This fervor stirred the soldiers stationed throughout the many neighboring towns and fortresses; yet as each sought to drive back the serpents as far as their strength would allow—sometimes gathering in tight formations, sometimes scattered—they were repeatedly overwhelmed by the immense multitude, which, having been born and raised among the open and winding mountain passes, swept over them as if they were flat, soft ground, attacking them from a distance with projectiles and terrifying them with savage howls.