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.'It seems we'll have to deal with the ship of Northan first,' I said.'But just in case he should manage to break into one of the keeps with those wolves of his -' I clapped the next boy in line on the shoulder.`Go to Kota'na.I want twenty of his biggest, most powerful bears positioned in each of the keeps.The rest of them he is to use to their best advantage as soon as the fighting starts.'Now Ithaqua's army had covered more than half the distance to the plateau and the tension was rapidly heightening.I began to pace the floor, then forced myself to sit down when I noticed the eyes of my runners upon me.Charlie opened his mouth to say something, and at that precise moment there came a swelling cry from the central snow-ship keep somewhere below and to the left of my position, a cry that was echoed almost immediately from the flanking keeps.'Sil-ber-hut-te! Sil-ber-hut-te!Obviously the runner had passed on my message to the men of the snow-ships, and now they signalled their wholehearted approval.Something swelled up inside me -as once more, in unison, the men of the snow-ships roared out their new battle cry.'Sil-ber-hut-te! Sil-ber-hut-te!'The swelling thing inside.me burst in a flood of resolution.I stood up and said to my Indian friend, 'You keep the binoculars, Charlie.You'll need them if you're to command the battle.Those men out there are calling my name.They're not going to fight without me.''No!' came Armandra's almost hysterical, mental denial in my head.'You shall not, for if you do - then I swear I will walk out now on the winds to fight my father.Aye, even knowing that he will snatch me up and take me away with him to alien worlds.Without you, man of the Motherworld, there would be nothing for me here on Borea.Do you hear me, Hank? You shall not give your life away!'But they call my name, and -'`They draw upon your name for its strength.They invoke your passions, your power.Why should you go out to fight, Hank, when every man of the plateau will fight with your great strength and fervour? They know you are worthy of them, now let them prove that they are worthy of you.And remember, husband, we made a bargain.If you fight, then so do I.'`They are closer, Hank.' Charlie's voice snatched me back to the task at hand.'What are you going to do?'Still torn two ways but realizing there was nothing I could do about it, I said, 'Armandra leaves me no choice.I can't let her do battle with her father, so I must stay here and command from this position of safety.You stay with me, Charlie.Two heads are better than one.'Out on the plain, less than two miles now from the foot of the plateau, the wolf-warrior army swept toward us, its arrowhead formation slightly less pronounced.Northan had lined up his vessel on the central snow-ship keep.I slapped my next runner on his back.`Go tell the crews of the snow-ships to move out and position their craft along the front of the plateau.' I took up my pistol.There was one bullet left in its magazine.'When they hear a loud report from this cave, they'll go straight out and cut through the advancing wolf-warriors.The two central ships will engage Northan's vessel and try to wreck it.''Armandra,' I continued telepathically, 'we will need a wind.'You shall have one.With luck it will take my father by surprise.''This is it, Hank,' Charlie said breathlessly.'Only a few seconds now.'He had the binoculars to his eyes.'You were right about those wolves on Northan's ship.They are huge, lean, ferocious animals.They look half-wild, barely trained and certainly starved.'I spoke to yet another runner.'Every man of the plateau should now be in position.I want the swinging weapons set in motion and the keep gates closed as soon as the ships are out.More of our bears are to be stationed just within the gates.'As he raced away down one of the steep shafts I stepped -over to the lip of the cave and looked down to where the snow-ships would soon be lining up.After only a minute or so they began to appear from the keeps, dragged by teams of men and bears.There were eleven of them, and as they lined up the eyes of all crew members turned up to me.Now Northan's army was little more than a half-mile away and gaining speed.The sails of the traitor's ship belled out in front, drawing the vessel straight for the gates of the central keep.The rumble of that army swept up to me as I turned to look at Charlie Tacomah.I nodded my head and he grimly nodded back.Then I pointed my weapon out over the white wastes and pulled the trigger for the last time.I said to the Woman of the Winds, 'Now we need that wind, Armandra.''You have it,' she answered.Flurries of ice particles swirled up all around the snow-ships and their great sails filled.They lurched forward, masts straining as the force of the wind Armandra had sent rapidly increased.And once more that massed cry came up to me as if from one vast throat: 'Sil-ber-hut-te! Sil-ber-hut-te!'Down the shallow decline the ships sailed, their skis throwing up a silver spray, and now the wolf-warrior army also felt the wind sent by Armandra.Northan's ship visibly slowed and its sails seemed to slacken as the plateau's two central vessels bore down upon it
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