The Man Who Wasn't There

Four arrows came whizzing at him from four diffent directions. Effortlessly he flicked them all aside. The archers with growing bewilderment drew again coming closer this time with the same result. He sidestepped this way and that as the flurry passed harmlessly by. His hands were out now stretching out before him and waving back and forth across the ground motioning in front of him. The tall grass moved aside revealing the hidden archers. One by one the ground slid underneath them slamming them rapidly head first into the earth. Quickly he moved to disarm them while they were disoriented. Frightened but steadily regaining their wits they turned to face him. No one was there. He had disappeared. Slowly they stood up and walked dejectedly back down the trail to the manor of the merchant who had hired them to kill him. They expected to collect some payment for the risks they took but the merchant upon seeing them devoid of their weapons knew he had been bested once again. He laughed when all four approached his door asked for the payment promised them regardless of their success. The merchant pulled on a long brass chain which rang a bell. The archers looked up. They should have looked down. The porch they were standing on opened up and sent them down a long narrow tunnel sloping steeply down. After more than a few minutes of bustling about in the tunnel they were deposited on the banks of the Keiphir in the mud there at the river's edge.