Bodkins were good for penetrating armor but the best armor would deflect them. That was Masef's problem. The knight coming at him was exquisitely armored. Two arrows simply bounced off the plate, which was angled to deflect and thick enough to resist piercing. 

The knight was on horseback and Masef had no doubt that the lance would be aimed well. If whoever paid for that knight's armor didn't invest in training him to use a lance, he would have been surprised. In any case, the next shot was a different sort of arrow, aimed lower. Blunt tipped, it would leave a bruise but wouldn't kill unless it was shot badly. Any animal, stung thus, would react, and it was the same with the horse. It was an old Sun Cities archer trick to preserve the horse while taking the rider off. The arrow hit, the horse reared and the knight clattered to the ground. This fellow got right back up and went for the hammer, a claw-headed thing designed to pierce armor or crack a skull, that was hanging by a strap off his belt. It bought Masef time, but this fellow seemed resolute. It was hard to tell what the expression was behind a wedged visor, but he got the impression the fellow was taking this seriously.'

"Ho! Brigand!" The man decided it was a direct challenge, and was coming for him with that hammer and a shield, with the shield up so that he could guard himself against the next arrow.

Not good. Masef didn't particularly like his odds with his axe against this one, and his other kin were otherwise engaged. He had a few tricks up his sleeve, glamours he could attempt. An arrow was nocked, but he knew he had to do something. He had to reach in and pull out from where he didn't want to pull. With a whisper of willpower, he drew and released, and the arrow streaked toward the gorget of the man. It landed like a lance of molten fire, piercing easily through shield and gorget alike. It sliced into the man's throat as he came for Masef with his weapon in hand, and it exited the back of his neck with a hellish glow. The knight crumpled while Masef heard the laughter ringing through his consciousness. The battle was forgotten momentarily as he wrestled with it. The power of Qazar didn't seem appreciably changed in that it took the usual momentary stifling to shut the old bastard up, but Masef knew he'd taken a step, however necessary it was to stay alive.

He'd pay later. There was still a fight on. He had to survive it. He was able to fall into the mode of using his bow rather than opening doors best left tightly shut. There were a couple more arrows fired, but his siblings were eager in their work and the fight was pretty well finished. He moved forward with his bow held loosely in hand, just in case something else came, but made a grab primarily for the reigns of the wagon that Brand's body rested upon. That seemed like the most important thing at this point. It gave him something to focus on besides the disquieted soul within, the one telling Qazar to shut up. Meanwhile, a part of him did glance down at the treasure and taxes, wondering what they might actually do with such a wealth. They did not intend to take Harold's taxes, but the fact was, they had decisions to make on what to do with such a bounty...

[@Flagg][@Naril][@R31GN][@Gunther][@Airbender][@POOHEAD189][@NickTrano][@Noxious]