The power of the giant trebuchet is devastating.

Wooden parapets and platforms would be shattered by its blows, while stone walls would leave deep pits, and if it fell within the breastwork, it would jump and roll, and if it touched the slightest bit, it would have broken bones or torn flesh - two trebuchets had to inflict damage on ten small trebuchets or three hundred orcs in a very short time - if it weren't for Thunder Castle's own mage, the damage would have been even greater. One of the casters cast a spell that turned fossils into mud, turning the stone ball into non-lethal sand, while the other two cast the sand wall spell and throwing orb, which were originally used to stick creatures, the former slowing down the stone ball, and the latter causing the stone ball to deviate from its direction, but unfortunately only a small part of the stone ball could be intercepted by them, most of the wood work on the wall, including a precious ballista, was destroyed, and the other three needed repairs, only two barely survived.

A knight was struck in the chest by a stone ball, the breastplate and the inner chain mail were pierced, and the twisted steel was inserted into the soft internal organs, and he died instantly, with only surprise and confusion on his face. A dozen or so soldiers had suffered a similar calamity to him - if the orb had struck them at the vital point, they would have been lucky not to suffer too much, but several had only been struck in the arms and legs, and the places where they had been struck were like a mage's trick and disappeared at once, leaving wounds worse than those inflicted by swords or orc's fangs - like clay figures that had been pinched so hard that everything was broken and glued together, and there was no way to stop the bleeding for them. They quickly met their own demise in terror and pain.

There was also an archer, and a stone ball hit the shooting hole, and the flying rubble pierced his eye, and his companion dragged him away, pulling out the rubble, which looked like a big nail, and then regretfully realized that it had penetrated into the archer's brain.

Baldwin turned his head away from a rapidly flying piece of gravel, and the situation on the battlefield was not ideal—the orcs had gained the upper hand, and they had even begun to eat snuckly- Well, as you can imagine, they eat dead or dying enemies, rip out the armor solidified in blood and wrap it around themselves, pick up the human weapons, and the sinners with the imprints on their faces begin to turn and flee towards Thundercastle, the orcs chase them all the way to the range of the human slingers and ballistas, the stones thrown by the catapults give these mongrels a taste of what the defenders of Thundercastle have tasted before, and the spears fired from the ballistas can skewer two or three of them together and nail them to the ground.

The orcs wisely chose to flee, and in the past the soldiers on the walls would have laughed, but now none of them could bend their mouths - the scarred sinners ran under the solid walls, screaming hysterically, beating the cold boulders with their weapons, fists, feet, and even foreheads, begging the people on the walls to let go of a rope to save their lives.

"We've done our job!" they cried, "We've atoned for our sins!

The soldiers looked at Berdwin, and before he could give any orders, the stones thrown by the orcs' small catapults and the crossbow arrows they fired were raining down like a torrent, but in the blink of an eye, they were all dead under the walls.

"My lord, please don't stand there. His servants said nervously, though the only two giant trebuchets that could directly threaten the walls suddenly ceased to move, and they stood there, motionless, surrounded by darkness— The early winter nights always come early, heavy gray clouds obscure the ordinary stars, and only the magical galaxy visible to the caster still shines brightly, but their light is invisible to mortals, there is no light source in the orc's camp, their eyes are like wolves or bears, they can see in the dark, but humans can't, they light torches on the walls, even though they know that they are pointing out the target to the orcs.

Baldwin turned, he knew that these men were not his soldiers, and that they were innocent sinners, but he still felt guilty—and......

He cast inquiring glances at the mages, elves and humans, and they all shook their heads, and the most powerful mage in Thunder Castle, the one who was also good at plastic spells, raised his hands: "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm not sure my spells can radiate five hundred feet away." ”

A mage who was proficient in spells nodded in agreement, "This distance—even if you can summon a flame spider, they will inevitably lose control. ”

"And none of us have been able to cast this spell. Another mage said.

Cremar stroked its ring, and if anyone accidentally touched it, they might wonder why it was so hot.

Can you walk five hundred feet?" the otherworldly soul asked.

- It could, the former undead replied, but away from you, or too far away from your magic, it would become weak—five hundred feet, and with your current strength, it might still be able to light a clump of fluff or something.

