Free Army of the Dead by Richard S. Tuttle

stage of the battle.”
    “A wise call,” commented General Manitow as he pointed out to sea. “They are lowering small boats and have dropped their sails.”
    “Dropped their sails?” echoed Lyra. “They will be easy targets for our catapults.”
    “I know,” nodded the general, “and so do they. They are sacrificing the ships to get their men ashore. Use your mages for other tasks. The battle has changed.”
    Lyra ordered the mages to retreat as she watched balls of fire impacting on the Motangan ships. Hundreds of small boats dotted the water as the Motangan ships used their catapults to bombard the city. Sakovan archers raced to the waterfront, dodging missiles that were slamming into the buildings of the city. Lyra looked out at the first row of ships and saw that every one of them was burning to one degree or another. The Sakovan catapults were firing as fast as they could be reloaded, and the Motangan behemoths were taking a beating, but hundreds of small boats kept rowing towards the shore.
    “Tell the mages to concentrate on the small boats,” instructed Lyra. “Fireballs are preferred at this point.”
    “Third wave coming in,” warned General Manitow.
    Lyra looked out to sea and saw a new wave of leviathans dodging the burning and sinking hulks of the second wave. The smoke rising into the air from the burning buildings and the burning ships was growing thick. She saw her mages aiming fireballs at the small boats with qualified success. Some of the small boats were capsized and a few were burning, but there were far too many of them to hit them all.
    As the small boats got closer to shore, the Sakovan archers opened fire. Thousands of arrows flew into the sea and rained down on the small boats. Suddenly, Motangan mages started throwing fireballs of their own from the small boats.
    “Third wave is lowering their small boats,” announced General Manitow.
    The catapults of the third wave were aimed at the Sakovan catapults. The behemoths fired as quickly as they could reload even as the small boats were being lowered and filled with soldiers.
    “Their aim is excellent,” scowled General Manitow. “We are losing our catapults quickly. Our archers cannot keep up either. There are just too many of them, and they are being driven by a leader who is not concerned with losses.”
    “Are you saying that Alamar is lost?” asked Lyra.
    “Not yet,” General Manitow shook his head, “but I doubt that we can last the day. The Motangans will lose thousands of men trying to get ashore, but they will succeed.”
    Lyra looked at the harbor and saw bodies floating everywhere. Some of the small boats were piling dead shipmates on the bow of their boats to hide behind, while others were throwing the dead overboard. All of the second wave ships had sunk, and many of the third waves ships were burning, but the Sakovan catapults had gone silent. The Motangan catapults were now targeting the city buildings. Sections of Alamar were aflame, and soldiers raced around trying to put out the fires. Temiker appeared alongside Lyra and shook his head.
    “It is time for you to start making preparations to flee the city,” Temiker said softly. “There is little you can do here. Alamar is finished.”
    “It’s too quick,” Lyra shook her head. “There are too many of them. I thought we could hold out for a few days at least.”
    “Their commander is clever,” shrugged Temiker. “He found a way to overcome every obstacle. The Sakovans may hold onto Alamar for another day, but no longer. There is no need for you to be here, though.”
    “His advice is sound, Lyra,” interjected General Manitow. “There is a lot of fighting left before the Motangans take Alamar, but it is foolish to endanger you. We will make them pay with a high body count. You can trust me to accomplish that.”
    “I will leave,” Lyra agreed, “but not until the Motangans land. LifeTender. ValleyBreeze. Come with me.”
    Lyra moved swiftly off