The dropped weapon was not completely without use; the horse with the statue caught in the stirrup had started to bold in that direction, and the exposed edge cut into the leather, freeing it of the burden keeping it from fleeing into the distance.  The other animals mostly settled, though they were very clearly avoiding the fluttering flaps at the back of the cart that had been looked into.<br/><br/>"Oh, my, did he not like what he saw...?" came a dulcet voice from the cart, mocking, yet painfully sensual.  "Perhaps I should have let him see my treasures, first..."<br/><br/>No one moved.<br/><br/>"Load him into one of the shipping carts," the mercenary leader commented, riding over after having helped quell the panic in a few other teams of beasts.  As some of his men set about the far-from-easy task of hauling the heavy mass of granite out of the way, he glimpsed over in Jordan's direction.  "His pay will be yours; that was very quick thinking with the axe.  Better to lose the horse than the return on investment his now marginally-less useless ass will bring," he commented, spitting where the statue had met the ground.<br/><br/>While order was being gradually restored, there was an unmistakable buzz throughout the caravan.  "A medusa!"  "We're carrying a snake-witch in our parcels?"  "Don't go near the carts again, there's no telling what else we're delivering..."  "We should turn back, this doesn't involve us!"  "We aren't being paid enough for this..."<br/><br/>Night was rapidly approaching, and there was still a ways to go.