Free Casca 10: The Conquistador by Barry Sadler

as we have. If you want food, hunt for it on the other side of the river as we have. From us you will receive nothing."
    Cortes took on a firmer attitude once he saw that smooth words would not have any effect on his unwilling hosts. This was the first time Casca had seen him act in this light. He rose to his full height, pointing the tip of his fine Toledo blade at the leader of the Indians: "I will not be denied that which I have asked for in a reasonable manner. I have been sent here by the greatest king on earth to explore and bring to the savages the word of the living God. I wish only that which is good for you. But if you refuse me in this matter, I will put myself and those of my company in the hands of our god to accomplish our divine purpose."
    The Indian in the canoe only replied, "I care not for you or your gods. We have strong gods of our own. Leave us and go to a weaker people with your demands. You will not be permitted to enter our country or our city. If you try, we shall kill you and all your men."
    Cortes tried once more to reason with them, but he was mocked by the Indians, who laughed at him and his offers to save their immortal souls. He was getting peeved at the Indians' unreasonable attitudes, and he ended his entreaties with: "I will give you till sundown to accept us as friends and admit me to your city. If you refuse, then I shall, with the help of God, sleep in your town this night in spite of you. Whatever the cost is to you and your people will be on your head."
    The vision of the priest of the Teotec seemed suddenly to be much closer. There would be bloodshed.
    Near sunset, when the Indians made no attempt to contact them again, Cortes alerted his men who were hidden in the brush to prepare themselves for battle. He donned his armor, put his shield on his arm, and then, calling upon God, Saint Peter, and Saint James, beached the brigantine by the wall nearest the shore, landed the artillery, and began his assault on the walls with two hundred men.
    The Indians fired at them with their stone-tipped arrows and light lances, doing little damage to the armored soldiers of Castile. Twenty-two were wounded, but none of the injuries were of a fatal or even crippling nature. The noise and smoke of the cannons confused and frightened the Indians more than anything else. They didn't know how to deal with such a thing. Many simply went to their knees and began praying to their gods to save them, though most continued to fight bravely. The sound of the cannons was the signal for those in hiding among the trees and brush to begin their assault from the rear of the village.
    Casca and Juan were in the first line of soldiers that clambered over the stockade walls, using ropes and ladders they had brought for that purpose. They met little resistance; their steel blades sliced through the wicker and skin shields of the Indians as if they weren't there. More than once an Indian simply held up his hands to await the death that was coming after he'd struck a Spaniard full in the chest with an obsidian lined ax, only to see it bounce off the steel breastplate of his bearded foe. When the Indians turned to meet the new attack from their rear, they had to take men away from the wall Cortes was attacking. With that, Cortes had little difficulty breaching the walls. The Spanish forces had the Indians between them and began pushing them to the city square like the jaws of a vise, drawing ever tighter.
    Juan got a bit too eager and overconfident. He rushed a knot of painted, howling warriors, attempting to beat them back by himself. His sword took out two of them before they swarmed over him, dragging him down, trying to peel him out of his breastplate. If Casca hadn't been keeping an eye on him, he might have gained fame by being the first Spaniard killed in the Cortes expedition. Slashing the throat of one Indian with his sword, Casca slashed at the others until they ran shrieking from the battle, convinced they'd been