The soldier he had wounded sank to the ground, weak from loss of blood, and Will knew the unfortunate fellow would be dead soon if someone didn’t treat him, so he kept his attention on the man with the knife. He’s big, but I’ve got a longer reach with this sword, he told himself. I should have an advantage.
He quickly discovered otherwise. The dagger-wielding soldier was quick, and he knew what he was about, nearly gutting Will on their first clash of blades. Backstepping, Will tried to put some space between them, but the man stayed close, grinning all the while.
His speed was insufficient. The soldier was nearly as quick, and the long dagger was always just an inch from finding a home in Will’s stomach. Within seconds he had two long, shallow cuts, one across his left arm and another down the outside of his right leg. Giving up his offense, Will let his body slow and focused on defense.
“Already worn out?” sneered the soldier. “Enthusiasm only gets you so far, boy.”
Panting, Will glared at him. “I’m just waiting for you to make a mistake.”
The older man laughed. “Is that so?” Then he leapt forward aggressively, shouting. Startled, Will jumped back and stumbled, tripping over the now-unconscious man he had wounded. Scrambling back, he kept his short sword up, assuming that his enemy was about to try and finish him.
The soldier used the opportunity to bend down and retrieve the sword from his dying friend’s belt. Straightening up, he winked. “Now you’re fucked.” Shifting the dagger to his left hand and leading with the sword in his right, he advanced.
Will retreated, but the soldier’s aggressive onslaught was too much for him to avoid it entirely. Beating away attacks, he knew he was only moments from a messy death. A scream from the direction of the house cut through the air, piercing his heart. It was Sammy. The man who had gone in was emerging, dragging Will’s cousin by her hair.
“Distractions will get you killed, pup,” warned Will’s opponent, continuing to press his attack.
Will was practically running backward now, trying to avoid an early death. He wanted to circle around, to get to Sammy, but the man intent on killing him wasn’t about to allow that.
The door to the house opened again, and from the corner of his eye, Will saw his aunt emerge. Her face was red, and one eye was swollen shut, but she held his uncle’s crossbow in her hands. “Let her go!” she yelled at the man dragging her daughter away.
The other soldier waiting by the door drew his sword and thrust it toward her, but Doreen fired before he could strike, hitting the man holding Sammy. The quarrel buried itself in the soldier’s chest with a heavy thump, followed by a gurgling sound as the man began to drown in his own blood.
That got Will’s opponent’s attention. Worried, he looked to the side to see what had happened to his friends. Now! In an instant, Will changed direction, renewing his focus on speed. He blurred forward and planted the tip of his sword in the swordsman’s throat. The man stared at him in surprise for a second before falling backward.
Wasting no time, Will sprinted toward his aunt, but it was already too late. She was on the ground, a sword through her belly as she held onto her killer’s arm, refusing to let go. The man struck her with his free hand, once, twice, and then again, driving her head into the dirt. His arm came back for a fourth blow, but it stopped as Will’s sword went through his lower back.
Crying with rage, Will pulled it out and stabbed again, then again, tears running down dirty cheeks. He could think of nothing else, until he heard a voice behind him.
“Momma? Momma! No!” It was Sammy.
Will stared at her in shock and grief, and the look on her face was something he knew he would never forget. It probably mirrored his own. “Sammy, I tried,” he cried. “I couldn’t get to him in time.”
She fell to her knees beside her mother, crying inconsolably, and Will might have done the same, but then he remembered her brother. Running back, he found the boy still lying in the dirt, dead. One of the soldier’s kicks had killed him, and Will realized he had probably been dead the entire time he was fighting. A wave of dark despair washed over him. What was the point of fighting, when everyone he cared about died anyway?
No, not everyone, he reminded himself. Sammy is still alive. Turning back, he went to her. “We have to go. More of them will find us any minute now,” he told her, but she didn’t listen. Sammy was too caught up in her grief to listen.
He shoved the sword through the rope belt at his waist and gathered her in his arms. Lifting her up, he carried her around the house and into the woods behind it, away from the village. Away from their loss.
She continued to cry as he walked, and his own tears joined hers, falling from numb cheeks to land on her head.
Chapter 25
Will walked for several minutes, trying to put as much distance between them and the village as possible, but as he went, he began to worry about his mother. His home was outside of Barrowden, but not far enough to reassure him. Since the house was just off the main road from Branscombe, he figured the Darrowan soldiers would almost certainly get there soon, if they hadn’t already. He began circling around through the wood to head in that direction.
“I can walk,” said Sammy, her voice ragged and worn. “Put me down.”
He did as she asked, and as soon as her feet were on the ground his cousin turned and wrapped her arms tightly around his chest. She didn’t cry; that had stopped at some point while he was carrying her. After a few seconds, she released him, but she kept a firm grip on his hand as they walked.
Traveling through the underbrush would have been easier with both hands free, but Will didn’t complain. Sammy was squeezing his hand so hard it hurt, and when he glanced down he could see that her knuckles were white. Even so, he wasn’t sure who was comforting whom. It felt like the world had come to an end and they were cast adrift with nothing solid to cling to but each other.
