magic was being drawn.
“Your magic user is quite formidable,” Haran said to Riyan. “To render Geffen powerless is no mean feat.”
Standing just within the passageway, they had observed the magical contest. “We must help them,” urged Riyan. His bonds had been cut and he was anxious to join the fight. Thus far, Haran and his five comrades had prevented Bart and Riyan from rushing to their friend’s aid. But now that Geffen had been neutralized…
“My countrymen and I cannot, and will not, raise swords against Lord Kueryn,” replied Haran. “To do so would be an abomination. He is our sworn lord.” Something in the way he said ‘sworn lord’ gave Bart the impression that he didn’t care too much for the man.
Bart turned his gaze to the point of Haran’s sword that was still directed at him. Taking a gamble, he said, “Then allow Riyan and me to deal with him. You needn’t do anything, just refrain from hindering us.”
From just within the passageway, a clash of swords announced the meeting of the two sides.
Haran looked first to Bart, then to Riyan. Finally, his gaze turned to Lord Kueryn. Lowering his sword, he nodded.
“But you can’t…” one of his men began before Haran cut him off.
“This may be the only way,” he said. Turning to Riyan he added, “May the gods give you their favor this day.” Then stepping aside, he opened the way to Lord Kueryn.
Bart had the sword taken from the guard, but Riyan was weaponless. Spying Lord Geop’s sword lying near its owner’s lifeless body, Riyan raced forward and quickly grabbed it.
“My lord!” Lord Hurrin exclaimed when he saw Riyan picking up the sword.
Turning around, Lord Kueryn took in that Riyan and Bart were free. Then his gaze moved to his nephew. “Haran!” he shouted.
“Seems they’ve escaped from me uncle,” he said.
Red faced and full of rage, Lord Kueryn yelled, “Traitor!”
“You call me traitor?” demanded Haran. “It wasn’t I who turned from all that our people hold dear. It wasn’t I who sacrificed the lives of hundreds of our brothers so you could be here. Traitor? You bear that brand more than I.”
The River Man locked eyes with his nephew and in a silent exchange, vowed to see Haran dead for this.
As Lord Hurrin drew his sword and moved to engage Riyan, Bart exchanged Lord Geop’s dagger for his sword. In close fighting, he was much more adept with the dagger. The first clash of metal on metal sounded as Riyan deflected the lord’s attack then followed through with a thrust of his own. Seeing that Riyan was holding off the lord’s attacks, Bart moved around the pair on his way to take out the magic user.
Chyfe struck out at Captain Lyrun only to have his sword deflected to the side. Next to him, Chad and the twins were on the defensive. Facing four expert swordsmen, all they could do was hold their own.
Captain Lyrun thrust lightning quick at Chyfe’s midsection causing him to dance backwards. When Chyfe tried to return the attack, Captain Lyrun easily knocked his sword aside yet again.
“Have you ever actually used that thing before?” Captain Lyrun asked him with a sneer. Breaching Chyfe’s defense, his sword found its mark in Chyfe’s side leaving a shallow cut that began staining his tunic red.
Chyfe didn’t take the bait. Instead, he looked into the captain’s face with loathing. “I’ll see you dead for what you’ve done,” he said. Then he launched into a maneuver that one of the instructors back at the Guild used to use. Hack, slice, thrust, he tried to breach Captain Lyrun’s defense. But each time, his efforts came to naught.
He and the others were steadily being pressed backward deeper into the passage. Every attack they tried was met and countered. Their defense was less than adequate as time and again, their opponents managed to get through. Now, six feet further back from where the battle was first joined, they were concentrating almost solely on defense. Instead of going on the offensive, they did all they could simply to survive.
“No you don’t!” Lord Kueryn exclaimed. Drawing the King’s sword, he intercepted Bart on his way to attack Geffen. Striking down at the thieving upstart, Lord Kueryn stopped the attack on his magic user and forced the thief to fall back.
Bart backpedaled quickly as he brought his knife up to ward off the blow. Momentarily catching the deadly blade in his knife’s crossguard, he thrust Lord Kueryn’s sword away from him. Diving to the side, he hit the ground and rolled back to his feet. Turning to face Lord Kueryn, he was quick to realize that he and the others didn’t have much of a chance to win this fight. At least Haran and his men weren’t fighting them too.
Nearby, Riyan was on the defensive against Lord Hurrin. Where Riyan had less than a year with the sword, Lord Hurrin had been honing his skill for decades. Riyan had long since tried to land a blow. It was all he could do to ward off the lord’s attacks.
All the while keeping Lord Kueryn in front of him, Bart began giving ground. With just a knife, he didn’t have much chance against one wielding a sword. He began to regret exchanging the sword for the dagger. If only he had his darts, but they had been confiscated back on the surface.
“You were never going to allow us to live,” Bart said. Twisting to the side, he barely avoided being impaled.
“No,” admitted Lord Kueryn. “Once the Horde was opened, you would be little more than a bothersome hindrance.”
“How about your word?” asked Bart.
“Ha!” retorted Lord Kueryn. Following after Bart, he attacked again, only to have his blade knocked to the side once more. “Keep my word to one such as you?”
Bart glanced behind him and saw Lord Geop’s body lying close to his heels. Hopping backward over it, he continued facing Lord Kueryn with knife held before him. When Lord Kueryn followed him over the body, the lord thrust with his sword which Bart deftly deflected. Then Lord Kueryn came back with a powerful overhand hack. Raising his knife to ward off the blow, he had it knocked from his hand by the force of the lord’s blow. Stumbling backward, Bart’s left heel struck the bottom step which sent him falling backward.
Lord Kueryn’s eyes fairly danced when he realized the thief before him was unarmed and in a precarious position. “Now,” he said as he moved closer. “Let’s end this.” Raising his sword, he moved to end Bart’s life.
Geffen had pinpointed the location of what was stealing the magic from his spells. It was located in the passageway just on the other side of where Captain Lyrun and the rest were battling.
His gaze couldn’t pierce the shadows of the passageway to discover exactly what it was. But as their men continued pushing the others backward, Geffen entered the passageway behind them. Foot by foot, their enemies continued to fall back.
Whether they were winning or losing mattered little to him. All he cared about was finding the source of what was stealing his magic. Then, as the combatants moved further back, he saw a small box on the floor sitting against the wall. It was opened!
Casting two more minor spells, he knew that whatever was within the box was the source. He had to reach it and close that box! Edging forward as Captain Lyrun and the Tribesmen soldiers pushed their enemies back, he edged closer to it. If closing the box nullified the effects, then this battle would be over quickly. Biding his time, he waited.
Pain. His whole body was throbbing with pain. As consciousness returned to him, he cracked open his eyes. The pain wracking his body made it difficult for him to concentrate. He didn’t immediately remember where he was or how he came to be there. Then, memory began to return.
“Riyan?” he croaked. When he didn’t receive a response, he said, “Chyfe?”
Clang!
Not too far away, his attention was drawn to the sound of swords striking together. “Bart?” he asked as he tried to prop himself up on one elbow. Pain flared anew as he shifted position. Looking down the passageway, he saw Chyfe, Chad, Seth, and Soth facing off against five others.
Movement from the far side of the battling men caught his eye. It was the enemy magic user. He stood just on the other side and seemed to be staring at something on the floor not far from where Chyfe and the rest fought for their lives.
Kevik propped himself up even further despite the pain of his burns and tried to see what was going on. His first thought was why the magic user wasn’t using magic. Then he remembered the box of gray powder. Maybe Chyfe had opened it? He quickly looked around where he lay but couldn’t find it.
Then dread hit him as he turned his attention back to the magic user. Looking to the area of the passageway
