He hit the ground well past his startled companions and skidded through the mud, throwing up a shower of water and muck before sliding to a halt near the wagon.

Five serpentine heads waved in front of the startled companions.

They were blubbering to their startled companions.

One fat ruffian gestured obscenely as the Zephyr chugged past, and his startled companions booted disbelieving taunts from behind their rag-masks.

Off balance, the gnoll stumbled on, plunging its spear deep into the chest of a startled companion.

"Get him -" Louie's startled companion joined in the fire.

Its startled companions understood when the ore came back down in a heap, a quivering arrow shaft protruding from its back.

For midway on its journey to eye level the weapon's barrel snagged on a shimmering, translucent wall that had suddenly appeared before the guard, a wall that quickly spread into a dome that covered his startled companions as well.

On the day of the race, Elwes rode on horseback from Suffolk to the racetrack with nothing to eat for fourteen hours save a piece of pancake which he had put into his pocket two months earlier and which he swore to a startled companion was "as good as new".