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.Beside the wagon, Ellery’s horse pawed the ground.Across and to the front, the horse of one guard reared and whinnied, hooves slashing at the air.Mariabronne locked his horse under tight control and spurred the creature forward, past Ellery and Entreri’s wagon then past the lead wagon.“Ride through it and ride hard!” the ranger shouted.“Forward, I say! With all speed!”He cracked his reigns over one side of his horse’s neck then the other, spurring the animal on.Entreri reached for the whip, as did the woman driving the front wagon.Jarlaxle braced himself and stood up, looking around them, as Ellery regained control of her steed and chased off after Mariabronne.“What is it?” Entreri bade his companion.“I’m feeling a bump and a bit of a shake,” yelled Athrogate from the back of the wagon in front.“I’m thinkin’ to find a few monsters to break!”Entreri watched the dwarf bring forth both his morning stars with a blazing, fluid movement, the balls immediately set to spinning before him.Athrogate lost all concentration and rhythm a split second later, however, as the ground between the wagons erupted and several snakelike creatures sprang up into the air.They unfurled little wings as they lifted, hovering in place, little fanged mouths smiling in hungry anticipation.The horse reared again and the poor rider could hardly hold on.Up leaped a snake-creature, right before his terror-wide eyes.He instinctively threw his hands before his face as the serpent spat a stream of acid into his eyes.Down he tumbled, his weapon still sheathed aside his terrified, leaping horse, and all around him more winged snakes sprang from holes and lifted into the air.Streams of spittle assaulted the man, setting his cloak smoldering with a dozen wisps of gray smoke.He screamed and rolled as more and more acid struck him, blistering his skin.His horse leaped and bucked and thundered away, a group of snakes flying in close and hungry pursuit.Beside the gray-haired man, Davis Eng kept his horse under control and crowded in to try to shield his fallen comrade, but more and more winged snakes came forth from the ground, rising up to intercede.Out came Davis Eng’s broadsword, and a quick slash folded one of the hovering snakes around the blade and sent it flying away as he finished through with his great swing.But another snake was right there, spitting into the soldier’s face, blinding him with its acid.He swept his blade back furiously, whipping it about in a futile effort to keep the nasty little creatures at bay.More venom hit the man and his mount.Another pair of snakes dived in from behind and bit hard at the horse, causing it to rear and shriek in pain.The soldier held on but lost all thoughts of helping his prostrated companion.That prone man continued to squirm under a barrage of acidic streams.He clawed at the ground, trying to get some traction so that he could propel himself away.But a snake dived onto his neck, wrapping its body around him and driving its acid-dripping fangs into his throat.He grabbed at it frantically with both hands, but other snakes dived in fast and hard, spitting and biting.Entreri shouted out, and the horses snorted and bucked in terrorand swerved to the right, moving up along the uneven and rising foothill.“Hold them!” Jarlaxle cried, grabbing at the reigns.The wagon jolted hard, its rear wheel clipping a stone and diving into a deep rut.The horse team broke free, pulling the harness from the frame and taking both Jarlaxle and Entreri with them—for the moment at least.Both kept their sensibilities enough to let go as they came forward from the jolt and tug, and neither was foolish enough to try to resist the sudden momentum.They hit the ground side by side, Entreri in a roll and the drow landing lightly on his feet and running along to absorb the shock.Entreri came up to his feet in a flash, sword and dagger in hand and already working.He set opaque veils of ash in the air around him, visually shielding himself from the growing throng of winged snakes.Streams of acidic spittle popped through the sheets of black ash, but the assassin was not caught unaware.Already turning and shifting to avoid the assault, he burst through hard, catching the snakes by surprise as they had tried to catch him.A slash of Charon’s Claw took down a pair, and a stab of his jeweled dagger stuck hard into the torso of a third
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