The victory of the first phase had been only a deceptive respite. Hardly had the last cries of the survivors faded amid the rubble when the defenders entrenched behind the inner wall began to strike back with unexpected violence. Flaming projectiles streaked across the sky with a sinister whistling, crashing down upon the buildings that Kaiser's demons had only just conquered. An attic caught fire in a sudden blaze, then a grain warehouse exploded, hurling sparks and flaming debris into the adjacent alleys. The flames crawled across the thatched roofs with devouring greed, turning the narrow passages into true furnaces where the air became unbreathable. Kaiser's demons had to disperse in haste, desperately seeking shelter from this deadly rain of stones and arrows coated in flaming resin.
"They will not let us settle in!" cried Vorek, wiping with the back of his hand the soot that covered his weathered face.
