Fletcher almost flinched as he heard the twang of the crossbow. His heart sank even further when he heard the death whinny of his horse, the bold embedding itself in his neck. He almost wished it had hit him instead.
But he didn't have time to think, for at that very moment his cart overturned and threw him to the hard pavement. He landed with a thud that knocked the wind completely out of his lungs, and then felt the rest of the cart topple over him. Shutting his eyes and preparing for the worst, instead he found himself pinned underneath it, unable to move, the cart on its side with its wheels still spinning. He let out a groan.
Through the haze of his blurred vision, he somehow saw his other gun sprawled out on the ground, just out of reach. All around him, in haphazard piles, were the eight lockboxes containing his prized creations. Feebly he reached out to desperately grab at them, only to realize he still had his second gun in his hand.
When the explosion went off, it nearly deafened him. Coughing in the smoke and hearing nothing but a ring in his ear, he caught the silhouette of the dwarf just in the distance, standing over the two fallen bandits. He didn't have time to think about whether or not this new character was a friend or a foe. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he did register for a brief moment that this one was dressed differently than these other scoundrels...
When the dwarf approached him Fletch tried to pull himself from under the cart only to find that he really was stuck. His eyes watered in all the smoke, but he had enough sight to lift his gun up and point it at the approaching figure.
And then that second man, cloaked in back, rushed at the dwarf with a dagger in hand. Instinctively Fletcher shouted, "BEHIND YOU!" Just as quick his gun moved several inches to the left. With another deafening blast and an explosion of smoke, the gun discharged its iron bullet directly over Darjak's shoulder and into the head of the bandit, dagger upraised. In a shower of blood and brains, the bandit toppled over in a heap.
All the while, on the other side of the cart, the two trailing bandits arrived at the scene of the crash. Their eyes widened when they saw the carnage, but quickly and quietly they snatched up four of the lockboxes.