The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,78

you.”

Then she addressed her niece. “Hold the blade reversed, against your forearm. Here, like this.” She took the knife from the girl and demonstrated before handing it back to her. “When we go out, act terrified. Run toward one of the men on the right, keeping the knife out of sight. As young and pretty as you are, he’ll try to grab you, so don’t be afraid of his sword. When he does, start stabbing. Don’t think, just stab. You’ll be too scared to think straight anyway.”

Sammy looked plenty frightened already. “I don’t think I can do this,” she mumbled.

Erisa patted her head. “You’ve already got it down. Just let your instincts take over. All you have to do is remember the knife as he grabs you. You can do this.”

His heart was pounding in his ears as Will listened to the door. “What if they’re right outside?” he asked. “If they get their hands on me before I can get enough room, I won’t—”

Erisa interrupted him. “They won’t be. As soon as you hear them yelling, throw the door open and do as I told you.”

Will frowned. “Why will they be yelling?” he asked, but as soon as the words left his lips he saw a streak of turyn flash by and pass through the door in front of him. His grandfather had cast some sort of spell. It was followed a second later by several yells and one distinctly embarrassing shriek from the men outside.

What the hell was that? he thought, but his mother was urging him forward. “Go, now!” she barked.

With his stomach in his throat, Will pulled the door open and charged out, nearly dropping the staff as it caught in the doorframe for a moment. Fortunately, the men outside were too busy recovering from whatever had frightened them, or they might have capitalized on his awkward exit. He could see the traces of magic fading away in front of him. Some sort of illusion, maybe? Taking the staff in both hands, he stepped toward the two soldiers to his left and swung at their legs.

One of them recovered quickly and leapt back, but the soldier’s friend wasn’t so lucky. Still slightly bewildered, the man took a hard blow from the thick wood staff, directly to his knee. He fell with a shout of pain.

Will heard his mother and Sammy emerge from behind him. “Please, don’t hurt us!” said Erisa, her voice full of fear and desperation. The soldiers grinned at her obvious fear.

The man who had been in the center took a step toward Will to help his friend who was being steadily forced to retreat before the long heavy sweeps of his staff. That left only two on the right for Erisa and Sammy to deal with. As soon as they were out, Erisa screamed at her niece, “Run, Sammy! Run!”

Sammy didn’t need much encouragement. She bolted like a frightened rabbit. In fact, she almost did her part too well, for she moved so quickly that the soldier on the far right nearly missed her, but his fingers caught the back of her tunic at the last second. The man jerked her back, catching her against his chest as she spun and tumbled into him.

Will thought she might have forgotten to use the knife for a second, for the man made no sound at first, but a few seconds later he began yelling and trying to push the girl from him. It was too late, of course. Sammy had been frantically stabbing for several seconds before his brain registered what had happened.

The dying man’s companion started to go to his friend’s aid, but the moment he took his eyes from Erisa and started toward them, she jumped toward him. Will’s mother didn’t even bother taking the sword out from under her cloak. She stabbed through it and into the man’s side with all the force her slim body could put behind the weapon.

All that happened in a matter of seconds, during which Will was forced to retreat from his two opponents. His back was nearly against the house, and as a result his movements were becoming even more hampered. The two soldiers knew how to work together, and he knew he’d be spitted by one of their swords soon.

One of the two was forced to turn and deal with Will’s mother, though, and once the pressure was off, Will was able to take the fight to his foe. He threatened the man with a