Short-range Air Defence
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 64178
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While the Lady Diana was evaluating the situation, she was also readying
her crossbow, which she had carried with her throughout the journey. The
disadvantage of the crossbow as a weapon was that, though it had much
more "punch" than a longbow, being capable of penetrating even the best
armour, it had a slow rate of fire. Unlike a longbow, the string had to be
cranked back rather than being simply pulled back immediately prior to
release. Therefore she might only have time for one shot before the next
attack. She would try to bring down one of the creatures and hope that
Fred's sword could deal with the other before it could inflict any further
harm on Exotica. She was fairly sure that the Allarian girl would be the
target again, since predators usually preferred to go for already wounded
prey because they were easier to kill. Besides, by now Imelda and Sophie
had also managed to find reasonably good cover and only Exotica and Fred
were left in the open.
The two creatures dived together. The later the Lady Diana left firing, the shorter the range would be and the better the chance of a hit on a fast-moving target. Against that, the longer she delayed, the more certain it would become that she wouldn't have time for a second shot. When she did eventually fire, her aim was true. Her bolt caught the creature in its breast. It let out an aguished wail that chilled the blood, then fell and hit the ground hard. She was fairly sure that she had killed it.
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JH (this seemed to fit either option of the parent equally well)
12/6/2006 11:26:58 AM
Extending Enabled
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