[Day 15: Late Evening over Norwall]

Breezy hurriedly gave Mentorn orders to take group 3 to the rim and support the
watch dragons. Pulling the group together, Mentorn had Raven communicate the
orders and they all flew swiftly to the rim.

A small band of soldiers descended upon the riders. They quickly moved amongst
the defenders already there and so dragon fire was useless - too many Norwall
people could be killed. Mentorn gave the order to dismount and fight
hand-to-hand.

Some of the group seemed dismayed at the ferocity of the attack. Mentorn's hand
travelled to his back and with a ssshhhh! his sword was unsheathed openly in
Norwall for the first time. Even as he ran he shouted with such force that the
others immediately followed him into the fray.

The fighting on the rim was fierce. Far from the small band who had first
appeared, more and more soldiers seemed to be arriving. There were even some
strange looking men, large and cruel, who Mentorn could not place. They had skin
of a strange shade, almost yellow as if they were jaundiced. Where they came,
even the soldiers of *their* army moved away in fear and even as he rushed to
meet them, Mentorn could feel the fear rising though his body. Luckily long ago
he had been shown how to use that fear and harness its energies. He came upon
one of the men with his sword singing.

The man fought him with a broad-handled axe and was surprisingly quick. They
clashed several times and Mentorn was caught broadside by the flat of the axe
blade almost knocking him out. He managed to stay upright and the big man rushed
in foolishly thinking his enemy weakened. Mentorn sliced through his midriff
with his sword song hardly muffled. The man fell to the ground and bled to death
where he lay.

Shaking his head to clear it, Mentorn looked around and took stock. Something
wasn't quite right. They were being engaged heavily, but they seemed to be
concentrated now into several small clumps.

<Raven, tell Coo's rider something strange is happening.>

Then he realised. This was merely the first assault. Grouping them together into
specific areas was leaving huge gaps in the defensive ring! Even as he began to
move however, an army poured over the rim like flooding water. Mentorn rushed
back into the fray and the battle began afresh.

[Day 16: A Few Hours Before Dawn]

Mentorn no longer had any sense of time. His limbs ached and he had collected
several small wounds. He was bleeding, but not too badly. A gash on his head was
causing it to throb.

The battle had been proceeding in waves. Each broke upon the rim at a slightly
higher point like the rising of the tide. As yet though, there was no danger of
the warren falling into the hands of the enemy.

As the next wave began to force its way forward, Mentorn noticed a small group
evading the battle and make their way into the warren. Raven was telling him
that the dragons had not been idle, going in advance of the footsoldiers and
scattering and stopping what they could.

It was then that Raven managed to tell of Jeneve's kidnapping....

His first instinct was to turn and run for a clearing, mount Raven and join the
search. He looked around at the others. Many would have quailed by now but for
leadership and he had been assigned that duty. 'Rank is not priviledge... it is
responsibility,' he heard from his old master. Wondering how he could be feeling
so concerned for the slip of a girl he barely knew, he instead turned the
emotions on to his enemies and those who looked into his eyes knew fear.

NRPG:

I know what you're thinking... 'that *CAN'T* be a post from *PETER*!!'. As you
can see, I am still alive and though it was a close-run thing, I'm not out of
Norwall either!!

To those who e-mailed with concern for my whereabouts... sorry if I haven't got
back to you. I am *SO* busy, but you are in my thoughts.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter Shillan,
aka

Mentorn and Brazen.


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