Read Doom's Break for Free Online Page B

brought them there to study the fortress the men of Shasht had built on the top of the Rock. The eighth such fort the men had built, it was well situated to dominate the surrounding country, yet Toshak had already destroyed three others.
    Having seen the high stockade and the towers, the Mountaineers' attention was directed to the cliff beneath the Rock.
    "Those towers really don't look down on the cliff, do they?" said Captain Oarg, of the Creton Mountaineer Company.
    "Right. You can see why we wanted you to take a look at it," said Toshak.
    Oarg nodded. He could indeed. The cliff was impressive, but not so difficult for mots such as his.
    "The fort itself is well built. Ten-foot-high stockade wall, which is what they normally build. The towers are twelve and fifteen feet high. They even dug a ditch up there, though the ground is half rock."
    Oarg continued to study the men's fort. He could see that it was a formidable place. "Not easy to attack with the siege towers either."
    "We have kept them busy with fire from our catapults, but as you saw, the ground is steep below those walls, and it isn't easy to approach with siege towers. But, on this side the cliff is so steep, they haven't bothered to put up a wall."
    "And the towers are well back from the cliff side, too. The climb will not be an easy one, but then again, it will not be that hard either. Look, there is a stretch on that diagonal crack that would be very quick."
    Toshak studied the rock face. The big crack reached up to a place about ten feet below the edge.
    "And after that?"
    "Well, it looks a little tricky. But I can see some smaller cracks. I think it will take some time, that is all."
    "That's what I was hoping you might say. I think we can give you the time you need."
    Oarg, a phlegmatic sort, shrugged. "Then, sir, I'd say we can do it. Can you keep anyone up there from looking over the edge of the cliff for about half an hour?"
    "Mmmm." Toshak scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I think we can arrange that. If you begin the ascent before dawn, on a foggy morning. We will test the outer walls after dawn and present them with a dragon to keep their interest focused."
    "A dragon?" asked Oarg.
    "Yes, made of wood and painted cloth, very lifelike. Of course, we won't let them see it very clearly. But they'll all be watching the forest in the hope of seeing it again. We'll keep them busy with that for a while, and then we'll attack with the new siege towers. That will really keep their attention and give you the time you need to climb the cliff."
    "And then?"
    "Can you take the gate from inside?"
    "Two hundred of us, sir?"
    "Yes."
    Oarg was nodding with pursed lips. "I think we might, sir."
    The plot was a daring one, but it would avoid a lengthy siege. Toshak left and traveled upstream through the woods, then across the river and up to the heights just below Criek's Rock.
    The mots working on the "dragon" were housed in a ring of huts beside a grove of wild hazel. As he strode up, they spotted him and stood to attention beside the hulking shape they had been building.
    "Stand easy," he said, returning their salute.
    The dragon was made of cloth, bushpod paper, withe, wood, thongs, and dried grass. The wooden frame, shaped like a barrel cut in half lengthwise, was sixteen feet long. The tail, also framed in wood and withe, was another twelve feet. The dragon's head, painted with enormous eyes and a ferocious cast of teeth and red, curling lips, was five feet by three.
    The project leader was a brilba named Kuli. She quickly organized a demonstration of the dragon for the commander.
    They took their places, twelve mots inside the dragon body, three more controlling the tail, and Kuli holding up the head.
    The dragon was now deployed. With head held at a very lifelike angle, the huge thing stepped forward, moved sideways, and then settled as if crouching on its haunches.
    "By the Spirit, it looks as if it's alive!" exclaimed Toshak, impressed. "Excellent work!"
    The