https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ata8CghPGIYIn rare moments such as these, time stretches – the grind of Chronos momentarily stuttering in surprise. Your well-aimed spear swims slowly through the air, piercing the chest of Archigeiros’ lead horse – it seizes and begins to rear wildly as it dies. Your gaze drifts above the dying beast - Cleombrotor is hacking at the binds of the dying beast with a silver-nailed sword, the razor edge moving closer in infinitesimal fractions. His father, King of Tegea, is straining at the reins, drawing them decisively to his right hip; the chariot beginning to buck fiercely, slowly rising on its right wheel. The clearance will be enough – the chariot bounces over the fallen lead horse but stays righted; Archigeiros will be able to maintain his speed even with only three horses, at least for a time.
A flash of bronze in the corner of your eye triggers alarm - instinctively, you angle your back as you ride, Cleombrotor’s return-cast striking the center of your strapped shield truly – but the bronze disc holds, and the cast deflects away into the dark. You glance back at your pursuers and what you see astounds you – Pronax’s spear has embedded itself into his equine victim, causing it to collapse instantly. The horse’s body crumples slowly against the earth, its lips peeled back grotesquely, and the colliding corpse reveals some fault in the left wheel of the twins’ chariot, shattering it – the car of the chariot drops violently to the earth, and one of the twins, on the right-side of the car, has the presence of mind to vault off the deck of the car – his wild leap transforming into a controlled tumble as he flies. The other is not so lucky – he attempts the same, but the dropping left-side of the deck robs him of sure footing, just as the chariot smashes against the ground, abruptly decelerating – his shins are caught against the top of the chariot, flinging him violently forwards over his chariot-team. He breaks his fall against the rocky earth with a stiff right arm; you see it bend wrongly before he begins to slide against the rough trail.
You glance left, and see Pronax’s helm is askew; he is struggling to restore his vision by rotating it back into place – you must have missed it, but the return cast from the twins must have spun his helm across his face, a near-miss indeed…
Time restores its normal march forwards – your ears are assaulting by the shrieks of Tegean horses as they die or suffer broken limbs. You hear a prince’s voice shouting:
<span class="mu-i">”EVANDROS, EVANDROS!</span>
Turning, you see the shouting young man, the nimbler twin, sprinting to his fallen brother – clearly, he must be Kleobis. Behind him, their chariot is an unrecognizable mess of splinters; their horses in a thrashing heap, some with broken legs. The twins are now out of the race – their chariot smashed to pieces.
>cont 