[center][h2][i][color=6ecff6]Ethelred[/color][/i][/h2][/center]

This Cecilia woman proved much more agile than Ethelred had anticipated, jumping over him and firing an arrow into his shoulder.  Unlike the previous arrows, this one managed to shatter the ice on his shoulder, and he very much felt the force behind it.  He didn't feel like his flesh had been pierced, but it was clear he had to be careful because that bow of hers could penetrate his armor.

Meanwhile, Ethelred heard the sound of his horse's hooves striking someone and knocking them down outside of his field of view- it sounded like his horse had just struck one of the bandits, probably the spearman who had been menacing them.  He wasn't sure of the bandit's state- he could simply have had the wind knocked out of him via a blow to the chest, or the hooves could've struck the man's head and killed him instantly.  If so, that'd mean one less possible person to interrogate.

As soon as he could do so, Ethelred spun around to meet where he anticipated the woman's trajectory would take her, and then dropped to one knee.  To Cecilia and the bandits, it probably looked like he had been weakened or injured by the arrow, but the truth was that this act was intended.  He placed his hand on the ground and begun to channel his power of freezing.  Frost rapidly spread out across the ground in a radial pattern as the ground and the air above it suddenly became much, much colder.  He needed to hinder this woman's considerable mobility if he didn't want to be on the receiving end of armor-shattering arrow after arrow from outside the reach of his lance.  He hoped that freezing the ground would hinder her footing, or, if she made the mistake of standing in place for too long, the freezing effect might make its way through the soles of her boots.

This meant he'd be turning his back to the bandit archer, but the minion was a mere afterthought compared to dealing with Cecilia.

[@Rune_Alchemist]