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Old 04-19-2006, 04:48 AM   #320
Nogrod
Flame of the Ainulindalë
 
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Wearing rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves in a field behaving as the wind behaves
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Nogrod is wading through the Dead Marshes.Nogrod is wading through the Dead Marshes.Nogrod is wading through the Dead Marshes.Nogrod is wading through the Dead Marshes.Nogrod is wading through the Dead Marshes.Nogrod is wading through the Dead Marshes.
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A chilling cry filled the air, coming from all around them. It was followed by the regrettably familiar hissing noise that approached from somewhere up above; growing louder, slowly at first, but gaining both speed and volume, as it got nearer. Sythric went to grasp his shield quite automatically. That noise was almost instinctively tied to that action. The sky was pretty dark already, and made the approaching missiles practically invisible. As the sound of the arrows suddenly grew very violent, he managed to lift the shield to cover his body from the downpouring, lethal rain of arrows. Just before the shield cut his field of vision, he saw them coming towards them, from all over around. He heard himself shouting for “Cover!”, but that yell was overpowered by the ear-breaking whine of the incoming arrows. He heard someone yelling, but didn’t know, who it was.

Now the easterlings were clearly seen, coming on them from all the directions. Fifteen?... more, less?... Maybe two shots more. He had estimeted the distance between them. No more time to lose, he thought. The next pack is in any moment.

“Scatter around! Get away from each other!”, he shouted. “There’s not so many of them at the time, look for them! They will come from lower next time!” Byt the time he had gotten to that, the next pack of arrows was approaching. Sythric got eye on one that was coming quite straightly towards him. He lifted his shield, and hoped for the best. The impact never came, but the sound of the arrow, passing less than a yard to the left from him almost deafened his ear for a moment.

“One more round coming! After it, make a circle!”, Sythric yelled amidst the chaos and tumult of the horses. He heard, that someone else had also shouted something, but couldn’t make the message out. Suddenly he saw Brand some ten yards away from him, and called him. “Brand!... Brand! Those one’s coming down on us! From the ridge! Would you ride with me against them, to take the worst blow? We will have to slow those down!” If Brand answered, Sythric didn’t hear it, for the easterling cry was on the air again, louder as before – and the thunder of their horses coming towards them with almost full speed sounded frightful indeed. And there was the third pack of arrows, coming almost horizontally now, as they were shot only from under hundred yards away.

The shriek of an oncoming arrow was one of the most frightful noises he knew of. So haphazard, so random was the possibility of getting hit, or avoiding it. As a true rider, Sythric thought of them as kind of unfair weapons. You didn’t have to prove your qualities fighting eye to eye, just let your lethal missile do it for you from secure distance. And you gave your opponent just the hope, that luck would be at your side. No arrow flew even near Sythric this time.

The sound of easterlings changing weapons some fifty yards away, was just as chilling as the noise of the approaching arrows. The soft ringing of the almost simultaneos unsheating of swords from all around them was quite unnerving. Sythric picked his spear and yelled as loud as he could: “In to a circle, in to a circle!” While shouting, he was already making Thydrë to start uphill. He had no time to look for Brand, as he saw the easterlings coming towards, too close already. He spurred Thydrë to make all the speed she could with that short distance, rushing straight towards the avalanche that was rolling down the hill on upon them.

Last edited by Nogrod; 04-19-2006 at 02:52 PM.
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