Kriki's Gift, Chapter XXIX, Reading 8

Darrine had unconsciously sunk into a state of gray depression.  Her mind was filled with doubts, feelings that she was too old to have any use or purpose remaining in life.  It didn't matter that she'd been placed in a position where she was likely to meet her doom.  She was expendable and everyone knew it - that was everybody except for herself.  She was an old and foolish woman who had deceived herself into believing that she still had value.

Darrine heard the voices at the rear of the column rising in a shouted repetition of the Queen's chant and felt the strange sense of apathy lift from her mind.  In an instant, her thoughts cleared and she understood that the unfamiliar lethargy was not of her own making.  Anger replaced the doubt for she was outraged that she'd succumbed so easily to the Valkea's illusions.  The bitch wasn't going to be able to do that again!

Turning, she looked at Trooper Kulm and finally realized that he'd long ago stopped singing his romantic ballads to the decoy Lady Carra in the wagon.  She watched him shake himself like a wet dog.  "What in the name of the Spirit was I thinking?" he muttered in disgust.

Darrine started to speak to him to let him know that he wasn't alone in being victimized by the Valkea's deception, but her horse staggered as three arrows pierced deeply into the mare's flesh, one severing an artery in her neck.  Darrine barely got her feet free of the stirrups before the bay collapsed to the ground.

"We're under attack!" Captain Rodal bellowed.  "Defensive positions!"  He spurred his horse forward to protect the decoy wagon. 

The captain knew that the safest thing to do would be to charge onward and simply move out of range of the attacking archers.  However, the entire purpose of this expedition was to draw out the Valkea so they had to remain in place until the monster appeared.  The best they could do was to take a defensive position.  All his officers knew what was expected of them so with discipline the men quickly moved into defensive postures.

To add realism to the charade they were playing, Sergeant Garbarek quickly pushed the fake Carra into the back of the wagon for this protective move would surely be expected.  Then he put a horn to his lips and blew a far-reaching blast to draw in the soldiers who were hiding in the surrounding areas.

Darrine found herself on the ground in the midst of a hailstorm of arrows, although none of the bolts were being aimed directly at her now that her horse was downed.  As expected, the Valkea's fighters were trying to keep her alive so they could capture her.  She noticed that Sergeant Garbarek had been shot at and was now bristling with arrows stuck in his cloak and surcoat, but he appeared to be safe inside his armor.  The archers avoided firing directly at the wagon so they could take Carra alive, too.  Trooper Kulm's horse was down and he leaped off the dying animal to jump next to Darrine with his sword drawn to protect her as she struggled up from the ground.  He had two arrows sticking from his cloak, but they had penetrated no deeper than the cloth because of his breastplate.