Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [26]
At this distance Abdel couldn't make the details of the objects out, but he knew what they were. Huge wooden towers, with platforms fifty feet high so that the invaders could see over the walls and analyze their opponent's defenses. Trebuchets and catapults capable of hurling flaming barrels of pitch over the walls stood ready for use. Heavy battering rams with steel coverings extending out and up from the sides to provide some limited protection against the burning oil and flaming arrows were also in a ready position.
Many of the men were lined up row upon row, and even though he couldn't see the flight of their arrows Abdel knew these were the archers, releasing volley after volley of arrows to keep the soldiers inside the walls occupied. With the unending hail of feathered shafts raining down on the defenders from above, the attackers outside were free to position their siege engines and war machines without fear of reprisal. Abdel had been on both sides of sieges many times during his years as a sword for hire. He knew most sieges were bloody, costly-yet inevitably successful-exercises.
Inside the defenders would be whittled down by the unending barrage of missile fire and weakened by starvation and the spread of disease amid the accumulating filth and refuse within. The invaders would keep up the attack, grinding the will of their enemy down and occasionally sending a suicidal rush of ladders and grappling hooks against the walls in the vain hope that their own soldiers would somehow be able to scale the walls and unseat the defenders from the battlements. Of course, the hooks and ladders would be easily dispatched by those inside, and most of the would-be invaders would come crashing to their deaths. The few lucky enough to reach the top would be butchered by the overwhelming number of enemy soldiers gathered against them, their corpses tossed back over the walls in wordless defiance to the attackers.
Eventually, Abdel knew, the town would be forced to surrender because of famine or pestilence. Or a boulder from one of the trebuchets would collapse a large section of the wall and the enemy would pour in through the breach. Or a battering ram would smash the front gates, tearing the wood from its hinges and leaving a gaping hole too large to be defended for long. In rare circumstances the reckless efforts to scale the wall would actually result in victory, if enough soldiers miraculously reached the top of the battlements and were able to hold their position long enough for reinforcements from their own army outside to scramble up and join them.
In the end, Abdel knew, it was always the same. Without outside aid, Saradush would fall.
"You lied to me, Sarevok," Abdel said angrily. "Or you're leading us into a trap."
In the week they had spent traveling to Saradush, Abdel had not said above a dozen words to his half brother. Wisely, Sarevok had not tried to make conversation with either the big sellsword or his half-elf companion. Occasionally he would speak to Imoen, but the cold stares of Jaheira and Abdel kept the young woman's answers brief, and eventually Sarevok had ceased his efforts and continued on in silence.
At night Abdel, Jaheira and Imoen alternated shifts watching over the other two as they slept. None of them trusted Sarevok enough to go to sleep in his presence without having a vigilant guard on duty. For his own part, Sarevok would pass the entire night standing motionless in one place, his face invisible behind his dark visor. Abdel often wondered if the big man's armor supported him in that position, allowing him to sleep standing up-or if the physical form Sarevok had been resurrected in didn't need to sleep at all. He didn't eat, at least not that the others ever noticed, and he never removed his armor.
"I did not lie to you, brother," Sarevok replied. "And I have no desire to betray the one who has given me another chance at life."
"Then why did you bring us to this doomed town?" Jaheira demanded.
"I did not know Saradush was under siege. If you are afraid of a