Gatyn's eyes went wide at the sudden appearance of the crossbow bolt. He brought his hands up to the shaft as if to remove it - before his knees buckled and brought him to the ground. He pivoted as he fell, and landed heavily on his side. Val gave a slight sigh of relief when she could see that his mouth opened and closed as he attempted to replace the air that had been forced out of his lungs by the impact of the missile. There was no blood; the man's breastplate and thick underpadding must have taken the majority of the blow.
"Who's the idiot that shot that bolt!" Val heard a raspy voice come from a nearby copse of trees. "I told you dolts before, if we murder someone, then that draws attention. We don't want that."
"Sorry boss," another voice mumbled. "It just went off."
"Aye, I bet that's what you tell the girls at the pub," A third voice said.
Snickering could be heard now.
"Shut up!" The raspy voice said, attempting to take control. "As I said, NOBODY MOVE!"
Val shook her head in amazement - professional robbers this group was not. Val couldn't blame the gang leaders of Ulareg for throwing this bunch out of the city - if they were indeed outcasts.
Despite the orders from the robber that Val had dubbed "Raspy," Strema had slowly edged into a position that placed her between the copse of trees and the cart. The warrior woman held her military pick in front of her and positioned her feet into what Val guessed to be a fighting stance.
Keth remained motionless, his hands white-knuckled on the reins.
Gatyn, still gasping for air, grabbed the side of the cart and began to pull himself upward.
"You lot deaf? I said NOBODY MOVE." The raspy voice commanded. "Gods help me, I'll shoot you if you stand!"
"But boss," a voice complained. "You just yelled at me for shooting one of them."
A loud frustrated sigh could be heard in the copse, followed by rustling and a cry of pain.
"OW!"
"Stop talking and let me deal with them!"
While that exchange happened, Gatyn pulled himself up to a standing position and pulled the bolt from his armor.
"Ah godsdamit, I told you to stay down!" Raspy shouted when he noticed that the fighting man had disobeyed him.
Gatyn held up a hand with his palm out and spoke.
"If..." Gatyn's voice was unsteady and it sounded like he was in some pain. "If you folks are intending to rob us, I must tell you that aside from our traveling gear, we carry nothing of value. Your scouts back at our camp should have told you that."
"Scouts?" The raspy voice sounded surprised.
Gatyn raised an eyebrow. "At our campsite a ways back, you had someone watching us correct?"
"What's he talking about boss?" A voice from the trees asked. "We've been here all morning."
"Shut it!" Raspy tried to command his group of thieves. A moment later, he once again addressed Gatyn, "Weren't us."
Val saw Strema and Gatyn tense at this revelation. If Raspy had noticed, he gave no indication.
The robber leader paused a moment as if to think. "Regardless, you must got coin for travelling right? For buying supplies and whatnot - we'll take that."
"Or what," Strema scoffed. You'll shoot? You already said that you won't."
Silence then from the trees. Strema and Gatyn shared another look while they waited for a response. Val continued to clutch the metallic spheres that she had readied during their initial retreat.
"Something's wrong," hissed Strema as the silence continued to linger.
Gatyn nodded and the two began backing towards the cart, both with weapons ready.
"Get ready to run," Strema whispered to Keth when she got close enough.
A flock of birds suddenly burst from the treetops, followed by screams of pain that emanated from within the copse.
"GO!" Strema shouted as she pulled herself onto the back of the wagon.
With that, Keth flicked the reins and the horses began rolling the cart forward. Gatyn grabbed the side of the cart as it went by and Strema pulled him aboard. The injured man grunted heavily as he fell into the back of the cart.
Suddenly, a chorus of *thwips* could be heard as arrows started to fall around them.
As the cart bounced forward, a number of black-clad individuals poured forth out of the treeline. Each of the new arrivals held a bow, which they let loose on the cart.
"Our other 'friends'," Strema said from the back of the cart. "Keep moving!"
Keth continued to urge the horses forward. Val turned her attention to the road ahead just in time to see another line of black-clad individuals line the road in front of them, bows readied.
Val felt the boy began to hesitate as the cart rolled forward towards this new threat. It would be certain death if he continued - it was time to act.
Val pulled the three spheres out of her pocket and tossed them ahead of the cart. She held out her hand and focused on the little devices. As the spheres rolled towards the archers at a blinding speed, Val began to feel the nausea begin to rise.
The archers seemed a little perplexed by the rolling metallic balls, a number of them attempting to kick them away. As they did so, the little balls weaved in and out between their legs, pulling their attention away from the cart.
When the cart closed the distance, Val gave a new command to the spheres.
"Deploy!" she mentally shouted.
The spheres stopped a moment before the metal shifted and unfurled, revealing 8 legs and a small head with a set of mandibles.
"Jump!" Val commanded her newly revealed metal spiders.
The metal creatures did just that, each hopping onto the legs of the nearest archers and taking a large bite out of them.
Val began to see darkness edge into her vision. She had never felt this drained before. Sure, working three different clockwork constructs at a distance should be taxing, but it was never this hard. It had always seemed easier with her sister around.
She focused on making the spiders leap from archer to archer, making sure that they took a large bite out of each one that they landed on, distracting them all from firing.
Finally, the cart burst past the now broken line of black-clad archers and continued down the road at speed. Before passing out, Val commanded the spheres back into the cart.
"Is this what my sister feels?" Val thought as her consciousness faded away.