shadowsworn

As the soldiers rush forward, they draw their swords and begin knocking those people who don't get out of the way fast enough down onto the road, where they are trampled by the soldiers or by panicking people.

Another quarrel, from the opposite end of the road, near the tavern, this time, strikes one of the soldiers in the shoulder. The man is thrown to the ground by the force of the quarrel striking him, and disappears beneath the human sea.

One of the officers, attempting with difficulty to stay on horseback amidst the increasingly disorderly mob, raises a horn to his lips, and winds it three times.

After a few seconds, an answering horn call can be heard in the distance.

In the meantime, most of the soldiers have gathered on one side of the street, where they are hard-pressed, beating back the crowd surging around them, and taking the occasional quarrel and thrown paving stone. Others move into the houses, breaking down the doors with the hilts of their swords, and forcing out those inside who are not cut down for not yielding quickly enough.

On the other end of the street, Lief is pushed against the wall of the tavern by the crowd, feeling nearly suffocated, as he is almost pushed to the ground. He can see Mercy nearby, intermittently, faring only slightly better than himself.

Sarrisan, because of his quarterstaff and his height, fares better in the crowd. An officer on horseback yells something that Sarrisan can't hear over the crowd. Then he raises his sword, and, knocking people out of his way by trampling them with his horse or by hitting them with the flat of his sword, he moves his horse through the crowd, and takes a swing at Sarrisan, at chest height.

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