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one with a poised spear and heavy shield leading the way.
Catti-brie and Taulmaril proved the swifter. In an instant, another arrow
was on the magical bow's string and sent away. It exploded into the bandit's
heavy shield and tore through, tossing the helpless man off the back of his
mount and into the realm of death.
The riderless horse broke stride. Catti-brie caught its reins as it trotted
by and swung up into the saddle to pursue the bandit who had cut her.
Drizzt still stood atop his camel, towering above his foes and deftly
dancing away from the strikes of riders rushing by, all the while weaving his
two magical scimitars into a dance of mesmerizing death. Again and again,
bandits thought they had an easy shot at the standing elf, only to find their
swords or spears catching nothing but air, and then to suddenly discover Twinkle
or the other magical scimitar slicing a clean line across their throats as they
started to gallop away.
Then two came in together, broadside to the camel and behind Drizzt. The
agile drow leaped about, still comfortably holding his perch. Within mere
seconds, he had both of his foes on the defensive.
Wulfgar finished the last of the three he had dropped, then sprang away from
the mess, only to find his stubborn camel rising in front of him again. He
slammed the nasty thing again, this time with Aegis-fang, and it dropped to the
ground beside the bandits.
With that battle at an undeniable end, the first thing the barbarian noticed
was Drizzt. He marveled at the magnificent dance of the drow's blades, snapping
down to deflect a curved sword or to keep one of the drow's two opponents off
balance. Drizzt would dispose of both of them in a matter of seconds.
Then Wulfgar looked past the drow, to where another rider quietly trotted
in, his spearhead angled to catch Drizzt in the back.
"Drizzt!" the barbarian screamed as he heaved Aegis-fang at his friend.
At the sound of the shout, Drizzt thought Wulfgar was in trouble, but when
he looked and saw the war hammer spinning toward his knees, he understood
immediately. Without hesitation, he leaped out and over his foes in a twisting
somersault.
The charging spearman didn't even have time to lament his victim's escape,
for the mighty war hammer spun in over the camel's humps and smashed his face
flat.
Drizzt's dive proved beneficial in his fight up front as well, for he had
caught both swordsmen by surprise. In the split second of their hesitation, the
drow, though he was upside down in midair, struck hard, thrusting his blades
downward.
Twinkle dug deeply into a chest. The other bandit managed to dodge the
second scimitar, but it came close enough for Drizzt to lock its hilt under the
man's arm. Both riders came tumbling down with the drow, and only Drizzt landed
on his feet. His blades crossed twice and dove again, this time ending the
struggle.
Seeing the huge barbarian unarmed, another rider went after him. Wulfgar saw
the man coming and poised himself for a desperate strike. As the horse charged
in, the barbarian feinted to his right, away from the rider's sword arm and as
the rider had expected. Then Wulfgar reversed direction, throwing himself
squarely in the horse's path.
Wulfgar accepted the stunning impact and locked his arms about the horse's
neck and his legs onto the beast's front legs, rolling backward with the
momentum and causing the horse to stumble. Then the mighty barbarian yanked with
all his might, bringing horse and rider right over him.
The shocked bandit could not react, though he did manage to scream as the
horse drove him into the ground. When the horse finally rolled away, the bandit
remained, buried upside-down to the waist in the sand, his legs lolling
grotesquely to one side.
His boots and beard filled with sand, Bruenor eagerly looked for someone to
fight. Among the tall mounts, the short dwarf had been overlooked by all but a
handful of the bandits. Now, most of them were already dead!
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Bruenor rushed away from the protection of the riderless camels, banging his
axe on his shield to draw attention to himself. He saw one rider turning to flee
from the disastrous scene.
"Hey!" Bruenor barked at him. "Yer mother's an orc-kissin' harlot!"
Thinking he had every advantage over the standing dwarf, the bandit couldn't
pass up the opportunity to answer the insult. He rushed over to Bruenor and
chopped down with his sword.
Bruenor brought his golden shield up to block the blow, then stepped around
the front of the horse. The rider swung about to meet the dwarf on the other
side, but Bruenor used his shortness to his advantage. Barely bending, he
slipped under the horse's belly, back to the original side, and thrust his axe
up over his head, catching the confused man on the hip. As the bandit lurched
over in pain, Bruenor brought his shield arm up, caught turban and hair in his
gnarled fingers, and tore the man from his seat. With a satisfied grunt, the
dwarf chopped into the bandit's neck.
"Too easy!" the dwarf grumbled, dropping the body to the ground. He looked
for another victim, but the battle was over. No more bandits remained in the
bowl, and Wulfgar, Aegis-fang back in his hands, and Drizzt were standing
easily.
"Where's me girl?" Bruenor cried.
Drizzt calmed him with a look and a pointing finer.
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