all up and down the line , archers set arrows to their bows , their tips pointing up at the sky , standing close to their shield man amara watched the nearest young man half-draw his bow , then bump his partner with his hip the legionare knelt , lowering the shield , and the archer drew as he lowered the bow , took quick aim , and loosed at the oncoming marat his partner stood up again swiftly , bringing his shield back into position all along the wall , the archers began shooting each man loosed an arrow every five or six breaths , or even faster amara stood beside giraldi in the one crenellation not occupied by a shieldman and watched the arrows slither through the air and into the oncoming marat ranks the deadly aim of the aleran holders dropped marat and beast alike with equal ferocity , littering the ground with fresh corpses , making the eager crows swoop and dive in a swarm over the charging horde but still the horde came on the archers had begun shooting at close to six hundred yards-an incredible distance , amara knew they had to have been woodcrafters of nearly a knight 's skill to manage such a feat for perhaps a minute , there was no sound but the grunt of archers drawing bows , legionares kneeling and standing again , the droning blare of marat horns , and the rumbling of thousands of feet .