There was a single figure hiding behind a boulder...
There was a single figure hiding behind a boulder almost directly below himDevin had quite certainly been visible on the last part of his climb where the cliff-face broke clear of the treesHis silence had served him well though, for the figure below was oblivious to him, avidly intent on the group feasting on the pathDevin couldn't see them, but their voices carried to him nowThe sun moved behind a cloud and Devin instinctively flattened himself, just as the assassin glanced up to gauge the change in the light
For an archer it would matter, Devin knewIt was a long shot, downhill and partly screened by the guardsThere would also be time, most likely, for only one arrowHe wondered if the tips were poisoned
Very carefully he started crawling uphill, trying to work his way further around behind the assassinHis brain was racing as he slipped into a higher stand of treesHow was he going to get close chanel classic bag enough to deal with an archer?
Just then he heard the sound of Alessan's pipes followed, a measure later, by Erlein's harpA moment after that a number of voices started in on one of the oldest, most rollicking highland ballads of allAbout a legendary band of mountain outlaws who had ruled these hills and crags with arrogant impunity until they were surprised and defeated by Quileia and Certando together
Thirty brave men rode apace from the north And forty Quileians met them side by sideThere in the mountains each pledged to the otherAnd Gan Burdash high in his roost defied!
The booming voice of Marius led the others into the refrainBy then Devin had remembered something and he knew what he was going to try to doHe was aware that there was more than an element of lunacy in his planning, but he also knew he didn't have much time, or many options
His heart was poundingHe wiped his hands dry on his new cartier watches breeches and began moving more quickly through the trees along the line of the ridge he'd climbedBehind him was the singing; beneath him now, perhaps fifteen feet east of this higher ridge and twenty feet below was an assassin with a bowThe sun came out from behind the clouds
Devin was above and behind the Quileian nowHad he been carrying a bow and been at all accomplished with one he would have had the other at his mercy
Instead, what he had was a knife, and a certain pride and trust in his own coordination, and a tall giant of a mountain pine tree rising all the way up to his ridge from just behind the boulder that sheltered the archerHe could see the other clearly now, clad in a masking green for the mountain trail, with a strung bow and half a dozen arrows to hand
Devin knew what he had to doHe also knew, because there had been woods at home, if not mountain passes, that he could not climb knock off chanel watches down that tree with any hope of silenceNot even with the loud, seriously off-key voices screening his sounds from below
Which left, so far as he could judge, only the one optionOthers might have planned it better, but others weren't on this ridgeDevin wiped his damp palms very carefully dry again and began concentrating on a large branch that stretched out and away from the othersThe only one that might do him any goodHe tried to calculate angle and distance as best he could, given an almost total lack of experience at this particular maneuverWhat he was about to try was not a thing one did for practice, anywhere
He checked the hang of the dagger in his belt, wiped his hands one last time, and stood upAbsurdly, the flash of memory that came to him then was of the day his brothers had surprised him hanging upside down from a tree, trying to stretch his height
Devin smiled tightly and stepped to the chanel ceramic watches edge of the cliffThe branch looked absurdly far away, and it was only half of the way down to the level of the passHe swore an inward oath that if he survived this Baerd was going to teach him how to use a bow properly
From the path below he heard the ragged voices swirling erratically towards the climax of the ballad:
Gan Burdash ruled in the mountain heights
And with his band he ranged from crag to glen,
But seventy brave men tracked him to his lair
And when the moons had set the peaks were free again!
Devin jumpedAir whistled past his faceThe branch flew up to meet him, blurred, very fastHe stretched his hands, clutched it, swungOnly enough to change his angle of descent, cut his momentumBring him directly down upon the killer behind the rock
The branch held, but the leaves crackled loudly as he pivotedHe'd known they wouldThe Quileian flung a startled glance skyward and grappled for the hermes kelly bag b