An Unkind Twist of Fate
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 86693
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Though Simon was one of their "war council", Fred had not expected him to
be one of their attacking party, as he was a painter rather than a
warrior. Evidently Simon had managed to persuade Thomas that he should
take part, however. He, like Thomas, Anselm and Fred, had chosen a weapon
from the small stash that the group had been able to put together. Astra
had her sabre.
A nearby rivulet that ran down to the lake provided them with black mud that they liberally smeared over their faces and hands to make themselves harder to see. Then they walked to the edge of the open area bordering the lake, where they all removed their boots, as there was no sense getting them full of water. (Astra had already removed her hat.) Then they went down onto their hands and knees and crawled until they were about a hundred yards from the edge of the water. They could see the dragon wallowing about ten yards offshore, where the water was about five feet deep. At that point Thomas held up his hand, indicating to Anselm that he should give the signal. The idea was that if they began their charge the moment that Anselm gave the signal to the catapult crews, they should be about ten yards from the water's edge by the time the boulders fell. This seemed about the right compromise betwen the two risks of being hit by a rock themselves and of giving the dragon too much warning. Anselm gave the bird call, and the raiders scrambled to their feet and charged. But almost immediately there was a second bird call! The five did not even notice, for it came from some way off and in any case their attention was fixed on the dragon. But as they neared the water's edge, it became obvious that no projectiles were crashing into the lake. Had the catapult crews encountered some problem? If so, were they about to fire belatedly and send boulders crashing down on the attackers' heads? But they were committed now. They all felt that it was too late to pull out.
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JH( edited re boots)
5/28/2009 2:39:10 AM
Extending Enabled
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