At this he let go of his victim and howled as he turned in a demonic rage, pivoting with huge arms outstretched while Si'Wren stood rooted to the spot. The giant stomped forward, towering over Si'Wren as he drew near and began reaching down for her, and as she stepped back involuntarily out of his reach he simply kept on falling headlong until he hit the ground with an earthshaking slam at Si'Wren's feet and lay still, his stubby fingers twitching several times. His great yellowed teeth gnashed reflexively and after a final wheeze he lay utterly motionless.
Si'Wren stood as one frozen, staring down at the dead giant, until she heard several of the archers yell in unison and she turned her head just in time to see a final charge upon the Emperor's tent. Across the camp, Si'Wren gasped at the sight of Borla's crumpled black form being trampled under the hooves of the enemy's rampaging horse soldiers.
Emperor Euphrates' foot soldiers were fleeing for their lives as the mounted foe chased them down and shot them in their backs or cut them mercilessly to ribbons with their bronze swords.
The archer standing beside Si'Wren nocked another arrow, drew, and fired high. Si'Wren watched his arrow sail forth and come down in the midst of the enemy, to penetrate the face of an upraised wicker shield and embed itself in the chest of a raider. The enemy soldier staggered backwards, fighting to maintain his balance with the arrow in his gut.
But too much else was happening for Si'Wren to watch the enemy soldier any further, and she searched wildly for any sign of resistance in the Emperor's men but could not find such.
Suddenly her upturned eyes spied an incoming flight of arrows, and she had barely time to blink before they began raining down. The arrows' whistling sounds filled the air, followed by the sounds of impacts and screams of the fallen all around her.
Thunk! Si'Wren staggered, and stared disbelievingly at the long feathered end of an arrow sticking out of her right shoulder.
Numb with shock, she half-turned, and saw Emperor Euphrates staring sightlessly at her from where he lay fallen, his fat body bristling with arrows. Her blood pounding in her ears, Si'Wren turned and staggered to her horse. Neighing loudly, the stallion reared up, and dropped down again, shaking his mane. He had, she saw, two arrows in his deeply corded neck muscles.
Si'Wren reached out for him as she stumbled forward and almost tumbled beneath his hooves, but fell against his forequarters instead and reached up to seize hold of the coarse black hair of his mane, and tried to pull herself up.
Lacking the necessary strength and coordination, she hung on, not daring to let go for any reason. Turning her head, she saw running enemy soldiers advancing through the camp, with none remaining to oppose them as the Emperor's archers broke ranks and fell back under the flashing bronze swords of the enemy.