Terrible Beast of Zor by Gilbert L. Morris Page B

marked the narrow gap used as a passageway through the mountains. It had been impossible for the Zorians to storm this in the past, for here the Madrian archers could position themselves to shoot without exposing themselves.
    Quickly Alcindor and Glein arranged their men in ranks. Alcindor gave careful instructions. “Expect them to force their way through. The men in our front line will shoot their arrows, then fall back. The second line will have arrows on strings and let go another volley, then fall back. We will have three lines so that there will always be a shower of arrows upon the enemy.”
    “It’s a good plan,” Danan said. He clawed his whiskers thoughtfully. “Something may be different about their attack this time. I’ve heard about some kind of secret weapon or troops, some surprise that the Zorians are going to spring on us …”
    “We’ll meet them, whatever it is.” Then Alcindor lifted his voice, crying out, “Men, we must hold this line! We
will
hold!”
    A cheer went up, and the soldiers began to shout loudly, “For the name of the king!”
    “I would that King Alquin were here,” Danan said.
    “So do I, but he is not.”
    The two men stood waiting silently, and thenAlcindor saw one of the advance scouts scrambling back from over the pass. The man’s eyes were wide, and he shouted, “They’re coming!”
    “How many?” Alcindor demanded, when the scout reached him, panting.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t stop. They have a fearful
beast
at the head of them. I never saw anything like it.”
    Alcindor saw men in the nearby ranks waver. They were superstitious, he knew, and he cried, “Do not be afraid! Hold your line!” He himself advanced, planted his feet, and kept his eyes fixed on the gap.
    Soon he could hear the sound of marching feet. He also heard voices raised in a battle song, coming loud and clear. Carefully he placed his best arrow on the string and stood waiting.
    The noise grew louder. Then he saw something move, but he could not tell what it was for a moment. Then he did see—and, stalwart as he was, his heart skipped a beat.
    A cry went up from the enemy then. “The beast has come, Madrians! The beast is here!”
    What Alcindor saw was terrifying indeed. He had never seen an animal larger than a bull, but this creature was much larger than that. It was surely larger than even the OldWorld elephants he’d heard about.
    The creature was gray with reddish eyes. Its back rose like a tower and was covered with huge armored plates. Its legs were thick as trees and had great claws that dug into the ground as it came. They were claws big enough to grasp a man. It had a long snout and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
    So this was the secret weapon that the Dark Lord has fashioned for the Zorians. It was a mutant, nodoubt, from the time the earth had been torn by atomic warfare.
    “Stand fast! Make your arrows count!” Alcindor cried. “Aim for the riders if you can!”
    A platform had been harnessed to the monster’s back on which at least six men wearing armor were poised. They were archers and already had lifted their bows. Now they loosed a flight of arrows, and Alcindor saw three of his men fall.
    “Shoot!” he cried, and a flight of Madrian arrows filled the air. They were all concentrated either on the beast or on its riders—and none of them took effect. The animal’s heavy plates and the men’s body armor turned every arrow harmlessly aside.
    Again the enemy riders loosed their shafts with deadly aim.
    Alcindor knew at once that the situation was desperate. He shouted, “Keep up your fire! The troops will come in behind the creature if we let it advance.”
    The mammoth beast kept on coming through the narrow pass. Arrows struck it by the hundreds, but all were turned aside.
    And then Alcindor glimpsed the Zorian infantry advancing behind the beast. He ran forward as if daring the enemy to shoot. He put an arrow to his string and, breathing a plea to Goél for help,