Cody J. Sherer

Author's note: This is the preview of my upcoming novel, The Tomes of Magic. It is a a sequel to The Wizard's Council.

 

The assassin sighed as he came to accept the impact that the former Grand Crusader had on the Holy Order. Even fools can bring about good, he thought as he scanned the horizon. Forests loomed to the north and mountains to the south. It was one of two spots that he expected would hold a bandit ambush. His suspicions were quickly confirmed as he spotted a small band of people just inside the forest. He slid his hand down to his belt and slipped several small throwing knives into his palm. The group spotted him and he acted as though he had no clue they were there. He wanted to keep the option of springing a trap on them. They slowly made their way out of the forest and onto the path in front of him. He shook his head as he got closer. Their leader stepped forward and held out his hand to motion for Zeltos to stop.

 

“These paths are dangerous for a lone traveler,” the man announced.

 

“Not as dangerous as they are for fool bandits,” Zeltos whipped his wrist forward and one of his knives flashed out and struck one of the bandits in the throat.

 

“You’ll pay for that!” The bandit leader pulled his sword and charged forward.

 

Zeltos dodged to the side and let two more knives fly. He pulled his short sword and turned to face their leader. A quick flip of the wrist and he sliced into the man’s forearm. The bandit leader yelped in pain and took a step backward. Zeltos’ free hand shot out and sent another knife at the advancing bandits before he stepped forward to close the gap the leader had just created. A quick attack with his short sword knocked his opponent’s sword to the side, allowing him to follow up with a stab to the gut. He turned to face his next opponent as the leader crumpled to the floor. The attackers hesitated, giving Zeltos enough time to pull another short sword with his free hand. He used one of the swords to parry a blow from the closest attack and used the other to skewer him. Several of the bandits ran for their lives, not wanting to incur the wrath of the assassin.

 

The two remaining opponents attacked him in unison. He parried one man’s attack into the other man and followed up with a stab to the man’s shoulder. Their poor skill at working in unison allowed Zeltos to score another hit against each combatant. He stabbed each of them with one of his swords and turned to see if there were any others left. The rest of the bandits had fled, leaving the assassin to his carcass filled battlefield. He cleaned his swords before sheathing them and proceeded to gather up all his throwing knives. It was no surprise to him that the bandits had tried to attack him. Dark times, he thought as he set off down the road. The bandits had been too brazen in their attack. He was left wondering if the recent squabbles among the dragon’s allies had caused them to lessen their patrols. It would be a bad sign for the smaller villages if the kingdoms had stopped looking out for their own. Zeltos shook his head as he thought about what it could mean for the villagers. His task did not allow for him to intervene.