e could see the swift disaster that had come upon the City of
Larr. The ceaseless, unrelenting play of Lansa's supode ray machines had
finally weakened the city's western wall until the whole rampart had
collapsed.

The once towering wall was now only a long mound of rubble. The
companies of Scaly Ones nearest the wall had been buried in the debris
when it fell, but fresh hordes were pouring forward with a shrill
yelping. The Amazon archers defending the wall from above had been
mainly crushed in the wreckage. Reserve regiments were hurrying into
place at the double, bow strings twanging and long golden hair streaming
out behind them but there was one loss that could not be replaced. All
the alta-ray machines on that wall were shattered and broken.

The despairing courage of Larr's feminine defenders was not enough to
hold that mile-long pile of rubbish whose sloping sides could be easily
climbed by the swarming hordes from Giri-Vaaka. The Amazons were falling
back all along the line. The retreat was a slow and stubborn one, but it
was steady. Such of the alta-ray machines as could be brought to bear
upon the shattered wall from other portions of the fortifications swept
the advancing Scaly Ones with blue blasts that tore gaping holes in
their ranks, but there were not enough of them. The firelight gleamed on
the armor of a few of the _Viking's_ men who were fighting with the
rear-guard, their ray-guns stabbing viciously into the Reptilian ranks
as they fell back. The drums of the Scaly Ones took on a deep-mouthed
bellow of triumph, and the brazen trumpets of Larr were the voice of a
forlorn and fading hope.

Rupin-Sang appeared on the balcony beside Gerry, leaning his gnarled old
hands on the rail. He was smiling, as though final disaster had at least
brought a relief from strain.

"This is the end of the City of Larr," he said. "The ancient prophecy of
Jeddah-Khana comes true after all. Save yourself and your men while you
can, my friend."

"Can't we all escape through the swamps and put up a better fight in the
hills?" Gerry asked. Rupin-Sang shook his head.

"No, my friend. The last survivors will do that when all is over, but we
will defend Larr to the end--street by street and house by house--as is
the tradition of Savissa. We are the last descendants of the Old Ones.
We may die, but we will do it with honor."

The swift advance of Lansa's men bit deeply into the city, halfway from
the shattered wall to th