### 120

The hoarse cries of soldiers and the blare of war trumpets announce preparations for an assault across the causeway. Armoured infantry gather in a spearhead formation and wait for the order to advance towards a wall of logs and earth, which has been thrown up to protect the vanguard troops dug in on the causeway itself. These warriors scuttle about behind their ramparts, holding arched wooden shields over their bent backs to protect them against the arrows raining down from the battlements. The iron gate stands less than fifty yards from their position, and this approach is heaped with the bodies of those who have fallen during previous assaults.

You accompany Lord Adamas as he makes his way through the massed ranks of infantry and enters a trench which zigzags towards the causeway. He stops at a log-lined hollow dug out of the trench wall and speaks with a captain who is lying there nursing a broken arm. The wounded officer hands him his leather satchel, and Adamas continues along the trench until he reaches the centre of the causeway. There you both take cover with the vanguard and peer through a slit in the log wall at the formidable entrance to Torgar.

Turn to 78.