loose one arrow (missed) before they were upon me: two-legged saurids with no arms, forward-facing horns, and an armored crest on their head shielding most of their back, each a little taller than me and easily several times my weight. I am incredibly lucky to have survived - I got the first in the underside of its maw, and it fell, its horns goring the one charging behind it very badly in the leg as it tripped over the leading one. The first bled out quickly, and the second I dispatched with an arrow after it went into shock from the pain. Had I not just been on the receiving end of their charge, acting on panic alone, I think I would have felt badly - writing now about the
experience I feel a little sad.
The scholar must have heard them charge because he scrambled out of the draw after them babbling about the creatures - they were kagouti, saurid carnivores that are usually non-aggressive unless they are hungry. I (and the scholar) had evidently interrupted their mating session, hence the aggression. I reunited the two scholars, the second lecturing me on all there is to know about kagouti while we hiked back. They gave me a ring enchanted with a slow falling spell for my trouble (very pretty, with a decently large opaque green stone I don't recognize; I imagine it to be valuable, but don't wish to sell it),