Astra was brave, but she was not foolhardy. She knew that, alone and
unarmed,
there was no way that she could take on eight armed men. So she continued
running
up the ridge, angling away from the men so that the slope would not be so
severe as
if she had headed directly upwards.
The men were weighed down by their armour and weapons, so she hoped that
she could
outdistance them.
The leading man was some four hundred yards behind Astra. He could see that shortly she was going to disappear into the trees that covered the upper part of the ridge. Crossbow bolts can travel a considerable distance but - with both the target and himself running - to get a hit would require a great deal of luck. Nevertheless, this would probably be his only chance to take a shot at her, and he felt he ought to take it, since if she reached the trees finding her again might prove impossible. At this distance, he couldn't hope for the precision of aiming at a non-vital spot, so if he got lucky and scored a hit it might easily cause death or serious injury rather than just stun the quarry. Zdin had said to take the woman alive if possible but dead if need be, though, so that did not worry him. He fired.
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6/9/2000 1:24:52 PM
Extending Enabled
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