedbefore his brain grasped the meaning of the words that Portok wasshouting in his ear.
"Chief! Can't you hear me? The whole western wall has come down,carrying all the ray-tubes with it. The Scaly Ones are in the city!"
* * * * *
Gerry seized his helmet and weapons from the table where he had thrownthem, and dashed out of the room. From one of the balconies of the ArrowTower he could see the swift disaster that had come upon the City ofLarr. The ceaseless, unrelenting play of Lansa's supode ray machines hadfinally weakened the city's western wall until the whole rampart hadcollapsed.
The once towering wall was now only a long mound of rubble. Thecompanies of Scaly Ones nearest the wall had been buried in the debriswhen it fell, but fresh hordes were pouring forward with a shrillyelping. The Amazon archers defending the wall from above had beenmainly crushed in the wreckage. Reserve regiments were hurrying intoplace at the double, bow strings twanging and long golden hair streamingout behind them but there was one loss that could not be replaced. Allthe alta-ray machines on that wall were shattered and broken.
The despairing courage of Larr's feminine defenders was not enough tohold that mile-long pile of rubbish whose sloping sides could be easilyclimbed by the swarming hordes from Giri-Vaaka. The Amazons were fallingback all along the line. The retreat was a slow and stubborn one, but itwas steady. Such of the alta-ray machines as could be brought to bearupon the shattered wall from other portions of the fortifications sweptthe advancing Scaly Ones with blue blasts that tore gaping holes intheir ranks, but there were not enough of them. The firelight gleamed onthe armor of a few of the _Viking's_ men who were fighting with therear-guard, their ray-guns stabbing viciously into the Reptilian ranksas they fell back. The drums of the Scaly Ones took on a deep-mouthedbellow of triumph, and the brazen trumpets of Larr were the voice of aforlorn and fading hope.
Rupin-Sang appeared on the balcony beside Gerry, leaning his gnarled oldhands on the rail. He was smiling, as though final disaster had at leastbrought a relief from strain.
"This is the end of the City of Larr," he said. "The ancient prophecy ofJeddah-Khana comes true after all. Save yourself and your men while youcan, my friend."
&n
bsp; "Can't we all escape through the swamps and put up a better fight in thehills?" Gerry asked. Rupin-Sang shook his head.
"No, my friend. The last survivors will do that when all is over, but wewill defend Larr to the end--street by street and house by house--as isthe tradition of Savissa. We are the last descendants of the Old Ones.We may die, but we will do it with honor."
The swift advance of Lansa's men bit deeply into the city, halfway fromthe shattered wall to the central plaza surrounding the Great Tower,before it was checked at a line of hasty barricades. There was bitterhouse-to-house fighting all across the city. Gerry knew that the standat the barricades could not be sustained for very long. The advance ofthe Scaly Ones had at the moment outdistanced their supode ray castersand their heavy caliber gas-guns. For the present the Amazon