They walked for ten minutes before Sammy spoke again. “Where are we going, your house?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“Think it’s safe?” she asked.
“I…” He stopped, unable to finish the sentence as his throat threatened to close up. I hope so.
He started to pull his hand free from hers, but she held on desperately. “Don’t leave me, Will. Please, you’re all I have left.”
He wanted to reassure her, but when he started to answer, he felt his emotions swell, as though they would overwhelm him. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head against his chest. He couldn’t breathe, and when he attempted to draw air his chest grew tight. Opening his mouth, a wrenching sob escaped before he clenched his jaw shut. Eventually he managed a hoarse whisper, “I won’t.”
It was a few minutes before they both continued on their way. Will guessed he could get home within about ten minutes from where they were currently, but walking hand in hand would take a little longer.
They were getting close when they began to hear the characteristic sounds of men and horses. “I hear them,” said his cousin softly.
Will nodded. “The road isn’t far from here.”
“Your house is on the other side of it,” she remarked. “How are we going to cross?”
“We’ll have to wait,” he replied. And hope they aren’t already burning it down.
Not daring to get closer to the road, they stayed where they were, listening to the jingle of metal and the sounds of marching feet. It went on for an eternity, at least to Will. How many are there? he wondered. Judging by his ears, more men had passed than all the people he had ever met in his admittedly short life.
“Is that their entire army going by?” asked Sammy. “Shouldn’t they still be in Barrowden?”
“Our village is probably insignificant to them,” guessed Will. “They probably rode straight through and left the ones we saw to burn out everything behind them.”
Eventually the sounds faded, and they were left with only the relative quiet of the for
est. Creeping forward, they risked a look and saw that the road was clear. They snuck to the very edge and looked once more before crossing, in case there were others coming, but they saw no one, so they ran across to the safety of the forest on the other side.
They were very near to the small turn off that led to Will’s house, but they didn’t hear anything that would indicate the soldiers had gone to explore it. Please let Mom be safe, prayed Will.
Since the road was clear, they followed it, staying on the relatively clear verge, but they discovered something strange when they got to the place where the turn off should have been. The entire beginning of the path was covered in strange, swirling flows of turyn.
“It’s gone!” gasped Sammy. “I don’t understand. The path was here just a few days ago.”
Will could see the trees and brush, but the magic rippling across the area made him doubt his eyes. “I think it’s been hidden by some kind of magic,” he told his cousin.
“Why would they do that?”
“It’s our grandfather,” said Will, and as he said it he realized that he could recognize the feel of his teacher’s turyn.
Sammy gave him a strange look. “You know he isn’t really your grandfather, don’t you? Dad was very firm about that.”
“He’s actually a wizard,” explained Will, “a very old one. Your Dad is right, he isn’t our grandfather, but our many times removed great-grandfather. He’s been teaching me magic.”
“You really have lost your mind,” said Sammy, a sad note in her voice.
Grabbing her hand, Will pulled his cousin along until they reached the area where the turyn was thickest. Then he walked straight toward a large elm that was standing where the path should have been. Sammy struggled, but she grew still when she saw his body pass through the seemingly solid tree.
The next few seconds were confusing, since the illusion wasn’t thin, and stretched on for twenty feet or so, but Will walked resolutely through until they emerged on the other side. The path was still there, clear in front of him. Now that they were past the magic, he could see his house sitting quietly where it always had. He felt a wave of relief when he saw that it wasn’t on fire, nor were there any soldiers evident. “We’re safe,” he announced.
Sammy was staring behind them at the trees they had just walked through. “They aren’t really there. That was magic?”
Will nodded.
“And that crazy old man did it?” she asked.
He nodded again. “I’m certain of it.” He pulled at her. “Let’s go find Mom.”
Moments later, they were opening the door and Will felt the tension go out of him when he saw his mother and Arrogan arguing and packing in the front room. They looked up as the door opened, both their faces registering shock and relief at his and Sammy’s entrance.
Erisa dropped the pot she was holding and ran toward him. “Are you all right? Oh my god, the blood! Take off your clothes!”
Will smiled. “It’s all right, Mom. It’s not mine. I fought with some soldiers. It’s their blood.” He looked down as he said it and realized his words weren’t true. He had gotten some of the soldiers’ blood on him, but his shirt and pants were now soaked. The cuts on his arm and leg had been bleeding slowly during their journey through the woods. “Oh,” he said lamely. “That blood. Yeah, I think most of that is mine.”
“Don’t worry, Erisa,” said Arrogan. “His body can afford to spare some blood. It doesn’t need the blood it sends to his brain. He never uses it anyway.”
Erisa never looked away. She was busy cutting the cloth away from his arm, so she could dress the wounds. “Shut up,” she barked at the old man. Sammy let out a semi-hysterical giggle at their exchange.
“They look worse than they are,” pronounced his mother after a moment. “I can stitch them up later. For now, we can make do with pressure dressings.”
