The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,77

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?”

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.

“But you don’t have a weapon!” protested Will.

Arrogan smiled. “Remember the lesson with the sticks? I’ll be fine. Take them to our house. I’ll meet you there after I’ve taken care of this. All you have to do is get past those five in the back. Don’t bother trying to kill them all, just do your best to get past them. Listen to your mother—she knows better what to do here than you do.”

Will glanced at his mom’s face. She looked tense but determined. What sort of lessons did he teach her when she was learning herbalism? he wondered. I guess I’m about to find out.

Erisa motioned at him and Sammy with one hand and led them to the back door. “You’ll go out first,” she told Will. “Don’t go straight out. Cut to the left as soon as you get outside. Do your best to make them focus on you with that staff. Sammy and I will be right behind you. When we scream, ignore us. It’s meant to distract them, not