The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,133

He took it from her hands and turned through the first few pages, which seemed to be an overly wordy introduction. Will’s fingers stopped in the middle of the second chapter when he saw a diagram. The title above it read, ‘A Simple Spell for Linking Turyn.’

“Lun, sarcat, kolbet,” said Will, reading to himself. It’s just three runes. The diagram showed them linked in what appeared to be an acute triangle. That was inevitable, of course, if they were drawn in that order and were all created from the caster’s perspective. Arrogan had been insistent that runes should always be drawn in particular directions. He read the paragraph beneath the diagram:

An acceptable spell for beginner instruction, although care should be given to ensure students are not allowed to use it on one another in unsupervised circumstances. The structure is simple and only a small expression of turyn is required to activate. Dismissal occurs with cessation of concentration. Students should be cautioned against separating the target’s will from their source as this is not only painful for the target, but the caster as well, due to the linkage. In extreme cases death can result. In general, the caster must have a far greater discipline of will than the target or the spell will fail.

He shut the book with regret. Will wanted to study it in detail, but there simply wasn’t time. Perhaps on his next free day he could come back. He was fairly confident he could remember enough to try that one spell, however, if he had some time alone. Focusing on the task at hand, he wrote out a letter that he hoped would be sufficient to warn the army of what was happening in Barrowden.

Isabel,

Darrow has moved large numbers of men into Barrowden, which I have seen with my own eyes. I don’t have an accurate count, but their camp is many times the size of this one. I would guess that there are at least several thousand soldiers there. They have also been busy during their occupation of the area, primarily in building a fortified base to operate from and in widening and improving the road that leads to Darrow. I will let you draw your own conclusions on what this means for the spring, but it seems fairly obvious what they plan to do.

Please forgive me for hiding my identity as well as the means with which I obtained this information, but do not discount this letter because of that.

Sincerely,

A friend of Terabinia

With that accomplished he said goodbye to his mother, uncle, and cousin, and set out for Branscombe again.

Chapter 41

Will made it back with half an hour to spare before lights out. Sven was already asleep, snoring loudly, and his nose informed him that the man had had quite a bit to drink. Dave was still awake, though the ex-thief was lying down as well. Dave’s eyes tracked him blearily as Will sat down on his bedroll.

“Where’ve you been?” asked Dave.

“Out and about,” said Will. “I did some hiking.”

Dave stared at him incredulously. “Hiking? You’ve been cooped up in this stupid camp for two months and the first thing you wanted to do was go hiking? Don’t we get enough exercise every damn day?”

“I just wanted to be alone. Being around people all the time feels oppressive,” responded Will, hoping the other man would buy his explanation.

“You missed a good time,” said Dave, smiling with his eyes closed.

Tiny entered then, giving Dave a conspicuous glare as he found his seat. When Dave started to speak again, Tiny growled. “Go to sleep.”

“Fine, fine,” mumbled Dave.

Will raised his brows. “Did you have fun, Tiny?”

The big man shook his head, then pointed first at Dave then Sven. “That one needs a leash, and this one had to be carried.”

“Did you drink any?”

“I don’t drink,” Tiny said flatly.

“Why not?”

“People always want to fight. I have enough trouble already.”

Will had wondered about Tiny’s reluctance to fight before. “Why don’t you like to fight? You seem like you’re built for it.”

Tiny shrugged. “Small men are always looking for someone big to fight, but for me, there’s no winning.”

“Huh?”

“If I fight and win, everyone hates me. ‘Look, the big man is picking on everyone,’ is what they say. If I fight and lose, I’m bruised and humiliated,” said Tiny. “Usually I just refuse to hit back, but then people think I’m dumb.”

Will remembered what had happened with Dave when they were all locked up together, and again during the first few days