I managed to squirm away from the clawing hands but fell backward rather painfully on my behind. The bandits had started circling, and my hesitation cut off our escape route. Most of the bandits carried knives and iron implements that served as weapons, although only the leader had a sword.
Suddenly a voice in my head spoke: “Do not worry, little one, I am here.”
I glanced up to see Snow flying down toward us, her huge wings spanning out and covering the sky. On her back, looking furious, was Uncle Gabriel, brandishing his flashing sword in his hand.
“Erien!” he barked, as Snow landed in the middle of the circle of bandits. “Take Aurora and get back to the castle.” He jumped easily off the pegasus and flicked a glance at the bandits. “I will handle them.”
“He’s a mage,” said one of the men, taking a step back.
“So what? He’s only one and we’re ten. The young ones won’t be much trouble.” The bandit leader let out a sick, twisted laugh. “Capture the girl, hand her over to the Shadow Guard, and collect our money—simple.”
Did Uncle Gabriel really think that he could fight so many of them?
“You dare to threaten a lord of Eldoren.” Uncle Gabriel looked more menacing than I had ever seen him. “I have had reports of a group of bandits in these woods that have been terrorizing travelers. I think this is a perfect opportunity to get rid of you lot for good.”
The bandit leader sneered. “You’re just one old man. What can you do?”
Another bandit didn’t look too convinced. “That’s the Duke of Silverthorne himself,” he hissed in the leader’s ear. “I was in his dungeon for three years. Maybe we’d better get moving.”
“He’s got no guards,” spat the leader. “We’ll finish ’em off ’ere in the woods and make an example. The nobility think they can do whatever they want. But I will make ’em pay for it. I will make ’em think twice b’fore—”
His words were cut off as Uncle Gabriel swung his huge sword, cutting down the leader in one clean sweep. He fell to the ground in a mass of crimson while another two bandits dropped their weapons and ran for their lives.
“Who’s next?” Uncle Gabriel whirled his sword in his hand with such dexterity that I could only look with wonder. I needed to learn to fight like that.
The rest of the bandits were still closing in on us.
“They are just bandits; none have magic. I’ll take care of them.” Uncle Gabriel threw me a dark look. “Create a shield and get on Snow. Go! I will meet you back at the castle.”
Twilight was upon us, and dark shadows moved about the forest floor like additional warriors in the fight. Uncle Gabriel took a step forward toward a group of three bandits, who were now looking very unsure of themselves.
I nodded, closed my eyes, and concentrated hard. I infused myself with the blue-white light and drew a magical shield around myself. Snow was struggling, as two bandits had caught her mane. She could have flown off, but she’d been waiting for me.
I looked around; we were completely surrounded, and the bandits were still coming. They were now circling Uncle Gabriel and Erien. I got up from a sprawled heap, gathered my skirt, and ran toward Snow. It was hard, trying to concentrate and keep my shield around me at the same time.
I pushed more magic into my shield just as a knife came flying out of nowhere and bounced off just inches from my face. I whirled around to see Uncle Gabriel shoot bolts of white light from his fingertips, and two men crumpled before my eyes.
There were still more bandits left, and they were advancing, with two more still holding on to Snow. How many of them were there? I couldn’t even count. More of them kept materializing one by one, out from behind the trees.
“Erien! Go with her,” Uncle Gabriel barked.
“But I want to fight!”
Uncle Gabriel looked enraged. “By the gods, Erien, I said go now! Hold your shield until you are both out of harm’s way.”
Erien ran with me to Snow and fought the men holding the pegasus, and I had to admit he was pretty fast and quite a good swordsman. The bandits’ weapons were flung away as they ran from Erien’s flashing sword. I pulled myself up onto Snow’s back with the help of her mane and Erien jumped onto Snow behind me.
Uncle Gabriel battled the rest of the bandits expertly with his sword. He whirled around slicing and stabbing at the bandits, and I was amazed at his agility and strength.
“Shouldn’t we stay?” I said to Erien. “What if they overwhelm Uncle Gabriel?”
Erien laughed, completely undaunted. “Oh, Grandfather can take care of himself. It’s the bandits who you have to worry about. I just hope he doesn’t hurt them too badly; the last lot couldn’t stand trial for a month until they had healed.” He laughed again, as if at some secret joke.
“He’s right,” said Snow. “The Duke of Silverthorne is not to be trifled with.” The pegasus cantered gracefully along the forest path, spread out her powerful white wings, and flew off into the sky toward Silverthorne Castle.
The Heir
By the time we arrived at Silverthorne Castle, Uncle Gabriel was striding into the courtyard with a thunderous look on his aging face.
My eyes widened and I turned to Erien. “How did he get here before us? The last time I saw him he was battling bandits in the woods, and now he’s back here at the castle as if he never left.”
“The forests around these parts have gateways that lead in and out of the castle,” whispered Erien. “The fae have left them all over the place. We used to use this one very often when we played Princes and Dragons.”
I nodded my understanding. Rafe had explained about the fae gateways. It looked like Uncle Gabriel had already made short work of
