The Bottleneck — Ambush Begins
The Avernor army entered the narrow pass with the confidence of superior force.
Fifteen hundred soldiers in a tight column.
Exactly where Aurelia wanted them.
She watched from an elevated position, surrounded by ten repeating launchers.
Each loaded. Each aimed.
"Wait... wait...!"
Half the enemy army was in the kill zone.
"NOW!"
She raised her hand.
Ten operators—trained by Aurelia in two days—pulled levers.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
One hundred projectiles launched simultaneously.
Iron spheres wrapped in oil-soaked cloth. Lit aflame.
They rained down on Avernor's formation like burning meteors.
Explosions of fire. Screams. Immediate chaos.
Soldiers trying to dodge. Others caught in flames.
But the launchers didn't stop.
"RELOAD! FIRE! RELOAD! FIRE!"
Thirty-second cycle.
Ten projectiles each time. Launcher after launcher.
In three minutes, two hundred burning spheres had fallen.
Avernor's formation—once perfect—was chaos.
