From: alaric@sti.com (Alaric Tekiahyn)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.cloven-shield
Subject: Re: [SAM] So where exactly are we?
Date: 5 Jan 1993 02:49:07 GMT
Organization: Software Transformation, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: smurf.sti.com
Keywords: I'm back!

In article <1993Jan4.214527.11974@ultb.isc.rit.edu>, jempci@ultb.isc.rit.edu (J.E. Mason) writes:
] The land was dark indeed, and getting darker by the league.  His
] infravision occassionally showed him points of lights (beings?) passing
] like falling stars beside them.  The destriers surrounding the group
] also radiated heat, obstructing his vision, so he decided to manuever
] his destrier to the back of the group.

His mount, sensing his intention, obligingly dropped back.  The loose
cluster of riderless destriers around the rear half of the group parted
live a wave to let his mount drop back, then closed in again, all without
a sound - or at least, without any sound that could be heard above the
wind-roar of their passage.

] >Further mumblings could
] >be heard from Sam, as he munched on a loaf of bread that appeared out of
] >the darkness....
] 
] Dint couldn't quite hear what was being said.

Had he not been at the rear of the group, he probably wouldn't have heard
Sam at all; but as it was, Sam's voice was carried faintly back to him.
 
] >A piercing cry ripped through the muffled silence of the shadows.

Alaric glanced reflexively upward, and saw far overhead the darkness of
vast wings.  It wasn't entirely unexpected, but he was inwardly annoyed
at himself for not noticing it sooner.  Pointing upwards, he turned toward
F'nordren, shouting to be heard above the gale of the destriers' speed.

"Bloodhawk!  Probably no threat, but keep your eyes open!"


] >Sam, startled,
] >let go his loaf of bread....
] >The smile creeping across his face quickly melts away as he realizes that
] >in his current position if his feet were not anchored in the stirrups
] >he was in for a nasty fall. They weren't.

This was hardly surprising, since he didn't have any.  His mount tried
its best to stay under him, but it's hard for even a destrier to stay
under a rider who has just, to all practical purposes, hurled himself
bodily from his mount's back - especially at this speed, and even more
so when in the midst of a stream of other destriers and riders.

] >Sam felt the impact, and heard the crack of bone as his shoulder collided with
] >the dark ground. Instinct told his body to curl in upon itself, and as the 
] >other horses rode about and over him, Sam cursed his choice of pitch black 
] >clothing for the evening. 

Fortunately for him, the destriers relied upon other senses besides sight.
Sensing the presence of one of their riders on the ground, all but two of
the destriers in whose path he lay were able to swerve around him.  Those
remaining two, blocked in on either side, simply leaped over him without
breaking stride.

] Dint felt his mount swerve suddenly, though gracefully, and saw a flash
] of dull orange shoot by him on the gound.  It looked, briefly, like Sam!
] 
] "Man Overboard!" Dint yelled. "Stop! Stop!"  But his mount, and the rest
] kept going.  It seemed as if no one could hear him.  The orange glow 
] disappeared, swallowed by the dark.
] 
] >As Sam layed there, re-living the tumble, his thoughts
] >centered on how quiet the fall had been. He hadn't even called out. A sobering
] >thought blazed within his mind.. "Good God.. they didn't stop!". 

Ahead of him, though, the column of destriers and riders was already
slowing.  It takes time to stop even a large number of horses, and a
horse travels at a small fraction of the speed of a destrier.  Those
near the back and those without riders, naturally, were able to stop
most quickly, and some of the riderless destriers on the fringes of
the stream simply wheeled around in great sweeping turns, to head back
towards him.

Other denizens of Shadow had also noticed his fall, though.  Far overhead,
great wings dipped, as the soaring bloodhawk high above wheeled around
and dropped into a dive...

] Dint grabbed the mane of his mount and hauled with all his might.
] 
]                             "STOP!!"

His mount, unhindered by others behind it, complied with such suddenness
that he was almost thrown himself.  Off to either side, the first of the
outrider destriers were already passing him, heading back toward where
Sam lay.

At the head of the party, Alaric saw the hawk begin its dive as the
ripple of slowing destriers reached the front of the line.  With no word
from him needed, Windwalker spun around in the tightest turn he could
muster and raced back towards the rear, passing the rest of the party
like a thunderbolt as they slowed and turned themselves.  Realizing
that no spell he could use here would be of much use, he pulled his
longbow from the case that hung by his saddle, stringing it as he
rode.  He pulled out and nocked a long, black-fletched arrow as the
bloodhawk dropped like a thunderbolt.

Moments later, Sam found himself suddenly surrounded by milling
destriers, clustering tightly in around and over him.  At almost the
same moment, a blast of wind struck him from above as the huge hawk
pulled out of its dive at the last moment, its attack blocked by the
destriers.  Sixteen-foot wings and vicious talons swept low over his
head; then, as the hawk pulled up, Alaric stood in his stirrups, took
quick aim, and loosed his arrow.  The sharp whack! of his bowstring
sang through the gloom, and the arrow ripped through the dark sky.

The shot was not perfect, but it connected.  The long arrow glanced
across the hawk's back and sliced a long gash through its left wing;
but it did not break the bones, nor sever any vital arteries.
Nevertheless, it dealt a large and very painful wound.  The hawk
pulled up hard, trading speed for height, and circled slowly several
hundred feet overhead.  For a moment, it hungrily considered another
try; but then it looked down at the creatures now clustering around
its intended prey, and thought better of it.  Better to fly away
hungry than to risk death for the sake of a meal.
With a final shriek of frustration and pain, it glided off towards
the crags where its eyrie lay, favoring its wounded wing.


Alaric watched it vanish silently into the distance, then turned to look
down at Sam.

"Well," he said, "you have the dubious honor of being the first person
 in any company of mine to ever manage to fall off a destrier.  Just
 how, exactly, did you accomplish that?"



-- 
      "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom."  --  Thomas Jefferson
    ......................................................................
    Phil Stracchino : phils@sti.com : alaric@sti.com : The Renaissance Man
      PGP 2.0 - Freeware public-key data encryption.  Get it and use it!
           Finger alaric@sti.com for PGP 2.0 info and my public key
Newsgroups: alt.pub.cloven-shield,alt.dragons-inn