Someone's long, haunted wail killed sound. Ulbarich ran faster as the wail grew in intensity. It was breaking up almost as soon as it began, but the victim - and it must have been one who was victimized - would not let his coughing interrupt his scream of agony and terror. It must have been one of the bandits. Ulbarich had to believe that because he did not want to think that one of his men had been killed. A full-on sprint carried him into the ditch, where snow and dirt were packed together in brown frozen water. His boots were high, and his trousers were snug, and he did not worry so much after the moisture.
Not half as much as he worried over being shot.
Carolmin was left behind, clinging to a tree and aiming downhill. Ulbarich would have preferred someone to watch his back, but that was the same as admitting that he could not do it himself, and there was no reason to think that. The wailing had died down. One hand gripped both bow and arrow while the other shifted his short, heavy Katzbalger at the small of his back. The sword was wicked and cruel when the grip was reversed, and it was easier to draw in his off-hand that way, so it stayed where it was. Like his armor, it did not rattle against anything of note.
It did not give him away.
Tense eyes that blinked away sweat were scanning the patch of open earth downhill from here, where bandits had flowed freely not two minutes ago. There was nothing moving in the darkness below. Not man nor beast. A rustle of grass. Ulbarich shifted his aim to the left - and then heard the snap to his right. Only quick thinking saved his life. A dropped, rolling shoulder. The arrow glanced off the rounded surface of the pauldron and buried itself in a tree. Ulbarich was out of the ditch in a flash and rolling down the side of that hill, noise be damned. Another arrow zipped over his head, with that whoosh! that could only be heard by someone who was too close.
The Captain careened into a copse of trees with a muffled sound. The arrow was snapped in half. The bowstring was torn free.