Malvick's quick reflexes kick in immediatly as the mandman breaks from the brush, and before he has run more than ten feet,  Malvick's bow twangs twice, and two feathered shafts bury themselves in his would-be attacker.  The filthy man crumples to the ground, curled around the arrow protruding from his gut.  He moans and cries pitifully, spreading blood and spittle in the dirt.

Bow still drawn, Malvick circles the man wearily.  His second arrow caught him in the left shoulder, and the man's arm seems to be limp.  Malvick steps closer, dropping his bow and drawing his short sword.  He can hear the man muttering between sobs.  Most of it is incoherant, but a few phrases jump out again and again: "Razors, razors,"..."Too many teeth!" . ... "The Skinsaw Man is coming."

Malvick grabs the rope from his pack and jumps forward, rolling his quarry over and binding his hands and feet quickly.  The man offers no resistance, and Malvick drags him over to a nearby tree, tieing him fast.  "There now, don't you be going anywhere."

Malvick considered what to do next.  Ariva made a low wine and nosed towars the nearby barn.  Something there was making the dog nervous.  And that made Malvick nervous.  Suddenly realizing how exposed he was in this clearing, he quickly retrieved his bow and loped towards the barn.

He paused at the barn's door, listening, but heard nothing.  Arrow nocked, Malvick took a breath and kicked in the door, dropping to one knee and tracking for targets in the dim light.  It took a momment for the scene of carnage within to register, and as the stench hit him he couldn't help but retch.

Rotted hay now slick with blood coats the dirt floor.  Three mutilated corpses adorn the room like trophies.  Two are pinioned to the barn's back wall while a third twists lazily from bailing hooks and rope reaching into the rafters.  All have been horribly disfigured, with faces cut away and a huge seven pointed star cut into their bare chests.

Malvick sees a fourth set of bonds along the other wall, but whoever was suspended there has managed to free themselves.  At this point the overwhelming stink of rotten meat becomes too much and Malvick steps away from the barn.

"This is way more than I signed on for," Malvick says out loud and he scratches Ariva's head, trying to calm his agitated companion.  Technically, Bradley's Barn fell within Sandpoint's jurisdiction.  He should probably report this to his friend Sheriff Hemlock.  But what to do about his prisoner? Who did he have tied up over there - victim or murderer?