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. Tas was
almost thrown to the ground by the unexpected burst of
speed. He clutched tightly to the thick fur of Winnie's
back, bouncing furiously.
As they closed in on Gisella's still form, Tas spotted a
face behind a crossbow, perched atop a rock, only a
heartbeat before another bolt was loosed. Tas heard the
"thud" and felt Winnie stumble slightly. Looking down,
he saw the feathered shaft sticking out of Winnie's flank,
just inches from Tas's thigh. But Winnie pressed on, and
in seconds they had covered the remaining distance to
the assassin's niche.
After firing his third bolt, Denzil had dropped the
crossbow and yanked his heavy, curved sword from its
scabbard. The metal-shod end of Tas's hoopak whistled
toward his skull. Denzil's scimitar deflected the attack,
knocking a divit from the wooden shaft of Tas's weapon.
But he had no easy means to attack the kender himself,
as the woolly mammoth stood at least four feet taller
than Denzil's horse. The kender's height advantage re-
duced Denzil to fending off attack after attack as his
horse backed slowly down the trail.
Woodrow reached Gisella at last. Her horse was paw-
ing the ground nervously several feet away. Woodrow
knelt beside the dwarf and gingerly rolled her from her
side onto her back. Then he saw the small, red hole in her
wool vest, just below the armpit. At such short range,.
the crossbow bolt had buried itself completely in her
side. Choking on his own emotion, Woodrow pressed
his ear to the dwarf's still chest, then held his cheek over
her mouth, hoping to feel even the slightest breath
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