No hesitation

 Elius managed to organize the recruits as he wanted. Still, the mercenaries had far more experience, so Zaos didn't have any chance to attack. Every minute, one of the recruits was shot down by an arrow, while several others would get hit and unable to fight. There was only a squad waiting to be called, and, in the end, Elius made up his mind.

"Riders! It is time!" Elius said.

 Zaos had no idea what time it was, but in the end, he soon realized what Elius wanted to do. If he couldn't use Zaos's magic to destroy the ladders, there was another way to stop the mercenaries from climbing… they began to throw corpses at the enemies. At first, they threw the enemy's body, which managed to make several mercenaries fall from their death. Still, soon, they began to throw the corpses of their dead allies.

"Sir?" Zaos opened his eyes widely.

"Don't question me, boy," Elius said. "We are not here to offer only our lives to save the city, but our bodies as well."