While his mother wrapped his arm and thigh with clean linen strips, Arrogan interrogated his student, demanding to know what he had seen and what route they had taken to get back to the house. Will had difficulty answering. He relayed the story up until the point where he reached his aunt and uncle’s house, and then stopped. Taking a deep breath, he tried to tell them what he had seen. “Doug was in front of the house, trying to keep the soldiers away, but they were too big…”
“Little Dougie was braver than anyone,” said Sammy, and then her voice broke and she began to cry again.
Haltingly, Will described his fight with the soldiers, though he struggled with telling them about Doreen’s brutal murder. He could feel his mother’s hands tense when he relayed that part, but she said nothing. It was easier explaining his escape with Sammy afterward.
When he had finished, his grandfather sighed. “I’d like to tell you how stupid what you did was,” he said at last, “but I think you already realize that. At the very least you proved me wrong. You managed to get Sammy away safely, and that was no mean feat.”
“He saved my life,” said Will’s cousin quietly.
“Oh, I doubt they’d have killed a girl your age,” said Arrogan. “They’d have—”
“That’s enough,” snapped Erisa harshly.
For the first time Will could remember, his grandfather looked not just chastened, but embarrassed. “Anyway, it’s a good thing you got her away from there,” said the old man. Then he looked at Sammy. “Pardon my rough edges, Sammy. I’m not used to talking to people anymore. I’ve lived alone a long time.”
“I’ve been staying with you for years now,” reminded Will.
Arrogan waved a hand dismissively. “You barely count as people.” Then he addressed Will’s cousin once more. “As I was saying, I’ve been without civilized conversation for longer than I can remember.”
“Why don’t we stick to practical matters for now?” said Will’s mother as she finished tying off the last bandage. “How long do you think we have to pack?”
“We should leave now,” said Arrogan. “I know you want to bring some of your herbs, but they could find us at any time.”
“They can’t find the path here,” said Sammy. “If I hadn’t known the house was here, and Will hadn’t dragged me through whatever it was you did, we wouldn’t have found it.”
“How long will the spell last?” asked Will.
His grandfather shrugged. “Hours. That isn’t the problem. What did you see when you found my illusion?”
“Trees,” said Will simply. “It looked real.”
“Of course, you saw trees, dumbass!” barked his mentor. “What else did you see? You knew it wasn’t real, didn’t you?”
“Oh,” said Will. “Yeah, I could see the magic swirling around it.”
Sammy stared at him. “You can see magic?”
“I’m his apprentice,” said Will proudly, trying to make the title sound more important than it felt.
Arrogan snapped his fingers in front of them. “Stay on track. If you saw the turyn flows, what makes you think someone else won’t?”
“Only we can see them, right?” said Will.
“Wrong,” replied Arrogan. “Any magic user can, and a few mostly normal folk too, though they might not understand what they were seeing. When that army marches down this road, it’s almost certain that whatever sorcerers or wizards are with them will point my illusion out and then we’re in trouble.”
Sammy broke in, “They’ve already gone past it. We had to wait for them to go by before we could cross the road.” Will nodded in agreement.
“That was probably just the lead element, the vanguard,” said Arrogan. “I guarantee that army won’t have crossed into Terabinia without having at least a few high-powered sorcerers with it. The main element could come by anytime, and when they do, someone is going to notice.”
Worried, Will asked, “Can you beat their sorcerers?”
His grandfather laughed. “Without question, but that’s not the problem. They’ll have an army of soldiers with them. Remember what I said about trolls and the fae?�
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Will shook his head.
“Although most would say the fae are more dangerous, for me it’s the trolls, or in this case, the army of soldiers. I can deal with magic, but an arrow can put a hole in me just like anyone else,” explained his mentor. “That’s why we need to get out of here, and the sooner the better.” Arrogan stopped, his features growing still, then he frowned. “Someone just took down my illusion.”
“They’ve found us then,” stated Will’s mother. “We have to get out.”
“If we go out the back door and head straight into the woods, they might not see us,” suggested Will.
His grandfather nodded. “Go with Sammy and Erisa,” he ordered his apprentice. “But give me a second to make sure they haven’t surrounded us.” Lifting his hands, he created a small spell construct in the space of a second and then released it. Will saw it expand and then vanish, sending a rippling wave of turyn outward in all directions.
“Whoever is leading them is smart,” said the old man. “He waited until the soldiers were around the house before alerting me by breaking the illusion. There are five men behind the house already.” Moving to the front door, he collected his staff from where it stood, leaning against the wall. He handed it to Will. “Take this. Don’t bother trying to use that sword. You’re outnumbered and inexperienced. A staff is a better weapon against the blades they’re carrying anyway.”
Since Arrogan was effectively unarmed, Will handed his newly acquired sword to him, but the old man handed it to Erisa. “You know what to do,” he told her.
His mother nodded and pulled her winter cloak over her shoulders, concealing the sword beneath it. Then she gave Sammy a long knife from the kitchen. “Hide it,” she told her niece. “Wait until one of them starts to grab you, then put in his groin, belly, whatever you can reach.”
Confused, Will asked his grandfather, “What are you going to do?”
“I’ll make sure the rest of them don’t follow you,” said the old man.
The Choice of Magic Page 19