- The soul of the other world sighed, I thought the elemental servant was a very powerful creature, he said.

- In the fire elemental plane, of course, the biggest role of the elemental servant is not here.

"Why did they stop?" asked one of the knights, "the stone balls are gone, or are the two catapults finally falling apart?"

"No," he said, "they're still sturdy and stable." ”

The red-robed mage standing in the shadow of the valley made a gesture, and his apprentice ran over, and the orcs opened the prepared wooden box, and took out from it a dark clay pot about the size of a stone ball, which was much lighter than the stone ball, and the giant trebuchet was adjusted again- The clay pot whistled through the cold air and darkness, but as soon as it hit the ground, it burst into blinding light, which flew in all directions, carrying a large amount of smoke, and the smell of it burned the throats and eyes of humans, and anything they touched would burn violently except for stones—even a little, and the humans they scorched rolled over to extinguish the flames only to find that it was to no avail. These flames are like living things, able to burrow into your skin and bones quickly and incinerate them as horribly as a piece of dry dead wood.

Cremar immediately raised his fingers and poured a large pot of water with the power of his mind - fortunately they were still cold, and poured them on the body of the person closest to him, the white mist was filled with a pungent gas that made all humans and elves choke his throat in pain - and the young black-haired spellcaster was no exception, but he was less adversely affected than the others, so he could still smell the smell - the smell of garlic.

Thanks to the nine-year compulsory education, the Otherworldly Soul prayed, though he had no idea whether his chemistry teacher was male or female.

He dispersed the smoke around him and amplified his voice: "White phosphorus," he reminded in a loud voice, "This is white phosphorus." ”

White phosphorus is also one of the minerals that mages have access to, but it is not very common, and some casters who did not react immediately immediately cast spells, dispersing the smoke and summoning large quantities of water to rinse the soldiers and equipment affected by the flames, but more clay pots containing white phosphorus were shattered, and Berdwin grabbed a mage and told him to relay his orders (now only mages can move freely on the walls), he could not let his soldiers be burned alive by the devil's flames in a senseless and miserable manner.

"Drink. Kerry Ben said, he handed over a small bottle, and Baldwin took it, and found that it was diluted eaux-de-vie, he drank a little, and lit a little more in his eyes, and the hot feeling subsided a lot, "Thank you, my friend." With tears in his eyes, he passed the vial with Kerryben's permission, "I'll pay for it with the orc's teeth and fur." He added.

The elves were barely hurt, they helped the wounded humans retreat to the Arrow Tower, an elven mage flew into the air with the help of flying magic, overlooking the entire Dragon's Belly Pass, and the orcs had launched their first real attack - their phosphorescent green eyes were like undulating waves in the darkness, and the waves were surrounded by a high, raised sharp shadow- It was the orc's battering ram, twice as long and three times as large as the throwing arm of the giant trebuchet, hidden under a triangular wooden shed to withstand the boiling oil, melted lead, and Boulders, triangular wooden sheds covered with soaked hides, both to increase the strength of the hut and to prevent it from ignition, huge iron chains suspended the battering ram from a solid support, under which were platforms with rollers, and several orcs carried flat and sturdy buffalo skins to spread where it was about to pass, lest the soft ground after the melting snow would trap the heavy behemoth in place.

The giant trebuchet was still in operation, and the white phosphorus clay pots and stone balls were striking the walls of Thunder Castle in turn, the heat of the white phosphorus flames melting the ice attached to the stone bricks, and the stone balls carved deep marks on it.

The orcs stopped three hundred feet from the walls, they were equally afraid of the flames, smoke, and smell of white phosphorus, but now that the walls of Thundercastle had lost their ballistas and small catapults, soldiers and knights could shoot arrows and pikes downward, and mages could throw lightning and fire at them, but it would be far more difficult and dangerous.

"We have replacement equipment and weapons," Berdwin said, "but it will take time." Ready," he said to his servants, "we will go out of the city to fight." ”

"Those two giant trebuchets had to be dismantled. Carey Ben said.

"They must have been closely guarded," said Berdwin, "by the strongest warriors, or, by the priests." ”

"But I also have my companions and mages. Elven Ranger said happily.

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