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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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560
 Behind you the swarm gathers speed, its number a swirling mist of light that illuminates the edges of the passage as it pursues you. From what you have been told of these insects there is only one escape, and that is to find the light of day quickly. Without looking back you run for the mine entrance, your only hope to find safety beyond its threshold. Sweating profusely you make the large hall, the bright glow of the outside world close, but it is as far as you get. Without apparent cause your left leg collapses beneath you, and with the swarm only metres behind you fall headlong into the dirt. Desperately you regain your feet, but in this moment of unforeseen delay a strange dizziness overtakes you, and it takes all you have just to keep your feet.
Staggering against the wall of the chamber you draw your sword and await the end that must surely come. A searing pain in your left calve collapses your leg once again and in the gloom you see your attacker. A Needle Fly has latched onto your leg and jabbed its sharp proboscis deep into the muscle. For a second you remain in shock, the insect draining blood straight out of your leg. Striking at it with your sword you knock it to the ground and stamp it to mush. Around you the rest of the swarm waits, then from the swirling cloud more of the insects dive, hitting you in the shoulder and arms, trying to find a way inside your clothing. These insects you also crush but this only sends the remainder into a frenzy. There is no way you can fend off the attack that follows. Unable to stand beneath the assault you receive from the diving insects you fall to one knee and try to lash out at the swarm with your sword. Dozens of the insects fall, cleaved into pieces by its blade's sharp edge, but the numbers inevitably overwhelm you. Writhing under a blanket of drinking insects you die, the secret of this mine safe for the arrival of the next unsuspecting victim.
Here your quest ends, your life taken on the points of a thousand razor-sharp needles. Perhaps in a latter life Providence will afford you better luck.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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