[Dean's World] Dean: Another Excerpt

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Posted by Dean:
Another Excerpt
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1157246760.shtml


   [1]md possible cover 

   They entered the clearing. My altar consisted of a pillar of carefully
   placed stones, with a large, flat slab at its top. It stood just thigh
   high to a normal man and was otherwise undecorated, but I enjoyed its
   simplicity as it stood in the center of a clearing devoid of other
   stones or stumps. It was solitary and solid and as such it represented
   me in a way that gave me some satisfaction. The old hunter pointed to
   it and the other three approached it. They circled it, looked it up
   and down, and peered closely. One of them said something in that
   oddvtongue, and then all three of them laughed. I could not understand
   their words, but I could understand their intent.

   This is what you have been babbling about all the way out here? A pile
   of rocks?

   I was stringing my bow even before they acted, but what they did next
   sealed their doom. The tallest of the three lifted his boot and set it
   to the altar. With a powerful shove he toppled the slab from the top,
   and the pillar crumbled about it. As he did so I stepped clear of the
   trees and leveled my bow. They all laughed at the old hunter who
   nearly screamed in horror as his eyes locked on me. One of the three
   turned in his mirth to see what the hunter was looking at, and my
   arrow took him in the throat.

   The other two reacted instantly, crouching and drawing their blades,
   but I killed the second with two arrows to the chest before he could
   do any more. The last warrior turned and dove for the trees, finding
   cover before I could drop him. I sprinted into the clearing, trying to
   listen for his movement, but the old man was weeping too loudly for me
   to hear the running coward clearly. I silenced the old fool with my
   knife through his throat, fair punishment for bringing these
   interlopers into my woods to desecrate my altar. In the blessed
   silence that followed I could hear the last man attempting to move
   quietly around to the south, back towards his camp.

   Fetching an arrow from my quiver I set out after him and soon had him
   in sight, though he was unaware of me. I trailed him back to the camp,
   which was now brightly lit with two large fires and numerous torches.
   As we drew close he began to run, thinking himself safely away. I
   listened to him begin to cry out an alarm, watched as those in the
   camp reacted, and then dropped him with an arrow through the left
   calf. He shrieked in pain again as I sent another shaft into his right
   calf, effectively pinning him to the ground.

   Others rushed towards him, but stopped suddenly as three shafts struck
   the ground before them in rapid succession. I drew down on my
   whimpering victim again, this time piercing his left shoulder. I
   waited a moment, listening to the commotion in the camp, seeing
   several men head out into the woods, doubtless to attempt to circle
   around me. I loosed another arrow into my victimâs other shoulder,
   fixing him to the earth at all four limbs. My last arrow struck him at
   the base of the skull, silencing his moaning.

   The one who commanded, Rufus, came to the fore and stood just beyond
   where my three warning arrows had fallen. It would have been so very
   easy to kill him then and there, but I stayed my hand, taking his
   measure. He stood fearless with his arms crossed over his chest,
   staring into the deepening gloom of the forest, obviously intent on
   laying eyes upon the one responsible for this. I nocked an arrow and
   stepped clear of the tree line and out into the light. Our eyes met.
   His gaze was level as he regarded me in my loincloth, chest wrap, an
   bare feet. A flurry of motion began behind him, but my eyes never left
   his as with a motion of his hand he brought his warriors to a halt. I
   pursed my lips, spat on the ground before me and, certain that my
   point had been clearly made, turned my back upon him.

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References

   1. file://localhost/files/deanesmay-mdcover.jpg