After much consideration it was agreed between Ylyas and the king that
Alberich was the best person to be standard-bearer during the assault,
and the dwarf at once consented. The warriors were filled with
amazement when they saw a war-horse preceding them with the royal
banner apparently floating by its side. “The invisible standard-bearer
must be an angel,” they said in awe-struck tones. Nothing of importance
happened during the march. All went well, for Alberich led the van.
At last Castle Muntabure loomed in sight: a grim fortress perched on
the top of a beetling crag.
Machorell had heard of their approach, and was in readiness to receive
them. He had strengthened the garrison very considerably, and was
confident of victory. At first it seemed as if his confidence were
well-founded; but at the very moment when the Saracens appeared to have
success within their grasp, the tide of fortune turned. Alberich
climbed the walls unseen, and by a great exertion of his marvellous
strength, hurled one heavy catapult after another down from the walls
into the moat below; while the men who had been working these engines
of destruction were struck motionless with terror, when they saw the
unwieldy machines disappear as though shoved from their places by
invisible hands. Ortnit seized the right moment to push the advantage
the dwarf had gained for him, and renewed the assault more vigorously
than before.